Digital Commons Network^™

Blue Devil 2, Malik Hodari

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

A soldier in Vietnam continues to face interpersonal conflict as he fights to keep his team alive and complete his mission.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit.

Blue Devil 1, Malik Hodari

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

A soldier in Vietnam keeps his team alive and moving while grappling with interpersonal conflict.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit.

Site-Specific Differences In T Cell Frequencies And Phenotypes In The Blood And Gut Of Hivuninfected And Art-Treated Hiv+ Adults, Steven A. Yukl, Amandeep K. Shergill, Valerie Girling, Qingsheng Li, Maudi Killian, Lorrie Epling, Peilin Li, Philipp Kaiser, Ashley Haase, Diane V. Havlir, Kenneth Mcquaid, Elizabeth Sinclair, Joseph K. Wong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Gastrointestinal T lymphocytes are critical for mucosal immunity and HIV pathogenesis, yet little is known about normal T cell numbers and phenotypes in different regions of the gut, or the degree to which ART can restore levels to those of HIV-uninfected individuals. To investigate these questions, we measured T cell frequencies and markers of memory, activation, anergy, and homing in the blood, ileum, and rectum of HIV- and ART-suppressed HIV+ adults. In HIV- individuals, T cell frequencies and phenotypes differed significantly between sites. Compared to HIV- adults, HIV+ adults had lower absolute CD4+T cell counts in the ileal lamina propria …

The Protective Role Of Social Support And The Relations Among Cyber And Traditional Victimization, Depression, And Suicidal Ideation, Stephanie Secord Fredrick

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The current study investigated the relations among the constructs of traditional victimization, cyber victimization, social support, depression, and suicidal ideation in a sample of adolescents. Although these constructs have been extensively studied in the literature, the relation among these constructs, especially among cyber victimization and social support, is not well known. Results indicated that both traditional victimization and cyber victimization were found to be positively related to depression. Traditional victimization, but not cyber victimization, was found to be positively related to suicidal ideation. Depression was found to fully mediate the relation between traditional and cyber victimization and suicidal ideation. Finally, …

The Relationship Between Sense Of Community, Course Performance, And Persistence In Community College Distance Learning Courses, Pardess Mitchell

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between sense of community, course performance, and college persistence in distance learning courses at a community college. Specifically, does sense of community improve course performance and college persistence? Course performance was measured using student self-reported end of semester grades. Furthermore, this study analyzed students short answer responses to help explain which distance learning classroom activities support sense of community. This correlational study was conducted at a community college in a large Midwestern suburb. Results from this study indicate sense of community has an impact on course performance, but …

Food Sovereignty, Food Security, And Community Gardens In Rockford, Il, Walter William Furness

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Urban agriculture projects seek to ameliorate issues of food access and food sovereignty for people living in areas with low access to fresh foods, including food deserts. Within this discourse, community gardens have been promoted as vehicles to reclaim unused urban space, produce food locally, and connect populations to their food sources and larger community. A variety of community garden models exist, and the efficacy of different models is the subject of some debate. In Rockford, many community gardens grow food for donation to food pantries as part of a program to benefit socioeconomically disadvantaged persons in the city. However, …

Genetic And Physical Interactions In Arabidopsis Between Developmentally Regulated Gtpases, Drg-Family Binding Proteins And Ski-Like Rna Helicases, Matthew Jerome Marcec

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

DRG proteins are encoded by an ancient highly conserved family of GTP binding protein genes. DRG1 and DRG2 orthologs have been found in all eukaryotic organisms tested. Recent evidence in yeast and Arabidopsis suggests that another gene SLH1 a DEAD-Box Helicase, genetically interacts with DRG1 and DRG2. Likewise, the DRG Family Regulatory Proteins DFRP1 and DFRP2 genetically and physically interact with their respective DRG partners. DFRP1 and DFRP2 also interact genetically with SLH1. A triple mutation of either drg1, drg2 and slh1 or dfrp1, dfrp2 and slh1 produces an embryonic lethal phenotype. This study has two aims. First, to characterize …

I'M Ready Warden : An Examination Of The Rhetoric Of Death, Zac Wendler

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the rhetorical context, preservation, and dissemination of the final statements of American felons executed between 1985 and Spring 2012, as well as the history of these items in the West generally and America specifically. This examination found little variance in final statement genre incidence rates with respect to ethnicity, gender, date of utterance, or any other temporal or demographic factor. As a result, it examines in detail the cultural context which stabilizes and centers this type of utterance, and explores how such statements move through American society and are transformed in the process. It argues that such …

Image Quality Measures In Proton Computed Tomography, Saroj Rai

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Proton therapy is an external beam radiotherapy that uses proton beam as ionizing radiation to treat localized tumor cells within the human body. The calculated proton beam range is used to locate and damage the DNA of cancerous tissue, thus, leading to cell death. Due to the Bragg peak characteristic of protons, the range of proton beam in matter can be calculated accordingly which offers greater degree of conformal dose delivery than conventional X-ray beam therapy. Currently, the treatment planning of proton therapy is based on the X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans of the patient anatomy. The images reconstructed from …

Impression Management, Super Pacs, And The 2012 Republican Primaries, Nathan Katz

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Super Political Action Committees (PACs) are relatively new organizations within American politics that allow individuals to donate unlimited funds to campaign causes. This was particularly noticeable during the 2012 Republican primary, which was one of the most well-funded primaries in American history. One of the ways both candidates and Super PACs spend their money is for the production of campaign ads to develop candidate images. These advertisements contribute to a political impression management that develops candidate performances. I have used the Symbolic Interactionist perspective for this study because the theory states that the images or presentations of individuals are continuously …

Factors Supporting And Inhibiting Adherence To Hiv Medication Regimen In Women: A Qualitative Analysis Of Patient Interviews., Oluwakemi Fagbami, Adetokunbo Oluwasanjo, Carrie Fitzpatrick, Rebecca Fairchild, Ann Shin, Anthony Donato

Reading Hospital Internal Medicine Residency

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy reduces morbidity and mortality; however rates of non-adherence are variable among women for unclear reasons. This study was a single-center qualitative analysis of interviews with 18 female HIV-positive non-adherent patients (defined by virologic failure) to explore psychosocial factors impacting adherence. Factors identified were categorized as promoting, inhibiting or having no effect on adherence. Three themes, characterized as social factors, illness factors and other societal pressures, were identified. Medical systems support, family support and compliance for children were most commonly identified as promoting adherence, while psychiatric comorbidities, lack of medical systems support and side effects were identified …

Improving New Student Orientation As A Tool To Support Community College Students' Entry Into College, Vicki Atkinson

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The focus of this study was an examination of a new student orientation program in the community college setting. Through the use of participatory action research (PAR) methodology, participant researchers addressed a series of research questions about the ways in which the orientation program could be improved. Three co-researchers, along with the principal investigator, the author of this dissertation, engaged in the study, which gathered input from key stakeholders in the new student orientation programs: students who served in the program, peer leaders who work in the program, and counselors and advisors who provide support to new students in the …

Family And School Activation Of Cultural Capital In The Individualized Education Plan (Iep) Process, Christine Nelson

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the interactions between parents and school teams in the IEP process.

Learning Within Collegiate Recreation Student Employment, Sandi Carlisle

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This research study examined the on-campus part-time employment experiences of traditional aged college students to gain a deeper understanding of how learning occurs within this workplace setting. Using a basic interpretative research design rooted in a constructivist paradigm, collegiate recreation student employees explored the meaning of their on-campus work experience as it related to learning, by answering a series of questions in a three-phased interview process. Contributing to the trustworthiness of the study, I reviewed and analyzed student employee reflective journals and workplace documents.;Research participants identified four themes related to how students described their past and current experiences: (1) "Embellished …

Linkages Between Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (Cafo) Expansion And County Board Politics In Rural Illinois, Eric A. Sterling

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are rapidly expanding in rural Illinois. This research explores the political power linkages between county boards and corporate entities in four Illinois counties. The hypothesis is that collusion and impropriety within county board politics and CAFO expansion in rural Illinois are attributed to stakeholder influence and power at the local county government level. My research revealed a connection between ownership of CAFOs, county board political power, and endorsement of expansion. Utilizing Walter Goldschmidt's method of a controlled comparison, the research analyzes two CAFO inundated counties (Pike and Adams) with two less affected counties (LaSalle and …

Longitudinally Polarized Momentum Waves - An Expose, Sudeep Reddy Dodda

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Robert Zimmerman of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center at Arecibo, Puerto Rico has reported on the discovery of a new longitudinally polarized electromagnetic wave predicated on Vector Potential only. In essence, his experiment launches a wave from a coaxial transmission line waveguide with physical dimensions sufficient to support a Transverse Magnetic (TM 01) wave. Conventional antennas are unable to detect the transmitted signal but parallel plasma tubes aligned parallel to the wave propagation direction do receive the signal if the direction of electric fields for each tube are supplementary. Zimmerman's claim is not unfounded in light of the widely …

Male Health Promotion Professionals In Higher Education : Why They Enter And Remain, Alicia Katherine Czachowski

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines men in the career of health promotion in higher education. This study was designed to gain insight from men currently working in health promotion in higher education about why and how they entered their career as well as what is keeping them working in this field. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of men working as health promotion professionals in the higher education setting regarding their entry into and persistence in their chosen profession.;Using a basic interpretive qualitative study approach, five participants took part in three semi-structured interviews, in which …

Marginal Structure Model To Estimate The Causal Effect Of Cognitive Decline On Body Mass Index Changes In Elderly People, Can Meng

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Marginal structure models (MSM) are causal models proposed to estimate the causal effect of time-vary treatments by controlling time-dependent confounders in observational studies. The objective of this thesis is to illustrate the fitting of an MSM for the causal effect of cognitive decline on BMI changes among old Mexican Americans participating in the Hispanic EPESE Cohort study. Based on MSM analysis, we reported that those suffered cognitive decline in later life will receive significant reduction in BMI by 0.1809 kg/m 2 on average (P-value=0.0305). We also conducted several sensitivity studies to explore different impacts on our MSM.

Maternal And Paternal Contributions To Child Internalizing And Externalizing Problems : An Actor-Partner Interdependence Framework, Kyle Wayne Murdock

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Prior studies evaluating associations between parent and child characteristics have focused largely on mother-child, but not father-child, dyadic relationships. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that research including fathers is needed because knowledge about how maternal, paternal, and child characteristics may be interrelated is lacking and there is theoretical work suggesting that paternal behavior may be more sensitive to interpersonal factors than maternal behavior. These gaps in the literature were addressed in the present study through evaluation of hybrid actor-partner interdependence models in which maternal, paternal, and child characteristics were included. Specifically, maternal and paternal harsh/negative behavior were evaluated as mediators …

Maternal Anxiety And Infant Fear : Indirect Links Through Parenting Behaviors, Erin Shishilla Edwards

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Previous work has demonstrated links between early fearful temperament and risk for the subsequent development of anxiety disorders; thus, factors that may influence the development of early fear are important to consider. Maternal anxiety has previously been linked to child anxiety, though limited work has examined potential relationships between maternal anxiety and infant fear. Anxious mothers have been observed to be more critical/rejecting and intrusive/overcontrolling in their interactions with their children, and these parenting behaviors have been related to greater risk for childhood anxiety. Again, the relations between these parenting behaviors and early expressions of temperament, particularly fear, are less …

Mathematics Beliefs And Teaching Practices Of Preschool Teachers, Kristine L. Black

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine preschool teachers' beliefs about teaching mathematics to preschool students and how teachers help preschool students acquire math skills and knowledge in the classroom. The research was conducted in two parts: focus groups and classroom observations. The focus groups occurred over two sessions. The sessions focused on building a sense of teachers' beliefs about which mathematics skills should be taught to preschool children and which teaching strategies, if any, were currently used to teach the skills. The researcher recorded the focus groups and transcribed them. Coding was done to identify themes. The second …

Measuring Success In University Museums : A Case Study At The Jurica Suchy Nature Museum, Rachel Drochter

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis is based on an anthropological field study of the Jurica Suchy Nature Museum (JSNM). This project examines how internal and external pressures have impacted university museums and how they are responding to this change. As public and university museums become more visitor centered, traditional methods for measuring success are being replaced with new and more holistic methods that better encapsulate the 21st century museum's distinctive impact and position within its community. By using the Jurica Suchy Nature Museum as a case study, this thesis will examine some of the complex pressures felt by university museums and their parent …

Methionine Aminopeptidase Enzyme Inhibitors As Promising Targets Toward Discovery Of Novel Anti-Infective Agents, Phumvadee Wangtrakuldee

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Methionine aminopeptidases are ubiquitous enzymes that are essential for the survival of numerous bacteria, removing N-terminal methionines from nascent proteins to initiate post-secondary modification. The ultimate goal of this study is to identify selective inhibitors targeting methionine aminopeptidases from infective organisms, including Burkholderia pseudomallei, Plasmodium falciparum, and Rickettsia prowazekii, to generate novel anti-infective agents.;Plasmodium falciparum methionine aminopeptidase ( PfMetAP2) was expressed and purified in-house from truncated sequence of PfMetAP2, while Burkholderia pseudomallei methionine aminopeptidase 1 and Rickettsia prowazekii methionine aminopeptidase 1 was obtained from Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. Our studies reveal the ability of nitroxoline analogs to inhibit both Burkholderia …

Moderating Factors Between Self-Efficacy And Role Stressors For High School Counselors, Nathan Gene Underwood

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine potential moderators of high school counselors' self-efficacy and role stress. The study provides an overview of the sources of school counselor role stressors, the history of school counseling, self-efficacy, and the Indivisible Self wellness model. Quantitative data was collected on 141 high school counselors who completed a demographic survey, the School Counselor Self-efficacy Scale (SCSE), the 5F-Wel, and the Role Questionnaire (RQ). The RQ measures three role stressors: role ambiguity, role conflict, and role incongruity. Research question one measured the general regression model with each of the role stressors placed as the …

Panic And Implicit Theories, Lindsay Mae Miller

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the roles of anxiety sensitivity, related constructs, and implicit theories constructs in uniquely predicting state anxiety in response to an interoceptive challenge. Because anxiety sensitivity appears to be a target of treatment for panic, it is important to understand anxiety sensitivity and related constructs (distress tolerance, intolerance of uncertainty, experiential avoidance, and discomfort intolerance). Implicit theories constructs were also examined (implicit theories of emotion, implicit theories of physiological arousal, and implicit theories of sensation transience). It was hypothesized that anxiety sensitivity and related constructs would mediate the relationship between implicit theories constructs and state anxiety. Participants completed …

Predictors Of Attitudes Toward The Use Of Moodle For Learning English In A Blended Learning Environment In Cambodia, Chenda Hong

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The study aimed to investigate the extent to which perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and levels of computer proficiency predicted attitudes toward using Moodle for learning English as a foreign language in blended learning in Cambodia. The study was significant because there is no known extant research conducted on this topic in Cambodia yet. The study was a correlational design which used an online survey tool to collect data from 150 English language learners in English for Academic Purposes program at Australian Centre for Education in Cambodia. The findings showed that students' attitudes toward the use of Moodle for …

Preparing Elementary Pre-Service Teachers To Integrate Stem : A Mixed-Methods Study, Erin Marie Evans

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This mixed-methods study longitudinally examined 12 elementary pre-service teachers' perceptions, attitudes, confidence, and abilities to integrate STEM into their instruction. In three phases spanning two semesters, the pre-service teachers from a small, private, Midwestern university were studied as they completed a combined science and social studies methods course, during which they designed and implemented an Integrated STEM Unit at a local elementary school. Phases I and II of this three-phase study took place before the methods course and after the methods course, while Phase III of this study took place during the final student teaching semester in order to gain …

The Granite, 2015, University Of New Hampshire

The Granite – Yearbook

The yearbook of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, 1909-1922, the University of New Hampshire, 1923-

Hist 208: History Of World War Ii—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Thomas Berg

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This Inquiry Portfolio explores the efficacy of the “flipped classroom” format for university-level history courses for students, the professor, and the history department. While creating a clear outline of expectations, readings, examination and quiz requirements will allow the student to better organize their study time, I wanted to know if the “flipped format” would help my students master the knowledge, develop good discussion skills, and practice critical thinking skills learned during classroom discussions. Also, not having taught any flipped courses, I needed the experience to discuss cogently with my peers the desirability and practicality of offering flipped history courses.

Geog 140: Introduction To Human Geography—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Katherine Nashleanas

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Large lecture classes of 100 students or more present unique challenges to both teaching and learning. The common method of “delivery” by instructors is lecture, often augmented by a set of Power Point slides; and, while the research literature shows that this is the more traditional way of teaching, increasingly it is becoming apparent that this method of instruction often does not reach students in the way we hope and often assume (Harvard Magazine 2015). Most of the students populating these classes are born of the Digital Age and have different expectations for learning, requiring new approaches in the classroom …