Digital Commons Network^™

Engaging Clients Who Use Substances, Registered Nurses' Association Of Ontario

General Submissions: Community and Population-based Materials

This Guideline provides evidence-based recommendations for nurses and other members of the interprofessional team across all care settings who are assessing and providing interventions to individuals who use substances and may be at risk for or experiencing a substance use disorder.

Tourism In Crisis: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Seaworld's Twitter Response To Blackfish, Nicholas E. Marek

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Released on July 19, 2013, the documentary Blackfish highlighted the mistreatment of dangerous sea-life and the lack of employee training at the aquatic zoological theme park SeaWorld. Considering the immense reputational damage suffered by SeaWorld, this study uses qualitative content analysis to examine SeaWorld’s Twitter (twitter.com) response to the Blackfish crisis. An inductive method of coding highlights overall themes present in SeaWorld’s tweets while the deductive method of coding utilizes Benoit’s (1997) image repair theory to determine how this tourism organization utilizes Twitter as a medium of image restoration. The results prompt suggestions for clarifying image repair theory as well …

Political Ecologies Of Resource Extraction: Agendas Pendientes, Anthony J. Bebbington

Geography

Research related to extractive industries has grown significantly over the last decade. As the commodities boom appears to be winding down, this essay outlines areas for potential future research. Emphasis is placed on the need for research on: the relationships among extractivism, climate change and societal transitions; the aggregate effects of the commodity boom on the environment, on societal structures, on elite formation and on cultural politics; the implications of resource extraction on the couplings of space and power at different scales and with particular reference to the Colombian peace process; and the gendered and generation dimensions of the effects …

Mining, Risk And Climate Resilience In The 'Other' Pacific: Latin American Lessons For The South Pacific, Anthony J. Bebbington, Jeffrey Bury, Nicholas Cuba, John Rogan

Geography

We suggest the value of considering Pacific Latin America and the South Pacific in relationship to each other in contexts of climate change and investment in extractive industry. The paper explores the interactions between extractive industry, climate change and environmental governance through the lenses of double exposure, double movements, resilience and risk. The first part of the paper addresses the nature and scope of investments in extractive industries in this 'other Pacific'. The geography of these investments is changing the actual and perceived distribution of exposure and risk in the region. The nature of this risk is also being affected …

Large Carbon Release Legacy From Bark Beetle Outbreaks Across Western United States, Bardan Ghimire, Christopher A. Williams, G. James Collatz, Melanie Vanderhoof, John Rogan, Dominik Kulakowski, Jeffrey G. Masek

Geography

Warmer conditions over the past two decades have contributed to rapid expansion of bark beetle outbreaks killing millions of trees over a large fraction of western United States (US) forests. These outbreaks reduce plant productivity by killing trees and transfer carbon from live to dead pools where carbon is slowly emitted to the atmosphere via heterotrophic respiration which subsequently feeds back to climate change. Recent studies have begun to examine the local impacts of bark beetle outbreaks in individual stands, but the full regional carbon consequences remain undocumented for the western US. In this study, we quantify the regional carbon …

Negative Feedbacks On Bark Beetle Outbreaks: Widespread And Severe Spruce Beetle Infestation Restricts Subsequent Infestation, Sarah J. Hart, Thomas T. Veblen, Nathan Mietkiewicz, Dominik Kulakowski

Geography

Understanding disturbance interactions and their ecological consequences remains a major challenge for research on the response of forests to a changing climate. When, where, and how one disturbance may alter the severity, extent, or occurrence probability of a subsequent disturbance is encapsulated by the concept of linked disturbances. Here, we evaluated 1) how climate and forest habitat variables, including disturbance history, interact to drive 2000s spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) infestation of Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) across the Southern Rocky Mountains; and 2) how previous spruce beetle infestation affects subsequent infestation across the Flat Tops Wilderness in northwestern Colorado, which experienced …

Patient Adherence To Smartphone Weight Loss Applications: A Dietitian Perception Study, Kathleen Abernathy

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Background: Dietitians play an important role in weight management. Self-monitoring of food intake is an effective tool for weight management. As smartphones gain popularity, many individuals are using smartphone apps for diet tracking to lose weight.

Objective: To determine the dietitians’ perception on whether their involvement with the use of smartphone weight loss apps results in increased patient/client adherence and increased weight loss.

Methods: An online survey was completed by 2,532 weight management dietitians. Paired t-tests were used to determine dietitians’ perceptions on patient/client adherence and weight loss using smartphone apps with dietitian intervention compared to without dietitian intervention (p …

Beleaguered Resonance: Loyalist Entrenchment And Division In The Early Troubles, 1963–1985, Bradley J. Watkins

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Taking as a starting point the framework that the Northern Ireland Troubles were largely fought on confessional sectarian, ethno-national grounds, this essay will analyze the internal and external forces that incited Ulster Protestant political responses from the premiership of Terence O’Neill, beginning in 1963, to the 1985 signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Through an extrapolation of socioeconomic class dynamics, and geographical imperatives informed by such source material as population demographics, election results, distribution of political violence, as well as numerous Protestant organizational publications, it is clear that throughout the early Troubles Protestant Northern Ireland increasingly undertook strategies of various modes …

The Impact Of The Quota-Based System On Social Stratification Among The Students At The Indian Institute Of Technology, Madras, India, Thyagarajan Vaidyanathan Ammachathram

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study attempted to identify the impact of the recent expansion in the quota system among Quota-Based Students (QBS) and General Category Students (GCS) at the Indian Institute of Technology (Madras) (IIT(M)). The study emphasized various institutional behaviors that affected the students and their educational endeavors and examined the impact of institutional practices on the students. This study examined some of the socialization practices of QBS and GCS based on Van Maanen and Schein’s (1979) work and revealed that hostels (residence halls) played a significant role especially among QBS educational endeavors at IIT(M). Van Maanen and Schein’s (1979) investiture socialization …

The Impact Of Proposal A On Two Michigan School Districts, James D. Cooper

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In 1994 the state of Michigan changed its school finance system. Over a nine-month period between July, 1993, and March, 1994, state legislators and the voters of Michigan acted to change the tax structure and address funding equity for public schools. In the fall of 1994, Michigan’s public schools began operating under an entirely new set of school finance reforms. The primary focus of this research is the articulation of the effects of the 1994 Michigan school funding reform (Proposal A). The purpose of this research was to conduct a policy analysis and impact analysis of Proposal A on two …

The Impact Of Technophobia On Technology Acceptance And The Moderating Influence Of Transformational Leadership, Organizational Climate, And Emotional Intelligence, Odai Khasawneh

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study sought to investigate the relationship between technophobia and technology acceptance. In addition, this study examined the moderating influence of variables such as transformational leadership, organizational climate, and emotional intelligence has any influence on that relationship. This study determined that there is a significant negative relationship between technophobia and technology acceptance. Furthermore, all moderating variable were found to have a strong moderating influence on the relationship between technophobia and technology acceptance. In other words, transformational leadership, organizational climate, and emotional intelligence lessen the strength of the negative correlation to the point that technophobia and technology acceptance were no longer …

The Attitudes Of Bullies, Victims, And Averters: Understanding The Relationship Of Bullying Status And Character Strengths, Vikki Elizabeth Hennard

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Bullying in schools has been a major concern of our society with prevention and intervention focusing on the external environment. Little has been done to understand the attitudes of individuals beyond evaluating pathologies such as depression and deviance. Programs have emphasized a system of social control whereby expectations are established, rules are made, and consequences are enforced. Research shows that bullying continues to affect children in schools, and has increased with the use of electronic methods such as social media, texting, and the like. Delving deeper into internal characteristics of bullies and victims, positive psychology offers a framework to increase …

Predictors Of Harmful Sexual Behaviors In A Normative Population, Matthew A. Poinsett

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In order to identify important predictors of high-risk and aggressive sexual behavior, this study examined the relationships between problematic sexual behavior, aberrant sexual experiences, family environment, parental monitoring, delinquency, and peer relatedness. Participants were 344 college students who completed the Comprehensive Sexual Experience Survey (CSES), an online questionnaire. High-risk behaviors, including possible victimization, were predicted by aberrant sexual experiences, family environment, delinquency, and parental monitoring. Regression analyses indicated that aggressive sexual behavior was associated with aberrant sexual experiences and delinquency. Examination of data across genders indicated significant differences between them, including men’s earlier initiation of masturbation and pornography use, higher …

A Qualitative Study Of Adolescent Views Of Sugar Sweetened Beverage Taxes, Claire Krukowski

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A qualitative study was used to investigate adolescents’ perceptions of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes using the Theory of Planned Behavior (attitude toward the behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intentions). A secondary purpose was to explore the role of habit in SSB consumption. Three focus groups were conducted at a suburban Detroit middle school with 22 students. Findings suggest that students understand short-and long-term advantages and disadvantages of sugarsweetened beverages and personal and economic impacts of a sugar-sweetened beverage tax, though the economics of a tax was confusing for them. Students stated various factors that would make reducing sugar-sweetened …

Understanding Quality Professional Development: Effects On Teacher Practice, Shanna R. Speakman-Spickard

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This quantitative study explored the degree to which three systems of quality professional development (PD) design synthesized from the literature contribute to teachers' perceived use of student-centered instructional practice (SCIP) in the context of Reading Apprenticeship. The three systems used to define quality PD were professional community, support system, and delivery system. The goal of this study was to determine what impact PD had on SCIP and what teacher characteristics had an impact on SCIP. Interaction effects were also explored. The study utilized survey data from teachers in Livingston and Washtenaw Counties in the State of Michigan and analysis was …

The Effect On Building Elements On Direct Dementia-Care Staff Job Satisfaction, Margaret E. Byal

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This interior design research study explores the experience of direct dementia-care staff member tasks in relation to the physical environment. The study asked the following questions: 1) Do building elements in dementia-specific long-term care units interact with staff job satisfaction? 2) What building elements of patient direct-care are identified by staff as being helpful on the job and what are identified as a hindrance? 3) What, if any, environmental elements demand more dementia-specific modification? Physical environment assessments were collected, and surveys assessing job satisfaction and tasks relating to the physical environment were administered. Focus groups captured more detailed responses. Results …

Educated Guesses That Affect Access To Educational Resources Beyond Early Childhood, Pamela Colton

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Misconceptions about cognitive development cause damaging assumptions that affect access to academic intervention after middle childhood, especially for older students who also have significant disabilities (Aos, Lieb, Mayfield, Miller, & Pennucci, 2005). In this study, possible sources for reduced expectations for post-middle childhood students are discussed and evaluated. Brigance test scores of seven adult students labeled with severe cognitive impairment are documented at the beginning of a regular school year, and then compared to scores at the end of the school year. Target students received regular school based speech language therapy and occupational therapy, as well as direct academic instruction …

The Relationship Between Simulation Assessments And Standardized Written Examinations For Emergency Medicine Residents, Sheri Leigh Etapa Clarke

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Historically, the assessment of medical resident knowledge and skill has occurred through standardized written examinations and faculty observation during real patient encounters. The written examinations, including three levels of board qualifying examinations (USMLE and COMLEX-USA) and specialty specific annual in-training examinations, are used to identify each resident’s knowledge deficiencies. Research shows that faculty evaluations are unable to predict how residents will perform on emergency medicine in-training examinations, and that practicing skills on real patients puts patients’ lives at risk. To improve patient care and enhance the learning environment, medical educators have created simulation tools for medical residents to practice procedures …

The Experience Of Individuals Who Transitioned From Teacher To Assistant-Principal, Mara Hoffert

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The transition from teacher to assistant-principal is complex. The purpose of this study was to better understand the phenomenon of transition to leadership roles in high schools by investigating the experiences of four teachers who moved from teacher to assistant-principal positions in suburban school-districts in the State of Michigan. This multiple case-study comprises an in-depth examination of four teachers within their first four years as an assistant-principal. Interviews also included one central-office cabinet member from three of the four districts and one teacher in each of the assistant-principals’ schools. Interviews were guided by research questions regarding motivation for successful teacher …

Utilizing Geographic Information Systems To Examine The Demographic And Socioeconomic Characteristics In Food Oasis And Food Desert In Wayne County, Mi, Arwa Hassan Almadan

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In the last few decades, the concept of a food desert has captured the attention of the public and academia. Research has referred to food desert as an area with lack of access to adequate healthy food, especially for those without a vehicle or who live more than ¼ mile walking distance from grocery stores. Although the food desert metaphor has been used in research in different disciplines such as regional planning and public health, this term has been used loosely without a precise definition and without identifying the factors that might impact it.

This research explores and examines the …

Case Study: Breastfeeding Facilitation And Initiation Within One Prison Nursery Program, Jessica Wallace

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Breastfeeding rates of incarcerated women in the U.S. are unknown. As the female prison population rises, little to no data exists on breastfeeding initiation within prison nursery programs. The purpose of this case study was to assess breastfeeding facilitation and initiation within one prison nursery program. An interview was conducted with a nursery program administrator from one of nine active prison nurseries here in the U.S. Constructs from the Social Cognitive Theory including reciprocal determination, facilitation, observational learning, and incentive motivation were assessed. Through an administrative perspective, the results provided a better understanding of prison nursery programs and shed light …

Gender Roles, Homophobia, And The Closet: Experiences Of Queer Women, Nicole M. Richards

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The culture in which a woman is a part of sets expectations based on their gender. This paper explores how the relationship between prescribed gender roles, internalized homophobia, and coming out of the closet are related. A focus group of seven women who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and queer was conducted. The findings suggest that gender roles do limit the way women view themselves, that religion is the largest contributor to internalized homophobia, and that gender expression changes throughout the coming out process as these queer women developed a stronger sense of their identity. Future research should include …

Refinement And Architecture In Early Ypsilanti, Lynda Mccarron

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this work is to examine refinement and architecture in nineteenth-century America with a focus on rural areas and Ypsilanti, Michigan in particular. The research utilized consists of an analysis of primary and secondary sources. Included among the primary sources are architectural style books such as those by Andrew Jackson Downing, pioneer writings such as those of Caroline Kirkland and Solon Robinson, historical buildings, and probate record inventories of Washtenaw County. Ypsilantians did not assume the genteel refinement that developed in the nineteenth century. They instead modified gentility to become a form of respectability that suited their needs. …

Using Trace Fossils To Determine The Role Of Oceanic Anoxic Event Ii On The Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway Paleoenvironment, Jacob Frederick Grosskopf

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Did well-oxygenated benthic conditions exist in all parts of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway (CWIS) during the deposition of Bed 63 at the onset Oceanic Anoxic Event II (OAE II), as suggested by findings from two cores from the central portion of the CWIS? This problem was approached by categorizing the bioturbation that is prevalent through Bed 63 into oxygen-related ichnofabrics (ORI) in order to describe benthic oxygen conditions. These data were collected from outcrop and core among seven different sites along West–East and North–South transects that traversed portions of the CWIS with differing depositional settings and proximities to the …

A Technology-Enhanced German Language Course: Effects Of Technology Implementation And Cross-Cultural Exchange On Students’ Language Skills, Perceptions And Cultural Awareness, Michael B. Dettinger

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study employed a within-group case study design using a mixed methods approach. In doing so, the researcher used a concurrent triangulation process during a one semester intermediate German language course. In addition to the textbook, the researcher implemented a Technology to Support German Language Enhancement (TSGLE) intervention. The TSGLE included use of the following Web 2.0 technologies: blogs, podcasts, online chat, and wiki, to create an environment of increased asynchronous and synchronous interaction. Additionally, students embarked on a cross-cultural, virtual exchange with university students from Germany by interacting through a blog, a collaborative video conference session, a German film …

Numerical Studies Of Liquid-Liquid Segmented Flows In Square Microchannels Using A Front-Tracking Algorithm, Eamonn Daire Walker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Liquid-liquid segmented flows in a square microchannel are investigated numerically using a hybrid front-tracking/front-capturing method. The code is found to be well-adapted to a large range of flow parameters, but droplet flows are limited by poor accuracy at Laplace number above 100 – 1000 and plug flows are limited by the code’s current inability to adequately model the flow in thin films at low capillary numbers. A Schwarz-Aitken acceleration technique is investigated as a means to reduce computation time, but is found not to be advantageous compared to the parallel multigrid formulation of the code. Numerical simulations are divided into …

Molecular Dynamics Simulation Of The Structure, Dynamics And Crystallization Of Ionic Liquids Under Confinement And Low Temperature, Xiaoxia He

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ionic liquids (ILs) have sparked widespread interest due to their peculiar properties and the resulting possibility of manifold applications. In this dissertation, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been used to elucidate the dynamics, structure and crystallization of ionic liquids in the bulk and confinement. First we studied the properties of the ILs [dmim+][Cl-] and [emim+][NTf2-] when they are confined inside nanomaterials such as CMK-3, CMK-5 and an isolated amorphous carbon nanopipe (ACNP). The results indicate that the ions of the ILs form different layers inside these nanomaterials and their dynamics are slower due to the confinement. We also found significant …

Regarding Suicide: A Textually Informed Rhetorical And Psychoanalytic Construct Of The State Of Disconstituency, Disconstitutive Rhetoric, And The Disconstituent As Related To The Constitutive Rhetorical Structure Of The Vanishing Subject, Charles Stowers Womelsdorf

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Suicide contagion is a real phenomenon. The stigmatization of suicide attempters, completers, survivors of suicide loss, and the idea of suicide itself is at least partly to blame for these outbreaks. Regarding suicide as an analyst, journalist, witness, responder, or bereaved family member or friend can be a devastating form of metaphorical and literal looking. Through a psychoanalytic understanding of constitutive rhetoric, this dissertation offers a textualized way of considering the difficult process of giving individuals who have completed suicide one’s regard. Beyond just suicide, this rhetoric of regard presents the disconstituent as the lost persona that withdraws from identification …

Evaluation Of Ammonia, Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Characterization Of Different Particulate Matter During Sugarcane Production In Southern Louisiana, Sanku Dattamudi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Application of N fertilizers and special land management practices during agricultural production could have significant implication in influencing the air quality. In this study, field experiments were established at different research sites in Louisiana to evaluate the emission of ammonia (NH3), greenhouse gases (GHG), and fine particulates from sugarcane cultivation and harvesting. Specifically, this study was planned to (i) evaluate the effect of different N sources (urea and urea ammonium nitrate) and residue management schemes (residue burned, RB; and residue retained, RR) on NH3 and GHG emissions, (ii) characterize the chemical and morphological characteristics of fine particles generated during sugarcane …

Mark Twain, James Thurber, And David Sedaris: American Literary Humorists, Liz Sills

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This analysis probes the unique nature of the American Literary Humorist by looking at three exemplary cases of this type of figure: Mark Twain, James Thurber, and David Sedaris. Rather than dissecting their works to the point that they become unfunny, this piece examines their interaction with the times and publics that form their audiences. Doing so allows us to better understand their resonance both during their own times and today and gives us a better look at what really makes them stand out in the history of American letters.