Digital Commons Network^™

Mental Health Professionals' Attitude And Perception Of Their Role In Tackling Substance Abuse And Related Disorders In Nigeria, Olubusayo Ruth Akinola

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental health professionals (MHPs) play a pivotal role in enhancing treatment outcomes for drug-using populations and minimizing their harm to the public. In response to a gap in the literature, this study sought to (a) assess MHPs' attitudes about the use and abuse of substances and their perception of their role in tackling substance abuse and related disorders in Nigeria, (b) identify predictors of perception, and (c) explore regional variations in attitude. Based on the validated drug and drug users' problems perception questionnaire and the substance abuse attitude survey, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in a randomized sample of 292 …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Women With Spinal Cord Injury Who Undergo Urinary Diversion Surgery, Sukhpinder K. Dhillon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Following spinal cord injury (SCI), bladder management is of primary importance. As an activity of daily living (ADL), it affects community integration and quality of life (QOL). Women with SCI have neurogenic bladders that require self-catheterization, but they are unable to catheterize the native urethra, thus making bladder management physically and emotionally challenging. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of women with SCI who undergo urinary diversion surgery for bladder management. Qualitative data were collected using semistructured interviews from 10 women with SCI after urinary diversion surgery for bladder management. Qualitative Nvivo analysis of interview data …

Reform Through A Student Lens: The Experience Of Latino A Students In An International Baccalaureate Diploma Program In Chicago, Sandra Arreguin

Dissertations

This dissertation is a study of Latinos participating in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in Chicago. Phenomenological interview techniques were used to explore the experiences and perceptions of Latino students in IB. By looking at Latino/a students separately the study captured the strengths, challenges, and needs unique to this group, which will inform the future of this rapidly growing curriculum reform effort.

Decision Making Of Building Level Administrators And Their Perceptions On Groupthink, Julie Ann Flitcraft

Dissertations

This research study examined how groupthink affects educational decision making for building level administrators by identifying the most prominent symptoms of groupthink and by exposing the characteristics that create an increase of vulnerability to groupthink.

Participants for this study included building level administrators of 25 public high schools in a Midwest suburban county. These volunteers completed a three part survey which addressed the central research questions for the study:

1) What perceptions do current building level administrators have about the shared system of belief within their institution?

2) Among the administrators that believe they were hired because they share the …

The Influence Of Nursing Home Administrator Turnover On Resident Quality Of Life, Juliet Iheoma Madubata

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

By 2040, 79.7 million older adults will live in the US, and nearly 40% will need nursing home services that are primarily funded by Medicare and Medicaid. Researchers have underscored the importance of leadership in quality healthcare care delivery, suggesting that nursing home administrator turnover could influence resident quality of life, causing ill-health for the residents and preventable medical costs for taxpayers. In spite of the suggested association, little research has specifically examined the role of administrator turnover on resident quality of life. As such, the purpose and central research questions of this case study were designed specifically to address …

Elementary (K-5) Teachers' Perceptions Of Differentiated Instruction, Christopher Maddox

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Differentiated instruction is a pedagogical method used by classroom teachers to enhance student learning. Researchers have described how students benefit from differentiated lessons, but have not explored the relationship between teachers' perceptions of differentiation and student success. This gap is problematic because teachers' instruction directly affects student achievement. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore how elementary (K-5) teachers define, familiarize, use, and perceive differentiation. The conceptual framework was rooted from a synthesis of ideas found in current refereed literature, and the educational concepts and constructionist theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. Purposeful sampling identified 12 participants for …

A Comparison Of Regional Health Care Structures For Emergency Preparedness, Leslie Porth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 2001, increased policy attention and federal funding mechanisms have required more effective disaster response by government actors and private sector organizations, including the health care system. However, there is limited scholarly evidence documenting which structural elements have been associated with efficacious regional coalitions. This study addressed the gap by examining whether the number of different participating disciplines (a proxy for coalition roles), community setting, and prior weather-related disaster declaration influenced the number of activities (a proxy for coalition responsibilities) conducted by the health care coalition. Social network theory was the theoretical lens with which the study results were used …

A Phenomenological Study Of Female Gender Inequality In The Defense Industry, Erica Helaine Woods

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite advances made during the women's movement, gender inequality is a problem for women seeking leadership opportunities within the U.S. Defense Industry today. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions of civilian females who had experienced gender inequality obstacles in their professional advancement opportunities within the U.S. Defense Industry. The mommy track framework, defined as the family/work imbalance; the gatekeeper framework; and the institutional sexism framework were used to guide this study. The research questions focused on how these women perceived both internal and external barriers to their professional advancement in the U.S. Defense Industry. A …

Marching Home: Union Veterans And Their Unending Civil War, Jared Peatman

Civil War Book Review

Returning Home Presented a Daunting Challenge for Civil War Veterans

Brian Matthew Jordan’s Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War is a fascinating new look into Civil War soldiers’ postwar adjustments to returning home. Jordan notes that what little work curren....

Geometric Morphometric Analysis Of Pan Frontal Bone Morphology, Allen J. Myhra

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

This study employs geometric morphometric methods to investigate the morphology and shape change of the frontal bone for Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus. Unlike previous work on the topic, this research analyzed morphology and ontogenetic shape change in a single bone of the cranium, namely the frontal bone. Frontal bone shape was compared between juvenile Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus and the ontogeny of the bone was assessed in Pan paniscus infants and juveniles. Analyses were performed on frontal bone morphology with and without the browridge in order to assess the morphology of the frontal apart from influences …

Sudden Death, Aortic Rupture In Horses, Literature Review, Case Studies Reported And Risk Factors, Abelardo Morales Briceño, Aniceto Mendez, Kimberly Brewer, Charlie Hughes, Thomas Tobin

Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center Faculty Publications

Sudden deaths of horses in multiple equestrian disciplines have been attributed to acute and chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to perform a review of aortic rupture in horses analyzing, case studies and assessing risk factors. The literature has reported a total of 137 cases of aortic rupture in horses for 28 years (1986-2014), with approximately five horses dying of aortic rupture per year. Histopathologically, there are observed discrete macroscopic degenerative changes in the intima layer only in the aorta. The histological evaluation in the beginning portion of the aorta of the heart evidenced degenerative …

Notices

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Landscapes Of Human Experience, Martin Seel

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Landscapes of Human Experience, PDF download. This essay begins with some observations concerning the interaction between nature and art. Relying on these reflections, in the second part experience of landscape will be interpreted as a model for the human stance within the natural as well as the historical world. In the third part some consequences for an ethics and politics of saving the conditions for individual as well as social well-being will be drawn.

Norms Of Cultivation, Kevin Melchionne

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In this paper I identify a new group of aesthetic norms, which I call norms of cultivation. Judgments of taste are often accompanied by forecasts or expectations about future aesthetic satisfaction. When we find something beautiful, we expect to find it beautiful in the future. Forecasting is at play in all sorts of aesthetically motivated behavior. Yet psychologists have observed an unreliability in such forecasts. As a result of forecasting error, what we take as our taste can be an unreliable guide in our aesthetic lives. Compensating for the unreliability of taste are norms of cultivation, implicit rules for engaging …

An Exploration Of Burnout In Individuals With Type D Personality, Carla A. Kelly

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There are numerous physical and mental health implications associated with burnout and Type D personality (TDP). TDP is defined by the presence of specific levels of both negative affectivity and social inhibition. The purpose of this research was to examine the severity and prevalence of burnout in working adults with TDP in comparison to those without TDP. Social cognitive theory was the theoretical foundation for this study. Online surveys were used to gather responses to the Type D Scale-14 (DS14), the standard for measure for assessing TDP, and the Burnout Measure, Short Version (BMS) from 333 participants. Quantitative analyses included …

Co-Location, Co-Location, Co-Location: Land Use And Housing Priorities Reimagined, Lee Anne Fennell

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

The Death Of Rules And Standards, Anthony Casey, Anthony Niblett

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

Scholars have examined the lawmakers’ choice between rules and standards for decades. This Article, however, explores the possibility of a new form of law that renders that choice unnecessary. Advances in technology (such as big data and artificial intelligence) will give rise to this new form—the microdirective—which will provide the benefits of both rules and standards without the costs of either.

Lawmakers will be able to use predictive and communication technologies to enact complex legislative goals that are translated by machines into a vast catalog of simple commands for all possible scenarios. When an individual citizen faces a legal choice, …

Unm Latin American & Iberian Institute, 2015-16 Annual Report, Office Of Academic Affairs

UNM HLC 2018-19 Assurance Argument Evidence

A 2015 report from the Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII), detailing its various services and programs. As stated in the About the LAII section of the report (pg. 6), the institute “was founded to coordinate Latin American programs on campus.” The report goes on to detail its outreach efforts among communities external to the university (pg. 8), its relationship to Latin American Studies (pg. 28), and other facets of the institution.

Individual And Organizational Influences On Fire Research Use By Fire Managers And Decision Makers In The Bureau Of Land Management, National Park Service And U.S. Forest Service, Vita Wright

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Federal interagency fire policy mandates that fire management plans and programs are based on a foundation of science and that science be transferred to managers in a timely manner. Ultimately, scientists and managers are collectively responsible for ensuring relevant research is developed, transferred and integrated into management. This study used social science theory and methods to understand perspectives about research by fire and fuels specialists and decision makers in the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and United States Forest Service. Applying the Technology Acceptance Model, these included beliefs about research usefulness, beliefs about the ease of using research, …

State Of Academic Affairs Report, Office Of Academic Affairs

UNM HLC 2018-19 Assurance Argument Evidence

A comprehensive overview of the Office for Academic Affairs covering the years 2013 through 2015 as it is described by the Faculty Hanbook policy A83 "Annual Reports." This includes reports on all 12 schools and colleges, and on all administrative units including Enrollment Management and GEO.

Improving Mechanical And Neuromuscular Deficits Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, Audrey Rose Campbell Elias

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite consistent resolution of knee laxity and return to physical activity following ACL reconstruction, a growing body of evidence implicates impaired weight acceptance strategies as frequent primary drivers in a host of poor long-term outcomes. Most egregiously, the majority of the people with ACL reconstruction will show radiographic evidence of knee osteoarthritis within 15 years of surgery. Abnormal compression of the knee joint due to impaired knee flexion during weight acceptance is exacerbated by a tendency toward concomitant co-contraction of the knee musculature. Despite a plethora of proposed training paradigms, performance deficits after ACL reconstruction prove particularly resistant to enduring …

Coevolution And Cospeciation In A Bark-Beetle Fungal Symbiosis, Ryan Russell Bracewell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Bark beetles in the genus Dendroctonus are some of the most important insects in forest ecosystems worldwide and are known to be involved in symbiotic relationships with fungi. However, we have a poor understanding of beetle-fungal coevolution and if the specificity we see in beetle-fungal relationships may translate to cospeciation over longer time frames. In this dissertation, I attempt to answer these questions by investigating the western pine beetle (Dendroctonus brevicomis)-fungal symbiosis, a beetle that consists of two putative cryptic species in the early stages of divergence on two susbspecies of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). In the first chapter, I …

Aerodynamics, Kinematics, And Ecology Of Slow Flight In Birds, Kristen Elizabeth Crandell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The overarching goal of my dissertation is to elucidate the force production mechanisms of slow flight in birds. Slow flight is extremely energetically costly per unit time, yet highly important for takeoff and survival in birds. However, at slow speeds it is presently thought that most birds do not produce beneficial aerodynamic forces during the entire wingbeat: instead, they fold or flex their wings during upstroke, prompting the long-standing prediction that the upstroke produces trivial forces. Here, I examined the kinematics, aerodynamics, skeletal drivers, and potential ecological influences of force production in flight. In chapter one, I establish that wings …

Estimation Of Historic Salmon Populations And Its Application To Contemporary Salmon Conservation, Nick Joseph Gayeski

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Populations of wild Pacific salmon and steelhead (Oncorhynchus sp.) in the eastern Pacific Rim have experienced significant declines in abundance and associated genetic and life history diversity over the course of the twentieth century (Nehlson et al 1991, Slaney et al 1996, Myers et al 1998, Lichatowich 1999). In the Pacific Northwest of the United States, declines in the abundance of most populations accelerated in the last two decades of the century and have continued into the first two decades of the twenty-first (Busby et al 1996, Myers et al. 1998, Good et al.2005, Hard et al. 2007, Ford et …

Social Impact Of Traumatic Brain Injury In Adolescents: A Mixed Methods Study With A Focus On Rural Adolescents, Brandon Jared Rennie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a serious public health concern in the United States. The least studied populations are those at the highest risk to sustain a TBI, specifically, youth, and especially those living in rural areas. Despite the documented negative impact on social outcomes and relative importance of social functioning in youth, research is sparse with regard to how various injury and non-injury factors interact to influence social outcomes and how best to assess this population for intervention planning and monitoring. Participants are four adolescents who have had TBIs of mild or moderate severity and their mothers (three …

It's A Small World: Biogeography And Invasion In The Mouse Intestine, Ellen Lark

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Host associated systems are of particular interest to many microbiologists because invasion of these systems can lead to disease. One important host-associated systems is the intestinal microbiome, but in many studies, including those on pathogenesis, this system is represented by samples from one location (generally the feces or cecum). This body of work was initiated in part because I wondered why a large and diverse ecosystem was being was being represented by samples from only one habitat.

The biogeography of living organisms has an impact on landscape ecology studies, including those in the field of invasion ecology. Despite several studies …

The Influence Of Pioneer Riparian Vegetation On River Processes From The Plant To Reach Scale, Sharon Verdawn Bywater-Reyes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Alluvial rivers have morphologies that are shaped to varying degrees by the character of the riparian vegetation they support. Floodplain vegetation produces bank cohesion, for example, which in turn is responsible for inducing river meandering that gives rise to in-channel bars suitable for pioneer vegetation recruitment. Once established, pioneer vegetation is inundated by channel-forming flows, where it interacts with flow and sediment transport processes. This dissertation quantifies interactions between in-channel pioneer vegetation, which is under-studied relative to floodplain vegetation, and river processes across spatial scales.

At the seedling scale, I link field experiments measuring woody riparian seedling uprooting forces to …

Factors Affecting Plant Responses To Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi And Soil Fungal Communities, Lauren Priestman Waller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are ancient mutualists that associate with the majority of plants. However, the factors that influence how much a plant benefits from AM fungi, or the factors that influence other root-associated fungi are unclear. I examined how plant traits related to nutrient availability can explain variation in AMresponsiveness and whether native species differ from exotics in these relationships. Leaf mass per unit of area (LMA) correlated positively with mycorrhizal growth responsiveness (MGR) and root colonization (RC) among native species. This indicates that native species with more conservative traits more strongly benefit, and benefit from, AM fungi. Furthermore, …

Influence Of Resonant And Non-Resonant Vibrational Excitation Of Ammonia Molecules In Gallium Nitride Synthesis, Hossein Rabiee Golgir, Yunshen Zhou, Kamran Keramatnejad, Yongfeng Lu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Attempts on the selective promotion of gallium nitride (GaN) growth were investigated by deploying laserassisted vibrational excitation of reactant molecules, which deposits energy selectively into specific molecules and activate the molecules towards the selected reaction pathways. Laser-assisted metal organic chemical vapor deposition (LMOCVD) of GaN was studied using a wavelength-tunable CO2 laser. The NH-wagging modes (υ2) of ammonia (NH3) precursor molecules are strongly infrared active and perfectly match the emission line of the CO2 laser at 9.219, 10.350, and 10.719 μm. On- and off-resonance excitations of molecules were performed via tuning the incident laser wavelengths at on-resonant wavelength 9.219 μm …

An Investigation Of The Impact Of Ipad Usage On Elementary Mathematical Skills And Attitudes, Grant Patrick Swicegood

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Currently, many schools are implementing one-to-one initiatives, where the goal is to give every student in a classroom a tablet or laptop computer. However, there is a dearth of research backing up the assumption that they significantly improve student learning. This study explored the effects of these new instructional devices by focusing on two second-grade classrooms implementing a one-to-one iPad program. Specifically, it investigated how iPad usage affects student and teacher attitudes toward mathematics, student mathematics performance in and out of app environments, the instructional purposes for which iPads are used in the classroom, and implementation issues of the technology. …