Digital Commons Network^™

High School Seniors' Educational Experience Lnfluencing The Decision To Pursue A Career In Nursing, Ryan L. Rowe

Dissertations

Many high school students interested in nursing as an occupation choose to engage in a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program and subsequently progress through the exploration stage of Super’s Career Development Theory in a succinct, deliberate, and intentional manner. While CTE continues to serve as an educational option for many high school students interested in nursing, its value as a means for students to crystallize, specify, and implement the choice to pursue the high-wage, high-skill, and high-demand career of nursing is not understood to the extent possible. CTE is regularly overlooked as a viable educational option by high school …

High Performance Computing Techniques For Analyzing Risky Decision Making, Vinay B. Gavirangaswamy

Dissertations

The process or activity of making choices when subject to gain or loss can be understood as risky decision making (RDM). Risky Decisions consists of outcomes of decisions that may probabilistically result in unfavorable results. Every organism that lives faces this challenge and recent research suggests that there is a computational process involved in making these decisions. This has led to new approaches in the study of RDM. My dissertation is towards contributing to expand on the existing knowledge of RDM processes.

The core contribution of my work is an analysis and development of high performance computing techniques that improves …

The Effectiveness Of Using Leadership Practice Lnventory (Lpl 360) Feedback On Leaders' Lnsight Into Their Leadership Behaviors In Higher Education, Abdulrahman S. Alajlan

Dissertations

One of the most popular 360-feedback processes for leadership development is the Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI 360). According to the Leadership Challenge website the LPI tool has been translated into six languages. In addition, it has been implemented in a variety of organizations around the world and there are about 500 studies that have been built around it. However, the popularity of the LPI 360-feedback is not enough reason for it to be adopted for higher education without assurance that it aligns with a higher education organization’s specific vision and goals. After reviewing approximately 153 LPI studies across 766 databases …

Research Based Interventions For Students Struggling With Oral Reading Fluency And Accuracy, Jamie Wredt

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Being able to read proficiently is a key skill that students must learn to be successful in school as well as being able to function in society. Three of the main interventions to help students reach proficiency in reading are repeated reading, listening passage preview, and error correction. Each intervention has been shown to provide some benefit to students who struggle with reading when done independently or combined with repeated reading. However, the current literature on repeated reading, listening passage preview, and error correction is sparse when comparing the three against each other. The current study examined repeated reading, listening …

A Voice For One, Or A Voice For The People: Balancing Prosecutorial Speech Protections With Community Trust, Immanuel Kim

Fordham Law Review

Prosecutors, as representatives of the public in the criminal justice system, are the sole advocates for “the People” in a criminal case. Thus, prosecutors are expected to maintain a particular level of integrity that would ensure a fair and just representation of the People. Despite this expectation, the wide discretionary authority prosecutors hold makes it virtually impossible to regulate their conduct. Furthermore, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects many expressions of viewpoints, and such protections extend—albeit to a limited degree—to prosecutors, thereby giving them even more discretion in how they decide to handle their own cases. Nonetheless, the …

The Influence Of Walking Speed On Hip Muscle Activity And Lumbopelvic Movement, Kate Tarver

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Prolonged standing induces low back pain (LBP) in at least 50% of study participants. It is hypothesized that people who develop LBP during standing have high gluteus medius co-activation; however, there is no research on how interventions, such as intermittent walking breaks, influence co-contraction. PURPOSE: Examine the effects of different walking speeds on gluteus medius co-contraction. METHODS: Four males and three females (mean age=22.5) have participated in this study. The exclusion criterion includes any previous low back or hip injury, surgery and an allergy to rubbing alcohol. Electromyography (EMG) of bilateral gluteus medius were recorded during a baseline standing trial …

The Effect Of Interaction With Therapy Horses On University Students' Perceived Stress Level, Alexa Chapman

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research project investigates how university students are affected by interacting with therapy horses. Stress is the factor that will be evaluated in this particular study. The self-rated stress scores will be acquired from University of Arkansas students both before and after interacting with specially trained therapy horses during an Equine Assisted Activity and Therapy (EAAT) class offered at the University. Stress will be evaluated by students taking a survey inquiring about daily stressors including finances, school, work and relationships. The data collected will be compared by pre- and post- interactions with the horses. We expect that the pre- and …

Criminal Justice Majors: Are They Tougher On Crime?, Anthony Javornik

Honors College Theses

The United States of America incarcerates more individuals than any other nation in the world. Therefore, the United States has one of the most active correctional systems and it is imperative to examine the system thoroughly. Generally speaking, there have been 3 accepted models of the correctional system since the 1940’s: custodial, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Although it is possible to find institutions that subscribe to each of these models respectively, the custodial model is the most common in the United States. Therefore, this study seeks to examine college students’ perception of crime, in order to help explain why the general …

The Mountains Are Calling, Alexis Brianne Collins

Honors College Theses

Mark Knapp’s Relationship Model in Communication Studies attempts to limit human relationships to a specific, linear array of stages and categories. This research project attempts to critique the rigidity of Knapp’s model, while simultaneously attempting to posit film as an incredibly influential tool (if not an alternative model entirely) for communication both diegetically – within the realm of the film – and in conversation with an audience. The silent nature of the creative filmed portion of this project is in direct opposition to Knapp’s model, which inadvertently roots human relationships in language.

The Impact Of Economic Recession On The Health Of Adult Nevadans, Ariana Goertz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Recessions are generally considered to cause negative consequences, but recent studies have provided evidence that some health outcomes improve as the economy deteriorates. The relationship between economic downfalls and health is not straightforward; it is important to look at how health has been impacted in one of the areas hit hardest by the recession. Las Vegas, Nevada was previously considered recession-proof, seemingly unaffected by previous economic downturns exhibited by the rest of the country. However, during the Great Recession of 2007-2009, Las Vegas led the country in highest rates of unemployment and foreclosures. This was quite a collapse for a …

Using Two Simulation Tools To Teach Concepts In Introductory Astronomy: A Design-Based Research Approach, Pamela A. Maher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Technology in college classrooms has gone from being an enhancement to the learning experience to being something expected by both instructors and students. This design-based research investigation takes technology one step further, putting the tools used to teach directly in the hands of students. The study examined the affordances and constraints of two simulation tools for use in introductory astronomy courses. The variety of experiences participants had using two tools; a virtual reality headset and fulldome immersive planetarium simulation, to manipulate a lunar surface flyby were identified using a multi-method research approach with N = 67 participants. Participants were recruited …

Teaching Students Who Have Difficulty Mastering Lmitation, Jennifer Mrljak

Dissertations

Some children with autism are unable to acquire imitation despite receiving early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) meant to teach that and other important skills. Many EIBI programs use physical-prompting hierarchies either as a component of the discriminative stimulus or the correction procedure following an error (Lovaas, 1981; Maurice, Green, & Luce, 1996). But even after lengthy exposure to these teaching techniques, some children still do not acquire imitative repertoires. In the present study, working with students who were not acquiring imitative repertoires, we started with shaping the initial imitative responses as a method to gain stimulus control and then introduced …

Acute Effects Of The Training Mask On Short-Term Recovery During Rowing Intervals, Hayden W. Hess

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of the Training Mask 2.0 (TM) on performance (m), blood lactate, heart rate recovery (HRR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (Q̇), heart rate variability (HRV), and breath rate recovery (BRR) when used during short-term recovery. Methods: Seven trained males completed two interval training conditions (TM and Sham TM). Each condition consisted of five, 1-min, max effort rows with 3-min recoveries. The TM (or Sham TM) was worn during each 3-min recovery. A repeated measures 2x5 (condition x interval) ANOVA was used to determine significant main effects for condition or …

Form, Function, And Relevance Of Contemporary Language Resource Centers, Paul L. Sebastian

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation was conducted in order to better understand the interplay between form, function, and relevance regarding contemporary language resource centers (LRCs). Five language centers housed by four different institutions of higher education in the western region of the United States were examined. Two representatives from each of the five centers were interviewed either in-person or over the phone (N = 10). Data were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews, on-site visits, and research journal entries. The data were analyzed using a flexible combination of multi-level qualitative coding, descriptive statistics, and narrative analysis. This study confirms recent findings …

Proportional Reversed Hazard Rate Models With Exponential Baseline, G. Barmalzan, H. Saboori

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The proportional hazard regression models have been used extensively in survival analysis to understand and exploit the relationship between survival time and covariates. For left censored survival times, reversed hazard rate functions are more appropriate. In this paper, we discuss a parametric proportional reversed hazard rates model using exponential baseline. The estimation for the parameters are discussed. We also assess the performance of the proposed procedure based on a large number of Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, we illustrate the proposed method using a real case example and then we show that it provides a good and better fit than the …

Patients With Dementia Are Easy Victims To Predators, Ronald C. Hamdy, J. V. Lewis, Rebecca Copeland, Audrey Depelteau, Amber E. Kinser, T. Kendall-Wilson, Kathleen Whalen

ETSU Faculty Works

Patients with dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease and particularly those in early stages, are susceptible to become victims of predators: Their agnosia (see Case 1) prevents them from detecting and accurately interpreting subtle signals that otherwise would have alerted them that they are about to fall for a scam. Furthermore, their judgment is impaired very early in the disease process, often before other symptoms manifest themselves and usually before a diagnosis is made. Patients with early stages of dementia are therefore prime targets for unscrupulous predators, and it behooves caregivers and health care professionals to ensure the integrity of these patients. …

Antidepressant-Like Actions Of Inhibitors Of Poly(Adp-Ribose) Polymerase In Rodent Models, Gregory A. Ordway, Attila Szebeni, Liza J. Hernandez, Jessica D. Crawford, Katalin Szebeni, Michelle J. Chandley, Katherine C. Burgess, Corwin Miller, Erol Bakkalbasi, Russell W. Brown

ETSU Faculty Works

Many patients suffering from depressive disorders are refractory to treatment with currently available antidepressant medications, while many more exhibit only a partial response. These factors drive research to discover new pharmacological approaches to treat depression. Numerous studies demonstrate evidence of inflammation and elevated oxidative stress in major depression. Recently, major depression has been shown to be associated with elevated levels of DNA oxidation in brain cells, accompanied by increased gene expression of the nuclear base excision repair enzyme, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1. Given these findings and evidence that drugs that inhibit poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 activity have antiinflammatory and neuroprotective properties, the present study …

Editorial, Cheryl Sterling

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

In thinking about this volume, questions that come to light are: how does transnationalism redefine aspects of feminist engagement, cultural forms, political causes, (hetero)patriarchal discourses and issues of sexuality and sexual difference? Conceptually, theoretically, and pragmatically, what is the potentiality and trajectory of the literary voices and creativity of African and African Diasporic women writers and artists in their trans-portation, transformation, incorporation, and dissemination as subjects within this movement, who authorize its formative constructs, indexical lens, and its range of permutations? Following the logic of such inquiries, transnationalism trajectory alongside postmodernity constitutes an important underlying rubric of the engagement with …

Bastardly Duppies & Dastardly Dykes: Queer Sexuality And The Supernatural In Michelle Cliff’S Abeng And Shani Mootoo’S Cereus Blooms At Night, Rahul K. Gairola

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This paper explores the ways in which the "duppy," or malevolent spirit, circulates the fictive landscape of the queer novels of Michelle Cliff and Shani Mootoo. I explore the ways in which the unhappy ghost is a figure which comments on the sexual pathology of postcolonial queerness in the Caribbean. I focus on the characters of Clare in "Abeng" and Mala in "Cereus Blooms at Night" in a bid to elucidate the ways that Caribbean lesbianism invokes, on the one hand, what M. Jacqui Alexander calls "erotic autonomy as a form of decolonization politics" in the material eroticism of women …

Rupturing The Genre: Un-Writing Silence In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’S Americanah, Felix Mutunga Ndaka

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This paper examines Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah (2013) and it’s troubling of the silencing and policing of black female migrants. Focusing on the salon/hairdressers and Ifemelu’s blog, I argue that the former represents an intimate and politicized narrative space whose production and habitation invites us to engage with migrant/feminine interactions and non-normative feminine aesthetics. In addition, I read the virtual site of Ifemelu’s blog as a space that transcends the circumscribed nature of interracial relations and dialogues. By portraying these spaces’ cultivation of heterogeneity and polyvocality, Adichie’s text advances an alternative politics of inhabiting racially and patriarchally hierarchized foreign spaces.

Dutch Caribbean Women’S Literary Thought: Activism Through Linguistic And Cosmopolitan Multiplicity, Florencia V. Cornet

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

In a select group of works by late 20th and early 21 st century Curaçaoan women novelists and poets such as Nydia Ecury (1926- 2012), Diana Lebacs (b.1947), Myra Römer (b.1946), Aliefka Bijlsma (b.1971), and Mishenu Osepa-Cicilia (b.1978), we see through what is often an autobiographical subjectivity, a “transnational collective plurality and difference” that describes the empowering physical and psychological possibilities that come with cross-national travel, immigration, cosmopolitanism, and linguistic multiplicity. This paper will present the politics of Curaçaoan-Dutch Caribbean women’s cosmopolitanism and linguistic multiplicity as transformative tools for personal and collective agency and activism for autonomy.

How We Close The Gaps: Our Interprofessional Team Approach To Meeting Quality Measures, Peter Blockhurst, William Buselmeier, Mckenzie Calhoun, Paige Gilbert-Green, Jesse Gilbreath, Erin Harris, Amy Lawrence

ETSU Faculty Works

• Define the role/function of an interprofessional team in the management of complex outpatients.
• Identify the types of patients that would benefit most from a team-based approach.
• Implement elements of our team-based patient care model into individual practices.

Validation Of The Short Recovery Stress Scale Questionnaire During Women’S Volleyball In-Season Training, Asher Flynn, Joseph Walters, Henry Lang, Alec Perkins, Jacob Goodin, Caleb D. Bazyler

ETSU Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

A Key To Success In Healthcare Education: Getting Stakeholder Commitment, Linda Parry Carney

General Submissions: Presentations (Oral and Poster)

A large teaching hospital in the Middle Atlantic United States has been working to improve outcomes related to falls, delirium, pressure ulcers and length of stay. One contributor to all of these concerns is a lack of mobility of patients. Nursing staff relied on physician orders and physical therapy to get patients moving. An Advanced Practice Nurse developed an evidence-based nurse driven protocol for nurses to take the initiative to get patients moving. A team of Nursing Professional Development (NPD) practitioners met to discuss the knowledge gap and the best way to close this gap. This group determined much more …

Utilization Of Care By Infants With Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome In Delaware, Michele K. Savin, Dnp, Aprn, Nnp-Bc

College of Nursing Posters

Introduction: There is little information regarding use of expected well care by infants diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) post initial discharge. We describe expected and unexpected utilization of care by infants with NAS in the first year of life.

Methods: A de-identified State of Delaware Medicaid data set was obtained. Included were all infants with an ICD-9 code for NAS from 01/01/2012-12/31/2014. All associated medical claims were extracted for one year after birth. Utilization rates of primary care, immunizations, urgent or emergency care, and re-hospitalization were quantified.

Results: 499 of 522 babies were able to be fully analyzed. The …

Star Wars: Application Of The Economic Substance Doctrine To Foreign Tax Credits, And What The Future Holds, Rebecca Rosenberg

University of Dayton Law Review

No abstract provided.

Graph Analytics Methods In Feature Engineering, Theophilus Siameh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High-dimensional data sets can be difficult to visualize and analyze, while data in low-dimensional space tend to be more accessible. In order to aid visualization of the underlying structure of a dataset, the dimension of the dataset is reduced. The simplest approach to accomplish this task of dimensionality reduction is by a random projection of the data. Even though this approach allows some degree of visualization of the underlying structure, it is possible to lose more interesting underlying structure within the data. In order to address this concern, various supervised and unsupervised linear dimensionality reduction algorithms have been designed, such …

Association Between Latent Toxoplasma Gondii Infection And Alzheimer's Disease, Cynthia Elizabeth Wyman

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Many studies have found an association between Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity and behavioral and cognitive changes in animal models and in humans. In addition, early findings have suggested an association between T. gondii seropositivity and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We sought to determine whether there is an association between T. gondii seropositivity and AD as well as cognitive functioning (including memory, working memory, processing speed, language functioning, executive functioning) in a large, well-characterized sample of subjects with AD and matched controls without dementia. Method: Using ELISA assays, we determined anti-T. gondii IgG antibody titers in 114 control subjects and in 105 …

Quantitative Morphological Classification Of Planetary Craterforms Using Multivariate Methods Of Outline-Based Shape Analysis, Thomas Joseph Slezak

Theses and Dissertations

Craters formed by impact and volcanic processes are among the most fundamental planetary landforms. This study examines the morphology of diverse craterforms on Io, the Moon, Mars, and Earth using quantitative, outline-based shape analysis and multivariate statistical methods to evaluate the differences between different types of. Ultimately, this should help establish relationships between the form and origin of craterforms. Developed in the field of geometric morphometrics by paleontological and biological sciences communities, these methods were used for the analysis of the shapes of crater outlines. The shapes of terrestrial ash-flow calderas, terrestrial basaltic shield calderas, martian calderas, Ionian paterae, and …

An Examination Of The Factor Structure Of The Trauma Inventory For Partners Of Sex Addicts (Tipsa), Heidi A. Vogeler

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the underlying latent factor structure of the Trauma Inventory for Partners of Sex Addicts (TIPSA), a 53-item assessment designed to assess for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the context of sexual addiction. It was theorized that the factor structure mirrored the 5 core criteria for PTSD as constituted in DSM-5. Data were gathered from 3,199 self-selected respondents (ages 21 to 55) who completed an online version of the TIPSA. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed utilizing Mplus in order to confirm the hypothesized factor structure of the TIPSA. Several modifications were …