Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Walnuts On Blood Pressure In A Small Convenience Sample Of African Americans In Mississippi, Camille N. Barnes

Theses and Dissertations

Hypertension is the cause of about 7.5 million deaths per year, globally. More than 40% of African Americans are diagnosed with hypertension. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of walnut consumption on blood pressure in a small convenience sample of African Americans in Mississippi. Fifty subjects participated in the study. Blood pressure was measured once a week for three weeks prior to the initiation of the intervention for a baseline data of the subjects’ normal blood pressure. During the 6-week intervention, the participants consumed a package of walnuts, daily. Blood pressure was measured weekly. The results …

Implementation And Evaluation Of A School-Based Anti-Tobacco Program In Mauritius: A Pilot Study To Assess The Usefulness And Reliability Of A Tobacco Use Prevention Education Instrument, Shariah Hussenbocus

Theses and Dissertations

Tobacco use among Mauritian adolescents has increased steadily since 2008. Currently, Mauritius has not implemented any school-based anti-tobacco program and there is no instrument to assess the effectiveness of existing anti-tobacco school policies. Since the first cigarette can rapidly lead to nicotine dependence, targeted interventions must be assessed before established patterns of smoking appear. This study evaluated a tobacco use prevention education instrument to determine the effectiveness of a school-based anti-tobacco program. 26 male students completed a survey before and after receiving anti-tobacco lessons. Smoking initiation age could not predict likelihood of tobacco addiction (r(12)=0.320, p=0.311). However, after receiving the …

Influence Of Winter Annual Cover Crops And Insect Management Strategies On Insect Pests Of Mississippi Soybean, Daniel Adam Whalen

Theses and Dissertations

An increasing cultural practice in soybean, Glycine max (L.), production is the use of winter annual cover crops before planting. Species of grasses, legumes, and forbs are planted for many agronomic purposes during the fall months. In the spring, cover crops are killed and soybean planted into the residue. When the termination of the cover crops is delayed for longer lasting benefits, insect pest issues can arise. The movement of insect pests from cover crops to subsequent cash crops happens through a connection known as the “Green Bridge”. Pests found in cover crops such as the pea leaf weevil, Sitona …

An "[Un]Readiness To Be Touched": The Critique Of Sentimentalism In Sensation Fiction, Rachel Vernell Wolfe

Theses and Dissertations

Early sensation novels such as Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White, Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret, and Ellen Wood’s East Lynne use the eighteenth-century notion of sentiment in very distinct manners. These novels demonstrate a perspective in transition regarding sentimentality in how they apply sentimental qualities to very specific character types. Some characters are extremely sentimental, whereas others appear completely void of emotion and are even described as automata. These sensation novels even feature sentimental journeys and objects, as well as allusions to sentimental novels such as Laurence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey and Henry Mackenzie’s Man of Feeling. The …

System Dynamics Model Of Necrotic Enteritis And Its Predisposing Factors In Broilers, Yu-Bin Chou

Theses and Dissertations

Necrotic enteritis (NE) caused by Clostridium perfringens type A is an important bacterial enteric disease of global broiler production. However, the dynamic interactions of NE and its predisposing factors are not fully presented by current studies. By using the System Dynamics (SD) Model, the epidemiological changes in susceptible-infected-removed models of NE and avian coccidiosis and their interactions in one or multiple grow-out cycles was established; meanwhile, the growth performance was measured by the average weights of infected and non-infected populations at harvest were estimated. The SD model provided direct and persuasive outcomes of the epidemiology and ecology of NE compared …

Testament To Home: Using The Cultural Landscape Report For Conserving Historic House Grounds, Sylvia Rody Mclaurin

Theses and Dissertations

The cultural landscape report (CLR) is a document commissioned by historic sites for the purpose of confirming an historic landscape’s significance and integrity, assessing its defining characteristics, evaluating the condition of its features, and recommending present and future landscape treatments. In this study of six publicly owned historic home grounds in the Deep South, the contents and format of the respective CLR’s are reviewed and site directors interviewed to determine their use of the CLR for their sites. While CLR’s are valuable especially to support bids for funding and other appropriations, directors indicate needs not readily met by their respective …

The Differences In Stress Levels For African-Americans Working In Technical Based Occupations And Non-Technical Based Occupations In Mississippi, Michelene Piege Brock

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any differences in stress levels for African-Americans working in technical and non-technical based occupations. In order to adequately address the differences in stress levels for African-Americans, this study examined the data from an existing study called the Jackson Heart Study. Based on the weekly stress of individuals when performing their occupations, information and data were collected from 3 questionnaires that were correlated with stress and occupations of African-Americans in Mississippi. These questionnaires were the Household Enumeration Form, Personal Data and Socioeconomic Form, and the Stress Form. The research design …

The Effect Of Bacterial Supplementation On Black Soldier Fly Larval Growth And Development, Emilia Marjatta Kooienga

Theses and Dissertations

With a growing human population, food insecurity is becoming a worldwide problem. As the search for sustainable sources of protein continues, black soldier fly larvae come to the forefront as a partial solution. Full of proteins and fats, the larvae will consume most organic matter and rapidly develop into a usable form. Supplementing black soldier fly larvae with oleaginous microbes Arthrobacter AK19 and Rhodococcus rhodochrous increases their body size by 25%, potentially accelerates their development by one day, and increases their conversion efficiency. Supplementing with Bifidobacterium breve decreased body size, slowed development, and decreased conversion efficiency, underscoring the importance of …

The Effect Of The Degree Of Centralization Of Control Of Community Colleges On Core Indicators Of Performance Of The Carl Perkins Act, Jake Michel

Theses and Dissertations

This research study was designed to help illuminate if there is a relationship between the quality of career and technical education programs from centralized and decentralized-controlled systems in relation to the level of authority exerted by state governing/coordinating boards over the community college system. This study included data from the 50 states that are part of the United States of America. This study used a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent design. This study did not include randomly selected groups and was a nonequivalent control group design. The independent variables included: centralized or decentralized governance, median household income, the percent of community colleges that …

Microbial Succession From A Controlled Death Event Following Simulated Mass Mortality, Lindsay K. Harrison

Theses and Dissertations

An increasing trend in mass mortality events (MMEs) has been observed in recent years, leading to an increased study of these events and their causes. Still to be investigated are the immediate and long-term effects of these environmental disturbances. Microbial communities found on and within the carcass are a major contributor to decomposition. With an increased biomass from several carcasses, transfer of these microbes to secondary death events may be affected. For this project, several simulated MMEs were used in conjunction with a secondary death event to observe the effects of transfer between the microbial communities and changes in the …

Transcriptomic Analysis Of Early B-Cell Development In The Chicken Embryo, Nikhil Krishna Nuthalapati

Theses and Dissertations

The chicken bursa of Fabricius is a primary lymphoid tissue important for B-cell development. Our long-term goal is to understand the role of bursal microenvironment in an early B-cell differentiation event initiating repertoire development through immunoglobulin gene-conversion in the chick embryo. We hypothesize that early bursal B-cell differentiation is guided by signals through cytokine receptors. Our theory is based on previous evidence for expression of the receptor tyrosine kinase superfamily members and interleukin receptors in unseparated populations of bursal B-cells and bursal tissue. Knowledge of the expressed genes that are responsible for B-cell differentiation is a prerequisite for understanding the …

Using Geospatial Techniques To Assess Responses Of Black Bear Populations To Anthropogenically Modified Landscapes: Conflict & Recolonization, Jamie Elizabeth Mcfadden

Theses and Dissertations

The convergence of three young scientific disciplines (ecology, geospatial sciences, and remote sensing) has generated unique advancements in wildlife research by connecting ecological data with remote sensing data through the application of geospatial techniques. Ecological datasets may contain spatial and sampling biases. By using geospatial techniques, datasets may be useful in revealing landscape scale (e.g., statewide) trends for wildlife populations, such as population recovery and human-wildlife interactions. Specifically, black bear populations across North America vary greatly in their degree of distribution stability. The black bear population in Michigan may be considered stable or secure, whereas the population in Missouri is …

Who Does It Best? Towards Understanding Virtual Accountability Practices In Public, Nonprofit And Private Organizations, Asya Besova Cooley

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this dissertation is to comparatively review virtual accountability practices in public, private and nonprofit organizations, using the hospital industry as a case of analysis. Through the quantitative assessment of organizational websites, this study provides empirical evidence that there are statistically significant differences in how organizations conduct their virtual accountability practices. Nonprofits are leading the way in their overall virtual accountability practices. They are more likely to score higher on engagement, performance and mission dimensions of virtual accountability practices. Private organizations have the lowest scores on every dimension, except for accessibility. Public organizations have the strongest scores …

Developing A Short-Form Measure To Predict Illicit Use Of Prescription Stimulants, Joanna C. Hachtel

Theses and Dissertations

Research relating to illicit use of prescription stimulants (IUPS) has, for the most part, focused on describing behaviors of IUPS. However, there have been few attempts to measure IUPS in a consistent manner or determine how to best predict IUPS in an effective and concise manner. Data from Mississippi State University undergraduates (N = 703) were analyzed to create two shortorm measures to predict lifetime IUPS. The data-driven shortorm consisted of 15 items and 5 factors, and accurately classified 74.8% of participants as users versus non-users. The hand-picked shortorm consisted of 8 items and 5 factors, and accurately classified 84.6% …

Making A Decision To Retreat, Relate, Or Retaliate: An Examination Of Theoretical Predictors Of Behavioral Responses To Bullying In A High School Setting, Megan Suzanne Stubbs-Richardson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to extend General Strain Theory (GST) to examine prosocial, asocial, and antisocial behavior in response to bullying. In GST, Agnew (1992; 2001; 2013) asserted that negative emotions can lead to criminal or aggressive coping but there are a number of factors that increase or decrease the propensity to respond aggressively (Agnew, 1992; Richman & Leary, 2009). In this dissertation, I examine whether and how rejection (operationalized as bullying victimization) is associated with aggressive responding as opposed to prosocial (e.g., befriending others) or asocial (e.g., avoiding people and social events) responding. This dissertation consists of …

Anxiety, A Growing Social Problem: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Adela Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety disorders as a stand-alone diagnosis are not recognized as a treatable mental health issue within the social services mental health realm. There are mixed results regarding if anxiety disorders are linked to suicide ideation and suicide attempts. The aim of this systematic review was to discover if there is a link between anxiety disorders and suicide ideation and suicide attempts within the current literature. All anxiety disorders were looked at, except for selective mutism and separation anxiety disorder due to these both typically only affecting those in very young childhood. The rest of the anxiety disorders affect those from …

The Effects Of Social Proof Through Social Media On Perceptions Of Responsibility, Taylor Powers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Situational crisis communication theory, also referred to as SCCT, is a central and very well-developed theory in the field of crisis communication. The goal of SCCT is to create a response strategy based on stakeholders’ levels of attributions of responsibility. SCCT states there are two main factors stakeholders take into consideration when attributing responsibility to an organization in crisis: crisis type and performance history. While the previously stated factors are very important, the progressive development of social media is not taken into consideration in this theory, specifically the use of social proof through social media channels. According to the principle …

Is There Hope For Teacher Burnout?, Ami Houston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The nation’s educational system is faced with an ongoing issue as teachers are choosing to leave the profession in staggering numbers. Teacher attrition affects not only teachers who have already left the field and those currently still in it but also those who would potentially enter the teacher pipeline and students in the care of these teachers. While several factors are at fault for this phenomenon, one of the most pressing contributors to teacher attrition is teacher burnout, as teachers are exposed to exhaustion, cynicism, and decreasing self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between the dimensions …

Evidence-Based Curriculum And Its Impact On Risky Behaviors And Stress Among Hispanic College Students, Marivic B. Torregosa, Marcus Antonius Ynalvez, Christopher Craddock, Nandita Chaudhuri, David Cabrera, Maria Del Rosaro Benavides, Dora Maria Ramirez

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

To present the results of an evidence-based intervention on the risky behaviors and perceived stress among young Hispanic residents in a US southern border city.

Short Sleep Duration And Obesity Among Children: A Meta-Analysis, Katherine Faye Real Villar

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

This meta-analytical study examined whether there is an association between lesser sleep duration and risk of childhood obesity and to determine which gender is more common in childhood obesity.

Pain And Quality Of Life Of Chinese Patients With Lumbar Spine Degenerative Diseases, Shu-Fen Su, Meng-Shan Wu

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

1.The prevalence of LDD is commonly in the Chinese patients who were female, employed as laborer, suffered from pre-surgery back and legs pain, and had hypertension.

2.LDD patients had suffered from high levels of pain intensity and poor quality of life before they came to doctors for lumbar spine surgery.

Screening For Latent Tuberculosis Infection By Tuberculin Skin Test Among Nursing Students In Thailand, Amporn Thiengtrondee

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

One-third of the world's population is infected with Tuberculosis. Healthcare workers are high risk group to infect with TB. Moreover, the progression from LTBI to active TB is between five to 10 percent during five years. An LTBI screening is a benefit for early diagnosis and end epidemic of TB.

Disparities And Factors Associated With Unmet Needs In Families Of Children With Special Healthcare Needs, Kim E. Whitmore

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

One in five US households has a child with a special healthcare need. Quality medical and supportive services can help facilitate family self-management, yet little is known about why these needs are often unmet. This study examines racial disparities and factors associated with different levels of unmet needs.

Age, Arrhythmia Perception, And Knowledge As Predictors Of Self-Care Ability In Patients With Permanent Pacemakers, Shu-Fen Su, Meng-Shan Wu

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

1. Five predictors, age, self-care knowledge, arrhythmias perception, duration of pacemaker implantation, and frequency of PPM, explained 48.7% of the variance in self-care ability. 2.The older the pacemaker patients, the less self-care ability they had. We suggest that clinical nurses should provide proper teaching of pacemaker care before patients discharge.

Predicting Knowledge Sharing Behaviour Among Non-Academic Staff In University Of Ibadan, Nigeria, Samuel Oluranti Oladipupo, Titilade Hafsat Abdulrahman Mrs

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Knowledge sharing in higher institution of learning such as Universities is important to improved productivity. The purpose of this study is to analyse psychological motivations underlying non-academic staff’ knowledge sharing behaviour (KSB) in University of Ibadan using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). A questionnaire survey was conducted among non-academic staff from 13 faculties in the University of Ibadan. A total of 276 usable questionnaires were collected. Multiple regression analysis is applied to test the research model and hypotheses. Findings from the study revealed that non-academic staff’ knowledge sharing intention is significantly influenced by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural …

Sufficient Dimension Reduction: Sliced Inverse Regression And Fourier Transform Approach, Jiaying Weng

Science Seminars

The big data era poses great challenges as well as opportunities for researchers to develop efficient statistical approaches to analyze massive data. Sufficient dimension reduction (SDR) is such an important tool in modern data analysis and has received extensive attention in both academia and industry. This talk will introduce the SDR approach and discuss an application to health insurance coverage based on the US Census Bureau’s 2015 Planning Database.

The flyer for the event can be downloaded by clicking on the blue download button.

The Effect Of Disfluency On The Framing Effect, Jon P. Baldwin, Haley M. Newton, Matthew E. Davis

Journal of Counseling and Psychology

This study investigated the framing effect and examined whether disfluency reduces susceptibility to framing. Prior work has shown that when information is presented in a fluent manner individuals process the content quickly, however when it is presented in a disfluent hard-to-read manner more analytical processing systems are activated. The current study examined the impact of fluency and dual process theory on framing susceptibility. Participants completed three classic decision problems (Asian Disease Problem, School Dropout Prevention Problem, and Fatal Disease Problem) with answers written in a risk seeking or risk averse manner and the font manipulated. The framing effect was again …

Association Between Spatial Access To Food Outlets, Frequency Of Grocery Shopping, And Objectively-Assessed And Self-Reported Fruit And Vegetable Consumption, Jared T. Mcguirt, Stephanie B. Jilcott Pitts, Alison Gustafson

Dietetics and Human Nutrition Faculty Publications

Because supermarkets are a critical part of the community food environment, the purpose of this paper is to examine the association between accessibility to the supermarket where participants were surveyed, frequency of shopping at the supermarket, and self-reported and objectively-assessed fruit and vegetable consumption. Accessibility was assessed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) measured distance and multiple versions of the modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI), including a localized road network buffer version. Frequency of shopping was assessed using self-report. The National Cancer Institute Fruit and Vegetable screener was used to calculate daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Skin carotenoids were …

Student Affairs And Retention Committee, December 13, 2018, Coastal Carolina University

Board of Trustees Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Assessing Responses Of Betula Papyrifera To Climate Variability In A Remnant Population Along The Niobrara River Valley In Nebraska U.S. Through Dendroecological And Remote Sensing Techniques, Evan Bumann, Tala Awada, Brian Wardlow, Michael Hayes, Jane A. Okalebo, C. Helzer, Anastasios Mazis, J. Hiller, Paolo Cherubini

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Remnant populations of Betula papyrifera have persisted in the Great Plains after the Wisconsin Glaciation along the Niobrara River Valley, Nebraska. Population health has declined in recent years, and has been hypothesized to be due to climate change. We used dendrochronological techniques to assess the response of B. papyrifera to microclimate (1950-2014), and satellite imagery [Landsat 5 TM (1985-2011) and MODIS (2000-2014)] derived NDVI as a proxy for population health. Growing-season streamflow and precipitation were positively correlated with raw and standardized tree-ring widths and basal area increment increase. Increasing winter and spring temperatures were unfavorable for tree growth while increasing …