Digital Commons Network^™

Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis Of Macronutrient Intake Of 91,114 European Ancestry Participants From The Cohorts For Heart And Aging Research In Genomic Epidemiology Consortium, Jordi Merino, Hassan S. Dashti, Sherly X. Li, Chloé Sarnowski, Anne E. Justice, Misa Graff, Constantina Papoutsakis, Caren E. Smith, George V. Dedoussis, John Blangero

School of Medicine Publications

Macronutrient intake, the proportion of calories consumed from carbohydrate, fat, and protein, is an important risk factor for metabolic diseases with significant familial aggregation. Previous studies have identified two genetic loci for macronutrient intake, but incomplete coverage of genetic variation and modest sample sizes have hindered the discovery of additional loci. Here, we expanded the genetic landscape of macronutrient intake, identifying 12 suggestively significant loci (P < 1 × 10-6) associated with intake of any macronutrient in 91,114 European ancestry participants. Four loci replicated and reached genome-wide significance in a combined meta-analysis including 123,659 European descent participants, unraveling two novel loci; a common variant in RARB locus for carbohydrate intake and a rare variant in DRAM1 locus for protein intake, and corroborating earlier FGF21 and FTO findings. In additional analysis of 144,770 participants from the UK Biobank, all identified associations from the two-stage analysis were confirmed except for DRAM1. Identified loci might have implications in brain and adipose tissue biology and have clinical impact in obesity-related phenotypes. Our findings provide new insight into biological functions related to macronutrient intake.

Institutional Competency Assessment And Other Factors Influencing The Nurse Licensure Examination, Ryan Michael F. Oducado, Dexter P. Cendaãƒâ±A, Rosana Grace Belo-Delariarte

Individual Articles

The passing rate in the Nurse Licensure Examination (NLE) is considered a key indicator of the quality of the nursing program. While a plethora of studies has identified the factors affecting NLE success, no study has tried to explore the role of an institutional standardized competency examination on NLE. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of institutional terminal competency assessment (TCA) and other factors on the NLE performance of nursing graduates. This study used a descriptive-correlational research design using data sets of nursing graduates of West Visayas State University from 2015 to 2017 (N=354). Pearson's r …

Correlation Between Theoretical Classroom Instruction And Related Learning Experiences: Evidence From A Philippine Nursing University, Ryan Michael F. Oducado, Mary Kristine Amboy, Ayesha Penuela, Rosana Grace Belo-Delariarte

Individual Articles

In nursing education, it is expected that theory underlies practice. However, studies have indicated nursing students still experience theory and practice gap. This study attempted to determine the relationship between theoretical classroom instruction and Related Learning Experienc es (RLE) of nursing students. Using existing data set of nursing graduates in a Philippine Nursing University for a five-year cohort (N=653), this study employed a descriptive correlational research design. Pearson's correlation and simple linear regression were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that a significant relationship existed between theoretical classroom instruction and RLE performance of nursing students. Theoretical classroom instruction explained …

The Role And Effect Of Mindfulness In Intimate Relationships, Mazyar Karandish

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Mindfulness practice, a present-centered approach to experience, has been shown to effectively enhance various dimensions of the human experience. Recent literature has explored how the practice of mindfulness meditation has provided benefits to practitioners seeking to enhance relationship dynamics. There are multiple examples of mindfulness-based relationship enhancement programs aiming to enhance the quality of intimate relationships in adults. This study utilizes a repeated-measures design to address whether a neutral mindfulness-based program, not geared at enhancing relationships, can significantly alter the quality of intimate relationships. The research will further examine the central mechanisms of action through which mindfulness can enhance relationships. …

Childhood Witnessing Of Domestic Violence And Its Impact On Character Development Across Time And Adulthood Relationships, Zena Ouzounian

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This phenomenological research study explored the experiences of five adult participants who reported witnessing domestic violence between their parents during childhood. Through the process of open-ended interviews, this work added further support to the existing understanding of the impact that childhood witnessing of parental violence can have on one’s adult behavior and relationships. Thus far, child witnesses to parental violence receive little attention, perhaps due to the lack of tangible evidence that they have been harmed. Existing studies in the field primarily make use of quantitative methods to examine negative outcomes of such experiences. This study identified similar themes among …

Peer Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Jie Cao, Hao Liang, Xintong Zhan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We investigate how firms react to their product-market peers' commitment to and adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) using a regression discontinuity design approach. Relying on the passage or failure of CSR proposals by a narrow margin of votes during shareholder meetings, we find the passage of a close-call CSR proposal and its implementation are followed by the adoption of similar CSR practices by peer firms. In addition, peers that have greater difficulty in catching up with the voting firm in CSR experience significantly lower stock returns around the passage, consistent with the notion that the spillover effect of the …

The Role Of Career And Wage Incentives In Labor Productivity: Evidence From A Two-Stage Field Experiment In Malawi, Hyuncheol Kim, Seonghoon Kim, Thomas Kim

Research Collection School Of Economics

We study how career and wage incentives affect labor productivity through self-selection and incentive effect channels using a two-stage field experiment in Malawi. First, recent secondary school graduates were hired with either career or wage incentives. After employment, a half of workers with career incentives randomly received wage incentives, and a half of workers with wage incentives randomly received career incentives. Career incentives attract higher-performing workers than wage incentives, but do not increase productivity conditional on selection. Wage incentives increase productivity for those recruited through career incentives. Observable characteristics are limited in explaining selection effects of entry-level workers.

Guidelines On The Diagnosis And Management Of The Progressive Ataxias, Silva R. De, J Greenfield, A Cook, H Bonney, J Vallortigara, B Hunt, P Giunti

More Faculty of Health Research

No abstract provided.

Marine Pollution From Pyroplastics, Andrew Turner, Claire Wallerstein, Rob Arnold, D. Webb

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Of Promoting Networking And Protecting Privacy: Effects Of Defaults And Regulatory Focus On Social Media Users’ Preference Settings, Hichang Cho, Sungjong Roh, Byungho Park

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Privacy research has debated whether privacy decision-making is determined by users' stable preferences (i.e., individual traits), privacy calculus (i.e., cost-benefit analysis), or “responses on the spot” that vary across contexts. This study focuses on two factors—default setting as a contextual factor and regulatory focus as an individual difference factor—and examines the degree to which these factors affect social media users' decision-making when using privacy preference settings in a fictitious social networking site. The results, based on two experimental studies (study 1, n = 414; study 2, n = 213), show that default settings significantly affect users' privacy preferences, such that …

Don’T Google It: The European Union’S Antitrust Parade (“Enforcement”) Against America’S Tech Giants, Mariah Witt

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article details several case studies, each exemplifying the EU’s pro- competition practices versus the American monopoly-like corporations of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. The EU claims that each of these companies have abused their dominant position in their respective markets. Many companies (including those not listed in this comment) that have faced the EU’s antitrust wrath are merely the successful giants of their field, who should be enjoying their success, not sitting in fear of success’s implications in the global arena. This comment will conclude with a warning to future American corporations on the path to monopoly-like power and status …

The Impact Of Brand Identity In Achieving Marketing Objectives Applied Study In The International Company For Smart Card "Key Card", Sarmad Hamza Jassim, Samaa Ali Abdel Hussein

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Each organization has values ​​and objectives, tangible and intangible properties of its products. The reflection of properties on the brand constitutes the identity of the brand that contributes to building the customer's convictions about the products or services provided by any organization and its brand in a positive or negative way. This is reflected in purchasing behavior, which may push forward the progress towards marketing goals or deviation from them. Therefore, the current research came to identify the brand identity, its types and the factors affecting them and how they affect to achieve each of the marketing goals. At a …

Automated Measurement Of Heavy Equipment Greenhouse Gas Emission: The Case Of Road/Bridge Construction And Maintenance, Reza Akhavian

Mineta Transportation Institute

Road/bridge construction and maintenance projects are major contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2), mainly due to extensive use of heavy-duty diesel construction equipment and large-scale earthworks and earthmoving operations. Heavy equipment is a costly resource and its underutilization could result in significant budget overruns. A practical way to cut emissions is to reduce the time equipment spends doing non-value-added activities and/or idling. Recent research into the monitoring of automated equipment using sensors and Internet-of-Things (IoT) frameworks have leveraged machine learning algorithms to predict the behavior of tracked entities.

In this project, end-to-end deep learning models …

The Potential For Using Loyalty Rewards And Incentives Programs To Encourage Transit Ridership And Regional Transportation And Land Use Integration, Christopher E. Ferrell

Mineta Transportation Institute

Transit smart cards can be used as a tool for increasing transit ridership, increasing retail sales in transit-oriented developments (TODs) and eventually, increasing opportunities for retail development in TODs. Instead of providing separate loyalty rewards for each store, or chain of stores, such cards would provide loyalty rewards—in several possible forms, including free transit ride credits, cash rewards, retail purchase discounts, sweepstakes rewards—to all transit riders who patronize TOD retail businesses. Additional rewards could also be given to transit riders who live, work, and shop in TODs, and even to riders who take transit for specific shopping trips in TODs. …

The Physicochemical Properties Of Soy Protein Hydrolysate And Its Formulation And Stability With Encapsulated Probiotic, John Stricklin Edwards

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soy protein isolate (SPI) and probiotics can serve as a functional ingredient and beneficial supplement, respectively, to food formulations, but few studies focus on the compatibility of these two ingredients. The objective of this study was to prepare soy protein isolate (SPI) from defatted soybean flour and identify an optimal hydrolysis protocol to create soy protein hydrolysates (SPH) with improved solubility and functional properties and achieve an optimum encapsulation technique for probiotics and to determine the in vitro viability of encapsulated probiotic cells with SPH in a gastrointestinal environment. The SPI was prepared using an alkaline extraction procedure for solubility …

Organizational Conditions That Promote And Impede Research Engagement: The Principal’S Perspective, Renee Treat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The researcher explored perceptions of the research-practice gap in education, the process through which central actors make decisions related to teacher retention and development, and the organizational conditions that promote and impede research-engagement in this qualitative study. The researcher limited the study to the role of the campus principal and used purposive sampling to select participants from 3 diverse districts in the state of Texas. Because there may be discrepancies between leaders’ perceptions and behaviors, the researcher conducted interview sessions with principals and principal supervisors and conducted observation sessions in principals’ natural work environments. The study results showed that good …

Local Anesthesia Before Intravenous Cannula Insertion: Recommendations For Registered Nurses In Practice, Vera Campbell-Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Administering local anesthetics, such as intradermal, should become standard practice for RNs in pretreatments for pain control prior to intravenous insertion. Peripheral venous cannulation has provoked the most fear and anxiety in adult patients about everyday practice in hospitals. Adult patients often state that this procedure causes considerable discomfort. Local anesthesia for cannulation is usually not offered to adult patients who are on general medical units. Evidence has indicated inconsistency in the use of pain management strategies during these procedures. The researcher’s goal in this project was to educate RNs about the intradermal pretreatment procedure, provide education on the …

Conspiracy Theories And The Quest For Truth, Rachel Runnels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conspiracy theories are deeply embedded in American culture, especially in current American society. The popularity of conspiracy theories in general reveals that society is becoming increasingly skeptical of authoritative organizations. Because of “fake news” and the availability of information and connection on the internet, people feel as though they must question everything, even sources they previously viewed as unquestionable authorities.

My analysis looks at how online conspiracy organizations create and defend their arguments in an attempt to understand why conspiracy theories are so persuasive. I analyze the rhetoric of three online conspiracy theory organizations: the Flat Earth Society, the Mutual …

The Impact Of Direct Nursing On Patient Engagement To Improve Medication Adherence, Shelley Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of direct nursing care on patient engagement and medication adherence within the practice setting of specialty pharmacy. It investigated the problem statement, “Among patients with specialty pharmacy dispensed medications, will direct interaction with nurses impact patient engagement and improve medication adherence?” Patient engagement in healthcare is a growing area of knowledge for the effectiveness of care. The research uncovered patient engagement as a predictor of improved medication adherence through effective direct nursing involvement. Methods to measure engagement were the utilization of the ACE™ Altarum Consumer Engagement (ACE) Measure™. By using a proven, researched tool to …

Using Behavior Economic Nudges To Facilitate Client Follow-Through In Financial Coaching, Charlene Hurst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While benevolence-based programs have been a large part of meeting immediate financial needs of the poor, they lack the relational aspect needed to facilitate long-term behavior change. Recently many social service organizations have adopted financial coaching as a promising replacement for benevolence programming. The field of coaching has dealt with its own challenges. Most coaching practitioners surveyed in 2016 and 2019 acknowledged lack of client follow-through as their number one challenge. Behavior economics offered nudges as a solution. Nudges are cues placed within the physical environment to prod clients toward behavior change. A quantitative field study was conducted to evaluate …

Condominium Government And The Right To Live In The City, Douglas C. Harris

All Faculty Publications

Condominium is an architecture of land ownership that produces separate, privately owned units within multi-unit developments. Condominium also constructs a form of private, democratic government, described as a fourth order of government, that acts beneath federal and provincial governments, and alongside municipal government, to govern owners and their property. This article considers a conflict between residential-unit owners and a commercial-unit owner within a condominium development in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Drawing from material produced in litigation, the article situates the dispute within its property and urban contexts to argue that condominium government requires attention, and not just for its impact on …

Coaching Styles, Athletes' Needs Satisfaction, And Identity: An Analysis Of Athlete-Coach Relationship, Casey-May Huff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through the use of the self-determination theory (SDT), developed by Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan (2000), this study examined the various coaching styles and the relationship between both coaches’ and athletes’ identity. Thirty-two head coaches and 202 athletes from universities and colleges were surveyed. Coaches were matched with their athletes, producing 28 unique pairings. The first research question tested for coaching styles and how they connect to motivations. The second research question explored the coaching styles and how they relate to athletes’ motivations. A hypothesis examined differences between coaches’ reported coaching styles and their athletes’ needs. Results found …

Exploring Wheelchair Service Delivery In A Dedicated Seating Department, Cara E. Masselink

Dissertations

This study is a series of three studies aimed at exploring wheelchair service delivery in a department of physical and occupational therapists dedicated to wheelchair seating. The three studies utilized a retrospective analysis to investigate the clinical documentation written by the practicing clinicians between 2007 and 2017. The first study aimed to describe the wheelchair and accessory recommendations made in the 11-year period, in relationship to age and gender. The majority of recommendations in the dedicated seating department were for complex wheelchairs. The results indicated the ratio between standard and complex power mobility devices and four complexities of cushions changed, …

Leadership, Satisfaction, Commitment, And Turnover Intention In The United Arab Emirates Public Sector, Mohammed Humaid Aljanahi

Dissertations

This study sheds light on the Abu Dhabi Public School employee’s perception, transformational, and transactional leadership style and their nuanced effects on satisfaction, commitment, and turnover intention. The study found that transformational leadership increased satisfaction and commitment, and decreased turnover intention. Also, diverging from theoretical expectation, only some aspects of transactional leadership such as passive management by expectation had a decreased satisfaction, and increased turnover intention. Moreover, the study proved that to an extent western instruments, such as the MLQ (Bass & Avolio, 2004), TCM (Allen & Meyer, 2004), and MSQ (Weiss, Dawis, England, & Lofquist, 1967), do work in …

Negotiating American Racial Constructs: First- Generation African Caribbean Immigrants’ Experience With Race, Rommel Johnson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to describe and understand what race means to first-generation African Caribbean immigrants. Specifically, the study seeks to understand these immigrants’ experience of being Black in America. African Caribbean immigrants migrate to America with a concept of race that is very different from that of the United States. However, upon arriving in America, they encounter the American construct of race that not only diverges significantly from that with which they are familiar, but find that they are being racialized in the American sense. In professional counseling, we have yet to understand the way these immigrants …

The Impact Of A Multisensory Stimulation Environment Within A Memory Care Assisted Living Facility, Dana M. Prince

Dissertations

The use of Multisensory Stimulation Environments (MSSE) has grown increasingly more common in the United States (U.S.) as a nonpharmacological intervention for Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD). However, typical MSSE designs require a secluded room isolated from outside stimulation and demand direct supervision from the care provider during treatment. Due to projected shortages in the clinical workforce and the population of older adults on the rise, a study was designed to reveal the effectiveness of an open-floorplan MSSE to reduce the demand of care providers during the use of the MSSE while allowing subjects diagnosed with dementia to …

Finding The Right Words: Exemplary Educators Essence Of Vocabulary Instruction, Mackenzie W. Sheahan

Dissertations

This study was warranted in order to deeply understand the exemplary teacher and the complexity of beliefs, challenges, and overall essence of vocabulary instruction in early elementary. By using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis the study illuminates how exemplary second-grade teachers make meaning of their own daily experiences in relation to vocabulary instruction. Specifically, the study allows insight into the perceptions and daily actions that meet the needs of all students, with and without disabilities, through vocabulary instruction.

Supporting Parents In Title I Schools: A Qualitative Study Of Parent Engagement, Vanessa Sanchez

Master's Theses

This qualitative study focuses on how to improve parent engagement in Title I schools from parents’ point of view. The purpose of this project is to understand parent involvement in a Northern California school and how to improve it. This paper offers insights from parents’ perspectives how parents view the education process. The focus is on their experiences and how to support all parents. The lenses of the study is viewed through a critical pedagogy and social cognitive theory. All five of the parents being interviewed had suggestions on how to improve parent engagement in Title I Schools. The three …

Components Of Mindfulness Training: Impacts On Attention And Affect, Maximilian Fey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The literature on mindfulness supports a distinction between two components of non-judgmental acceptance and directed attention. The present research analyzed whether there are distinct differences in attentional capabilities or affect between mindfulness inductions which differed in either including only directed attention or directed attention and non-judgmental acceptance. I hypothesized that the acceptance component of mindfulness would increase participants sustained attentional capabilities relative to a control condition; furthermore, I hypothesized that the non-judgmental acceptance component of mindfulness would lead to significant increases in positive affect and decreases in negative affect relative to control. Lastly, I hypothesized that an individual difference measure …

The Effects Of Foot And Udder Scoring On Cow And Calf Performance, Clayton Lee Mcguire

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Foot soundness and udder conformation are essential for longevity in beef cattle. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of foot angle (FA), claw set (CS), teat size (TS) and udder suspension (US) scores on cowherd performance. Data were analyzed for 1,685 observations on Angus-based cows over a four-year period. At weaning FA, CS, TS, and US were evaluated. Scores are based on nine-point scales. A score of one indicates straight pasterns, divergent toes, enlarged bottle shaped teats, and absence of a median suspensory ligament; nine indicates weak pasterns, curled toes, small symmetrical teats, and a tight …