Digital Commons Network^™

Can Small Farmers Survive?: Problems Of Commercializing The Milk Value Chain In Pakistan, Erum Sattar

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Milk in Pakistan is infused with the self-understanding of a nation. British colonial administrators laid the modern-day foundations of the country’s structure through land grants to small farmers. In an agricultural country where nearly forty percent of the population remains food insecure, rearing animals is a way of life in the rural areas where milk remains an important source of animal protein. Selling the daily surplus that families don’t consume is a significant source of earnings for cash poor families – and here an unprecedented change is taking place within dairy management and milk procurement systems. The scale of this …

Waving The Red, Black, And Green: The Local And Global Vision Of The Universal Negro Improvement Association In Akron And Barberton, Ohio, Stephanie Theresa Sulik

History Dissertations - Archive

This micro study of the Akron and Barberton, Ohio, Divisions of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) adds to the understanding the geographic diversity of the Garvey Movement’s expansive reach. It begins to uncover the importance of Garveyism in the Midwest and in Ohio, specifically, where the UNIA’s presence was larger than in any other Midwestern state. Black people in Akron and Barberton who, like millions of others around the world, joined Marcus Garvey’s global, Pan-African organization and embraced Garveyism’s holistic pursuit of Black liberation. Living in Midwestern rustbelt cities at the intersection of the Great Migration and the global …

Development Of Deterioration Models For Street Pavement In Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Mladjan John Grujicic

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Accurate prediction of pavement deterioration is vital for an efficient and cost-effective allocation of available budgets for keeping an agency’s road networks operating at a desirable level. Currently, most cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area are using the software PAVERTM and the associated performance models to predict future conditions as they do not have available reliable prediction models. However, the problem with this type of modeling is that the models are not calibrated to local conditions. The Pavement Deterioration Prediction models that have been developed in this research will help any pavement management agencies within DFW Metroplex area to …

Human Factors Considerations In A Telemedicine-Integrated Ambulance-Based Caregiving Environment For Stroke Care, Hunter Rogers

All Dissertations

Telemedicine, the use of communications technology to connect patients to medical professionals remotely, can be applied to a variety of settings, for example connecting older adults with their physicians from home, specialists to rural county hospitals or patients to physicians for emergency care. This dissertation focuses on the use of telemedicine for ambulance-based care for stroke patients, including how the design of this system impacts caregivers. The initial study investigated both the usability of a telemedicine system implemented in ambulances for stroke care as well as the possibility of human error when using it. The heuristic evaluation of usability violations …

Guanidinium Sulfation Crystallization: Strategy For Enantiomeric Identification And Diastereomeric Resolution, Beau Ryan Brummel

All Dissertations

The main portion of this thesis describes two distinct applications of guanidinium sulfation crystallization: use of a flat guanidinium chloride for enantiomeric identification and a chiral guanidinium bromide for diastereomeric resolution. Additionally, the following two chapters includes the modification of naturally occurring materials for pollution remediation and the synthesis of biodegradable polyesters for biomedical imaging.The importance of chirality can be found in a variety of fields including pharmaceuticals, fragrances, food additives, agrochemicals, and forensics. Most biologically active organic compounds such as amino acids and carbohydrates exhibit chirality, resulting in a high degree of stereoselectivity in processes that are mediated by …

Application Of Genomics In Nursing Practice, Elizabeth Cameron Hassen

All Dissertations

ABSTRACTThis dissertation begins with the introduction of genetics, genomics, and the Healthcare Genetics (HCG) model. The five concepts of the HCG model, genetics/genomics, education, environment, clinical testing and therapeutics, and ethical/legal/social implications (ELSI) are defined. These concepts are threaded throughout the manuscripts and dissertation chapters. Chapter II defines molecular testing and differences between single-gene and multi-gene testing. The Kaplan Meier Curve and its use in research, to illustrate survival over time, is discussed. The chapter provides specific examples of both predictive and prognostic genomic testing used in breast, lung, colon, and prostate cancers. Chapter III examines the application of the …

Psychological, Social And Political Correlates Of Youth Civic Engagement In Kosovo, Linda Abazi-Morina

All Dissertations

There is a robust literature that documents the importance of youth civic engagement, both at the individual and societal levels. Moreover, young people's civic activism is vital for strengthening democracy in developing and transitional countries, such as Kosovo. Despite the abundant literature at the global level, mainly in Western countries, there is a lack of research on the level and dynamics of young people's civic engagement in developing countries, especially in the Western Balkans. Although there has been progress in recent years, youth civic activism remains understudied in the region. Using data from the Kosovo Youth Study 2018/2019, this study …

An Examination Of Continuous Improvement In An Educational Organization, Billy Jacques Gira, Jennifer Malanga Martinez

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Continuous improvement (CI) is used across organizations to solve problems. Since the 2010s, CI practices have gained popularity in education. When comparing business organizations’ applications of CI practices to those in education, a gap is evident. Educational organizations create strategic plans, set long-term goals, implement initiatives, and measure overall outcomes in terms of student achievement. However, when attempting to build a high-performing culture and improve customer service between district departments and school centers, frequent and routine monitoring of customer experiences must occur.

This study examines current CI practices in a large, urban school district as they relate to improving the …

Beyond Lecturing: An Introduction To Gadamer's Dialogical Hermeneutics With Insights Into Health Professions Education, Richard B. Hovey, Charo Rodríguez, Steven Jordan

Health Professions Education

Purpose: This text has emerged from frequent in-depth conversations about theory and practice in teaching and learning among colleagues in Faculties of Dentistry, Medicine, and Education. Our intention is to expand those face-to-face conversations beyond the walls of our university. Method: More specifically, through a conversational hermeneutic approach we endeavor to provide an introduction through accessible teaching approaches and effective learning that might enhance health education and promote student's and educator's experiences. Results: Among topics of our interest, lecturing, which still is pervasive in higher education, has constituted a matter of much debate in the group. Our conversations have not …

The Effect Of Using Native Versus Nonnative Language On The Participation Level Of Medical Students During Pbl Tutorials, Maha M. Al Turki, Mohamud S. Mohamud, Emad Masuadi, Mohammed A. Altowejri, Abdullah Farraj, Henk G. Schmidt

Health Professions Education

Purpose: Language competency has been perceived to be a significant barrier to both learning and interaction in university. However, most studies in this field confine themselves to perceptions of students. This study focused on actual behaviors in small group discussions. It explored whether linguistic differences affect the level of participation between students who conduct discussions in their native Arabic language and those who participate in a second language, being English. Method: An experimental study conducted at a Saudi medical school. First-year medical students were assigned randomly to attend two small-group discussions either in Arabic or in English. All sessions were …

Can We Teach Reflective Reasoning In General-Practice Training Through Example-Based Learning And Learning By Doing?, Josepha Kuhn, Pieter Van Den Berg, Silvia Mamede, Laura Zwaan, Agnes Diemers, Patrick Bindels, Tamara Van Gog

Health Professions Education

Purpose: Flaws in physicians’ reasoning frequently result in diagnostic errors. The method of deliberate reflection was developed to stimulate physicians to deliberately reflect upon cases, which has shown to improve diagnostic performance in complex cases. In the current randomised controlled trial, we investigated whether deliberate reflection can be taught to general-practice residents. Additionally, we investigated whether engaging in deliberate reflection or studying deliberate-reflection models would be more effective. Methods: The study consisted of one learning session and two test sessions. Forty-four general-practice residents were randomly assigned to one of three study conditions in the learning session: (1) control without reflecting …

Analysis Of Instructor Comments On Student Performance On Selected Assessment Activities In A Patient/Client Management Course, Rolando T. Lazaro

Health Professions Education

Purpose: Studies have shown that specific instructor feedback on student performance enhances student learning. Supervised practice opportunities such as pro-bono clinics during didactic portions of the curriculum allow faculty supervisors to provide specific comments on skill, decision-making, communication, efficiency, safety of practice and clinical reasoning. Use of learning management systems (LMS) can facilitate the feedback process by providing a simple and easily accessible repository of information for both faculty supervisors and students. The purpose of the study was to organize and analyze faculty comments on selected assessment activities to generate trends that can inform student performance and suggest course changes …

Inclusion Of Construction Occupational Health And Safety Management System (Ohsms) Components In Building Construction Project, Sarah Safira, Doni Hikmat Hikmat Ramdhan

National Journal of Occupational Health and Safety

Building construction projects are required to have the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (Sistem Manajemen Kesehatan dan Keselamatan Kerja, OHSMS) due to its high-risk nature. For this purpose, the Ministry of Public Works and People’s Housing of the Republic of Indonesia has issued the Circular Letter Number 66/SE/M/2015 on Costs for Implementing Construction Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) in the Field of Public Works. The purpose of this study is to present a detailed description of OHSMS implementation in several building construction projects by using the Ministry’s Circular as the reference. This study is a descriptive study …

Cuban Immigrants’ Experience With Acculturation And How They Cope In The United States, Lourdes Araujo

Dissertations

Objective: This research examines how Cuban immigrants experience cope and adapt to the United States. Cuban immigration is associated with specific stressors related to the immigration experience and the necessary process of acculturation and assimilation. These major stressors can result in mental health concerns among Cuban immigrants; however, no studies have examined how acculturation may influence Cuban immigrants’ coping skills and resultant mental health concerns. This unique study is the first to examine the coping skills Cuban immigrants use during acculturation and the effects of these skills on Cuban immigrants’ mental health. Methods: Seventeen participants completed a semistructured interview and …

Transfer-To-Transfer Learning Approach For Computer Aided Detection Of Covid-19 In Chest Radiographs, Barath Narayanan Narayanan, Russell C. Hardie, Vignesh Krishnaraja, Christina Karam, Venkata Salini Priyamvada Davuluru

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic has severely impacted lives across the globe. Respiratory disorders in COVID-19 patients are caused by lung opacities similar to viral pneumonia. A Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) system for the detection of COVID-19 using chest radiographs would provide a second opinion for radiologists. For this research, we utilize publicly available datasets that have been marked by radiologists into two-classes (COVID-19 and non-COVID-19). We address the class imbalance problem associated with the training dataset by proposing a novel transfer-to-transfer learning approach, where we break a highly imbalanced training dataset into a group of balanced mini-sets and …

A Qualitative Study Of Differences Among Hearing Parents In Positive Experiences Raising A Deaf Child: An Emergent Model Informed By Positive Psychology​, Amy Szarkowski, Patrick J. Brice

JADARA

The current qualitative study explored the positive, internal, and growth-enhancing experiences hearing parents derived from raising a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. Based on characteristics of parents’ process and outcomes of the parenting experiences, three distinct parent patterns were identified. Reflective Positive Parents reflected deeply about their experiences, quickly and easily identified positive experiences, and were open to making adjustments to meet their child’s needs. Engaged Parents contemplated their experiences, yet decisions about how to best support their children in many remained unresolved; this group identified both positive and negative aspects of parenting and attempted to align …

Green Prescriptions – Prescribing Lifestyle Modification To Combat A Silent Pandemic., Jonathan Guajardo

MEDI 9331 Scholarly Activities Clinical Years

Obesity is a well-known modifiable risk factor that contributes to the development of atherosclerosis. In the Rio Grande Valley, a region located in southern Texas, the rate of obesity rises to 47%, compared to 44% in the US. [4] Obesity is largely driven by poor diet and lack of physical activity and poor compliance/adherence to dietary and physical activity recommendations. [4] We seek to gauge the effect of green prescriptions, prescribed lifestyle modification, on compliance in the RGV population. Selected patients will receive a pre- and post-survey for subjective measures and be given a workout regimen according to exercise history. …

The Race To The Bottom: Comity And Cooperation In Global Internet Takedown Orders

UBC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sensory Approach To Self-Regulation For Adolescent Survivors Of Sex Trafficking: An Occupational Therapist's Perspective, Elyse Harmon

Student Capstone Papers

Adolescent survivors of sex trafficking (SST) are susceptible to being in a continual dysregulated arousal state due to lack of mastery in self-regulation. During the trafficking experience, many adolescent SST experience severe trauma and are deprived of opportunities that foster essential regulatory capacities needed for occupational engagement. The use of sensory-based approaches that focus on addressing arousal dysregulation and the impact it has on occupation is an evidence-based practice grounded in occupational therapy research.

This capstone sought to support community reintegration for adolescent SST through the development of sensory-based programming that fosters self-regulation, a skill necessary for occupational participation. A …

The Influence Of Student Discipline On Teacher Job Satisfaction When Controlling For Workplace Characteristics, Personal Attributes, Human Capital Elements, And Principal Leadership, Joshua Pittman

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the empirical literature related to the influence of student discipline on teacher job satisfaction. Further, this research aimed to explore the correlation between student discipline and teacher job satisfaction while controlling for the contributing factors of job satisfaction (i.e., workplace characteristics, personal attributes, human capital elements, and principal leadership). In addition, the results of this research study were interpreted through the lens of the Affective Events Theory indicating a person’s emotions and behaviors for the workplace may influence their job satisfaction. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to see whether there …

Unhinging The Machismo Binary Through A Third Space Lens: Reframing Latinx Males Postsecondary Academic Decision-Making, Matthew A. Witenstein, Alejandro Cervantes

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This critical and conceptual analysis problematizes the machismo binary and situates it in a third space framework. It explores Latinx males’ higher education experiences and how machismo influences academic decision-making. Situating Latinx males’ college-going in the third space provides a more nuanced portrayal of their academic decision-making across diverse postsecondary settings. In doing so, the Latinx Gender Identity Development Model for Latinx Males in the Third Space is proposed and connects machismo with other domains such as marianismo, caballerismo and familismo. The proposed framework is illustrated by applying it to Latinx males across critical dimensions that impact their decision-making in …

Challenges For Dementia Care And Research In Pakistan, Fatima Siddiqui, Qurat Khan, Mohammad Wasay

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Dementia is a syndrome characterized by a decline in cognition and memory severe enough to interfere with daily life activities and is one of the major causes of disability and dependency in elderly worldwide with Alzheimer’s disease being the most common cause of dementia (1). 703 million individuals (9% of the world’s population) are more than 65 years of age and this number will double by the end of 2050 reaching 1.5 billion (16% of the world’s population) (2). Ageing has been the fastest in Eastern and South Eastern countries (3). Despite being a global health priority, with significant social …

Epidemiology Of Staphylococcus Aureus Infections In Kenya: Current State, Gaps And Opportunities, Justin Nyasinga, Geoffrey Omuse, John Njenga, Andrew Nyerere, Shima Abdulgader, Mae Newton, Andrew Whitelaw, Gunturu Revathi

Pathology, East Africa

Staphylococcus aureus has maintained its clinical relevance as a major cause of hospital and community acquired infections globally with a high burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Though reported, the burden of infection, antimicrobial resistance and molecular epidemiology of S. aureus are not well defined in Kenya. This descriptive review evaluated reported data on the detection and characterization of S. aureus infections in Kenya. Published data between 2000 and 2020 were evaluated. S. aureus isolation frequencies varied from 1% in blood specimens to 52.6% among skin and soft tissues infections while MRSA rates ranged from 1% to 84.1%. While penicillin resistance …

Early Marriage And Early Childbearing In South Asia: Trends, Inequalities, And Drivers From 2005 To 2018, Samuel Scott, Phuong Hong Nguyen, Sumanta Neupane, Priyanjana Pramanik, Priya Nanda, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Kaosar Afsana, Purnima Menon

Woman and Child Health

Early marriage (EM) and early childbearing (ECB) have far-reaching consequences. This study describes the prevalence, trends, inequalities, and drivers of EM and ECB in South Asia using eight rounds of Demographic and Health Survey data across 13 years. We report the percentage of ever-married women aged 20-24 years (n = 105,150) married before 18 years (EM) and with a live birth before 20 years (ECB). Relative trends were examined using average annual rate of reduction (AARR). Inequalities were examined by geography, marital household wealth, residence, and education. Sociodemographic drivers of changes for EM were assessed using regression decomposition analyses. We …

Envrment: Investigating Experience In A Virtual User-Composed Environment, Matthew Key

Master's Theses

Virtual Reality is a technology that has long held society's interest, but has only recently began to reach a critical mass of everyday consumers. The idea of modern VR can be traced back decades, but because of the limitations of the technology (both hardware and software), we are only now exploring its potential. At present, VR can be used for tele-surgery, PTSD therapy, social training, professional meetings, conferences, and much more. It is no longer just an expensive gimmick to go on a momentary field trip; it is a tool, and as with the automobile, personal computer, and smartphone, it …

Study Of Plants Used Against Infections By California Native American Tribes, Maria J. Rojas

Master's Theses

The objectives of this research were to evaluate the antibacterial activity and to determine the chemical composition of a list of medicinal plants used by Native Americans in California. Artemisia californica, Mimulus aurantiacus, Equisetum telmateia, Equisetum hyemale, and Marah fabacea were selected from a list of plants reported as having been used for ailments related to infections by tribes located in California. The extracts obtained through steam distillation from E. telmateia, E. hyemale and M. fabacea were assayed for in vitro antibacterial activity against 16 Gram-negative and 6 Gram-positive bacteria using disk diffusion assays and measuring the diameters of inhibition …

The Promise Of A Multi-Disciplinary, Mixed-Methods Approach To Inform Insect Pest Management: Evidence From Wyoming Alfalfa, Randa Jabbour, Shiri Noy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Who, What, Why & How: Reimagining State Constitutional Analysis In School Finance Litigation, William Thro

BYU Education & Law Journal

Despite the Supreme Court’s recognition of the importance of public education, America’s public schools remain ravaged by “savage inequalities”which lead to failure of the public schools.Because every State, except Hawaii, partially finances local public schools through local property taxes and because there are differences in the value of real property, there are vast disparities in available funding for local school districts. While every State Constitution requires the State Legislature to establish a public school system and while the State Legislatures have enacted a variety of statutes in an attempt to meet the state constitutional obligations, virtually every State has seen …

Daily Eastern News: December 01, 2020, Eastern Illinois University

December

No abstract provided.

Complex Trauma In Childhood And Its Relationship To Emotion Regulation And Distress Tolerance In College Students, Elizabeth Lombardo

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The influence of childhood trauma has been found to be related to difficulties in emotion regulation and distress tolerance in young adulthood (Berenz et al., 2018a, 2018b). Research has shown that childhood abuse and adversities such as neglect or emotional abuse results in impaired processes related to the development of emotion regulation and efficient interpersonal skills, while also resulting in symptoms reflecting disordered affective self-regulation (Cloitre et al., 2009; Shipman, Edwards, Brown, Swisher, & Jennings, 2005; Shipman, Zeman, Penza, & Champion, 2000). Research has examined emotional regulation and distress tolerance in the context of childhood trauma but has not …