Digital Commons Network^™

Mother Is How I Got Down Pat, Kyrae Dawaun

Theses and Dissertations

This essay gathers concepts of matriarchal studies, theatre and hospitality in thinking beyond the contemporary venue of painting. Recognizing the limits of fine arts, as it is today, a product of a patriarchal, capitalistic societal structure, in its service to an inclusive, public sphere, my work is insistent on the value of installation. Accessibility to space (the art space), language, and the right to politics are goals inspiring the evolved features in my studio practice. The use of word is central in my study of our human behaviors as they can be best modeled according to the appreciation of mother(ing). …

Exploring The Creation Of Immersive And Responsive Spaces For Interrelationship Through The Concept Of Playfulness, Yonghun Jung

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020 is causing serious damage to many countries. As of May, the number of confirmed patients worldwide is at 3.35 million and the death toll stands at 239,000 people. As a way to prevent the pandemic, most countries encourage people to keep social or physical distance and self-quarantine. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they recommend that people stay at least six feet away from each other and the South Korean government also recommend keeping their distance from each other at least two meters.

Because of the current situation, …

Hopeless Heartland: Space And Labor In Virginia, Katrina Hamilton

Theses and Dissertations

In the US, labor market conditions vary by demographics and space. Though space has been shown to be highly related to labor force outcomes, lower-level analyses are under-utilized as statistical workforce analyses tend to rely on national or state-level data. This study addresses variability in labor markets by taking a spatial approach, using cluster analysis and logistic regression to explore variations in labor market variables across census tracts in Virginia. Cluster analysis reveals several hot and cold spots of key labor market indicators: rates of marriage, poverty, educational attainment, and income. In many cases, poor social conditions, such as low …

Martian Mother, Elizabeth Mcgrady

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the relationship between humans and land, through the lens of the scientific and religious, bridging the physical realm with the spiritual. It acts as accompanying material to the project titled Martian Mother, supplementary information to the visual work, and an extension of the proposal, the center of the work. The proposal exists to send myself, or a like-minded individual, to Mars with artificial insemination equipment to give birth to the first Martian, becoming the first Martian Mother. This work is rooted firmly in speculative fiction, creating a nonlinear future framework for a new society and space exploration.

Paul By Paul By Paul, Paul Finch

Theses and Dissertations

In 2020 flamboyant fashion is associated with queer performativity. Psychologist Alan Downs and queer theorist madison moore understand this to be a response to a culture that is hostile to sexual behaviour and gender expression that falls outside a rigid binary. I study the history of flamboyant aesthetics and camp sensibilities from an intersectional perspective, and locate designers and artists who have produced clothes in ways that materialize the political implications of fashion. As a studio-based artist, I employ traditional sewing techniques, digital technologies, and performance to create clothes and new media works that demonstrate a circular understanding of time, …

Moving Parts, Andrew Lowrie

Theses and Dissertations

Material bodies, human and non-human, exist in a constant state of doing and undoing. As bodies change over time, so too do the objects they wear. In this way, a jewelry object is never finished and is constantly being made. In contemporary art practice, this is described as relational ontology by Amelia Jones, who reaches this terminology through the eco-political writings of Jane Bennett and Karen Barad. Through this framework we are able to understand the way artists like Gabriel Orozco and Helen Carnac resist the notion of a finished object or artwork. By engaging with the ways that process …

Is Direct Transport To A Level I Trauma Center Associated With Better Outcomes In Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury Compared To Patients That Are Transferred To Trauma Level I From Other Hospitals, Narad Mishra

Theses and Dissertations

Transferring patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to trauma level I hospital from other lower level hospitals has been shown to increase the mortality compared to when patients are directly transported to trauma centers. Despite the results from studies and the field triage recommendation of transporting the TBI patients to trauma center, nearly half of the TBI cases are transported to other hospitals before transferring to the trauma center. A retrospective analysis of patients with TBI in the state of Virginia was carried out to access if direct transport of patients with TBI to trauma center improves the outcome compare …

Relationship Of Demographic Characteristics Of Occupational And Physical Therapists Towards Their Knowledge And Attitude On Person-Centered Care In Skilled Nursing Facilities, Sadashiv R. Aggarwal

Theses and Dissertations

The study aimed to assess the relationship of specific demographic characteristics of occupational (OTs) and physical therapists (PTs) with their knowledge and attitudes towards principles of Person-Centered Care (PCC) in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). The study further examined if knowledge and/or attitudinal differences exist between OTs and PTs towards PCC. The proposed descriptive study used the Person-Centered Care theory, which is a holistic (bio-psychosocial-spiritual) health care delivery approach. PCC delivers services that are respectful and individualized, allowing negotiation of care, and offering choice through a therapeutic relationship where persons receiving care are empowered to be involved in health decisions at …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Caregiver Goals For Urban Children With And Without Asthma, Megan M. Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric asthma is a major public health concern that disproportionately affects children of color and youth living in low-income, urban areas. The implications for public health, child health, and family functioning necessitates our understanding and addressing experiences by families who are facing barriers within their socio-demographic context in addition to the stressors associated with managing pediatric asthma. The current study applied qualitative methods to interviews with caregivers of children with and without asthma in an effort to more deeply connect with caregivers’ experiences and yield richer information about the intersection of identities as Black caregivers living in an urban setting …

Feasibility And Acceptability Of Focused Breathing For Management Of Anxiety In Parkinson’S Disease, Susan K. Chandler

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Anxiety is recognized as a predominant nonmotor symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD) which greatly diminishes quality of life. Current treatment is largely pharmacologic and is recognized as rife with undesirable and unsafe side effects. Reviews commissioned by The Movement Disorder Society Task Force on Evidence-Based Medicine and the American Academy of Neurology revealed there was insufficient evidence to make recommendations for the treatment of anxiety. A review of the literature confirmed anxiety in PD is underdiagnosed, undertreated, and under studied. A common element in many of the non-pharmacologic self-managed interventions used by the studies included in the review was …

The Quantified Elf, Umico Niwa

Theses and Dissertations

The Quantified Elf is an ongoing collection of scientific, medical, archaeological articles and excerpts from my personal journal. It is a way by which I explore the various ways Western notions of personhood subsume human life into constructs of sexuality and gender, overlooking the various other modes of unbridled existence: plant, microbial. fungal, animal, celestial bodies. The speculative medical papers propose novel forms of body modification to combat gender dysphoria.

A Meta-Analysis Investigating The Correlation Between Treatment Integrity And Youth Client Outcomes, Ruben G. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The relation between treatment integrity and youth client outcomes in psychosocial treatment research has implications for therapist training, study design, and study interpretation. Despite work done in this area, this relation remains unclear. The aim of the current study was to meta-analyze and describe characteristics of investigations of integrity and outcome in youth.

Method and Analytic Plan: A total of N = 30 studies were identified. Conceptual and methodological factors were coded. Pearson’s r represented the magnitude of the integrity-outcome correlation. Robust variance estimation was used to account for dependency of within-study effect sizes. Two models were run with …

Predators And Principles: Think Tank Influence, Media Visibility, And Political Partisanship, Timothy Beryl Bland

Theses and Dissertations

By some measures, the major U.S. political parties have become more extreme in their political positions in recent decades, and scholars have raised concerns about whether the policy expertise provided by today’s think tanks has become similarly partisan and polarized. Furthermore, there is a perception that certain overtly partisan and highly visible think tanks wield considerable and growing influence over the policy platforms of the major U.S. parties, using their media presence to shape public and policymaker views of particular issues. Using publicly accessible tax, media, and congressional data, my proposed study assesses the extent to which media visibility and …

Psychological Effects Of Reading: The Role Of Nostalgia In Re-Reading Favorite Books, Margaret A. Kneuer

Theses and Dissertations

There are many positive outcomes from feeling nostalgic, including reductions in loneliness and greater meaning and social connectedness. My primary research goal was to investigate whether I could trigger feelings of nostalgia from re-reading an old favorite book, and whether this elicited nostalgia would increase feelings of connectedness and meaning in life and reduce loneliness. I designed a two-study package (one correlational study and one experiment) to assess re-reading novels. Trait nostalgia was positively associated with enjoyment of re-reading books (Study 1). Re-reading a favorite novel, relative to reading a new novel or a set of newspaper articles, elicited nostalgia. …

Signaling Mechanism Responsible For 5-Ht2a Receptor Tolerance To Psychedelic Induced Head-Twitch Behavior In Mice, Audrey R. Mcmurtrie

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in psychedelic compounds stemming from their promising use as therapeutic agents and research tools that can be used to treat and study several neuropsychiatric disorders. Psychedelics have proven useful in a broad range of these diseases - they serve as models for psychosis in schizophrenia but have also had promising results in treating major depressive disorder, anxiety, and other common disorders. Decreased stigmatization surrounding psychedelics has further increased their use in research and clinical settings. In light of these trends and the promising nature of their use, a thorough understanding of …

Quantification And Modeling Of Bladder Biomechanics Mechanisms Linking Spontaneous Rhythmic Contractions And Dynamic Elasticity To Detrusor Overactivity, Zachary E. Cullingsworth

Theses and Dissertations

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a chronic condition affecting approximately 20% of adults in the United States. Detrusor overactivity (DO) is the presence of non-voiding contractions in the detrusor (bladder) muscle during filling and is present in some individuals with OAB. DO is currently identified visually during a urodynamics (UD) study involving pressure catheters and filling and voiding of the bladder to evaluate function. UD provides limited subtyping of DO, and an incomplete understanding of mechanisms contributing to OAB.

Aim 1 of this study was to develop objective tools to quantify, subgroup and better understand …

Can School Be A Source Of Trauma? Assessing Academic Traumatic Stress As A Mechanism Underlying The Health Outcomes Of Black Undergraduate Students, Ebony A. Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

Research examining Black students’ school experiences demonstrates that exposure to oppressive power dynamics in schools may lead to adverse physiological and psychological consequences. Recent conceptualizations in public discourse further posit that traumatic educational experiences, operationalized here as academic trauma or the cumulative toll of adverse and oppressive experiences in academic settings, may influence Black students’ wellbeing even after they have graduated. However, academic trauma has yet to be investigated empirically, and the health contributions of such educational harm remain unstudied. Moreover, little is known about how culturally-relevant personal characteristics (e.g., emotion regulation strategies) influence Black students’ reactivity to academic trauma. …

An Integrated Exploration Of The Contextual, Relational, And Individual Factors That Impact High School Completion Among African Americans, Lesley B. Winchester

Theses and Dissertations

African American students are consistently reported as having among the lowest high school graduation rates when compared to other races (U.S. Department of Education, 2018). While many studies have sought to explore the potential risks of high school dropout, the intention of this study is to examine the factors that support the exemplary resilience of those students who do complete high school. The present study adopts the framework of García Coll et al.’s, (1996) integrative model of developmental competencies in minority children, as it seeks to identity whether and how contextual (spiritual, educational, cultural); relational (caregiver psychological and physical …

Securing A Successful Future For Children With Developmental Disabilities In Ghana And Zambia: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Parental And Service Provider Expectations, Princess-Melissa T. Washington-Nortey

Theses and Dissertations

Studies suggest that parental expectations can influence the developmental trajectory of a growing child. However, the role of parental expectations in the lives of children with disabilities such as intellectual disabilities or autism, and children in Africa in general, to date, has received little attention. Using a cultural psychology framework, the current study examined parental and service provider expectations for children with intellectual disabilities or autism in two African countries: Ghana and Zambia. A mixed-method approach involving the use of concept mapping and quantitative strategies was used. A total of 20 parents and 16 service providers participated in four separate …

How Can Technology Support Ageing In Place In Healthy Older Adults? A Systematic Review, A Ollevier, G Aguiar, M Palomino, Is Simpelaere

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Abstract Background Ageing in place has recently gained visibility in healthcare policies and services. Technology has the potential to facilitate independence at home. The objective of this systematic review is to identify technologies that have been rigorously evaluated for supporting the ageing in place of healthy older adults. As well we explored the methods in engagement with technology in healthy older adults. Methods Databases Pubmed, Scopus, PsycInfo and Cinahl were consulted for clinical controlled trials or randomised controlled trials between 2014 and 2019. Studies were included if they contained a technological intervention and focussed on supporting healthy older adults’ independent …

An Exploration In Accountable Care Organization Structure, Contingency And Performance, 2015-2017, Siriporn P. Satjapot

Theses and Dissertations

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 enacted one of the most significant reforms seen in the United States healthcare landscape. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) led transformation efforts in regulatory reform and coverage expansion across the U.S. population. Since 2010, care delivery systems have been shifting from episodic, decentralized and fee-for-service models to value-based population health models, like accountable care organizations (ACO). ACOs have been specifically primed for local response to improve the health of their communities. ACO research has traditionally focused on performance measures like mortality, readmissions, quality outcomes and savings. ACO organizational characteristics …

Adultery, Infidelity, And Consensual Non-Monogamy, Edward D. Stein

Articles

Thirty-eight states have laws in place that relate to adultery. Though criminal laws against adultery are not frequently enforced, the network of criminal laws, tort laws, and domestic relations laws related to adultery disincentivize extra-marital sex, an effect heightened by the stigma and other social attitudes associated with adultery. This Essay argues that the socio-legal state of affairs concerning adultery is bad for marriages (and similar relationships), bad for public health, and is simply bad public policy. This is in part because the law treats infidelity-having sex with someone other than your primary partner without his or her consent or …

Failing With Proof: Considerations Of Queerly Failing In Visual Research, S. Gavin Weiser

Faculty Publications - College of Education

It is natural that the use of visual methods in education be concerned with the consent of adults, as the many students are under the age of majority, and as such require the consent of their adult caregivers. What does this consent and integration of consent look like when considering visual methods with young adults? By opening up ownership of a research project from its germination, this alters issues of consent from a traditional formation of an informed consent document, to one of an on-going conversation about the ownership and direction of a project. However, by ceding ownership of a …

Omega-3 Fatty Acids And Depressive Symptomology And The Influence Of Psychosocial Stress: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study Of Latinos, Caitlin Porter

Master's Theses and Capstones

Objectives: The literature on omega-3 fatty acid (FA) intake and depressive symptoms is inconsistent, potentially due in part to the influence of psychosocial stress. Some evidence supports that omega-3 FA intake may have greater benefit on depressive symptoms among individuals with high oxidative stress. We quantified the associations between dietary and plasma omega-3 FA and 6-y depressive symptoms and measured the modifying effect of psychosocial stress.

Methods: Data are from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (age 48 y, 63% female). At baseline (2008-11), EPA, DHA and omega-3 very-long-chain FAs (VLCFAs) were estimated using two 24-hr recalls and the …

Family Preservation And Fatalities: The Effect Of Policy On Child Maltreatment Deaths, Madison N. Sundberg

Master's Theses and Capstones

National estimates suggest that between 1,600 and 1,800 children are victims of CMFs each year (USDHHS, 2020), though it is believed that this number is an underestimation of the true figure (Douglas and Finkelhor, 2005; Yampolskaya, Greenbaum, and Berson, 2009). Two belief systems in protecting children have arisen over the past decades, influenced both by sensational cases of child abuse and research. One side argues that every effort must be made to keep the family intact: the family preservation approach. Alternatively, some argue that by attempting to preserve the family structure and failing to remove victims expeditiously, we leave children …

Religious Belief And Culture: The Curious Case Of The Intuitive Soul, Karl G. D. Bailey, Duane C. Mcbride

Faculty Publications

While Adventists recognize some of the straightforward and concrete ideas that are part of doctrinal training on human nature and the state of the dead, the core intuitive belief in mind-body dualism likely continues to influence how Adventists understand human nature.

Ethical Blindspots In Adoption Lawyering, Malinda L. Seymore

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article discusses ethical issues relevant to adoption attorneys, as well as the lessons from behavioral ethics that inform the ethical blind spots common in the practice. The Model Rules for attorneys address a number of areas relevant to the complexitiesof adoption practice. Rules relating to competency and confidentiality, conflicts of interest and dual representation, and the lawyer’s roles as counselor as well as advocate are particularly germane. Although much has been written about the dual representation issue in adoption, other issues of professional responsibility in adoption cases have not been as carefully explored. This Article seeks to remedy that. …

Author Biographical Notes, Mssj Staff

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Reviewers And Referees, Mssj Staff

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Psychiatric Assessment Of A Spanish Understanding Patient Who Is Deaf – A Literature Review, Vania Nwokolo, Francisco Fernadez

MEDI 9331 Scholarly Activities Clinical Years

Mental illness can be misdiagnosed amongst the population who are deaf or hearing impaired. It is important to have the effective tools and resources necessary to appropriately diagnose mental health diseases within this population. In this paper, the authors present a review of the literature on this topic and its significance.