Digital Commons Network^™

Strategies To Reduce Employee Turnover In The Insurance Industry In Jamaica, Kenneth Barrington Roberts

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High employee turnover in insurance agencies can have a detrimental effect on overall team performance and significantly impact on the organization's financial health. To address the problem, insurance managers must understand effective strategies to improve employee retention. Grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore strategies insurance managers use to reduce their employee turnover rate. The participants were three insurance managers of the Jamaican insurance industry. Data were collected using semistructured virtual interviews and a review of public documents related to turnover data. Through thematic analysis, three themes emerged: a) supportive leadership for …

Restoring And Improving Senior Citizens' Trust In Water Safety In Flint, Michigan, Jessica Nichole Burt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Trust can be defined as a belief in truth, hope, or simply the idea that a person or group has the best interest or ability of the next party. During the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, trust significantly impacted how a person or group perceived the person deemed dependable when decisions made impacted their life. The purpose of this study was to explore senior citizens' experiences and perceptions and make recommendations for restoring the public's confidence in water safety in Flint, Michigan, which has been fragmented within the minority senior community. A qualitative case study was designed by using interviews to …

Federally Qualified Health Center Access To Maternity Care For Incarcerated Pregnant Women, Pamela Baldwin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Background: There has been an increase in pregnant incarcerated women, which is a growing concern for this high-risk and special population. This specialty group indicates a need for attention to ensure access to timely and proper medical care. Incarcerated pregnant women are a noted vulnerable group and do not have access to standardized clinical guidelines. Imprisonment imposes unique restrictions regarding access to care. A Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Pennsylvania has been providing ambulatory/obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) care to incarcerated pregnant women. Purpose: This research aimed to investigate strategies FQHC leadership can use to improve access to care for …

Information Technology Managers’ Strategies For Implementing Data Governance, Dieudonne Mayi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As businesses increasingly view data as a strategic asset, effective data governance (DG) frameworks are crucial for ensuring data integrity and compliance. IT managers face challenges in fully integrating DG with IT governance, leading to issues like inconsistent data availability, compromised security, and costly outcomes such as data loss, legal actions, and compliance penalties. Grounded in Abraham et al.’s DG conceptual framework and Khatri and Brown’s unified DG framework, this qualitative pragmatic study investigates the strategies IT managers use to implement successful DG within organizations. A sample of 11 IT managers from U.S. companies with established DG practices participated in …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Kindergarten Through Grade 12 Education Leaders’ With Digital Transformation Strategies During And Post Covid-19, Vilma Tannisha Ramirez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rapid spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in March 2020 had a profound impact on global kindergarten through Grade 12 (K–12) education, causing significant disruption to the learning environment and compelling many education leaders to immediately embrace emergency remote learning measures. There was a gap in knowledge of education leaders’ lived experiences of this transformation. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of U.S. K–12 education leaders in creating digital transformation strategies during the wake and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conceptual framework consisted of Trist and Bamforth’s sociotechnical subsystem theory and Wade’s …

‘Foundations Of The Mind, Brain, And Behavioral Relationships’: A Combined Faculty And Student’S Perspective Of A New Textbook On Clinical Neuroscience, Richard J. Addante, Jahdiel Perez Caban, Sarah E. Smith

Psychology Faculty Publications

The textbook, ‘Foundations of the Mind, Brain, and Behavioral Relationships’ (Moini et al., Citation2023), is one of the newest textbooks in neuroscience to arrive. The market for textbooks in the field of neuroscience is competitive among several excellent comparators, but critical market gaps still remain to be filled, notably the area of clinical neuroscience that is both advanced in content but accessible to students. One of the reasons that this gap has existed in the field is precisely because it can be a very difficult a mark to hit: how does one present neurobiological content that is …

Euphemism In Ai Discourse As Colonial Harm & Effect: Learnings From Subaltern Puerto Rico, Jacqueline Oquendo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Through three integrated studies, this dissertation explores complex human-AI interactions by comparing the perceptions of two groups of U.S. citizens: subaltern Puerto Ricans and stateside Americans’ interactions with ChatGPT. This corpus-assisted Critical Discourse Analysis or CLCDA, triangulated with 1:1 semi-structured interviews, validates scholars’ concerns about the biases inherent in generative AI. Contributing to those concerns, this dissertation reveals that ChatGPT deploys discourse strategies that, when executed, facilitate digital colonialism. Euphemistic language is prominent among its discourse strategies, replacing controversial words, phrases, and topics with more palatable ones. When prompted on events of historical significance, I find that ChatGPT’s discourse obscures …

Obesity And Outcomes In Adoptive Cellular Therapy In Solid Tumors, Derrick L Tao, Mirella Nardo, Cheuk Hong Leung, Heather Y Lin, Lei Kang, Ecaterina E Dumbrava

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This cohort study investigates the association of obesity with adoptive cell therapy outcomes in patients with solid tumors.

Fc-Enhanced Anti-Ctla-4, Anti-Pd-1, Doxorubicin, And Ultrasound-Mediated Blood-Brain Barrier Opening: A Novel Combinatorial Immunotherapy Regimen For Gliomas, Kwang-Soo Kim, Karl Habashy, Andrew Gould, Junfei Zhao, Hinda Najem, Ruth Saganty, Crismita Dmello, Li Chen, Daniel Y Zhang, Brandyn Castro, Leah Billingham, Daniel Levey, Olivia Huber, Marilyn Marques, David A Savitsky, Benjamin M Morin, Miguel Muzzio, Michael Canney, Craig Horbinski, Peng Zhang, Jason Miska, Surya Padney, Bin Zhang, Raul Rabadan, Joanna J Phillips, Nicholas Butowski, Amy B Heimberger, Jian Hu, Roger Stupp, Dhan Chand, Catalina Lee-Chang, Adam M Sonabend

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Glioblastoma is a highly aggressive brain cancer that is resistant to conventional immunotherapy strategies. Botensilimab, an Fc-enhanced anti-CTLA-4 antibody (FcE-aCTLA-4), has shown durable activity in "cold" and immunotherapy-refractory cancers.

Methods: We evaluated the efficacy and immune microenvironment phenotype of a mouse analogue of FcE-aCTLA-4 in treatment-refractory preclinical models of glioblastoma, both as a monotherapy and in combination with doxorubicin delivered via low-intensity pulsed ultrasound and microbubbles (LIPU/MB). Additionally, we studied 4 glioblastoma patients treated with doxorubicin, anti-PD-1 with concomitant LIPU/MB to investigate the novel effect of doxorubicin modulating FcγR expressions in tumor-associated macrophages/microglia (TAMs).

Results: FcE-aCTLA-4 demonstrated high-affinity binding …

The Emerging Field Of Viroimmunotherapy For Pediatric Brain Tumors, Marc Garcia-Moure, Virginia Laspidea, Sumit Gupta, Andrew G Gillard, Soumen Khatua, Jiasen He, Juan Fueyo, Marta M Alonso, Candelaria Gomez-Manzano

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pediatric brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children. Even to date, with the advances in multimodality therapeutic management, survival outcomes remain dismal in some types of tumors, such as pediatric-type diffuse high-grade gliomas or central nervous system embryonal tumors. Failure to understand the complex molecular heterogeneity and the elusive tumor and microenvironment interplay continues to undermine therapeutic efficacy. Developing a strategy that would improve survival for these fatal tumors remains unmet in pediatric neuro-oncology. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are emerging as a feasible, safe, and promising therapy for brain tumors. The new paradigm in virotherapy implies that the …

Impa1-Derived Inositol Maintains Stemness In Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Via Impdh2 Activation, Zhen Cai, Tingjin Chen, Bo-Syong Pan, Rajesh Kumar Manne, Gagan Deep, Haiwei Gu, Yuzhuo Wang, Danni Peng, Vasudevarao Penugurti, Xiaobo Zhou, Zhigang Xu, Zhongzhu Chen, Ming Chen, Andrew J Armstrong, Jiaoti Huang, Hong-Yu Li, Hui-Kuan Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Acquisition of prostate cancer stem cells (PCSCs) manifested during androgen ablation therapy (ABT) contributes to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, little is known about the specific metabolites critically orchestrating this process. Here, we show that IMPA1-derived inositol enriched in PCSCs is a key metabolite crucially maintaining PCSCs for CRPC progression and ABT resistance. Notably, conditional Impa1 knockout in the prostate abrogates the pool and properties of PCSCs to orchestrate CRPC progression and prolong the survival of TRAMP mice. IMPA1-derived inositol serves as a cofactor that directly binds to and activates IMPDH2, which synthesizes guanylate nucleotides for maintaining PCSCs with ARlow/- …

Predictive Validity Of Person-Environment Fit On The Hiring Desirability Of Software Engineers, Lucija Velican

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Person-environment (P-E) fit, particularly in recruitment, has gained significant attention, expanding beyond the traditional focus on job-applicant compatibility to include alignment with team and organizational dynamics. Despite its importance, there is no consensus on how to effectively measure this fit, which limits its predictive power for employee outcomes. This quantitative correlational study addressed this gap by examining the predictive validity of congruence between candidates’ psychological characteristics and various facets of the work environment among software engineers. Drawing on Schneider’s attraction-selection-attrition model, the study examined congruence at multiple levels (candidate-team, candidate-leader, and candidate-role) and its influence on hiring desirability. Secondary data …

Predictive Validity Of Person-Environment Fit On The Hiring Desirability Of Software Engineers, Lucija Velican

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Person-environment (P-E) fit, particularly in recruitment, has gained significant attention, expanding beyond the traditional focus on job-applicant compatibility to include alignment with team and organizational dynamics. Despite its importance, there is no consensus on how to effectively measure this fit, which limits its predictive power for employee outcomes. This quantitative correlational study addressed this gap by examining the predictive validity of congruence between candidates’ psychological characteristics and various facets of the work environment among software engineers. Drawing on Schneider’s attraction-selection-attrition model, the study examined congruence at multiple levels (candidate-team, candidate-leader, and candidate-role) and its influence on hiring desirability. Secondary data …

Predictive Validity Of Person-Environment Fit On The Hiring Desirability Of Software Engineers, Lucija Velican

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Person-environment (P-E) fit, particularly in recruitment, has gained significant attention, expanding beyond the traditional focus on job-applicant compatibility to include alignment with team and organizational dynamics. Despite its importance, there is no consensus on how to effectively measure this fit, which limits its predictive power for employee outcomes. This quantitative correlational study addressed this gap by examining the predictive validity of congruence between candidates’ psychological characteristics and various facets of the work environment among software engineers. Drawing on Schneider’s attraction-selection-attrition model, the study examined congruence at multiple levels (candidate-team, candidate-leader, and candidate-role) and its influence on hiring desirability. Secondary data …

Differences In Brain Volume In Military Service Members And Veterans After Blast-Related Mild Tbi: A Limbic-Cenc Study, Nicholas J Tustison, Mary R Newsome, Elizabeth S Hovenden, Brian B Avants, Jessica Gill, Sidney R Hinds, Kimbra Kenney, Hannah M Lindsey, Sarah L Martindale, Mary Jo Pugh, Randall S Scheibel, Pashtun-Poh Shahim, Robert Shih, James R Stone, Maya Troyanskaya, William C Walker, Kent Werner, Gerald E York, David X Cifu, David F Tate, Elisabeth A Wilde

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Importance: Blast-related mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), the "signature injury" of post-9/11 conflicts, are associated with clinically relevant, long-term cognitive, psychological, and behavioral dysfunction and disability; however, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear.

Objective: To investigate associations between a history of remote blast-related mild TBI and regional brain volume in a sample of US veterans and active duty service members.

Design, setting, and participants: Prospective cohort study of US veterans and active duty service members from the Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium-Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium (LIMBIC-CENC), which enrolled more than 1500 participants at 5 sites used in …

Degree Of Anxiety Among First And Final Year Pharmacy Students: Results From Mosul College Of Pharmacy, Harith Kh Al-Qazaz, Sadeel A. Shanshal, Hussain A. Mohammed, Belal A. Ibrahem, Muath H. Mahmood, Omer H. Ali, Abdullah Ghanim

BioMed Visions Journal

Background and Objectives: Upgrading from schools to university is a pivotal stage for many students. however, the conversion of situation and appearance of new responsibilities will expose university students to extreme stress such as increased academic workloads and involvement in public speaking. The assessment of prevalence and its correlates of anxiety among students at the University of Mosul, College of Pharmacy was the aim in this study, involving 253 participants. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted for short period of time from 20th to 27th of January 2024 in online base. The data collection form consists of two parts: Socio-demographic …

Comparison Between Estimates Of Beta Regression Model Using Mse, Melad Dheyaa Ismaiel, Ahmed Dheyab Ahmed

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

The multiple linear regression analysis shows the effects of explanatory variables on the dependent variable. Its function is to represent data to understand the shape and nature of the relationship between explanatory variables and the response variable. One of the main problems faced by linear regression is the nature of the data, as sometimes it does not follow a normal distribution. This has led to the emergence of different types of linear regression models such as the beta regression model, where the data of the dependent variable is less than one and confined within the period (0,1), and the data …

Self-Doubt: Impostor Phenomenon And The Doctoral Seeking School-Based Leader, Rose Apollon-Simon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative narrative inquiry explores the experiences of school-based administrators in K-12 public school settings within the state of Florida who navigate the challenges of Impostor Phenomenon while concurrently pursuing a doctoral degree. The research draws on the personal stories of four participants—three women and one man—who are currently or previously employed as principals or assistant principals. The study focused on how participants manage the psychological tensions coming from their experiences with Impostor Phenomenon or the persistent self-doubt and the fear of being exposed as a fraud. While most Impostor Phenomenon research has concentrated on fields like business, medicine, and …

On The Role Of Prediction In Streaming Hierarchical Learning, Ramy Mounir

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In today's world, AI systems need to make sense of large amounts of data as it unfolds in real-time, whether it's a video from surveillance and monitoring cameras, streams of egocentric footage, or sequences in other domains such as text or audio. The ability to break these continuous data streams into meaningful events, discover nested structures, and predict what might happen next at different levels of abstraction is crucial for applications ranging from passive surveillance systems to sensory-motor autonomous learning. However, most existing models rely heavily on large, annotated datasets with fixed data distributions and offline epoch-based training, which makes …

24 Conference Program - Mixed Conducting And Nonstoichiometric Compounds Viii, William Chueh, Kuan-Zong Fung, Hitoshi Takamura

Mixed Conducting and Nonstoichiometric Compounds VII

No abstract provided.

Representation And Its Historical Antecedents In New Media: The Queer-Ious Case Of Assassin's Creed, Taylor M. Kessner, Jess Root-Williams, Jeremy Bernier

SAGE Open Access Agreement Publications-Archive

Videogames, like other new media, reflect and shape culture and are influenced by societal attitude shifts. We conducted a qualitative close-reading analysis of queer representation in the AAA historical-fiction series Assassin’s Creed and the historical antecedents thereof to explore (a) the traditional marginalization of queer-identifying folks in (b) the context of growing societal acceptance within the (inter)national zeitgeist. In our examination of the developer’s reaction operationalized as observable shifts in developers’ design choices, we observed an increase in representation that aligns with the shift in social attitudes toward queer folks over the last 15 years. With respect to the historical …

Imitasd: Imitation Assessment Model For Children With Autism Based On Human Pose Estimation, Hany Said, Khaled Mahar, Shaymaa E. Sorour, Ahmed Elsheshai, Ramy Shaaban, Mohamed Hesham, Mustafa Khadr, Youssef A. Mehanna, Ammar Basha, Fahima A. Maghraby

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Autism is a challenging brain disorder affecting children at global and national scales. Applied behavior analysis is commonly conducted as an efficient medical therapy for children. This paper focused on one paradigm of applied behavior analysis, imitation, where children mimic certain lessons to enhance children’s social behavior and play skills. This paper introduces IMITASD, a practical monitoring assessment model designed to evaluate autistic children’s behaviors efficiently. The proposed model provides an efficient solution for clinics and homes equipped with mid-specification computers attached to webcams. IMITASD automates the scoring of autistic children’s videos while they imitate a series of lessons. The …

A Novel Maximum Likelihood Based Probabilistic Behavioral Data Fusion Algorithm For Modeling Residential Energy Consumption, Tanmoy Bhowmik, Naveen Chandra Iraganaboina, Naveen Eluru

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current research effort is focused on improving the effective use of the multiple disparate sources of data available by proposing a novel maximum likelihood based probabilistic data fusion approach for modeling residential energy consumption. To demonstrate our data fusion algorithm, we consider energy usage by fuel type variables (for electricity and natural gas) in residential dwellings as our dependent variable of interest, drawn from residential energy consumption survey (RECS) data. The national household travel survey (NHTS) dataset was considered to incorporate additional variables that are not available in the RECS data. With a focus on improving the model for …

Negotiation Strategies And Their Effect On Organizational Success: Analytical Research In The Iraqi Ministry Of Industry And Minerals, Abdullah Khamis Ali, Suheir Adel Hamed

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Purpose: This study aims to determine the impact of Negotiation Strategies (NS) on Organizational Success(OS) in the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals. Conceptual Framework: The NS includes dimensions (cooperative strategy, competitive strategy, avoidance strategy, bargaining strategy and absorption strategy) measured by (Thomas, 2008), and OS includes dimensions (resources, organizational structure, management, process and knowledge management) measured by (Hamedi & Azimi, 2013)​. Design/Methodology/approach: The descriptive analytical method was adopted in completing the current research, on a sample of senior and middle leaders in the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals under study, which numbered (120) individuals, and they were selected …

The Impact Of Strategic Knowledge On Entrepreneurial Performance: An Analytical Research At The Ministry Of Education In Iraq, Yaseen Ekrayyem Al-Falloji, Salah Abd- Alqadeer Ahmed Al- Nuiami

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

The current research aims to study the impact of strategic knowledge on the entrepreneurial performance of a sample of employees in the Iraqi Ministry of Education. Its importance lies in conducting research in the government educational sector. A purposive random sample of 175 individuals was selected based on a data collection questionnaire. Strategic knowledge includes four dimensions (strategic priorities, organizational environment, and organizational capabilities). Entrepreneurial performance addresses four dimensions (proactive planning, leadership indicators, innovation and creativity, efficiency, and effectiveness). The research highlights strategic knowledge in educational administrations to ensure the success of entrepreneurial performance in Iraqi educational institutions. The research …

The Effect Of Inclusive Leadership On Organizational Agility: An Analytical Study In The General Company Of Battery Industry, Heba Abbas Abdel Khalil, Khaled Mahdi Saleh

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Purpose: Explaining the impact of comprehensive leadership in achieving organizational agility that contributes to achieving the desired goals and retaining competent cadres. Theoretical framework: Achieving the primary goal, which is by defining the effect of inclusive leadership with its dimensions on organizational agility. The research investigated the extent to which comprehensive leadership contributes to enhancing organizational agility through employees’ ownership of the two concepts. Design/methodology/approach: The descriptive-analytical method was adopted, and the data were analyzed to reach the results using SPSS V.26 software. The company registration department, a subsidiary of the General Company for Battery Industries, was chosen to represent …

Interactive Marketing Measurement According To Sustainable Competitive Advantage Goals: A Scale Development, Rusul Salman Neamah, Yousef Mohamma Difar, Nader Naderi, Bijan Rezaee

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Purpose: The objective of this study is to create an interactive marketing model that aligns with the commercial development strategies of mobile phone operators in Iraq. Theoretical framework: Recent literature has reported good results on the new design of the interactive marketing model that is compatible with the development of work in the Iraqi mobile phone companies in the research sample. Design/methodology/approach: Mobile phone companies in Iraq (Asia Cell, Zain, Korek) were chosen as a field for the application, and a purposive research sample consisting of (35) people was chosen from the human resources of the aforementioned companies. Questions prepared …

The Effectiveness Of The Agricultural Investment Environment In Supporting The Production Of Strategic Crops In Iraq For The Period From 2003-2021, Salman Imran Musa, Faris Kareem Buraihi

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Maximizing the effectiveness of the agricultural investment environment for all its basic inputs from the economic and human resources available in Iraq represents a qualitative breakthrough in the production of strategic crops, therefore, the research problem came from the weak production of strategic agricultural crops in Iraq in quantity and quality, due to the ineffectiveness of the agricultural investment environment, as a result of the lack of government support, the deterioration of the infrastructure of the agricultural sector, and a shortage of monetary capital, Finally, the scarcity of water resources, the problem was treated using the analytical method, thus, the …

The Impact Of Trade Openness On The Reality Industry In Iraq For The Period (2004-2022), Zinah Ismael Meteab, Murad Faleh Murad

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Iraq is one of the prominent countries that used to have important industries and enjoyed consumer acceptance, as well as competitiveness and presence in regional and global markets. However, after 2003 and due to trade liberalization, there was a general weakness in the structure of the Iraqi economy. This directly affected the reality of the Iraqi industrial sector, leading to the entry of goods and products from all over the world. With the increase in population and government expenditures, which relied on commodity imports to meet local needs, all aspects of industry in the country were eliminated. The importance of …

Face Image Recognition By Using Some Dimension Reduction Algorithms And Logistic Regression, Sura Sabah Keiteb, Entsar Arebe Fadam

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Face recognition is a common technique for artificial intelligence and image processing in which machine-learning algorithms automatically recognize a person's face through a huge image collection or even from a live video since there is difficulty in detecting data when using different shots for the same person in a facial recognition system, it takes time to determine person's membership. Furthermore, when working with high-dimensional data, where the 2D-pixel values of facial images, can be computationally challenging, the face recognition problem gets harder, so the current research compares the dimensionality reduction techniques like the principal component analysis algorithm PCA, an unsupervised …