Digital Commons Network^™

Focus Group And Survey Responses To Postural Feedback During Creative Movement Exploration, Mary C. Matthews

Senior Theses

John H. Riskind’s “appropriateness hypothesis” states that posture, positions, and gestures can be emotionally self-regulating if an individual holds a posture that is appropriate for its context. A litany of studies on power posing suggests expansive postures could increase Feelings of Power. One meta-analytic review demonstrates the “robust” significance for evidence of “power feelings, emotion, or self-esteem” due to postural feedback while cautioning researchers on the empirical invalidity of evidence for behavioral and physiological variables. A qualitative description of individuals’ experiences as they change posture, gesture, and position would direct future research on postural feedback. The current project qualitatively examines …

Design Of A Launchable Remote-Controlled Rover And Protective Aeroshell, Matthew Loewer, Colby Weeks, Lake Williams, Jackson Zazzaro

Senior Theses

Planetary rovers, vehicles that can traverse challenging terrain, have excelled in their exploration missions to other celestial bodies. They have been especially suitable for exploring Mars, as rovers such as Opportunity and Perseverance have collected valuable geological, atmospheric, seismic, and magnetic information from the Martian surface. Rovers will remain vital in future space exploration missions, and it is necessary to understand their design and functionality. This paper focuses on the design and prototyping of a miniature rover that can survive the rough Martian terrain while collecting and submitting environmental data for scientific analysis. The design is based off proven Martian …

The Role Of Sport For Adolescents: The Effect Of Sport Participation As A Unique Form Of Physical Activity On Mental Health And Overall Subjective Well-Being During Adolescence, Caleb M. Rogers

Senior Theses

Well-being is an extremely multifaceted domain, as there are numerous factors that contribute to one’s way of life. Objective well-being focuses primarily on material factors such as access to food, housing, and a steady household income. Although these factors play a large role, it is important to analyze well-being from the perspective of the individual. Subjective well-being focuses on how one perceives one's own well-being. Physical activity has been well established as one factor associated with improvements within this domain for adolescents. This project investigates the role of one specific form of physical activity during adolescence: sport. The general assumption …

The A-B Gap: An Assessment Of The Differences Between Ethical Attitudes And Ethical Behaviour Among The Next Generation Of Business Leaders In South Africa, Christo Bisschoff, Sam Fullerton

AMTP Proceedings 2024

The current study scrutinizes differences between the ethical attitudes and behaviour of South Africa’s future generation of business leaders. The target population comprises first-level employed business managers who are currently completing an executive MBA degree. Business managers at three selected South African business schools comprised the sampling frame. Each member of the target population received an online link for access to a questionnaire which featured a previously validated series of balanced 6-point itemized rating scales. Data were collected on both behaviour and attitudes regarding 14 questionable business behaviours, each representing a potential breach of ethical conduct. A 60% response rate …

Zoomer Generation: Used Car Automobile Purchasing Behaviors, Scott E. Whitaker, Joe Spencer, Giovanni Calise

AMTP Proceedings 2024

There is a growing trend of online automobile purchasing that is altering the relationship between consumers and automobile dealerships. Consumers are more informed and seek a larger variety of inventory and options when shopping for used vehicles. The online marketplace provides a viable alternative to local dealerships who have hereto dominated much of the market. This research shows the current generation of Zoomers is helping to drive this trend which has significant marketing implications toward the industry. There remains a gap in the academic body of knowledge examining this behavior in relation to large online purchases such as automobiles. This …

Conflicted Positioning: Product Positioning When Market Segments Have Conflicting Risk Goals, Richard Flight

AMTP Proceedings 2024

ABSTRACT

In some product and service categories concern for physical risk as a result of the product or service rendered is an inherent barrier to purchase. Meanwhile, the same perceived danger attracts thrill seekers who want (or need) a sense of adventure. In this exploratory research, the question of motive for and emotions associated with learning how to fly a plane are explored. When prompted risk is cited oftentimes as both a deterrent to engage in the activity and a motive to pursue it. This presents product and brand managers with the question of how to simultaneously assuage risk-related fear …

Consumers' Brand Loyalty Towards Small Family-Owned Businesses, Christo A. Bisschoff Prof, Christoff Botha Prof, Marco Van Schoor Mr, Doret Botha Prof

AMTP Proceedings 2024

Family-owned businesses constitute a substantial portion of the workforce and GDP in South Africa and, with limited work opportunities in the public sector, play a significant role in job creation. As a result, family enterprises significantly influence South Africa's economy. This study aims to understand consumer loyalty towards family-owned businesses as brands by investigating family-owned businesses in the small mining town "Stilfontein" in the North-West Province, South Africa. Qualitative data collection involved semi-structured interviews with customers of family businesses to gather insights into brand loyalty. The identified themes and sub-themes highlight the importance of community bonds, personalized services, product quality, …

Radiation-Induced Lymphopenia: Understanding, Predictive Modelling And Developing Photon And Proton-Based Mitigation Strategies, Yan Chu

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

It is well recognized that the effectiveness of radiotherapy (RT) requires an intact adaptive immune system, while lymphocytes are highly radiosensitive and are prevalent in the “dose bath” of radiation surrounding the tumor volume. Furthermore, it has been shown that, for nearly all disease sites, radiation-induced lymphopenia (RIL) is associated with poor outcomes. Recently, we observed compelling evidence of significant differences in the lymphocyte-sparing effects of proton therapy (PT) vs. photon (or x-ray) therapy (XRT) attributable to the differences in magnitudes of the dose baths of the two modalities. In addition, previous work has further demonstrated that both patient-specific and …

Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy For Lithium Toxicity: A Worthy Treatment To Avoid Intradialytic Hypotension And Vasopressors., Pooya Zardoost, Zachary Buckman, Joseph Weaver, Sidney Elston, Alex Prouty, Ryan Stuart, Henry L Wehrum

Ambulatory and Primary Care Articles

While intermittent hemodialysis (HD) is the most efficient method of removing lithium in patients with lithium toxicity, continuous renal replacement therapy is an acceptable alternative in the setting of intradialytic hypotension. This form of dialysis can reduce the need for vasopressors during HD, which increases mortality.

Recent Snap Participation In Farmers Markets: Market Representatives’ Perspectives, Laura Fincher

Honors Theses

As the 2023 farmers market season is the first in three years without Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Emergency Allotments, SNAP participation in farmers markets is likely to decrease, which could have negative impacts for farmers market earnings and community relations. The purpose of this study was to examine farmers market SNAP participation and the impacts of the expiration of SNAP Emergency Allotments from the perspective of market representatives. Farmers market representatives from Central Arkansas and East Texas were interviewed in field testing, then representatives from North Texas were interviewed in target data collection. Observations of farmers market sites and …

Determining The Lightcurves And Rotational Periods Of Four Main Belt Asteroids, Kaitlyn Kalisek

Honors Theses

This research found lightcurves and rotational periods of four main belt asteroids, 2854 Rawson, 5142 Okutama, (14362) 1988 MH, and 28248 Barthelemy. The A&M-Commerce observatory 0.7 meter telescope equipped with a CCD camera was used to collect multiple nights of data for each asteroid which was then analyzed to determine the asteroid’s lightcurve, rotational period, and create a possible 3D model. The rotational periods were found to be 4.775 ± 0.001 h for 2854 Rawson, 3.803 ± 0.001 h for 5142 Okutama, 3.645 ± 0.001 h for (14362) 1988 MH, and 3.128 ± 0.002 h for 28248 Barthelemy.

Behavioral Response Of Commercial Cattle To Common Handling Methods In Pasture Settings, Agustin Angel Espinoza

Honors Theses

Flight zones can be described as the personal space bubble of cattle. Cattle will make attempts to retain this personal space bubble when being approached in a pasture setting. Flight zone distance can be used by producers to understand cattle temperament. A larger flight zone may indicate a more excitable temperament. In this study female cattle aged 1-12 were approached on foot, by utility vehicle and by feed truck in a pasture setting to record their flight zone. This study evaluated how differing methods of approach affect the flight zone. Low stress handling was the method of approach taken to …

Autoethnography For Professional Growth In Science And Social Studies Pedagogy, Grace E. White

Honors Theses

A large body of research shows that reading and math instruction receive significantly more time, attention, and instructional minutes than science and social studies instruction in elementary classrooms(VanFossen, 2005; Wilkens, 2009; Blank, 2013; Rosenshine, 2015). In this study, I use an autoethnographic reflective research framework to combat the challenges of science and social studies professional growth while student teaching at a rural texas elementary school that has chosen to require only math and reading instruction from their teachers. It was found that science and social studies is most easily incorporated through the existing reading and math curriculum. The autoethnographic process …

Arcadia Magazine, 2024-04

Alumni Magazine

No abstract provided.

Visualizing The Standard Deviation Via Revolution Using R/Rstudio, Hieu Nguyen '25, Trung Pham '25, Mamunur Rashid, Jyotirmoy Sarkar

Student Research

The standard deviation is a commonly used statistical measure to quantify the level of variation present in a set of numbers or in a random variable. Sarkar and Rashid (2016) introduced an interpretation of the population standard deviation as the radius of a cylinder with a volume equivalent to that of the solid of revolution when the 2-D graph of the empirical cumulative distribution function is revolved about the vertical line through the mean. This article demonstrates step-by-step how to use the RevSD package in R/RStudio to visualize the standard deviation of data using this innovative technique. The RevSD package …

Lipprint: Using Lip Movements As A Silent Password, Ahmed Ketab, Nidhal K. El Abbadi

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

Authentication and confidentiality are critical elements in many systems, and passwords are used to protect these systems. One way to enter the password into the system is via voice. The problem with this type of password is that people listen to it easily. The general purpose of this study was to make the password based on lip movement instead of sound. To address this problem, a visual speech recognition (VSR) system was proposed that detects speech from lip movement as a silent password. The proposed system consists of preprocessing the captured video via the proposed algorithms and feature extraction and …

Interactions Between Societal, Social, And Social Media Marketing, Jessica Holden, Ismet Anitsal, Melek Meral Anitsal

AMTP Proceedings 2024

This research explores the interactions among societal, social, and social media marketing concepts to provide clarity and distinction. These concepts are often confused, causing misunderstanding and misuse in practice. Societal, social, and social media marketing concepts need to be differentiated from one another and linked to the appropriate marketing tactics for them to be understood and utilized effectively in practice.

Exploring Practical Measures As An Approach For Measuring Elementary Students’ Attitudes Towards Computer Science, Umar Shehzad, Mimi M. Recker, Jody E. Clarke-Midura

Publications

This paper presents a novel approach for predicting the outcomes of elementary students’ participation in computer science (CS) instruction by using exit tickets, a type of practical measure, where students provide rapid feedback on their instructional experiences. Such feedback can help teachers to inform ongoing teaching and instructional practices. We fit a Structural Equation Model to examine whether students' perceptions of enjoyment, ease, and connections between mathematics and CS in an integrated lesson predicted their affective outcomes in self-efficacy, interest, and CS identity, collected in a pre- post- survey. We found that practical measures can validly measure student experiences.

Impact Of Temperature On The Bionomics And Geographical Range Margins Of The Two-Spotted Field Cricket Gryllus Bimaculatus In The World: Implications For Its Mass Farming, Henlay J.O. Magara, Chrysantus M. Tanga, Brian L. Fisher, Abdelmutalab G.A. Azrag, Saliou Niassy, James P. Egonyu, Sylvain Hugel, Nana Roos, Monica A. Ayieko, Subramanian Sevgan, Sunday Ekesi

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Gryllus bimaculatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) is widely considered an excellent nutrient source for food and feed. Despite its economic importance, there is limited information on the impact of temperature on the bionomics of this cricket to guide its effective and sustainable mass production in its geographical range. The biological parameters of G. bimaculatus were investigated at eight different temperatures ranging from 20–40∘C. The Insect Life-Cycle Modelling (ILCYM) program was used to fit linear and non-linear functions to the data to describe the influence of temperature on life history parameters and its farmability under the current and projected climate for 2050. Our …

Enhancing Pre-Vocational Programs For High School Students With Disabilities: The Impact Of Occupational Therapy And Support Staff Education, Maria Calzada

Capstone Projects

Pre-vocational programs in high school serve as a crucial platform for supporting students in the transition from education to the workplace. These programs provide classroom instruction, hands-on training, and practical experiences to maximize students’ vocational skills post-high school. Pre-vocational programs provide a crucial platform for the development of IADL skills, task analysis, and the promotion of occupational engagement among diverse populations. The purpose of this DCE was program development within the pre-vocational program and provide additional education for the support staff at the high school setting. The goal was to improve vocational skills, including problem solving, self-advocacy, sequencing, and sustained …

Holistic Education To Empower And Enhance Women's Health Throughout Pregnancy, Birth, And The Postpartum Period, Hannah Wilson

Capstone Projects

Making informed healthcare decisions on behalf of oneself for optimal outcomes first begins with comprehending basic health education about one’s own body, typical bodily functioning and bodily processes and ends with empowered decision making. Health literacy is the ability of an individual to understand and apply basic healthcare information to their personal healthcare decision making and is integral for any and all healthcare providers to comprehend when educating patients in practice. Occupational therapists (OTs) are healthcare professionals that work with any demographic of people to improve satisfaction with performance of everyday living activities and quality of life. OTs’ scope of …

The Pacifican April 2024, University Of The Pacific

All Issues - Student Newspaper, The Pacifican, Pacific Weekly

No abstract provided.

Richmond Law Magazine: Spring 2024

Richmond Law Magazine

Courtney Paulk's endurance mindset

Come hell or high water

Reparations for Ukraine

Little Flower Church And School: A Digital History Of Westside San Antonio's Spirituality And The Dedication Of The Community, Ashton Jeffers

Capstone Projects

This project utilizes digital and oral history methods to present a collective narrative on the Little Flower Basilica and School. It begins with the origins of the parish on the Westside of San Antonio to the present day, showing how the parish presents its history to the public. Using a StoryMap to create a digital exhibit, this multi-media project includes a comprehensive historical narrative along with primary source documents and photographs of the development of the parish and its school over time. The StoryMap also includes an oral history audio of Diane Gonzales Bertrand, a former member of the Little …

Mental Health Professionals' Perspectives On The Third Party When Treating Married Heterosexual Couples For Infidelity: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Suzanne M. Freid

Dissertations

No research seems to exist that focuses on how the nonexclusive spouse and the exclusive spouse discuss the third party in couple therapy for infidelity. Similarly, we know almost nothing about mental health professionals' perceptions of what the couple says and does, how the therapist responds to them, and what they perceive about the third party and their work with married, heterosexual couples. Eight licensed and experienced mental health professionals from the Austin, Texas community participated in this study grounded in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings suggest that training programs fail to provide information and evidenced-based techniques for working with couples …

Effects Of Confinement On Opposed-Flow Flame Spread Over Cellulose And Polymeric Solids In Microgravity, Ankit Sharma, Yanjun Li, Ya-Ting T. Liao

Student Scholarship

Opposed-flow flame spread over solid materials has been investigated in the past few decades owing to its importance in the fundamental understanding of fires. These studies provided insights into the behavior of opposed-flow flames in different environmental conditions (e.g., flow speed, oxygen concentration). However, the effect of confinement on opposed-flow flames remains under-explored. It is known that confinement plays a critical role in concurrent-flow flame spread in normal and microgravity conditions. Hence, for a complete understanding, it becomes important to understand the effects of confinement for opposed-flow flames. In this study, microgravity experiments are conducted aboard the International Space Station …

Therapist Competency Using Transference-Focused Psychotherapy To Treat Borderline Personality Disorder., Rachel J. Altman

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Empirical research on clinician experience of competency treating borderline personality disorder is scarce, and that which does exist focuses on the negative experiences of those who treat this population. Utilizing an interpretive phenomenological analysis approach, this qualitative research investigation explored the lived experience of feelings of competency in clinicians treating borderline personality disorder using the evidence-based model of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy. To better comprehend this phenomenon and address research questions, data were collected via one, semi-structured interview given to five different clinicians who practice Transference-Focused Psychotherapy. Four themes emerged from the researched data: Positive treatment outcomes for patients, Using negative countertransference …

Reciprocal Relationships Between Stress And Depressive Symptoms: The Essential Role Of The Nucleus Accumbens, Yizhou Ma, Peter Kochunov, Mark D Kvarta, Tara Legates, Bhim M Adhikari, Joshua Chiappelli, Andrew Van Der Vaart, Eric L Goldwaser, Heather Bruce, Kathryn S Hatch, Si Gao, Shuo Chen, Ann Summerfelt, Thomas E Nichols, L Elliot Hong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Stress and depression have a reciprocal relationship, but the neural underpinnings of this reciprocity are unclear. We investigated neuroimaging phenotypes that facilitate the reciprocity between stress and depressive symptoms.

METHODS: In total, 22 195 participants (52.0% females) from the population-based UK Biobank study completed two visits (initial visit: 2006-2010, age = 55.0 ± 7.5 [40-70] years; second visit: 2014-2019; age = 62.7 ± 7.5 [44-80] years). Structural equation modeling was used to examine the longitudinal relationship between self-report stressful life events (SLEs) and depressive symptoms. Cross-sectional data were used to examine the overlap between neuroimaging correlates of SLEs and …

Department Of Politics And Government News And Views, Spring 2024, Department Of Politics And Government

Department of Politics and Government News and Views

Newsletter of the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University

Cytokine Release By Microglia Exposed To Neurologic Injury Is Amplified By Lipopolysaccharide, Michael C Scott, Olivia Leblanc, Harper Day, Candice Haase, Scott D Olson, Charles S Cox

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and morbidity in the trauma population. Microglia drive the secondary neuroinflammatory response after TBI. We sought to determine if the microglial response to neurologic injury was exacerbated by a second stimulus after exposure to neurologic injury.

Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats (age 2-3 wk) were divided into injured and noninjured groups. Injured rats underwent a controlled cortical impact injury; noninjured rats remained naïve to any injury and served as the control group. Primary rat microglia were isolated and applied to in vitro cultures. After incubation for 24 h, the microglia were …