Digital Commons Network^™

Actions Of The Principal: Influences On Teacher Self-Efficacy And Motivation, Amanda Maslen Conner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Classroom teachers are a significant influence on student achievement. Numerous studies indicate that teacher motivation and self-efficacy influence their effectiveness in the classroom. Furthermore, studies indicate that the leadership behaviors of the principal can influence the school culture and have a direct impact on teacher motivation and self-efficacy. This study sought to determine if a relationship exists between certain behaviors of administrators and a teacher's self-efficacy and motivation. The study used a correlational design using The Teacher Motivation & Job Satisfaction Survey (TMJSS), The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), and the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). There were 72 high …

Biblical Literacy: An Expositional Christ-Centered Approach To Bible Study, Paula K. Offutt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This action research aimed to examine biblical literacy from an expositional Christ-centered approach to Bible study. Using a triangular curriculum design focusing on scriptural theology, Bible study methodology, and a transformative approach to Christ-centered learning, the action research results revealed that an expositional Christ-centered approach increases biblical literacy. The researcher garnered data by hosting four bi-weekly Bible study sessions employing pre-and-post assessments to capture participants' current and post-state of biblical literacy. The validity and reliability of the pre-and-post assessments were determined by a focus group that reviewed the measurement tools and provided feedback confirming the trustworthiness and dependability of the …

A Phenomenological Study Of Experiences Of Veteran High School Special Education Teachers Who Remain In The Profession, Harold Alexander Russell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenological study aimed to understand the experiences influencing veteran high school special education teachers in an urban setting to remain in the teaching profession. The central phenomenon under investigation was defined as the events and incidents that influence the decision-making process of special education high school teachers who remain in the special education profession for more than 4 years. The study’s central research question asked, How do high school special education teachers with more than 4 years of service describe their teaching experiences that influence their decision to remain in special education? The study used a qualitative phenomenological …

Health Care Provider Knowledge Of Human Trafficking, Bobbi Mccarthy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Human trafficking is a global public health crisis catastrophically threatening the health and well-being of those trafficked. Limited studies measure health care providers’ confidence in their ability to recognize, treat, and refer those being trafficked. This integrative review synthesizes current knowledge on human trafficking and identifies gaps in research on educational interventions aimed at increasing provider knowledge and awareness as well as confidence in treating and referring those being trafficked. A systematic search of five databases identified peer-reviewed published papers between 2015 and 2021. The integrative review followed the framework of Toronto and Remington (2020), and the systemic search was …

A Phenomenological Study Of One-To-One Paraeducators' Self-Efficacy In Self-Contained Special Education Programs, Deborah Schloemer-Frazer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences and self-efficacy of one-to-one paraeducators assisting high school students with disabilities in self-contained classrooms. The theory guiding this study is Bandura's social cognitive theory, which describes self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a person's belief in their ability to complete a designated task (Bandura, 1997a). Bandura purports that there are four elements that contribute to one's self-efficacy: performance outcomes, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective state (Bandura, 1997b). In this phenomenological study, eleven one-to-one paraeducators within one school district in western Washington participated in interviews, focus groups, …

Implementing And Sustaining A Lean Management System, Derek Albert Vandersteur

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Lean healthcare is a field of research that studies the use of effective goal setting and scientific thinking to drive improvements in the healthcare industry. Lean has been effectively applied in healthcare settings to improve efficiency, patient satisfaction, clinical outcomes, and safety. There have been, however, varying degrees of success achieved in healthcare organizations effectively implementing a lean management system. The problem addressed in this research is that many healthcare organizations in the United States that seek to improve quality and reduce costs by implementing a lean management system are unable to sustain the lean management system thereby missing out …

Experiences Of College Professors With Students With Identified Disabilities And Ada Compliance In Face-To-Face Courses At A State College In Florida: A Case Study, Rafael Sanchez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative case study’s purpose was to understand college professors’ experiences regarding students with identified disabilities and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 (ADA) in their face-to-face courses at a multicampus state college in Florida. The leading theory guiding this study was the adult learning process: andragogy complemented by the disability theory. These theories provided a foundational understanding of how college professors teach adult learners with identified disabilities. The study explored the following research question: How did college professors describe their teaching experiences with students with disabilities and ADA compliance in their face-to-face courses? The sample comprised fifteen …

Resolution Of Deep Peroneal Nerve Palsy After Seroma Evacuation In A Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Case Report., Brian W Skura, Craig Goubeaux, William C Burgette

Surgery Articles

INTRODUCTION: In this manuscript, we present a late presentation of deep peroneal nerve symptoms after total hip arthroplasty (THA) which subsequently completely resolved after seroma evacuation and sciatic nerve decompression. While hematoma formation causing deep peroneal nerve symptoms after THA has been reported in the literature, we are unaware of any reports of seroma formation causing similar symptoms.

CASE PRESENTATION: A 38-year-old female underwent an uncomplicated primary THA and developed paresthesia's over the lateral leg and foot drop on post-operative day 7. Ultrasound diagnosed a fluid collection compressing the sciatic nerve. The patient underwent seroma evacuation and sciatic nerve decompression. …

Identification And Characterization Of Point Defects In Nonlinear Optical Crystals: Barium Gallium Selenide And Lithium Triborate, Brian C. Holloway

Theses and Dissertations

Increased interest in developing new nonlinear optical materials has led to 3rd generation materials, such as BaGa4Se₇ and LiB₃O₅. These two nonlinear optical crystals have the potential to enable development of tunable lasers operating across the mid-wave infrared and the ultraviolet regions, respectively. Coherent light sources are used in the development of enhanced technologies with commercial and defense-based applications such as: health and environmental monitoring devices, next-generation infrared countermeasures, and ballistic missile booster exhaust plume characterization. The performance of optical materials in high-powered military applications is largely limited by the presence of defects. These defects …

Scheduling For Space Tracking And Heterogeneous Sensor Environments, Gabriel H. Greve

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation draws on the fields of heuristic and meta-heuristic algorithm development, resource allocation problems, and scheduling to address key Air Force problems. The world runs on many schedules. People depend upon them and expect these schedules to be accurate. A process is needed where schedules can be dynamically adjusted to allow tasks to be completed efficiently. For example, the Space Surveillance Network relies on a schedule to track objects in space. The schedule must use sensor resources to track as many high-priority satellites as possible to obtain orbit paths and to warn of collision paths. Any collisions that occurred …

Polarization-Based Image Segmentation And Height Estimation For Interferometric Sar, Augusta J. Vande Hey

Theses and Dissertations

To find scatterers in a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image, a modification is proposed to improve peak region segmentation (PRS) with region merging. The modification considers the polarization of each pixel before it is added to a segment to ensure the segment only contains pixels of the same polarization. Prior to region merging, the polarization of the segments is compared, so that only segments with the same polarization are merged into a single region. The segmented regions are used to find the height of each scatterer through interferometric SAR (IFSAR) processing. Multiple methods of IFSAR are examined to find the …

Methods For Focal Plane Array Resolution Estimation Using Random Laser Speckle In Non-Paraxial Geometries, Phillip J. Plummer

Theses and Dissertations

The infrared (IR) imaging community has a need for direct IR detector evaluation due to the continued demand for small pixel pitch detectors, the emergence of strained-layer-super-lattice devices, and the associated lateral carrier diffusion issues. Conventional laser speckle-based modulation transfer function (MTF) estimation is dependent on Fresnel propagation and a wide-sense-stationary input random process, limiting the use of this approach for lambda (wavelength)-scale IR devices. This dissertation develops two alternative methodologies for speckle-based resolution evaluation of IR focal plane arrays (FPAs). Both techniques are formulated using Rayleigh-Sommerfield electric field propagation, making them valid in the non-paraxial geometries dictated for resolution …

Theory And Design Of A Highly Compressed Dropped-Channel Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar, John T. Becker

Theses and Dissertations

Compressed sensing (CS) is a recent mathematical technique that leverages the sparsity in certain sets of data to solve an underdetermined system and recover a full set of data from a sub-Nyquist set of measurements of the data. Given the size and sparsity of the data, radar has been a natural choice to apply compressed sensing to, typically in the fast-time and slow-time domains. Polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) generates a particularly large amount of data for a given scene; however, the data tends to be sparse. Recently a technique was developed to recover a dropped PolSAR channel by leveraging …

Innovative Heuristics To Improve The Latent Dirichlet Allocation Methodology For Textual Analysis And A New Modernized Topic Modeling Approach, Jamie T. Zimmerman

Theses and Dissertations

Natural Language Processing is a complex method of data mining the vast trove of documents created and made available every day. Topic modeling seeks to identify the topics within textual corpora with limited human input into the process to speed analysis. Current topic modeling techniques used in Natural Language Processing have limitations in the pre-processing steps. This dissertation studies topic modeling techniques, those limitations in the pre-processing, and introduces new algorithms to gain improvements from existing topic modeling techniques while being competitive with computational complexity. This research introduces four contributions to the field of Natural Language Processing and topic modeling. …

Full Pattern Analysis And Comparison Of The Center Fed And Offset Fed Cassegrain Antennas With Large Focal Length To Diameter Ratios For High Power Microwave Transmission, Derek W. Mantzke

Theses and Dissertations

High power microwaves (HPM) have been a topic of research since the Cold War era. This paper will present a comparison between two Cassegrain-type antennas: the axially, or center fed, and the offset fed. Specifically, the 10 GHz operating frequency will be investigated with large focal length to diameter () ratios. Beam patterns which encompass the entire radiation pattern will be included for data validation and optimization. The simulations will follow a design of experiments factorial model to ensure all possible combinations of prescribed parameters are included, including an analysis of variance (ANOVA) study to find parameter influence on the …

Determination Of The Electronic Portal Imaging Device Pixel-Sensitivity-Map For Quality Assurance Applications. Part 2: Photon Beam Dependence, Michael Paul Barnes, Baozhou Sun, Brad Michael Oborn, Bishnu Lamichhane, Stuart Szwec, Matthew Schmidt, Bin Cai, Frederick Menk, Peter Greer

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: The EPID PSM is a useful EPID calibration method for QA applications. The dependence of the EPID PSM on the photon beam used to acquire it has been investigated in this study for the four available PSM methods. The aim is to inform upon the viability of applying a single PSM for all available photon beams to simplify PSM implementation and maintenance.

METHODS: Four methods of PSM determination were each measured once in a single session on a single TrueBeam ® STx linac using 6 MV, 10 MV, 6 MV Flattening-Filter-Free (FFF), and 10 MV FFF photon beams. The …

Determination Of The Electronic Portal Imaging Device Pixel-Sensitivity-Map For Quality Assurance Applications. Part 1: Comparison Of Methods, Michael Paul Barnes, Baozhou Sun, Brad Michael Oborn, Bishnu Lamichhane, Stuart Szwec, Matthew Schmidt, Bin Cai, Frederick Menk, Peter Greer

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Calibration of a radiotherapy electronic portal imaging device (EPID) using the pixel-sensitivity-map (PSM) in place of the flood field correction improves the utility of the EPID for quality assurance applications. Multiple methods are available for determining the PSM and this study provides an evaluation to inform on which is superior.

METHODS: Three different empirical methods ("Calvary Mater Newcastle" [CMN], "Varian," and "WashU") and a Monte Carlo-based method of PSM determination were investigated on a single Varian TrueBeam STx linear accelerator (linac) with an aS1200 EPID panel. PSM measurements were performed for each empirical method three successive times using the …

Association Of State Medicaid Expansion Status With Rates Of Suicide Among Us Adults, Hetal Patel, Justin Barnes, Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters, Laura Jean Bierut

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Importance: In the US, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death and a serious mental health emergency. National programs that address suicide list access to mental health care as key in prevention, and more large-scale policies are needed to improve access to mental health care and address this crisis. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid Expansion Program was implemented in several states with the goal of increasing access to the health care system.

Objective: To compare changes in suicide rates in states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA vs states that did not.

Design, Setting, and …

A Guide For Managing Patients With Stage I Nsclc: Deciding Between Lobectomy, Segmentectomy, Wedge, Sbrt And Ablation-Part 4: Systematic Review Of Evidence Involving Sbrt And Ablation, Henry S. Park, Frank C. Detterbeck, David C. Madoff, Brett C. Bade, Ulas Kumbasar, Vincent J. Mase, Andrew X. Li, Justin D. Blasberg, Gavitt A. Woodard, Whitney S. Brandt, Roy H. Decker

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Background: Clinical decision-making for patients with stage I lung cancer is complex. It involves multiple options [lobectomy, segmentectomy, wedge, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), thermal ablation], weighing multiple outcomes (e.g., short-, intermediate-, long-term) and multiple aspects of each (e.g., magnitude of a difference, the degree of confidence in the evidence, and the applicability to the patient and setting at hand). A structure is needed to summarize the relevant evidence for an individual patient and to identify which outcomes have the greatest impact on the decision-making.

Methods: A PubMed systematic review from 2000-2021 of outcomes after SBRT or thermal ablation

Results: Short-term …

Translating Data Analytics Into Improved Spine Surgery Outcomes: A Roadmap For Biomedical Informatics Research In 2021, Jacob K. Greenberg, Ayodamola Otun, Zoher Ghogawala, Po-Yin Yen, Camilo A. Molina, David D. Limbrick, Randi E. Foraker, Michael P. Kelly, Wilson Z. Ray

2020-Current year OA Pubs

STUDY DESIGN: Narrative review.

OBJECTIVES: There is growing interest in the use of biomedical informatics and data analytics tools in spine surgery. Yet despite the rapid growth in research on these topics, few analytic tools have been implemented in routine spine practice. The purpose of this review is to provide a health information technology (HIT) roadmap to help translate data assets and analytics tools into measurable advances in spine surgical care.

METHODS: We conducted a narrative review of PubMed and Google Scholar to identify publications discussing data assets, analytical approaches, and implementation strategies relevant to spine surgery practice.

RESULTS: A …

Radiopharmaceutical Quality Control Considerations For Accelerator-Produced Actinium Therapies, Diane S Abou, Patrick Zerkel, James Robben, Mark Mclaughlin, Tim Hazlehurst, David Morse, Thaddeus J Wadas, Darpan N Pandya, Reiko Oyama, Gregory Gaehle, Michael L Nickels, Daniel L J Thorek

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

A Model-Based Approach To Cubesat Propulsion And Payload Analysis, Madeline H. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Currently, there are only limited ways to increase mission success of CubeSats in terms of component and mission compatibility. The Payload Analysis Tool (PAT), developed by Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) students, combines the power of multiple tools to analyze payload compatibility on a single CubeSat bus. The PAT simulates a CubeSat mission with a variety of payloads to better understand how the payloads interact with the bus in terms of power, data rate, and memory, but it lacks a propulsion system. This thesis research advances the PAT by including a propulsion system which allows for increased mission time …

Evaluating A Statistical-Based Assessment Tool For Stratifying Risk Among U.S. Air Force Organizations, Tiffany A. Low

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Inspection System is a proponent of utilizing a risk-based sampling strategy (RBSS) for conducting inspections from major command levels down to the unit level. The strategy identifies areas deemed most important or risky by commanders and prioritizes them accordingly for an independent assessment by the Inspector General. While Air Force regulation specifies the need to use a RBSS for inspection, the implementation process is delegated to individual commands and, subsequently, wings. The 23rd Wing, the sponsor for this research, directed us to analyze a RBSS tool highlighted as an example from which to adopt for those units …

Association Of Molecular Senescence Markers In Late-Life Depression With Clinical Characteristics And Treatment Outcome, Breno S Diniz, Benoit H Mulsant, Charles F Reynolds, Daniel M Blumberger, Jordan F Karp, Meryl A Butters, Ana Paula Mendes-Silva, Erica L Vieira, George Tseng, Eric J Lenze

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Importance: Many older adults with depression do not experience remission with antidepressant treatment, and markers of cellular senescence in late-life depression (LLD) are associated with greater severity of depression, greater executive dysfunction, and higher medical illness burden. Since these clinical characteristics are associated with remission in LLD, molecular and cellular senescence abnormalities could be a possible biological mechanism underlying poor treatment response in this population.

Objective: To examine whether the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) index was associated with the likelihood of remission from a depressive episode in older adults.

Design, Setting, and Participants: A nonrandomized, open-label clinical trial was conducted …

Aberrant Uterine Folding In Mice Disrupts Implantation Chamber Formation And Alignment Of Embryo-Uterine Axes, Niraj R Joshi, Asgerally T Fazleabas, Ripla Arora

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The uterine luminal epithelium folds characteristically in mammals, including humans, horses and rodents. Improper uterine folding in horses results in pregnancy failure, but the precise function of folds remains unknown. Here, we uncover dynamic changes in the 3D uterine folding pattern during early pregnancy with the entire lumen forming pre-implantation transverse folds along the mesometrial-antimesometrial axis. Using a time course, we show that transverse folds are formed before embryo spacing, whereas implantation chambers form as the embryo begins attachment. Thus, folds and chambers are two distinct structures. Transverse folds resolve to form a flat implantation region, after which an embryo …

Regional Anesthesia For Sickle Cell Disease Vaso-Occlusive Crisis: A Single-Center Case Series, Titilope Fasipe, Karla E K Wyatt

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Pain management is challenging for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) who present in vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC). Opioid therapy is highly effective, nevertheless undesirable side effects can hinder their effectiveness. Regional anesthesia with deposition of perineural anesthetic offers nociceptive blockade, local vasodilatation, and reduces the inflammatory response. Among pediatric patients, continuous peripheral nerve block (CPNB) for perioperative adjunctive analgesia is safe. Herein, we describe the trajectory of a cohort of pediatric SCD patients with opioid-refractory upper-extremity VOC following placement of CPNBs for analgesia; highlighting reduced opioid consumption, improved pain scores, and decreased length of hospitalization.

Persistent Opioid Use In Cataract Surgery Pain Management And The Role Of Nonopioid Alternatives, Sumitra Khandelwal, Michael Raizman, Yasaira Rodriguez Torres, Terry Kim

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Cataracts are a leading cause of preventable blindness globally. Although care varies between developing and industrialized countries, surgery is the single effective approach to treating cataracts. From the earliest documented primitive cataract removals to today's advanced techniques, cataract surgery has evolved dramatically. As surgical techniques have developed, so have approaches to surgical pain management. With current cataract surgical procedures and advanced technology, anesthesia and intraoperative pain management have shifted to topical/intracameral anesthetics, with or without low-dose systemic analgesia and anxiolysis. Despite this, pain and discomfort persist in some patients and are underappreciated in modern cataract surgery. Although pain management has …

Lmod2-Related Dilated Cardiomyopathy Presenting In Late Infancy, William Dreyer, Joseph A Spinner, Debra Kearney, Lilei Zhang, Kim C Worley, Weimin Bi, Seema R Lalani

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Leiomodin-2 (LMOD2) is an important regulator of the thin filament length, known to promote elongation of actin through polymerization at pointed ends. Mice with Lmod2 deficiency die around 3 weeks of age due to severe dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), resulting from decreased heart contractility due to shorter thin filaments. To date, there have been three infants from two families reported with biallelic variants in LMOD2, presenting with perinatal onset DCM. Here, we describe a third family with a child harboring a previously described homozygous frameshift variant, c.1243_1244delCT (p.L415Vfs*108) with DCM, presenting later in infancy at 9 months of age. Family history …

Effect Of Childhood Developmental Coordination Disorder On Adulthood Physical Activity; Arvo Ylppö Longitudinal Study, Jocelyn L. K. Tan, Anna Mari Mari Ylä-Kojola, Johan G. Eriksson, Minna K. Salonen, Niko Wasenius, Nicolas H. Hart, Paola Chivers, Timo Rantalainen, Aulikki Lano, Harri Piitulainen

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Individuals at risk of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have low levels of physical activity in childhood due to impaired motor competence; however, physical activity levels in adulthood have not been established. This study sought to determine the impact of DCD risk on physical activity levels in adults using accelerometry measurement. Participants (n = 656) from the Arvo Ylppö Longitudinal Study cohort had their motor competence assessed at the age of five years, and their physical activity quantified via device assessment at the age of 25 years. Between group differences were assessed to differentiate physical activity measures for individuals based on …

Non-Pharmacological Self-Management Strategies For Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy In People With Advanced Cancer: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Megan Crichton, Patsy M. Yates, Oluwaseyifunmi Andi Agbejule, Amy Spooner, Raymond J. Chan, Nicolas H. Hart

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Non-pharmacological self-management interventions for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotherapy (CIPN) are of clinical interest; however, no systematic review has synthesized the evidence for their use in people with advanced cancer. Five databases were searched from inception to February 2022 for randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of non-pharmacological self-management interventions in people with advanced cancer on the incidence and severity of CIPN symptoms and related outcomes compared to any control condition. Data were pooled with metaanalysis. Quality of evidence was appraised using the Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Randomized Trials (RoB2), with data synthesized narratively. Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development …