Digital Commons Network^™

The Relative Contribution Of Career Decision Self-Efficacy In Predicting Career Decision-Making Difficulties Among Secondary School Students, Ahmad Gazo, Ahmed Mahasneh, Omaer Al-Adamat

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The current study aimed to identify the level of career decision-making difficulties and career decision self-efficacy, and find out whether there are differences in the level of career decision-making difficulties and career decision self-efficacy according to gender and academic specialization variables. In addition, it was aimed at detecting the degree of the relative contribution of career decision self-efficacy in predicting career decision-making difficulties. To achieve the objective of the study, career decision-making difficulties scale, and career decision self-efficacy scale were used. The study sample consisted of 699 male and female secondary school students, chosen by the purposive method. The results …

Perceptions Of Chinese Arabic Language Students In Jordan Of Online Learning During The Covid- 19 Pandemic, Mohammed A. Al- Khawaldeh, Ma Tong

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

This study aimed at investigating the perceptions of Chinese Arabic language students in Jordan of online learning during the Covid- 19 pandemic, and whether it differs according to the variables of: gender, class level, and GPA. To achieve the aims of the study, an online learning perceptions scale was used. The scale consisted of 22 items distribute into four dimensions: learning management system, social interaction, language skills development, and pedagogical purposes. The sample of the study consisted of 120 Chinese students enrolled in bachelor program of Arabic language and its arts in Jordanian & Yarmouk Universities. The results of the …

Erasure Through Engagement: The Community Resettlement Of Isle De Jean Charles, Meghan Elizabeth Sullivan

Dissertations and Theses

The State of Louisiana and the national media have claimed that the community resettlement of Isle de Jean Charles (IDJC) is an example of a 'model resettlement' for communities experiencing the impacts of climate change. At the outset, the project was advocated and led by the tribal leadership of the Isle de Jean Charles Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe. Although, through the course of the resettlement the supposed partnership between the State of Louisiana and the Tribe has dissolved. This study seeks to provide a robust and in-depth understanding of the planning and implementation process of the IDJC resettlement to …

Towards A Robust And Long-Lasting Antimicrobial Surface, Justin A. Silva

Theses

Bacterial adhesion to surfaces such as medical devices causes approximately 1.7 million infections and 75,000 deaths each year in the United States. Throughout the past several years, many studies have been conducted on micro- and nanostructure-enabled antimicrobial surfaces. However, this idea is controversial, as some studies have shown that superhydrophobic micro and nanostructures cannot prevent bacterial growth over time and that they are not a practical solution to reduce healthcare-related infections. The objective of this study is to develop a mechanically durable and long-lasting antimicrobial surface to prevent bacterial growth. High-aspect-ratio micro mushroom structures are fabricated by high resolution stereolithography …

The Effect Of Racial And Ethnic Identity Salience On Online Political Expression And Political Participation In The United States, Jonathon Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How close an individual identifies with their race or ethnicity can affect how individuals behave as political actors. Racial identity can affect how individuals express their political beliefs on social media sites or participate in political activities. However, does political expression on social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, affect levels of political participation? The purpose of the project is to examine the relationship between racial and ethnic identity, online political expression, and political participation among the three largest racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Specifically, this project aims to answer whether online political expression mediates the relationship between …

A Technique-Based Approach To Structure-From-Motion: Applications To Human-Coastal Environments, Robert Van Alphen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Photogrammetry is a method by which physical information can be extracted from thecorrespondence of 2-dimensional images. In the geosciences, Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry is a technique that has seen considerable interest in the past decade of research. Here I present three case studies of various scope and methodologies which can inform the use of SfM in the geosciences. First, I discuss the theoretical and algorithmic basis of SfM photogrammetry and its uses thus far in the geosciences. Chapters two through four show specific studies which highlight several approaches to SfM and the data which can be produced. Chapter five then concludes …

Work-Related Ipv Among Latinos: Exploring The Roles Of Fatherhood Status, Gendered Expectations, And Support For Intimate Partner's Employment, Adrian Luis Manriquez

Dissertations and Theses

IPV can spill over from individuals' personal lives into their work lives. Men's work-related IPV perpetration has been found to negatively impact their work performance and employment outcomes. Additionally, acculturation, lack of support for an intimate partner's maintenance employment, and traditional gender role expectations may have an impact on Latinos' work-related IPV perpetration. However, it is plausible that fatherhood can serve as a point of intervention for ending men's IPV perpetration. The current study aimed to examine the moderating effect of fatherhood status on the relationship between various risk factors for IPV perpetration and work-related IPV behaviors among Latinos. Additionally, …

Enacting Relationships Through Dialogic Storytelling, Erin E. Flynn

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study investigates the dialogic affordances of story circles, a small group storytelling activity, enacted in three lower socioeconomic status preschool classrooms. Results show that children employed a range of dialogic strategies from ideationally populating their stories with other children to negotiating participation and making evaluative appraisals of children’s stories. Boys, in particular, engaged in a more pronounced co-constructive storytelling style as the children used stories to enact relationships through the discourse systems of ideation, negotiation, and appraisal. The children’s storytelling reveals the importance of child-led, dialogic talk for supporting meaning making in early childhood education.

Outcomes Of A Periodic Exposure Assessment Of Workers At A University Campus, Logan M. Armagast

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Standards promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)are applicable to most businesses in the private sector, however, state and local government entities are not under OSHA’s jurisdiction. Universities that receive public funding fall under the category of state and local government entities and, unless an OSHA-approved State plan explicitly states otherwise, they are not required to demonstrate compliance with OSHA standards and are not subject to OSHA inspections. Without being constrained by federal regulation, those responsible for ensuring the health and safety of employees at publicly funded universities have some leeway in their methods for evaluating the conditions …

"Are We Done?": The Minimization Of Covid-19 And The Individualization Of Health In The United States, Cassidy R. Boe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the death toll from Covid-19 in the United States exceeds 1 million in just over two years, more variants continue to emerge, threatening more waves of Covid-19 and ultimately, more deaths. Despite this, mask use continues to decline, and one third of Americans say that the pandemic is over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been central in publicly disseminating biomedical knowledge using Twitter. The CDC’s Twitter account (@CDCgov) shares information related to the spread of Covid-19, including mitigation measures such as mask recommendations and vaccine information. I have conducted a narrative analysis of the replies …

Continuous Effort Required To Maintain Populations Of Outplanted Acropora Cervicornis In The Florida Reef Tract, Usa, Tiffany S. Boisvert

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The degradation of coral reefs due to natural and anthropogenic stressors has resulted in the expansion of coral restoration projects worldwide. In the Caribbean region, most restoration efforts focus on outplanting Acropora cervicornis, once a dominant branching coral, now found predominantly in spatially isolated populations. Thousands of A. cervicornis colonies are propagated within nurseries and outplanted onto degraded reefs every year. However, monitoring the long-term growth and survival of outplanted corals has been limited by financial, physical, and temporal constraints. In the current study, we assessed the long-term success of A. cervicornis restoration by determining the relationship between current populations …

A Disaster Under‑(Re)Insurance Puzzle: Home Bias In Disaster Risk‑Bearing, Hiro Ito, Robert N. Mccauley

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examine disaster reinsurance from the perspective of international risk-sharing. We find that losses from disasters are shared internationally to a generally very limited extent, unlike what the theory of international risk-sharing suggests. We propose a new dataset of cross-border reinsurance payments for 93 disasters of 44 economies in 1982–2017. Combining these balance of payments data with industry data, we find that the lack of disaster risk-sharing through international reinsurance results from low participation in primary insurance as well as limited use of reinsurance. Regression analysis finds that countries with higher levels of economic or financial development tend to insure …

Optimizing The Performance Of Parallel And Concurrent Applications Based On Asynchronous Many-Task Runtimes, Weile Wei

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nowadays, High-performance Computing (HPC) scientific applications often face per- formance challenges when running on heterogeneous supercomputers, so do scalability, portability, and efficiency issues. For years, supercomputer architectures have been rapidly changing and becoming more complex, and this challenge will become even more com- plicated as we enter the exascale era, where computers will exceed one quintillion cal- culations per second. Software adaption and optimization are needed to address these challenges. Asynchronous many-task (AMT) systems show promise against the exascale challenge as they combine advantages of multi-core architectures with light-weight threads, asynchronous executions, smart scheduling, and portability across diverse architectures.

In …

The Role Of The Gut-Brain Axis In Alzheimer's Disease: A Narrative Review, Leila Karout

University Honors Theses

The importance of the gut microbiome in health has become increasingly recognized as more research points to the strong association between an imbalanced gut microbial composition and a diseased state. Alzheimer's Disease burdens millions, and the rate of growth is expected to increase. However, current treatment methods are less than ideal and do not offer a substantial benefit to patients' quality of life. Additionally, there are gaps in the current understanding of Alzheimer's Disease pathogenesis. Research on the relationship between gut microbiota and neurodegeneration provides a different perspective on the pathogenesis and treatment methods for dementia, such as Alzheimer's Disease. …

Assessment Of Digital Educational Curricula From The Point Of View Of Students Of The Faculty Of Education At Hama University, Asmaa Alhasan

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The current study aimed at evaluating the digital educational curricula from the viewpoint of students who use these curricula and identifying the differences between them according to the variables (gender, university program, academic year), in order to know the reasons for not using these curricula by the rest of the students. The analytical descriptive approach has been used. The sample consisted of (408) male and female students. The questionnaire tool was used to evaluate the digital educational curricula, consisting of (25) items. The results showed: the evaluation of the digital educational curricula from the viewpoint of sample was medium, and …

Blocking Cell Cycle Progression Through Cdk4/6 Protects Against Chronic Kidney Disease, Yosuke Osaki, Marika Manolopoulou, Alla V Ivanova, Nicholas Vartanian, Melanie Phillips Mignemi, Justin Kern, Jianchun Chen, Haichun Yang, Agnes B Fogo, Mingzhi Zhang, Cassianne Robinson-Cohen, Leslie S. Gewin

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Acute and chronic kidney injuries induce increased cell cycle progression in renal tubules. While increased cell cycle progression promotes repair after acute injury, the role of ongoing tubular cell cycle progression in chronic kidney disease is unknown. Two weeks after initiation of chronic kidney disease, we blocked cell cycle progression at G1/S phase by using an FDA-approved, selective inhibitor of CDK4/6. Blocking CDK4/6 improved renal function and reduced tubular injury and fibrosis in 2 murine models of chronic kidney disease. However, selective deletion of cyclin D1, which complexes with CDK4/6 to promote cell cycle progression, paradoxically increased tubular injury. Expression …

A Pathogenic Mechanism Associated With Myopathies And Structural Birth Defects Involves Tpm2-Directed Myogenesis, Jennifer Mcadow, Shuo Yang, Tiffany Ou, Gary Huang, Matthew B. Dobbs, Christina A. Gurnett, Michael J. Greenberg, Aaron N. Johnson

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Nemaline myopathy (NM) is the most common congenital myopathy, characterized by extreme weakness of the respiratory, limb, and facial muscles. Pathogenic variants in Tropomyosin 2 (TPM2), which encodes a skeletal muscle-specific actin binding protein essential for sarcomere function, cause a spectrum of musculoskeletal disorders that include NM as well as cap myopathy, congenital fiber type disproportion, and distal arthrogryposis (DA). The in vivo pathomechanisms underlying TPM2-related disorders are unknown, so we expressed a series of dominant, pathogenic TPM2 variants in Drosophila embryos and found 4 variants significantly affected muscle development and muscle function. Transient overexpression of the 4 variants also …

Sustainable Intensification Of Wheat Production Under Smallholder Farming Systems In Burera, Musanze And Nyamagabe Districts Of Rwanda, Athanase Rusanganwa Cyamweshi, Nsharwasi Léon Nabahungu, Jackson Cirhuza Mirali, Job Kihara, George Oduor, Harrison Rware, Gudeta Weldesemayat Sileshi

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The productivity of wheat is low on smallholder farms in Rwanda. Although mineral fertiliser use is being promoted as a sustainable intensification (SI) pathway, little is known about the nutrient use efficiency and profitability of various fertiliser inputs in Burera, Musanze and Nyamagabe districts of Rwanda. The objective of this study was to assess the use of combinations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn) and boron (B) in wheat production in terms of nutrients management specifically, crop yield, production risk, input use efficiency and economic returns on smallholder farms. The study was conducted in three …

Information Users’ Preference On The Use Of Print And Electronic Resources In The University Of Education, Winneba,(Uew) Ghana: A Survey, Joseph Owuraku Agyeiku, Regina Odei Ms

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper is based on a study that examined information users’ preferences on the use of print and electronic resources at the University of Education, Winneba. A survey method was used as the research design to facilitate the collection of data from users of the library. A purposive sampling technique was used to select respondents, comprising undergraduate and post-graduate students as well as academic and research staff. Empirical data for the study was collected using a questionnaire survey and interview guide. Out of the 120 questionnaires distributed, 105 were completed and used in the study, resulting in an 88 percent …

Integrating Performance Indicators In The Production Rules Of Shape-Shifting Grammars For Architectural Adaptive Façade Systems, Rana El-Dabba, Sherif Abdelmohsen

Faculty Journal Articles

This paper presents shape-shifting grammar as a computational method that couples the environmental impact of utilizing programable materials in adaptive façades by their design parameters. The proposed grammar relies on physical experiments in a sealed temperature chamber, associated with a digital interface and image analysis software to track motion response for our previously developed composite ‘Hygromorphic Thermo-bimetal (HMTM)’ that responds passively to variation in humidity or temperature. This is linked with Grasshopper to evaluate performance indicators, specifically environmental impact, and percentage of view.The significance of the proposed grammar lies in tracking, analyzing, and predicting the behavior of the programable composite, …

Review Of Cannabis Use Among Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People, Julia Butt, Mandy Wilson, Jocelyn Jones, Simon Lenton

Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

The health effects of cannabis use may not always be seen as a high priority for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. However, the impact of cannabis use on physical and mental health can have significant consequences. It is known that the use of high potency cannabis has increased over the last two decades, with a corresponding increased risk to health. In particular, young people are at increased risk of experiencing harms to mental health. Physical harms to health include effects on the respiratory system, cardiovascular system, an increased risk of cancer, and in-utero effects from maternal use. The review …

Universal Design For Learning: Inclusivity With Technology In Multicultural And Special Education Classrooms, Katie Hernandez Mendoza

Education | Master's Theses

This research explored the impact that technology has on students with special needs, some of whom are English Language Learners (ELL). Previous studies have found that technology brings “inclusion in the classroom helps meet the students' needs and improves academic success” (Lowrey et al., 2017). Literature has also shown the value of including students and ensuring that students understand how they learn best (Brown et al.,1998). This research was conducted at an elementary school in Northern California, and included eight students with special needs, two of whom were English Language Learners. Three district personnel were also interviewed. The students' participation …

A New Species Of Chiromachetes Pocock, 1899 (Scorpiones: Hormuridae) From Southern Western Ghats, India, Akshay Khandekar, Tejas Thackeray, Swapnil Pawar, Satpal Gangalmale, Vivek Waghe

Euscorpius

No abstract provided.

Limitations When Conducting Quantitative Disability Research, Kaycee L. Bills, Bradley Mills

Journal of Research Initiatives

Research of issues related to disability is consistently evolving in several social science related fields such as social work, psychology, sociology, and education. Disability research often employs large public datasets for researchers to conduct secondary analysis. However, these datasets come with many limitations that can impact the overall results. The purpose of this article is to discuss the limitations that occur when conducting a quantitative analysis for disability research from a secondary dataset.

Faculty Perspectives On Online Teaching In Higher Education: A Qualitative Approach To Understand Faculty Members’ Challenges And Experiences, Felix O. Quayson

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study explored faculty members' perspectives on online teaching in higher education and described, analyzed, and interpreted faculty members challenges and experiences of teaching online courses. Participants were twelve (12) faculty members who have taught online courses or currently teach online courses. Data was collected from 60-minutes semi-structured interview sessions, 78 open-ended questions, three research driving questions, background questionnaire, and personal artifacts from faculty members. Five major themes with subthemes, 15 code categories, and code co-occurrences emerged from the data collection, field notes, memos, and data analysis. However, not all of the code categories were replicated by all of the …

Book Review: Urban Health | Emerging Public Health Perspectives, Demi Miriam

Journal of Research Initiatives

Book Review

Book Title: Urban Health | Emerging public health perspectives

Editors: Fernandes & Grewal, 2021

Publisher: Global South Strategies

Publication: 02 September 2021

City: Mangalore, India

Total No. of Pages: 341

Price (in INR): 950 (Paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-8195336418

Finding Correlations Among Academic Performance, Demographic Influences And Clinical Competency Utilizing Predictive Variables In An Associate Degree Nursing Program, Rebecca Montz, Brett Welch, Neil Faulk, Clementine Msengi

Journal of Research Initiatives

A nonexperimental, quantitative, correlation study was utilized as the research design to explore the relationship between multiple academic and demographic variables on the final clinical assessment score and Health Education Systems, Inc., (HESI) Exit Exam (E²) score from a South Texas ADN program. The research was conducted to address the nursing workforce shortage and effective ways to predict academic and clinical achievements for associate degree nursing (ADN) programs. The academic variables for the research consisted of preadmission grade point average (GPA) and Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) I prerequisite GPA. Age and gender were used as the demographic variables …

Book Review: Before Memory Fades... An Autobiography, Amit Kumar

Journal of Research Initiatives

Title: Before Memory Fades…. An Autobiography

Author: Fali S. Nariman

Language: English

Year: 2010

Publisher: Hay House India

Total Pages: 454

Writing Workshop And Creativity Despite Standardization: An Exploration Of Elementary Teachers' Practices, Darcie Kress, Matt Townsley

Journal of Research Initiatives

The focus on formulaic approaches to writing in today’s classrooms can be problematic, for it may inadvertently cause the quality of students’ writing to decline. The National Writing Project (NWP) provides teachers with professional development to learn how to effectively incorporate evidence-based practices into their writing instruction. The aim of this study was to explore the practices of three elementary teachers who received professional development training from the NWP. The researchers investigated how these teachers navigated the tension between creativity in a workshop approach and accountability for teaching the Common Core writing standards. Findings suggest participants navigated the standardization of …

Family Communication And Engagement With Digital Technology: Approaches And Strategies, Simone Elias, Edward Cromarty, Linda Wilson-Jones

Journal of Research Initiatives

This article discusses family engagement with digital technology in inclusive education focusing on the development of caring relationships, diversity of communication skills within family and educational communities, the integration of the classroom and home, and being a media mentor to families. It reviews research related to family engagement with media technology and seeks to provide a flexible guide which may be adapted to diverse environments to assist in developing technology-infused family engagement and communication strategies. The educational practices discussed consider the importance of the family in the technology hybridized classroom and consider socioeconomic, cultural, linguistic, and human diversity as factors …