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Talking Circle Supervision

A Group Supervision Format for Marriage and Family Therapy Master's Students

Enjoy a wide range of dissertations and theses published from graduate schools and universities from around the world. Covering a wide range of academic topics, we are happy to increase overall global access to these works and make them available outside of traditional academic databases. These works are packaged and produced by BiblioLabs under license by ProQuest UMI. The description for these dissertations was produced by BiblioLabs and is in no way affiliated with, in connection with, or representative of the abstract meta-data associated with the dissertations published by ProQuest UMI. If you have any questions relating to this particular dissertation, you may contact BiblioLabs directly.

These works are packaged and produced by BiblioLabs under license by ProQuest UMI.

Nature Versus Nurture in Online Education: An Analysis of Retention in E-learning

Retention in online education is an under researched area. The foundational theory on student retention presented 30 years ago, focused on the learner as the cause of the retention problem. Researchers have begun to query learners about how the university, through omission or commission, effect their decision to withdraw or persist. This retention study consisted of one hundred and forty-eight learners from University X, an online university. The study employed both The Priorities Survey for Online Learners and nine open-ended questions. This survey has been used by 78 institutions on over 34,000 students. The learners reported that the two major contributing factors to their decision to withdraw were: a lack of meaningful feedback from their instructors and the administration, and university's policies which often took precedent over them as individuals. Adults often choose the flexibility of online education because of their demanding schedules, which can include a career, their own family and aging parents. These adults often seek a degree or a graduate degree to meet increasing economic responsibilities, paradoxically, it is often these same responsibilities that complicate their lives, therefore hindering them from graduating. Research often looks for cause and effect in retention; which is similar to the Nature versus Nurture argument. Nature is the characteristics and traits of the adult online learner and nurture being the support that online degree programs provide. It appears that nurture may play a more significant role in retention of adult online learners than previously believed.

Retention in online education is an under researched area. The foundational theory on student retention presented 30 years ago, focused on the learner as the cause of the retention problem.

E-learning: The Relationship Among Learner Satisfaction, Self-efficacy, and Usefulness

Method. The sample consisted of 440 government agency employees in the Southwestern United States. Participants completed mandatory e-learning courses in Training and Development's learning management system. They were asked to complete a demographics survey and three scales, Mungania's (2004) E-learning Self-Efficacy Scale, Davis' (1993) Perceived Usefulness Scale, and Wang's (2003) Electronic Learner Satisfaction Instrument. These were used to measure the relationships among employees' perceptions of self-efficacy, usefulness, and satisfaction of e-learning.

Method. The sample consisted of 440 government agency employees in the Southwestern United States.

E-learning Design 2.0: Emergence, Connected Networks and the Creation of Shared Knowledge

This research study explored e-learning design practices that support emergence (just-in-time, connected networks) when finding, creating and sharing digital knowledge. Using a conceptual framework that modeled use of the technologies and emergent practices under investigation, this study used Web 2.0 tools in exploring effective practice. A social network analysis (SNA) of the Blogosphere community was done in phase 1 to locate globally trusted experts regarding e-learning and networked knowledge. Collective inquiry between these bloggers was then used in phase 2 to create new understanding of digital, shared knowledge environments. Participants explored ideas and best practices via open-ended electronic survey questions, which were then summarized and confirmed via a collective Wiki. Summary tag clouds were produced on each question to help the researcher and participants better visualize consensus in the responses. A qualitative summary of findings indicated the importance of support for trust, social software, independent and just-in-time discovery, and connected networks of learners. The study concluded that the how to of connection, shared knowledge, and collaboration will become radically richer and more innovative with the adoption of Web 2.0 tools and technologies. The challenge will be in making shared knowledge tools and practices better understood, incorporated and supported throughout the organization. This study proposes the need for a new design practice of shared knowledge architecture that offers a more integrated and dynamic learning environment, embedded in the information worker's daily workflow.

This research study explored e-learning design practices that support emergence (just-in-time, connected networks) when finding, creating and sharing digital knowledge.

Development of a Microfluidic Based Microvascular Model: Towards a Complete Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) Mimic

Moreover, this device was successfully used in a study that attempts to classify the possible role of prolactin releasing peptide (PrRP) (a peptide that stimulate the release of prolactin from the pituitary gland) in regulating the vascular tone by decreasing the endothelium-derived NO production through a decrease in ATP.

Moreover, this device was successfully used in a study that attempts to classify the possible role of prolactin releasing peptide (PrRP) (a peptide that stimulate the release of prolactin from the pituitary gland) in regulating the vascular ...

Death on the Brain: The Psychological Effects of the Death Penalty Based on the Views of Those Condemned to Die

The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the psychological aspect and effects that a sentence of death, and duration of detention, has on death row inmates. The instrument utilized was the Death Symptom Inventory (DSI) containing demographical items developed by the author of this study. The study was conducted with inmates that were under a death sentence in Tennessee. The sample population was the amount of inmates who wished to participate, which in this case was thirteen. The literature strongly suggests that the death row phenomenon, and the effects of it which are known as the death row syndrome, may develop or become visible when mere constitutional confinement becomes extremely lengthy, given the many factors that precipitate, induce, or aggravate the condition. This study intended to show why existing death anxiety and fantasy scales are not sufficient when surveying death sentenced inmates. The results found in this study supported the theory in the literature that the emotional trauma gained from being on death row is uniquely fitting to that individual. The results also showed that the variables tested; strained childhood, sex, and race were not statistically significant factors in determining the amount of trauma that is experienced with the Tennessee sample.

The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the psychological aspect and effects that a sentence of death, and duration of detention, has on death row inmates.

Antibody-based Membrane Proteomics of the Blood-brain Barrier

The unique features of the brain microvasculature endothelium, also known as the blood-brain barrier (BBB), are imparted by its membrane proteome. The critical role of the BBB membrane proteome in the protection and maintenance of the brain during normal function and in the BBB dysfunction that hallmarks several neurological disorders highlights the importance of BBB membrane proteomic studies. We have developed a novel antibody-based approach, called Multiplex Expression Cloning (MEC), for de novo identification of BBB membrane proteins. MEC involves the mining of a BBB cDNA library, expressed in a mammalian host cell, for membrane protein-encoding clones with the help of a BBB-specific polyclonal antiserum. MEC does not require protein solubilization and yields increased ectopic protein expression levels, thus enabling the detection of even those membrane proteins that due to their hydrophobicity or low abundance levels in vivo are inaccessible to current proteomic approaches such as mass spectrometry. MEC was used to identify a panel of 30 BBB membrane proteins and for the first time, the transcript abundance levels of these membrane proteins were compared across the vascular beds of lung, liver, kidney, heart and brain by use of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) coupled with laser capture microdissection (LCM). Five membrane proteins, namely Lutheran, carbonic anhydrase IV, podocalyxin, uncoupling protein 2 and solute carrier family 38 - member 5 were identified as being preferentially expressed at the BBB when compared to other vascular beds and many others displayed unique patterns of vascular expression amongst the tissues tested. Finally, in order to facilitate future profiling of membrane protein expression across tissues or in disease states, a facile platform was developed for the generation of antibody microarrays, by use of yeast surface display. To summarize, this study serves to demonstrate the utility and the power of antibody-based approaches for unraveling the membrane proteome of the BBB, while avoiding some of the pitfalls that confound current proteomic methods.

The unique features of the brain microvasculature endothelium, also known as the blood-brain barrier (BBB), are imparted by its membrane proteome.

FPGA Based Hardware Acceleration for Brain-state-in-a-box Models in Neuromorphic Computing

The research and development in modeling and simulation of human cognizance functions requires a high performance computing platform for large-scale mathematical models. Traditional computing architecture cannot fulfill the needs in arithmetic computation and communication bandwidth. This work presents a hybrid computing architecture that consists of a general purpose microprocessor and a hardware accelerator for accelerating the BSB model operations, recall and training. The BSB model, an associative neural network was first described by Anderson et al. (1977) is used primarily to model the effects of human cognizance functions. This work proposes an architecture and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) design for 128-neuron BSB model, for both recall and training operations. This work also proposes a design for implementing multiple 128-neuron BSB models on a single FPGA and the design was tested by performing a demo on a host PC. The pattern recognition application was extensively tested on the 128-neuron BSB model. Experimental results show that, hardware implementation of 128-neuron BSB model is 7.4x faster than the software only implementation.

This work presents a hybrid computing architecture that consists of a general purpose microprocessor and a hardware accelerator for accelerating the BSB model operations, recall and training.

The Application of Tensor Based Morphometry in Mapping Human Brain Anatomical Changes During Normal and Pathological Conditions

Detailed spatial and temporal mapping of anatomical changes in human brain is crucial in understanding the basis of age-related cognitive advancement and various neurological disorders. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive medical imaging technique that provides high resolution structural images of human brain. Tensor-based morphometry (TBM) is an image analysis technique that characterizes local shape differences from the gradients of the deformation field. TBM can be applied to cross-sectional MRI data for local shape comparisons between two or more groups of subjects, based on nonlinearly registering individual brain scans to a common anatomical template. Moreover, when TBM is applied to longitudinal MRI study, the derived Jacobian maps represent the percentage of tissue change over time. In my dissertation work, I explored the application of TBM in mapping anatomical changes of human brain during normal development, anomalous development in autism, age related memory condition known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the normal development study, Jacobian maps tracking dynamic tissue growth were created for each of the 13 healthy developing children. Statistical analyses revealed significant tissue growth in cerebral white matter, contrasted with gray matter loss in parietal, temporal, and occipital lobe. A linear regression with age and gender suggested a slowing down of the growth rate in regions with the greatest white matter growth. Next, by comparing the regional tissue change rate from the longitudinal brain scans of 13 autistic and 7 normal developing boys, I revealed aberrant development in brain regions that have been implicated in autism's social impairment, communication deficits and repetitive behaviors. Finally, in one of the largest brain MRI studies to date, I compared the anatomical distribution of atrophy in 165 AD patients, 330 MCI subjects, and 181 controls and revealed 3D correlations between neuroimaging markers, genes, and future clinical changes. Baseline temporal lobe atrophy mapped by TBM correlated with current cognitive performance, future cognitive decline, and conversion from MCI to AD over the following year. Overall, I demonstrated that tensor-based Jacobian is a sensitive and reliable method to detect regional tissue changes during normal and pathological conditions.

Detailed spatial and temporal mapping of anatomical changes in human brain is crucial in understanding the basis of age-related cognitive advancement and various neurological disorders.

Evidence-based Clinical Management of Traumatic Brain Injury Patients: A Collaborative Approach

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in a combination of physical, cognitive, and behavioral impairments due to externally inflicted trauma, with over 300,000 hospital admissions annually (NIH, 1998). The purpose of this evidence-based project was to implement practice protocols to reduce sitter session usage and create a safer patient environment. The strategic cycles of patient assessment; ambulation and toileting; and hemodynamic status evaluation, enhanced patient monitoring and clinical performance by the nursing staff in TBI management. Comprehensive physical therapy and speech/cognitive therapy sessions provided the opportunity for patients to enhance their physical strength, independence, cognitive awareness, regulation of physiologic balance and sleep-wake cycles. Through the EBP protocol, sitter sessions were reduced by 80%.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in a combination of physical, cognitive, and behavioral impairments due to externally inflicted trauma, with over 300,000 hospital admissions annually (NIH, 1998).