Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Periodicals Use studies Methodology'

This study was designed to identify correlates of success in Supported Employment(SE) programs for persons with psychiatric disabilities. Indiana policy-makers are seriously considering a managed care, or "capitated," system of payment to make SE provider programs more efficient economically. However, many agencies are concerned about providing services to more severely impaired individuals because of the potentially higher costs of serving these individuals. Two studies are included in this project. The goals of the first study were to identify SE consumer (clinical) characteristics that predict (1) successful outcomes, defined as whether the consumer achieves gainful work, and (2) program costs, defined as the amounts of SE service hours utilized by consumers who obtain work. In two large samples of SE consumers with serious mental illness, no clinical characteristics (e.g., diagnosis, rated functioning, hospitalization history) were associated with vocational outcome or service costs. The goal of the second study was to describe the types and amounts of services utilized by SE consumers who obtain work. Specific service categories associated with obtaining work were travel, training, and advocacy that was unrelated to the consumer's job. The implications of these findings are discussed in the framework of the debate over clinical versus empirical prediction. The need for a theoretical model of SE services that allows the use of predictive clinical and consumer driven services is also discussed.
Department of Journalism

Remote storage has become an increasingly popular response to the overcrowding of open-stack areas in academic libraries. While many institutions have chosen this option and there has been much discussion about administration of such facilities, its impact on patrons is still unclear. Some potential user limitations of remote storage considered by this study are delayed retrieval, loss of browsability, and the barrier of making a retrieval request. The current study was conducted at the Chemistry and Art Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It observed the use of materials that had been selected for transfer to remote storage, where half of these selected materials were transferred to remote storage and the other half remained on open library stacks. After an average of approximately two months of observation, none of the selected books had circulated, suggesting that their selection for remote storage was appropriate.

This study evaluates local citation analysis in comparison to interlibrary loan records and usage statistics as indicators for collection evaluation and development purposes in a special library setting as evidenced through a case study at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Main Library in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. More specifically, it examines how data gathered from these three tools compare as predictors for future trends in use of journals and as tools for developing parameters and guidelines for anticipatory collection development decisions in a scientific research library. Ultimately, citation analysis is the most successful in predicting the following year’s usage.

1º Vol.: 242 f. ; 2º Vol.: Anexos . - 186 f., [115] f. il.
O 2º volume apenas existe em formato papel. Poderá ser consultado na Biblioteca da FBAUL - Cota: TES 11 (1)
It is the aim of the present work to study the published articles in the A Construção Moderna, the first Portuguese magazine, edited from the year 1900 to 1919, dedicated both to architecture and to building in general. In such an important period of time for the Portuguese history and culture, as the turning of the century was, this pioneer experience introduced the ideias, the concepts and the materials that sustained the architectural thought and production in the beginning of the modernism in Portugal. In the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, Portugal was an undeveloped country. With its fragile economy and an almost non-existent industry, no wonder that the urban development and the consequent architectural languages appeared rather late in this country. In a cultural atmosphere still very much influenced by the 19th romanticism, the characters of such trend, were mainly the educated people seduced by the positivist doctrine and by the realistic aesthetics. So the modernism question is introduced in Portugal through two different ways of both artistic and cultural influences: on the one hand the French context, through the Academy (where the national architects took their training), the racionalism, the beaux-arts references and the cosmopolitan «Haussmann city»; on the other hand, the 19th English scenery, through the Arts and Crafts, the gothic revival and the cultural tradicionalism. These educated men of the last decade of the 19th century got their inspiration in these two sources. They were engaged in the rebirth of the values of the national identity and in defending the traditional culture, the picturesque and the folklore, trying to define a national example of architecture. The magazine A Construção Moderna appeared under these circumstances through the will and effort of these three men: Nunes Colares, typographer and the project guide; Melo de Matos, engineer and skilful mathematician; and Rosendo Carvalheira, architect with a certain romantic spirit and extremely dedicated to the national cause.Throughout their careers, they fixed the great topics of the architectural culture of this period: the social and cultural importance of the architects; the art critics; the ‘Portuguese house’ model; the restore politics; the urban development; the ‘cheap houses’; the Portuguese ‘style’; and the introduction of the new technologies and new building materials in the civil construction, among many other problematics

1º Vol.: 242 f. ; 2º Vol.: Anexos . - 186 f., [115] f. il.
O 2º volume apenas existe em formato papel. Poderá ser consultado na Biblioteca da FBAUL - Cota: TES 11 (1)
It is the aim of the present work to study the published articles in the A Construção Moderna, the first Portuguese magazine, edited from the year 1900 to 1919, dedicated both to architecture and to building in general. In such an important period of time for the Portuguese history and culture, as the turning of the century was, this pioneer experience introduced the ideias, the concepts and the materials that sustained the architectural thought and production in the beginning of the modernism in Portugal. In the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, Portugal was an undeveloped country. With its fragile economy and an almost non-existent industry, no wonder that the urban development and the consequent architectural languages appeared rather late in this country. In a cultural atmosphere still very much influenced by the 19th romanticism, the characters of such trend, were mainly the educated people seduced by the positivist doctrine and by the realistic aesthetics. So the modernism question is introduced in Portugal through two different ways of both artistic and cultural influences: on the one hand the French context, through the Academy (where the national architects took their training), the racionalism, the beaux-arts references and the cosmopolitan «Haussmann city»; on the other hand, the 19th English scenery, through the Arts and Crafts, the gothic revival and the cultural tradicionalism. These educated men of the last decade of the 19th century got their inspiration in these two sources. They were engaged in the rebirth of the values of the national identity and in defending the traditional culture, the picturesque and the folklore, trying to define a national example of architecture. The magazine A Construção Moderna appeared under these circumstances through the will and effort of these three men: Nunes Colares, typographer and the project guide; Melo de Matos, engineer and skilful mathematician; and Rosendo Carvalheira, architect with a certain romantic spirit and extremely dedicated to the national cause.Throughout their careers, they fixed the great topics of the architectural culture of this period: the social and cultural importance of the architects; the art critics; the ‘Portuguese house’ model; the restore politics; the urban development; the ‘cheap houses’; the Portuguese ‘style’; and the introduction of the new technologies and new building materials in the civil construction, among many other problematics

Using data from the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) and the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) programs collected by the National Institute of Justice the question whether the drug estimates of DUF, using a non-probability sample, and the drug use estimates of ADAM, using a probability sample, yield substantially different results will be explored. The following main questions will be addressed using equivalence analysis: Are there substantial differences in the DUF and ADAM samples with regard to the drug use information obtained from arrestees at nine sites across the United States? The analysis suggests that the drug use information contained in DUF and ADAM is not substantially different for marijuana, cocaine, and opiates for all sites analyzed together. Additionally, there are no substantial differences for seven of the nine sites. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Regional land use planning in the Yukon has a long and unfortunate history of failed efforts. Under Chapter 11 of the Yukon First Nations Umbrella Final Agreement, a new process for planning has been in place since 1993. Through qualitative, interview-based research, I explore possible factors that either hinder or facilitate successful planning. I used the North Yukon regional land use planning effort as a case study example of the first plan to be successfully approved in Yukon history. A number of challenges resulting from poorly defined roles and responsibilities caused notable struggles and conflict throughout the process, but fortunately, strong political support and micro and meso – level organization, combined with a solid team of skilled and dedicated people, allowed the process to ultimately succeed. Lessons learned and recommendations for future regional planning initiatives are discussed.

Bats are known and documented to use bridge structures as roosts in various locations throughout the United States and abroad, but there is limited knowledge of how bats use bridges in New England. Significant population declines due to White-Nose Syndrome have resulted in several bat species being listed as state or federally threatened or endangered. If bats are using bridges as roosts, significant effort is required to ensure they are not disturbed or harmed during construction or maintenance work, requiring knowledge of assessment methods to identify likely roost locations in bridges. This thesis describes a two summer study evaluating the bat roosting potential in New England bridges. During this study, 191 bridges were rapidly screened throughout New England for bat roosting potential, with eighteen selected for more detailed evaluations. Various monitoring techniques to determine bat roosting potential were assessed at each bridge evaluated, including acoustic monitoring and analyses, infrared imaging, borescope inspection, visual inspection, emergence studies, and guano testing for species identification. The current federal form required to assess bat roosting in bridges slated for construction work was assessed for its appropriateness in the New England region. A supplemental form has been developed through this study that is recommended to be used in conjunction with the federal form to better assess roosting potential in New England bridges. Training and collaboration is also recommended for personnel completing forms and inspectors familiar with state bridges. When the study began, there was only one known bat bridge roost in New England known. After this two summer study, thirteen bridges have been positively identified as bat roosting sites in New England, with possible roosting at several other bridges. Information gathered through this study on bat roosting potential in bridges and the various monitoring techniques evaluated to positively identify bat roosting in bridges can be used as guidance for state Transportation Agencies developing protocol for construction at potential roosting sites.

This descriptive case study examines the use of medical simulation technology in the three-year Thompson Rivers University respiratory therapy training program. Qualitative analysis of data gathered from 78 participants through interviews, observations, and discussion groups reveal a wide variety of low- intermediate- and high-fidelity technologies used for education and evaluation. Deliberate practice is the predominant learning theory informing the use of simulation for safe and ethical training in competencies that would otherwise pose significant risk to patients. Recommendations include enhancements of the existing technology with psychological and environmental fidelity, and for optimal curriculum placement of high-fidelity simulators at hospital sites for student development of critical thinking and team training. Further research into learning with high-fidelity simulation specifically within the context of a student respiratory therapist as an embedded hospital team member is needed. Keywords: respiratory therapy, patient simulation, critical thinking, learning, critical care, deliberate practice

For many people music is an important aspect of their daily life. Music preference is a complex subject tied to social identity, personality, leisure activities, religion, family and friends, and so forth. Music is also a form of expression, which is communicated to the public over various mediums and formats. The themes depicted in music media (music in the form of television, radio, and internet sources, both auditory and visually presented) are vast owing to the array of different artists and their individual worldviews that they put on offer for the public. The lyrical content and/or imagery put forward by musicians depicts an array of different themes, which are contextualised by individuals in their personal conception of their favourite music. The meaning that listeners/viewers attach to their music is equally related to their own background and life experience, including their belief system (religion). There has been a controversial increase in the sexualisation and explicitness of music media; however, there is a gap in the intersection between music, sex, and religiosity as a field of study. Understanding the influence of music media requires an understanding of the people who are experiencing this content. Taking a cybernetic approach and the position of the listener who determines the meaning of an utterance, as put forward by cyberneticist Heinz von Foerster, this study is a reflexive contextual enquiry into how people are experiencing and interpreting their music media and whether this media challenges their view on religion (if they consider themselves aligned to a religion). To address this broad research question, a two-part study was conducted. The first part consisted of a quantitative study of 459 students from the University of Johannesburg to obtain a snapshot of a young adult demographic in terms of their music media, sexuality, and religiosity choices. Thereafter, using the results from this first part of the study, a qualitative interview-based study was conducted. Together the quantitative and qualitative studies provide a basis for answering the main research question. The results show that the young adults in the study are thinking beings, not just manipulated by mainstream music media; rather, they decide what is right for them often motivated by their views on religion. Methodologies used in religious studies have been subject to criticism. One specific aspect is the lack of acknowledgment of epistemology within research designs. In addressing this critique, a second- order cybernetic study was conducted. By introducing a cybernetic approach to qualitative religious study, a new approach is thus also presented which is called A Reflexive Recursive Learning Approach to Religious Studies.
Religious Studies and Arabic
D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are the current standard of care for the treatment of hormone receptor positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Nearly one-half of patients receiving AI therapy develop musculoskeletal toxicity that is characterized by joint and/or muscle pain and approximately one-fourth of patients discontinue their therapy as a result of musculoskeletal pain. Since there are no effective strategies for prevention or treatment, insight into the mechanisms of AI-induced pain is critical to improve treatment. However, there are few studies of AI effects in animal models of nociception. To determine whether AIs produce hypersensitivity in animal models of pain, I examined the effects of AI administration on mechanical, thermal, and chemical sensitivity in rats. The results demonstrate that (1) repeated injection of 5 mg/kg letrozole in male rats produces mechanical, but not thermal, hypersensitivity that extinguishes when drug dosing is stopped; (2) administering a single dose of 1 or 5 mg/kg letrozole in ovariectomized (OVX) rats also induces mechanical hypersensitivity, without altering thermal sensitivity and (3) a single dose of 5 mg/kg letrozole or daily dosing of letrozole or exemestane in male rats augments flinching behavior induced by intraplantar ATP injection. To determine whether the effects of AIs on nociceptive behaviors are mediated by activation or sensitization of peptidergic sensory neurons, I determined whether letrozole exposure alters release of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) from isolated rat sensory neurons and from sensory nerve endings in rat spinal cord slices. No changes in basal, capsaicin-evoked or high extracellular potassium-evoked CGRP release were observed in sensory neuronal cultures acutely or chronically exposed to letrozole. Furthermore, letrozole exposure did not alter the ability of ATP to augment CGRP release from sensory neurons in culture. Finally, chronic letrozole treatment did not augment neuropeptide release from spinal cord slices. Taken together, these results do not support altered release of this neuropeptide into the spinal cord as mediator of letrozole-induced mechanical hypersensitivity and suggest the involvement of other mechanisms. Results from this dissertation provide a new experimental model for AI-induced hypersensitivity that could be beneficial in delineating mechanisms mediating pain during AI therapy.

With natural disasters occurring with more frequency and severity, understanding how to facilitate survivors’ resilience and recovery is becoming increasingly important. The Camp Fire in California, which started on November 8, 2018, was one of the most destructive wildfires in recorded history in terms of loss of life and damage to property. Aid from many types of entities (e.g., non-profits, governments, and for-profits) at various levels (e.g., local, state, and federal) was available to survivors, but perhaps the most influential source of support was Disaster Facebook Groups. In the month after the Camp Fire, around 50 Camp Fire Facebook Groups (CFFGs) were created, with over 100 CFFGs existing over the course of recovery. CFFGs are Facebook Groups with the goal of helping Camp Fire survivors. The support exchanged in CFFGs was immense and ranged from financial assistance to emotional support to community building.

This dissertation offers a mixed-method, event-specific case study of the use and utility of Disaster Facebook Groups after the Camp Fire. I examined how CFFGs offered unique and valuable spaces for connection that allowed members to engage in resilience organizing and disaster response and recovery. To conduct this case study, after engaging in observations of the Groups for over two years, I interviewed 25 administrators of CFFGs and distributed a survey in the Groups that was completed by survivors of the Camp Fire who were members of at least one CFFG during their recovery. I used network perspectives and the Communication Theory of Resilience (Buzzanell, 2010, 2019) as lenses through which administrators’ and survivors’ experiences with CFFGs was understood. I also analyzed the two datasets using multiple and mixed methods but primarily thematic analysis and path modeling.

The analyses for this case study are presented in four studies. The first two studies provide an understanding of the spaces for connection offered by CFFGs (i.e., characterizing the CFFGs and describing the spaces for connection as both helpful and hurtful), while the last two studies examine the use and utility of CFFGs (i.e., explaining the evolution of activity in CFFGs and investigating the connectivity and social support in CFFGs).

Across the four studies, I explored three central arguments, which are the primary contributions of this dissertation. First, I advocated for incorporating network thinking into resilience theorizing. With the findings of this dissertation, I extend the Communication Theory of Resilience by offering “managing communication networks” as a refinement of its fourth process of resilience (i.e., using and maintaining communication networks). Managing communication networks addresses the active strategies people use to manage their communication networks, including expanding, contracting, maintaining, and using their communication networks, as they endure and overcome hardship. I also forward the argument that people’s resilience is encompassed by their social networks, meaning their social network can be passively implicated by their resilience or actively involved in their resilience, but can also initiate resilience on their behalf.

Second, I contended Disaster Facebook Groups offer unique and valuable spaces for connection that facilitate resilience organizing and disaster response for at least five reasons. I argued that Disaster Facebook Groups empower emergent organizing; privilege local knowledge; are convenient; lack anonymity which adds authenticity; and allow for individualization. The findings of this dissertation provide evidence of how these reasons converged in CFFGs to enable members to exchange support that was not, and could not be, available elsewhere.

Third, I hypothesized that the use of Disaster Facebook Groups would predict the utility of Disaster Facebook Groups, resilience, and recovery for survivors. I tested two models that use different variables to represent the use and utility of CFFGs and recovery from the Camp Fire. The first model investigated how activity in CFFGs influenced the perceived helpfulness of CFFGs and how both the activity in and perceived helpfulness of CFFGs influenced the extent of recovery for survivors. I used retrospective data about five time points across survivors’ first two years of recovery and found the model was most explanative up to one month after the Fire. The second model assessed how various indicators of connectivity in CFFGs impacted received social support (i.e., informational, emotional, and tangible support), resilience, and satisfaction with recovery for survivors. The intensity of survivors’ connections to CFFGs, when they joined their first CFFG, and how many Facebook Friends they gained from their participation in CFFGs were the most predictive indicators of connectivity. From the Groups, survivors reported receiving informational support more than emotional support and emotional support more than tangible support.

I put the findings of the four studies, as well as the three central arguments, in conversation with each other in the discussion section, focusing on theory, practice, and methodology. Regarding theory, I contribute network thinking to resilience theorizing: I underscore resilience as an inherently networked process; I acknowledge expanding and contracting communication networks as sub-processes of resilience that complement but are distinctly different from using and maintaining communication networks; and I forward “managing communication networks” as a refinement and extension of the Communication Theory of Resilience’s fourth process of resilience (i.e., using and maintaining communication networks). Related to practice, I call for the continuation of conversations around Disaster Facebook Groups as unique and valuable spaces for connection, particularly regarding the five reasons I established. I also give suggestions for practice related to the use and utility of Disaster Facebook Groups for disaster response and recovery. For methodological considerations, I discuss the importance of forming relationships with participants when engaging in research about online communities and natural disasters and call to question the translation of findings about social media across platforms and the role of neoliberalism in resilience and disaster research and practice. Despite its limitations, this dissertation makes meaningful contributions to theory, practice, and methodology, while offering fruitful directions for future research. This mixed-method, event-specific case study brings attention to the influential citizen-driven disaster response in Facebook Groups after the Camp Fire.