Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Dress In The United States Of America As Depicted In Postmortem Photographs, 1840-1900, Ryan Jerel Aldridge

LSU Master's Theses

The results of a content and historical analysis of American postmortem photographs from 1840 to 1900 found in Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America and Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement and The Family In Memorial Photography American & European Traditions by Stanley Burns (1990 and 2002) indicate that day dress was the most popular form of postmortem dress depicted in the photographs. A comparison of the findings from this examination of the dress of 89 deceased individuals depicted in 84 postmortem photographs with descriptions of dress based on nineteenth century archaeological burial remains and portraits of living individuals indicates that …

Association Of Breakfast Consumption Patterns With Weight Status, Nutrient Intake, And Dietary Adequacy In African American Children 1-12 Years Of Age And Adolescents 13-18 Years Of Age, Brandy Michele Williams

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of these studies was to determine whether weight status, nutrient intake, and dietary adequacy were associated with breakfast consumption patterns. A representative sample of African American (AA) children and adolescents who participated in 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was used in a secondary data analysis. Participants were first grouped by age: 1-12 years of age (y) (n=1,389), 13-18 y (n = 988) and then by breakfast consumption category: breakfast skippers, ready-to-eat cereal (RTEC) consumers, and other breakfast consumers. A single multiple-pass 24-hour dietary recall was conducted using computer-assisted software to record dietary intake. To estimate …

Walden Pond And The Performative Touristic Gaze, Daniel Christopher Bono

LSU Master's Theses

This is an ethnographic study of tourism at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. I argue that Walden Pond operates as a site that creates tensions among visitors due to the ways that time has transformed the once serene landscape into an overcrowded swimming pool. These tensions, however, fall under the expectation that the State Reservation of Massachusetts (re)creates Thoreau’s Walden as suggested in his discourse, but the performance of history is enacted through the creation of meaning among visitors engaging in a dialogue that references the past, talking about a space that has cultural significance. Exploring the touristic experience and …

Separate But Equal?: The Archaeology Of An Early Twentieth-Century African American School, Dena Lyn Struchtemeyer

LSU Master's Theses

The written and historical record is frequently flawed, as it most often written by a single dominant group. The history of Morganza Elementary, an early twentieth century African American school in Morganza, Louisiana, was both omitted from the historical record and as a result, was slowly being erased in the minds of the community. Archaeological excavations were undertaken in order to better understand the lifeways of both the community and the students as well as the daily practices of both. In conjunction with the archaeological excavations, oral histories were completed with former students. Through this combination, new light was shed …

Alcohol Use, Negative Consequences, And Readiness To Change In Mandated And Volunteer College Student Heavy Drinkers Before And After A Brief Alcohol Intervention, Meredith A. Terlecki

LSU Master's Theses

The current study tested the efficacy of a brief intervention designed to reduce alcohol use among high-risk college students who have been mandated to treatment for an alcohol policy violation relative to a brief wait-list control group and volunteer high-risk sample. Thirty-nine mandated students and forty high-risk student volunteers were randomly assigned to receive either a brief alcohol intervention or were assigned to a brief wait-list control (WLC) group. Participants were assessed at baseline and at a 4-week post-test on measures of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems, and readiness to change. Of the participants who had completed follow-up (N = 39), …

Environmental Influences On Adherence To Self-Management Behaviors And Glycemic Control In African American Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Brooke L. Barbera

LSU Master's Theses

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic illness effecting approximately 20.8 million individuals in the United States. Minorities are adversely affected, with age-adjusted prevalence 1.7 times higher in African Americans than Caucasians. Type 2 diabetes is significantly affected by behavioral and environmental risk factors, including the presence of co-occurring diseases (i.e., hypertension, hyperlipidemia), obesity, age, and lack of physical activity, and each of these risk factors is more prevalent among African Americans. The treatment of diabetes is largely self-managed, with patients and their families handling 95% of their own care. Adherence to the multi-component diabetic treatment regimen requires daily care, often occurring …

An Investigation Of Decision-Making Style Of Chinese College Student Online Apparel Shoppers, Yao Zeng

LSU Master's Theses

Internet users in China increased to 210 million with an annual growth rate of 53.3 percent in 2007 (CNNIC, 2008). This dramatic increase of Internet usage in China provides numerous opportunities for online marketers. Thirty-eight percent of Chinese netizens are 18 to 24 years old, among whom college netizens account for a large proportion in China (CNNIC, 2008). Given the market potential of targeting this group, research is needed to understand Chinese college students’ online shopping behavior. The purpose of this research was to better understand Chinese college student online apparel shoppers by investigating their decision-making style and explore the …

Saint Maló Remembered, Erin Elizabeth Voisin

LSU Master's Theses

This research explores the unique process of creolization that occurred in Southern Louisiana through the development of the figure of San Maló over time. His transformation from historic rebel to religious icon takes place through the devices of folklore, poetry, and song. This developmental process of a culture redefining its heroes through oral tradition represents the dynamism of creolization. The transformative process of San Maló serves as an exemplary representation of how a culture negotiates its own history with what is deemed necessary and beneficial to the culture’s survival. All information on this transformation was gathered through historic research and …

New Media In New Democracies: Perceptions Of Good Governance Among Traditional And Internet-Based Media Users In Kyrgyzstan, Svetlana Viktorovna Kulikova

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the potential and role of the Internet-based media in the Kyrgyz Republic’s political processes after the 2005 March Revolution. It uses a model of interaction between the government and citizens through various types of realities: the reality constructed and imposed by the state-controlled media, the reality created by alternative, independent sources of information online, and the realities experienced by citizens in their daily lives. The model pulled together various theories from political science, sociology, psychology, and mass communication and focused on the exit-voice-loyalty options available for the citizens in response to governance practices. The research project uses …

Roe V. Wade And Its Progency: The Impact Of State Legislative And Judicial Actions On Abortion Rates In Five States, Maria Klimash

LSU Master's Theses

By looking at the courts and legislatures as agents of social change, this study seeks to assess the impact of judicial decisions in a particularly contentious area, the right to bodily privacy. Specifically, I seek to understand the competing effects of state supreme court decisions and state statutes on the consumers of their public policy choices. Past studies have found conflicting results concerning the impact of court decisions. Literature assessing the effect of legislation finds that statutes, which are specific in nature, engender significant effects. For this study I focus specifically on court decisions and legislation that are concerned with …

It's Not Rocket Science: Nasa's Crisis Communication Efforts As A Public Sector Organization Following The Columbia Shuttle Disaster, Emily Ann Schult

LSU Master's Theses

Seventeen years after the Challenger accident, the space shuttle Columbia and its crew were only forty miles from Kennedy Space Center when the shuttle exploded during re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere. The explosion killed all seven astronauts onboard. NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations immediately jumped into action, declaring a contingency and following the Agency Contingency Action Plan for Space Flight Operations. As a public sector organization, one that must report to Congress and the American public, NASA is held to different standards than private organizations when it comes to releasing information. To understand how public sector organizations handle …

The Impact Of Self-Reported Physical Activity Levels On The Prediction Of Body Fatness From Bmi In White And Black College Students, Michael Zanovec

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that self-reported physical activity (PA) levels quantified from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) could be used to improve the prediction of percent body fat (%BF) measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) from body mass index (BMI), gender, and race in White and Black college students. A total of 278 students, aged 18 – 24 yr, volunteered to participate. There were 133 males (85 White and 48 Black) and 145 females (77 White and 68 Black). Total activity levels were quantified in MET-hours per week (MET-hrs•wk-1) using the IPAQ short …

Creating A Blues Playground: A Comparison Of Beale Street In Memphis, Tennessee, And Farish Street In Jackson, Mississippi, Sandor Gulyas

LSU Master's Theses

Are tourists looking for something resembling the landscape described in the music they listen to or are the cities creating a false front to entice tourists to visualize what was (is?) described in folklore and myths of blues music? This paper will focus on the urban landscape of Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee and Fariah Street in Jackson, Mississippi. These cities are part of a trend called "new blues tourism" in which these cities, in the Mississippi Delta are promoting an authentic black heritage landscape. My paper critiques the authenticity of this urban heritage landscape. There have been many studies …

Resistant Starch Is Effective In Lowering Body Fat In A Rat Model Of Human Endocrine Obesity, Julina Ann Robert

LSU Master's Theses

Two studies were performed to determine the effects of resistant starch (RS) on body weight and fat. A 2x2 factorial design was used in both studies, and results were considered significant when p<0.05 for both studies. The first study examined the effects of RS in a high fat diet (44.8% of energy) on weight, fat, peptide-YY (PYY) levels, and cecal pH in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were fed a low fat energy control diet for one week prior to diet treatment. On week two, rats were blocked by weight and fed one of the following diets for 12 weeks (n=10): low fat, energy control (LFEC); LF resistant starch (LFRS); high fat, energy control (HFEC); or high fat resistant starch (HFRS). RS did not lower weight or fat with either the HF or LF diets. RS consumption resulted in greater full and empty cecal weights, and a lower pH for the LFRS diet. This data indicate fermentation, even though weight and fat loss did not occur. This is contrary to previous reports with RS, which has been shown to decrease body fat compared to controls. The second study examined the effects of RS on the weight, fat, PYY levels, and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) levels in female Sprague-Dawley rats. Ovariectomized (OVX) rats were used to represent rats prone to gaining weight, and sham rats represented normal rats. Rats were assigned to one of four groups (n=10): OVEC, OVRS, SHEC, or SHRS. Rats were fed the EC diet for 6 weeks prior to diet treatment to gain weight after surgery, and then blocked by weight and fat into diet treatment groups, and spent 13 weeks on treatment diets. Energy intake, total gastrointestinal weight, large intestine/cecum weight, and small intestine weight were all higher in RS fed rats relative to EC fed rats. Mesenteric, ovarian, perirenal, retroperitoneal, and total fat pads were lower in RS rats relative to EC rats. Although RS was not effective in lowering body weight or body fat in the first study, the data indicates that resistant starch may lower body weight and fat in postmenopausal women.

Using Operations Research To Enhance Delivery Of Postpartum/Postabortion Family Planning Services In The Arab Region, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

The FRONTIERS program in Cairo organized a two-and-half day workshop to share programmatic experiences and lessons learned in integrating family planning with service providers from Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, and Yemen representing mid-level program managers and researchers. It was held in 2008 in tandem with a national end-of-project seminar for stakeholders in Egypt. Participants emphasized the need to capture missed opportunities in antenatal, delivery, postpartum or postabortion care by providing family planning services in all encounters between women and the health care system. They also agreed on an overarching need for operations research in assisting policy makers and program managers in …

Assessing The Need And Opportunities For Improved Linkages Between Conditional Cash Transfers And Reproductive Health Programs In Latin America And The Caribbean, Ricardo Vernon, M. Estela Rivero-Fuentes

Reproductive Health

The objective of this project was to document the structure and functioning of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs in Latin America and the Caribbean, to assess opportunities for improved linkages between CCTs and reproductive health programs, and to explore the role that operations research may have in the improvement of CCT programs. Activities were conducted in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, and Peru. Operational problems identified by CCT programs included the targeting and selection of beneficiaries, monitoring compliance with conditions for receiving cash transfers, the systems used to provide the transfers, and management weaknesses. Recommendations are made …

Malaria In Pregnancy Pilot Projects Nationally Adopted In Kenya And Malawi, Population Council

Reproductive Health

Kenya and Malawi have developed national policies to prevent malaria in pregnancy. Measures to prevent malaria among antenatal clients were shown to be sustainable several years after pilot interventions ended. In Malawi, the approach has been expanded nationwide. In most malaria-endemic areas of Africa, women in their first and second pregnancies have the highest risk of acquiring malaria and, consequently, of malaria-associated anemia and low birth-weight. Two USAID-funded interventions aimed at strengthening the prevention and management of malaria in pregnancy were pilot-tested at the district level in Kenya (1998–2002) and Malawi (1998–2004). As noted in this brief, the goal was …

The Effects Of Congressional Elections On Future Equity Market Returns, Vincent Louis Ovlia, David Lee Enke, Michael C. Davis

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

As the primary entity responsible for new legislation, Congress is capable of enacting legislation that may affect future market returns. To examine potential effects, the percentage of the House of Representatives and Senate controlled by a political party is examined. Additionally, the effect on returns in a change in the percentage of seats gained or lost in Congressional elections is analyzed. To test both theories, a modified “partisan view” model is adopted. Results point to the fact that equity markets perform better in situations in which power is distributed between political parties.

Adapting The Border To Regional Realities: Observations On Exports At Buffalo And Blaine, Border Policy Research Institute

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

As the world’s largest trading partners, Canada and the United States share a diverse and highly integrated economy. However, many North Americans are unaware of the depth and breadth of this interdependence and the importance of successful border management to both countries. Today, the complex flow of goods between the two, governed by fairly rigid federal policies, is funneled along a few major trade corridors. This Border Brief examines key border issues by looking at U.S. export activity in October 2007 through two of those corridors—Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY, and Blaine, WA.

A Developmental Examination Of Amygdala Response To Facial Expressions, Amanda E. Guyer, Christopher S. Monk, Erin Tone, Eric E. Nelson, Roxann Roberson-Nay, Abby D. Adler, Stephen J. Fromm, Ellen Leibenluft, Daniel S. Pine, Monique Ernst

Psychology Faculty Publications

Several lines of evidence implicate the amygdala in face-emotion processing, particularly for fearful facial expressions. Related findings suggest that face-emotion processing engages the amygdala within an interconnected circuitry that can be studied using a functional-connectivity approach. Past work also underscores important functional changes in the amygdala during development. Taken together, prior research on amygdala function and development reveals a need for more work examining developmental changes in the amygdala’s response to fearful faces and in amygdala functional connectivity during face processing. The present study used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare 31 adolescents (9–17 years old) and 30 adults …

Amygdala And Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex Function During Anticipated Peer Evaluation In Pediatric Social Anxiety, Amanda E. Guyer, Jennifer Y. Lau, Erin B. Mcclure, Jessica Parrish, Nina D. Shiffrin, Richard C. Reynolds, Gang Chen, R J.R. Blair, Ellen Leibenluft, Nathan A. Fox, Monique Ernst, Daniel S. Pine, Eric E. Nelson

Psychology Faculty Publications

1. Context. Amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex dysfunction manifests in adolescents with anxiety disorders when they view negatively-valenced stimuli in threatening contexts. Such fear-circuitry dysfunction may also manifest when anticipated social evaluation leads socially anxious adolescents to misperceive peers as threatening. 2. Objective. To determine whether photographs of negatively-evaluated smiling peers, viewed during anticipated evaluation, engage the amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex differentially in adolescents with and without social anxiety. 3. Design. Case-control study. 4. Setting. Government clinical research institute. 5. Participants. Fourteen adolescents with anxiety disorders associated with marked social concerns and 14 diagnosis-free adolescents, matched on sex, age, …

Recognition Of Facial Emotions Among Maltreated Children With High Rates Of Post–Traumatic Stress Disorder, Carrie L. Masten, Amanda E. Guyer, Hilary B. Hodgdon, Erin B. Mcclure, Dennis S. Charney, Monique Ernst, Joan Kaufman, Daniel S. Pine, Christopher S. Monk

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective. The purpose of this study is to examine processing of facial emotions in a sample of maltreated children showing high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Maltreatment during childhood has been associated independently with both atypical processing of emotion and the development of PTSD. However, research has provided little evidence indicating how high rates of PTSD might relate to maltreated children’s processing of emotions. Method. Participants’ reaction time and labeling of emotions were measured using a morphed facial emotion identification task. Participants included a diverse sample of maltreated children with and without PTSD and controls ranging in age from …

Amygdala And Nucleus Accumbens Activation To Emotional Facial Expressions In Children And Adolescents At Risk For Major Depression, Christopher S. Monk, Rachel G. Klein, Eva H. Telzer, Salvatore Mannuzza, John L. Moulton Iii, Mary Guardino, Carrie L. Masten, Erin B. Mcclure, Stephen Fromm, Daniel S. Pine, Monique Ernst

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective. Offspring of parents with major depressive disorder (MDD) face three-fold higher risk for MDD than offspring without a family history. Although MDD is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, neural correlates of risk for MDD remain poorly understood. This study compares amygdala and nucleus accumbens activation in children and adolescents at high and low risk for MDD under varying attentional and emotional conditions. Methods. Thirty-nine juveniles, 17 offspring of parents with MDD (high-risk group) and 22 offspring of parents without histories of MDD, anxiety or psychotic disorders (low-risk group) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. During imaging, …

Attention Bias Towards Threat In Pediatric Anxiety Disorders, Amy K. Roy, Roma A. Vasa, Maggie Bruck, Karin Mogg, Brendan P. Bradley, Michael Sweeney, Lindsey Bergman, Erin B. Mcclure-Tone, Daniel S. Pine

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: To examine attention bias towards threat faces in a large sample of anxiety disordered youths using a well-established visual probe task.

Method: Study participants included 101 children and adolescents (ages 7- 18 years) with generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia and/or separation anxiety disorder enrolled in a multi-site anxiety treatment study. Non-anxious youths (n = 51; ages 9 – 18 years) were recruited separately. Participants were administered a computerized visual probe task that presents pairs of faces portraying threat (angry), positive (happy) and neutral expressions. They pressed a response-key to indicate the spatial location of a probe that replaced one …

Using Courseware Discussion Boards To Engage Graduate Students In Online Library Workshops, H. Rempel, P. S. Mcmillen

Library Faculty Publications

Librarians at Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries used the discussion board features of Blackboard courseware to create an interactive experience for graduate students at a distance who could not attend the on-campus “Literature Review Workshops.” These recently developed workshops have been extremely popular with graduate students across the disciplines and have generated a growing demand from distance education graduate students and faculty to offer similar information online. Reluctant to simply deliver content via an online tutorial, librarians sought to duplicate the workshop atmosphere by making the sessions available for a short time-period online, asking participants to respond to discussion questions …

Investigating The Effectiveness Of Malic Acid, Nisin, And Grape Seed Extract Incorporated Into Whey-Protein Coatings To Inhibit The Growth Of Listeria Monocytogenes On Ready-To-Eat Poultry, Amanda Bettasso, Navam Hettiarachychy, Vidya Chitturi, Michael Johnson

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The ability to control growth of Listeria monocytogenes on ready-to-eat poultry products with the antimicrobials nisin, malic acid, and grape seed extract incorporated into whey-protein coatings was evaluated. The antimicrobials were incorporated into the coating solution alone and in combinations. One gram pieces of turkey frankfurters were coated with the coating solutions and then inoculated with L. monocytogenes and stored at 4°C for 28 days. The inhibitory effect of the coatings on turkey frankfurter pieces was evaluated on d 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28. Coatings containing 2% malic acid, 3% malic acid, and the combination of nisin (6,000 IU/g) …

2008 American Incentive System Almanac, Don P. Diffine Ph.D.

Belden Center Monographs

No abstract provided.

Alumnews, Winter 2008, Alumni Association, Wright State University

AlumNews

Eight page issue of the AlumNews newsletter. This newsletter focuses on news about programs, events, and activities for alumni from Wright State University.

Restoring Prosperity: The State Role In Revitalizing American's Older Industrial Cities, Jane Dockery, Lindsey Smith

Workforce Development

In 2008, The Brookings Institution, a national thinktank in Washington, D.C. commissioned a study by APRI's Associate Director Jane Dockery examining the state's role in economic revitalization through workforce development. This work was done as part of the Brookings Institutions Metropolitan Policy Program and their Restoring Prosperity initiative.

Contributors

Ethnic Studies Review

Contributors to Ethnic Studies Review, Vol. 31, No. 1, Summer 2008.