Routine blood glucose monitoring by patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is needed for effective management of T2DM; however, 75% of monitoring logs are returned incomplete during monthly provider follow-up appointments. As a result, effective management of the patient's medical condition is limited. To better understand the reasons for noncompliance, a quality improvement project (QIP) was initiated between July 01, 2017 and September 30, 2017, to identify barriers that prevented patients from self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). No formal assessment of the patients' responses had been done, and, as a result, the deidentified, qualitative responses from the QIP were obtained for this project. The purpose of this project was to explore barriers to SMBG and to use a literature search to identify strategies for improving compliance with SMBG. The health belief model was the framework used to guide the project. Secondary data obtained from the QIP (n = 19) were analyzed and coded. Results indicated that patients' financial concerns, social support, emotional needs, and lack of diabetes education were the main barriers to daily SMBG. Recommendations to the providers were to consider each barrier before ordering the use and frequency of SMBG and to consider an appropriate strategy for promoting SMBG adherence. Addressing low compliance with SMBG may promote positive social change through improved T2DM management, self-care, adherence to daily SMBG and treatment, and improved patient quality of life.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. Despite most common transmission, HPV immunization in adolescents remains below target rates of 80% as outlined by Healthy People 2020 Objectives. Nearly all individuals will contract HPV during their lifetime. The purpose of this project was to educate providers on successfully promoting HPV immunization in adolescents utilizing evidence-based methods. The health belief model (HBM) was the theoretical underpinning utilized to teach providers on discussions about 9vHPV immunization with parents of adolescents. The practice focused question explored whether an education program using concepts from the HBM would increase provider perception of preparedness on recommending Gardasil 9 immunization in adolescents. Convenience sampling was utilized to recruit participants. There were 9 out of 25 providers that attended the educational in service with 8 completing the continuing education evaluation tool. Participants included providers who are affiliated and hold privileges with the health care system. Survey Monkey was used to analyze the participant evaluations. All the participants found the educational information relevant to increasing their perception of preparedness on recommending Gardasil 9 immunization in adolescents. The findings suggest that providers would benefit from training on recommending HPV immunization in adolescents. Continued training would help enhance timely immunization rates that could decrease cancer rates and reduce associated healthcare cost, in turn promoting population health and positive social change.

This dissertation study was motivated by an interest in the process of acquisition of Russian vocabulary by a previously unstudied group of learners, American university students. The study identified the vocabulary learning strategies and beliefs about vocabulary learning of 97 university students beginning to study Russian. It also examined relationships between reported beliefs and strategies and their stability over the period of one semester of studying Russian. The data were collected with a self-report online questionnaire administered at the beginning and at the end of the Fall 2014 semester, as well as with interviews with the participants. Descriptive analysis of students’ beliefs indicated that the participants highly valued the role of vocabulary in studying a foreign language, understood the complexity of the process of vocabulary acquisition, and believed that words and phrases should be carefully studied and then practiced in context. The participants reported high motivation and high expectations of their success as learners of Russian. Descriptive analysis of vocabulary learning strategies demonstrated that besides active use of a dictionary, guessing, and note-taking strategies, virtually all participants reported frequent use of rehearsal strategies, especially repetition. These findings contradict the view that, in contrast to Asian learners of English, who are believed to value memorization and repetition, Western learners tend to downplay the role of repetition in the process of vocabulary learning. Analysis of the responses to open-ended questions and interview prompts confirmed that the participants frequently used repetition and rehearsal strategies and considered them most effective for establishing form–meaning connections for new words. The respondents also reported frequent use of contextual encoding, activation, and affective strategies. Comparison of the results of the two questionnaires revealed several vocabulary learning beliefs and strategies that underwent changes as a result of one semester of studying Russian. At the end of the semester students reported even more agreement with value of repetition, practice, good memory, and cultural knowledge for learning vocabulary. In contrast, they expressed significantly less agreement that it is easier to learn new words when they are presented in context. Besides, participants reported that while learning vocabulary they less frequently tried to recall sentences in which new words were used. Interviewed students explained this shift by noting the difficulty of Russian vocabulary and cognitive overload while trying to acquire new words in context. These findings once again argue against the claim that contextual acquisition of foreign language vocabulary is always effective in instructed foreign language learning. Using correlational and cluster analyses, the study identified multiple relationships between groups of vocabulary learning beliefs and strategies, as well as between individual beliefs and strategies. Motivational beliefs were correlated with most groups of vocabulary learning strategies, and memory strategies were correlated with most groups of beliefs.

My study examined the belief development of three preservice teachers as they learned to teach writing in a one-semester elementary writing methods course. I also sought to identify significant episodes that contributed to the preservice teachers’ belief development. Two questions guided my inquiry: How do preservice teachers’ beliefs about writing and the teaching of writing develop while enrolled in an elementary writing methods course? and What episodes do preservice teachers, who are enrolled in an elementary writing methods course, view as significant in helping them negotiate their beliefs about writing and writing instruction? I collected survey data, conducted a series of in-depth interviews, and completed 12 classroom observations during the data collection phase of my study. From those data sources, I generated descriptive statistics and followed constant comparative methods to analyze my transcripts and fieldnotes. Using data from two surveys administered on the first day the writing methods course met, I employed stratified purposeful sampling strategy in order to select three case study participants with varied orientations toward writing instruction: Skylar, Natasha, and Samantha. I developed three case study descriptions and conducted cross-case analysis in order to answer both of my research questions. Based upon data from the Writing Instruction Orientation Survey, from classroom observations, and from in-depth interviews, I considered belief development along a continuum from product-orientation to process-orientation for each case study participant at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester. The belief development of all three case study participants moved toward a process-orientation of writing instruction by the end of the semester, which was the observed orientation of the instructor in the writing methods course. The three preservice teachers identified learning experiences that required the application of information from readings and class meetings as significant in their belief development. Those assignments included shared writing assignment and in-class writing time and creation of an original publishable piece of writing. One case study participant also identified small group activities conducted in class as significant. The case study participants varied in their application of author’s craft language that matched their emerging process-oriented beliefs. Skylar’s and Natasha’s beliefs about writing instruction evolved from an eclectic orientation at the beginning of the semester to a process-orientation at the end of the semester. They demonstrated a limited ability to apply author’s craft language to match their emerging beliefs. Samantha began the semester holding process-oriented beliefs about writing instruction and grew significantly in her application of author’s craft language that matched her beliefs. These three case study participants experienced varied growth in their ability to talk the talk of a process-oriented writing teacher. The experiences of these three preservice teachers suggest that preservice teachers acquire the ability to recognize teacher behaviors the match their beliefs about writing instruction before their ability to apply the language to accompany emerging beliefs develops. The acquisition of professional discourse to talk about emerging beliefs varied depending on the readiness level of the individual. Findings from my inquiry indicate that teacher educators should consider intentionally designing writing methods courses to include assignments and experiences that involve the application of presented information and developing understandings as a means to foster belief development. This type of opportunity might include field experiences directly related to course assignments, as was the case with the shared writing assignment in my study. Teacher educators might also create situations that allow preservice teachers to apply author’s craft language so that they grow in their ability to talk the talk of a writing teacher. The development of professional discourse is a marker of membership in any community of practice. As preservice teachers work to gain entry into the teaching profession, it should be expected that their ability to apply language of that community develop along a continuum.

One of the least explored areas of C.S. Peirce's wide range of work is his contributions to psychology and the philosophy of mind. This dissertation examines the corpus of this work, especially as it relates to the subjects of mind, habit, instinct, sentiment, emotion, perception, consciousness, cognition, and community. The argument is that Peirce's contributions to these areas of investigation were both highly original and heavily influenced by the main intellectual currents of his time. An effort has been made to present Peirce's philosophy without apology, within the conceptual framework and idiom of its time, and without appeal to a comprehensive view that Peirce never articulated. Nevertheless, as several noted interpreters have argued, much of this work can be viewed through the lens of Peirce's innovative theory of signs and the notion of the semiotic triad as its central unifying feature, despite the fact that the general theory was itself under continuous refinement and remained incomplete at the time of his death. Another hermeneutical device employed is William James' better known and more accessible work which, when juxtaposed with Peirce's ideas, serves to bring them into sharper relief. While general and historical in the presentation of material, this study seeks, at the same time, to engage the criticism of contemporary Peirce scholars in an attempt to account for several of the conundrums inherent in Peirce's work. Among the problems with implications for his philosophy of mind and theory of inquiry are the limitations of his theory of continuity, his negative view of the self, his somewhat ambiguous position on the relation of psychology to logic, and the metaethical puzzle arising from application of his theory of probable inference to truly fateful decisions. These problems provide an interesting perspective and lend balance to the truly insightful contributions Peirce made to the discovery of the mind.

It is the author’s thesis that religious communication which is shaped by narrative has consequences that are different from communication based on persuasion by argument. While ‘narrative’ can include both written and spoken communication, this study attempts to concentrate on oral narrative communication in a group situation within a local church congregation. It is also an assumption of this thesis that there is a common belief that narrative is subordinate to rhetoric. This thesis sets out to suggest otherwise: that while both provide distinctive ways of ordering experience the two are irreducible to one another. Thus there is a need to reimagine the narrative communication debate. This thesis suggests this reimagining be called ‘narrative/symbolic’ – thus emphasising its narrativity. Narrative /symbolic communication : encourages reflection but is different from analytical, rationalistic thinking; is heuristic by nature, searching for likely accounts rather than definitions and conclusions; establishes an awareness of/ communion with the world of the other rather than just seeking after/interpreting meaning; has potential to broaden human conversation by repudiating mere individualism; and, is more faithful to the general shape of the religious tradition which is Christianity. Such a ‘style’ should shape religious communication in the electronic media-saturated age. / Master of Science (Hons)

Increasingly, cultural workers and artists from many disciplines are finding themselves involved in the creation of public and private rituals, ceremonies and celebrations. Focusing on ritual and celebration in Australian contexts, this thesis posits a new categorisation of the types of event that might be encountered, grouping and examining them according to their action upon participants with the aim of enabling a more practical methodology of design in contemporary societal conditions. Existing categories, which have defined these age-old activities in terms of anthropological observation or social intention, must now be regarded as obsolete because they take no account of rapid and widespread changes in degrees of adherence to traditional belief systems, in social orientation and in Western cultural practices. There is a need to reappraise why individuals and communities might continue to hold rituals and celebrations, and how these can be designed, managed and operated most effectively. The thesis identifies four major categories of ritual: Transformation, Reinforcement, Transcendence and Catharsis. It argues that, by recognising the differences between how each category operates for participants and also certain commonalities across categories, effectiveness of design is facilitated. In developing parameters for each category and giving examples of contemporary praxis, the writer stresses the importance of understanding traditional ceremonies so that elements of a rich repertoire of techniques developed over long periods can be planned into new rituals for contemporary application, despite the dissipation of shared, coherent belief systems in a highly secularised culture. This impels consideration of questions of cultural sensitivity, raises the need for close community involvement in design, and requires exploration of managing the challenges of multiple signification. Contemporary cultural contexts for ritual and celebratory events are marked by plurality, multi-vocalism and multicultural experience. Designers thus need to achieve, out of difference, an event that produces coherence, deep effects for each participant and a sense of shared experience. The thesis demonstrates means to this end through informed praxis, that is, by practitioners ensuring that theory and practice are working together in these complex contexts that involve the well being of individuals and communities. The categories have been identified through investigations into the literature of myth, ritual and celebration, helpful frameworks developed in cognitive science, and extensive research provided by thirty years of practice in the field. As a designer and director of rituals and celebrations, the writer seeks both to confirm the importance of the artist within the process and to demonstrate a new, practical, ethically located and effective approach for the education of intending practitioners. No claim is made that the four categories are definitive or mutually exclusive of one another. It is accepted that in many situations the categories might coalesce, be added to and/or fragment. However, the categorisation provides a fresh vantage point from which to view the potentially powerful effects of ritual experience, an effective tool of construction for the use of artists and cultural activists working in this field, and an informed basis for praxis. In developing this new categorisation the writer argues an ongoing need for rituals and celebrations to clarify and enrich the lives of individuals and the community while stressing the importance of careful and appropriate design of such events.

This study examines sources of clergy stress and ministers' coping strategies. The aim was to investigate Calvinist worldviews and their effects on Presbyterian ministers' choice of coping and stress levels. Specific hypotheses and questions were derived from process-stress theory and applications in the psychology of religion, as well as from secularisation theory. The author designed and conducted three separate, related studies. The first used 54 theological students comprising the pre-ministry stage. The second, focal study was of 65 parish ministers of the Presbyterian Church in NSW. These groups were chosen for an intensive study of the influence of Calvinist beliefs on stress and coping over two stages of ministry. The third surveyed 363 adult church attenders of Presbyterian congregations in NSW for specific analyses of stress-coping processes. Data were obtained through scales, questionnaires and interviews with parish ministers. Presbyterian students scored high on religious commitment but low in their endorsement of Calvinist beliefs. Presbyterian congregations also scored high on religious commitment and moderately high on their endorsement of Presbyterian beliefs. Major findings related to attributions and religious coping. Congregational members attributed life crises and hassles to God's allowing the situation, together with other human causes. Ministers had high religious commitment and agreement with Calvinist beliefs. One third scored at clinical levels of anxiety and burnout. Stress levels were strongly related to using an external locus of coping and less strongly to deficiencies in training and equipment for ministry. These stress levels were not directly related to role conflict or specific situational measures. Overall, findings pointed to inadequacies in process-stress theory for examining occupational stress. Ministry stress was best explained as a consequence of attempts to live out a Calvinist ideal in the absence of institutional and social legitimation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

A significant barrier to applying the techniques of machine learning to the domain of object boundary detection is the need to obtain a large database of correctly labeled examples. Inspired by developmental psychology, this paper proposes that boundary detection can be learned from the output of a motion tracking algorithm that separates moving objects from their static surroundings. Motion segmentation solves the database problem by providing cheap, unlimited, labeled training data. A probabilistic model of the textural and shape properties of object boundaries can be trained from this data and then used to efficiently detect boundaries in novel images via loopy belief propagation. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

The prediction of energetically favorable side-chain conformations is a fundamental element in homology modeling of proteins and the design of novel protein sequences. The space of side-chain conformations can be approximated by a discrete space of probabilistically representative side-chain conformations (called rotamers). The problem is, then, to find a rotamer selection for each amino acid that minimizes a potential energy function. This is called the Global Minimum Energy Conformation (GMEC) problem. This problem is an NP-hard optimization problem. The Dead-End Elimination theorem together with the A* algorithm (DEE/A*) has been successfully applied to this problem. However, DEE fails to converge for some complex instances. In this paper, we explore two alternatives to DEE/A* in solving the GMEC problem. We use a probabilistic inference method, the max-product (MP) belief-propagation algorithm, to estimate (often exactly) the GMEC. We also investigate integer programming formulations to obtain the exact solution. There are known ILP formulations that can be directly applied to the GMEC problem. We review these formulations and compare their effectiveness using CPLEX optimizers. We also present preliminary work towards applying the branch-and-price approach to the GMEC problem. The preliminary results suggest that the max-product algorithm is very effective for the GMEC problem. Though the max-product algorithm is an approximate method, its speed and accuracy are comparable to those of DEE/A* in large side-chain placement problems and may be superior in sequence design. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)