The research regarding employees' job satisfaction is one of the most important indicators of their vocational adjustment or outcome. In addition, understanding the level of job satisfaction of employees' with disabilities it is important to understand the predictors of success. This knowledge contributes to the qualitative and the quantitative improvement of vocational rehabilitation outcomes for individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the job satisfaction of South Korean masseurs with visual impairments, utilizing the Social Cognitive Career Theory framework. A total of 221 South Korean masseurs with visual impairment responded to a survey, Including a demographic questionnaire and five instruments: Index of Job Satisfaction(IJS), The International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule short form (I-PANAS-SF), the Personal Efficacy Beliefs Scale (PEBS), Subjective Fit Perception(SFP), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support(MSPSS). Multiple regression analysis indicated that as masseurs in this study considered that they have a better fit with their job, as they experienced being more efficacious with their massage skills, and as they felt more positive, their level of job satisfaction was higher. Moreover, as masseurs in this study experience having a better fit with their job regarding their monetary aspects, as they feel efficacious with their massage skills, as they feel more positive, and as they consider their job duties fit their education or skills they learned, their level of job satisfaction also was higher. However, in this model (when these social cognitive career variables were accounted for altogether), no matter how masseurs with visual impairments consider how their personal values fit with their organizational values or how much social support they received from their family, friend, or significant others did not appear to contribute to overall their job satisfaction. In addition, the analysis supported the existence of a moderating effect of positive affect on the relationship between subjective fit and job satisfaction, in addition to the moderating effect of social support on the relationship between work related self-efficacy and job satisfaction among masseurs in this study. In conclusion, the integrative model of work satisfaction (Lent &Brown, 2006, 2008)provided a good overall fit to the data. Discussion of the results of the analyses of this study and limitations were demonstrated. Finally, implications for policy makers, researchers, and career counselors were also provided.

The purpose of this study was to further investigate the effects of articulation errors on perceptual ratings of nasality in speakers with repaired cleft palates, specifically looking at the effect of varying magnitudes of articulation errors and education on perception of nasality. A group of expert listeners, speech-language pathologists with significant clinical experience in the area of cleft palate and resonance disorders, first rated the articulatory proficiency and nasality of a number of utterances produced by children with repaired cleft palates, on separate 6-point scales. Their ratings were then used to categorize stimuli into a three-by-three matrix (mild, moderate, severe) using articulation deficit and nasality as the two dimensions of interest. Untrained listeners (undergraduates and graduate students in a speech-language pathology training program) were then asked to rate the level of nasality on a 1 (normal) to 6 (severe) scale. Listener group ratings were compared to each other and to the expert listeners. Significant differences (p=0.004) were found between the undergraduate and graduate students' ratings when compared to the expert listeners. Graduates, had lower inter- and intra-rater reliability compared to the undergraduates. For both undergraduates and graduates, the difference between their ratings and those of the expert listeners was significantly lower for stimuli with mild articulation errors compared to those with moderate (p<0.0001) and severe (p<0.0001) articulation errors. No significant differences (p=0.416) were found between difference scores for stimuli with moderate versus severe articulation errors. The results were interpreted to suggest that the magnitude, and perhaps type, of articulation errors affects perceived nasality, and that there are group differences between perceptual nasality ratings. These findings support the importance of articulation therapy for children with repaired cleft palates to both decrease articulation errors and decrease perceived nasality. Further, this study highlights the need for including awareness of this interaction in the training of speech-language pathologists in order for the “gold standard” of perceptual judgements to remain a valid and reliable measure.

Previous research suggests that differential reinforcement procedures may inadvertently strengthen problem behavior, resulting in treatment relapse (i.e., recurrence of problem behavior) when chges (e.g., intentional treatment withdrawal or treatment fidelity errors) are encountered following successful treatment. The current study evaluated one potential solution to the problem of treatment relapse based on the procedures proposed by Mace et al. (2010), which involved initially implementing treatment within a context with a minimal history of reinforcement for problem behavior rather than in the treatment context. Treatment relapse was then evaluated by conducting renewal and resurgence analyses at different points of time during treatment. Participants were four young children diagnosed with autism whose problem behavior was maintained by negative reinforcement. The children's caregivers implemented all procedures in their homes within multielement and reversal designs with coaching provided by a behavior consultant via telehealth. Interobserver agreement was collected on 34.2% of sessions and averaged 97.9% across participants. Following a functional analysis and an extinction baseline, functional communication training (FCT) was initially implemented in alternative contexts (i.e., play and neutral tasks) that had minimal history of reinforcement for problem behavior. This was conducted in order to strengthen manding and task completion without inadvertently strengthening problem behavior. I programmed for the generalization of mands and task completion by training sufficient exemplars (three alternative contexts) and programming common stimuli (picture cards, safespot, microswitch). FCT was then implemented in the treatment context (target demand), and extinction probes were conducted intermittently throughout treatment. Results demonstrated that problem behavior was reduced on average by 97.8% across all participants by the end of treatment. Treatment maintenance results showed that only minimal treatment relapse occurred. Clinically significant renewal of problem behavior only occurred with one participant, and little or no resurgence of problem behavior occurred for two participants during the first extinction probe. With minimal demand fading, resurgence was reduced during the second extinction probe for the other two participants. Manding and task completion generalized to the treatment context for most participants. These behaviors also persisted during the extinction probes showing that they were strengthened across treatment. Thus, these results showed substantial improvement in achieving maintenance than what has been achieved in previous studies evaluating treatment maintenance following FCT.

Written to fulfill a partial requirement for the Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa, this is an exploration of Kevin Argus' journey as an actor. It is a personal text that documents his relationship with: the present moment, the state, and mask, which are the necessary requirements for great acting. He asks, "How can you drop into the present moment? How can you expand the state to give others a visceral feeling? How can you create a specific character?" It goes on to recount pitfalls in the rehearsal process and the performance that are frequently encountered.

The Hispanic population in the United States experiences many challenges in education that have placed them behind their Euro-American counterparts in terms of achievement. These challenges are associated with socioeconomic status and family structure, educational expectations, cognitive skills, and low-quality schooling in the elementary grades. The purpose of this study was to examine how Hispanic students construct science learning in an argument-based inquiry classroom. This research constitutes a qualitative case study grounded in a sociocultural constructivist framework. Data was collected using a variety of qualitative techniques, including nonparticipant observations, analysis of semi-structured interviews, audio recordings, transcription, and observations. The focal participants of this study are three Latino/Hispanic students, two in fifth grade and one in fourth grade. Findings indicated that the two aspects of an argument-based inquiry approach impact students learning in science under diverse conditions. Students also encounter particular challenges while they are involved in this learning context.

The work described in this thesis is a series of narrative prints detailing the exploits of a criminally inclined religious cult. These prints encourage an open dialogue about the nature of religious practice and serve as a cautionary tale regarding absolute power and the importance of questioning authority and generally accepted beliefs.

No description available.

This dissertation accompanies my MFA thesis exhibition, a series of paintings and drawings. As is the case with any artist, what I create is so shaped by life experience and unconscious desire, that the paintings will speak more truthfully than I can. It is my hope that someone with a shared sensibility will stumble upon my thesis at the right time and be able to relate to it. David Hume made a remark in Of the Standard of Taste about this type of kinship forming between author and reader. “We choose our favourite author as we do our friend, from a conformity of humour and disposition. Mirth or passion, sentiment or reflection; which ever of these most predominates in our temper, it gives us a peculiar sympathy with the writer that resembles us.” 1 Through art, I am sometimes able to step outside of my own situation long enough to disentangle myself from the ego. In these moments, whatever is preoccupying my mind—fantasies, anxieties, joys, sorrows—emerges unconsciously. Sometimes frightening aspects of my personality arise in the work—a tendency toward self-loathing, detachment from others, neuroses about sex. It is precisely because I am a self-conscious person that I resist analyzing or censoring what disturbs me about my work. As a person who has dealt with trauma, I experience emotions acutely. Though empathetic to others, I find it difficult to connect intimately even with the people I love. Painting from observation provides a way to establish a safe and intimate bond with a person and gain a greater understanding of my relationship with others. Through painting portraiture, I hope to capture the feeling and memory of being in another person’s presence. In my self-portraits, I address the longest standing and perhaps the most difficult relationship I ( or any of us) will encounter—the relationship to the self. Hume, David, Selected Essays. (Oxford University Press, 1998), 150.

Gasification is a process that converts organics or fossil fuel based material into syngas at high temperature under controlled amount of air. Gasification thus increases the practicality of using biomass as a renewable source of energy. The goal of this paper is to explore corn kernel gasification at the University of Iowa Oakdale pilot scale gasifier. The results of this paper consists of three parts; the temperature profile in the gasifier, gas analysis at 950F and 1050F, and bio char analysis. The temperature profile within the gasifier was obtained and studied; different temperature gasification zones were identified. Sample gases at 950F and 1050F were obtained and analyzed. It was seen that the syngas production (in volume) at 1050 F was 12.2% greater than that of 950F. A 37.4%, 27.1% and 38.3% increase in composition of H, CO and CH4 respectively was also observed. Ultimate analysis, proximate analysis, SEM and BET tests were carried on the corn bio char produced. From the ultimate and proximate analysis, it was observed that corn bio char was similar to activated carbon. Oakdale bio-char was compared with other processed powder bio char. It was observed that char produced from the Oakdale gasifier was more porous than powder bio-char, possibly making it a better soil amendment.

The Historia der Passion und Leidens unsers einigen Erlösers und Seligmachers Jesu Christi (1593) by Leonhard Lechner (c. 1553-1606) is frequently cited as an important work in the development of the Passion idiom. Given the work's notoriety, it is therefore odd that little substantive analysis of the piece exists. Aside from some scholars' cursory comments about the piece, only James Morgan Sides's dissertation has discussed the work at length. Sides's findings give a somewhat limited picture of Lechner's Passion because he primarily focuses on technical aspects of Lechner's musical language. This essay instead seeks to provide a more comprehensive examination of Lechner's composition by taking into account social factors that influenced the history, reception, and stylistic influence of the work. The essay seeks to understand Lechner's Passion according to its cultural context, place it within the Passion genre and Lechner's biography, reception history, as well as explore its influence on later Passion settings. It then uses these factors as a means to explore Lechner's musical language to a greater extent than previous scholarship. The first chapter explores how social trends in sixteenth-century Württemberg, where Lechner was a chorister when he composed his Passion in 1593, affected his musical language. When Lechner wrote his Passion, the duchy was at a crossroads, balancing religious tradition and a more secular, modern future. On the one hand, over the 1500s, secularization occurred within the duchy's political, religious, and musical institutions. On the other hand, Württemberg's acceptance of Lutheranism in 1534 also shaped the duchy's culture. Additionally, despite its vehement anti-Catholic rhetoric and actions, Württemberg retained some of its long-standing Catholic religious and musical practices after its conversion to Lutheranism. Württemberg's dichotomous culture-a blend of secular, as well as Catholic and Lutheran influences-affected both the duchy's musical culture and Lechner's composition. The second chapter explores how Württemberg's societal changes, the history of the Passion genre, and Lechner's biography influenced specific musical devices in Lechner's Passion setting. Throughout the work, Lechner seems to use incongruous compositional language-the work not only boasts forward-looking expressive devices, such as text painting, but also incorporates compositional devices typically associated with older Catholic Passion settings. Lechner's setting of Biblical texts in the German vernacular, however, reflects the principles of the Reformation, as well as Württemberg's acceptance of Lutheranism. As the essay traces Lechner's use of text and text setting, expressive devices, and Passiontons throughout each of the piece's five movements, Lechner's musical language is understood to be a product of the Passion idiom, his personal faith, and sixteenth-century culture. While the first two chapters primarily focus on the relationship between Württemberg's culture and Lechner's musical language, the final chapter deals with the influence of Lechner's Passion, which has a bipartite legacy. In part, Lechner's Passion was summative because it is one of the last motet Passion settings, a subgenre that quickly disappeared due to the rise in popularity of instrumental music. Few motet Passions were composed after Lechner's; however, his work did influence later compositions, including pieces by Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), Hugo Distler (1908-1942), and Kurt Thomas (1904-1973). It is significant that Lechner's Passion not only influenced Schütz, perhaps the greatest seventeenth-century Lutheran composer, but was also admired centuries later by twentieth-century composers. The approach of this essay recognizes that no work of art is created in a vacuum and therefore seeks to explore how cultural factors influenced the composition of Lechner's Passion. Lechner's dichotomous compositional language is an outgrowth of sixteenth-century Württemberg's culture, the history of the Passion idiom, and his own biography. As the essay progresses from the piece's social framework to its historical implications, Lechner's Passion is framed as both a product of its time and a model for future compositions. This essay therefore provides a more comprehensive perspective of Lechner's Passion than what previous musical analyses have offered.