Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisors: Sandra M. Carberry and Keith S. Decker, Dept. of Computer & Information Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

This study documented the creation and initial validation of the Perceived Adolescent Social Support: Cystic Fibrosis (PASS-CF) inventory. The inventory was developed from semi-structured interviews of adolescents with cystic fibrosis (CF) and measured both supportive and non-supportive behaviors provided to adolescents by their family and friends. This study reports the findings from these interviews, results of the pilot testing of the measure, exploratory analyses of the utility of individual items, and the relationships between supportive and non-supportive behaviors and important clinical outcomes, such as treatment adherence, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and other health outcomes. In particular, the study compared two measurement models suggested by popular definitions of social support. The "perceived support" model emphasized adolescents' cognitive appraisals of the support provided to them by family and friends, and the functional support model emphasized the utility of specific behaviors in managing CF. Results provided support for both models and provided insights into important next steps in the study of social support in adolescents with CF.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2005. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Feb. 23, 2005). Advisor: Acar, William. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center. Keywords: strategy making; causal mapping; multi-agent systems; knowledge management; dialectical inquiry Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-116).

The primary purposes of this study were to explore the relationships among four work experiences (i.e., job variety, job autonomy, job stress, and job feedback) and coaches?? job satisfaction to examine the influence of institutional support (i.e., affective institutional support and financial institutional support) on job satisfaction, and to investigate if the relationship between the type of institutional support and job satisfaction differs (does not differ) between revenue generating sport coaches and non-revenue-generating sport coaches. To achieve these purposes this study examined the relationships among four work experiences and institutional support variables on job satisfaction. This study also examined differences between revenue-generating sport and non-revenue-generating sport coaches. Coaches (N = 599) in 7 sports (i.e., football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, and tennis) from NCAA Division I schools were asked to participate in this study. The response rate was a 34.7 % (208 / 599). Participants included 145 males and 63 females. Of the 208 completed and returned questionnaires, 100 (48.1%) were from revenue sport coaches (i.e., football and basketball). Meanwhile, 108 (51.9 %) were from non-revenue sport coaches. The results indicated that job variety, job stress, job feedback, affective institutional support, and financial institutional support were significantly related to job satisfaction. Namely, these three job experiences and two types of institutional support in the organizational environment impacted coaches?? attitudes, or job satisfaction. Further, for revenue generating sport coaches, financial institutional support was a significant indicator of job satisfaction; however, for non-revenue-generating sport coaches, affective institutional support held a stronger relationship to job satisfaction than did financial institutional support. Additionally, one of the job experience variables, job feedback, played a meaningful role to both coaches of revenue sports and coaches of nonrevenue sports in shaping job satisfaction.

Identity and power are important components of any relationship, especially one as intimate as the connection between marital partners. Social support is expected and elicited within these relationships, however most social support researchers have not incorporated sociological theoretical orientations that would provide insight into the structural components of the relationship and their impact. Using ideas derived from Identity Control Theory and Power Dependence Theory this research investigates the impact of these powerful social factors. Specifically, I hypothesize that marital partners who are similar in their identities will be better able to offer social support in conversations in which those identities are salient. I also hypothesize that partners who are similar in structural power will offer more support than those who are dissimilar.

This study examines the factors that impact the utilization of formal support services by Hispanic informal caregivers caring for a person with Alzheimer Disease and related disorders (ADRD) and utilizes data from the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer Caregiver’s Health (REACH) project. The current study examines potential factors that influence the utilization of formal support services and areas of unmet need for Hispanic caregivers. This study also examines the intra-heterogeneity of Hispanic caregivers. To examine utilization of services by Hispanic caregivers, a model for service utilization was analyzed using structural equation modeling. To examine potential group differences between Cuban and non-Hispanic Cuban caregivers, multigroup structural equation modeling was conducted with a covariance structure of variables of interest. The results of the study did not support this first hypothesis which examines factors that influence service utilization. Only one of the predictors, level of education, was found to be significantly correlated with service utilization. The results of the study supported the second hypothesis that Cuban Hispanic and non-Cuban Hispanic caregivers were not equivalent across the set of predictor variables examined. A significant finding, however, was that caregiver psychological distress and the care recipient’s health status were significantly correlated to service utilization for the non-Cuban Hispanic caregivers, but not for the Cuban Hispanic caregivers. Treatment implications for this study are that homogenous interventions may not be able to meet the needs of this diverse population. It will be important for interventions and services developed for Hispanic populations to include education about Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, progression of the disease, and services available to meet the caregiver and care recipient needs throughout the duration of the caregiving experience. Based on the results of this study, it is important for treatment providers to assist caregivers to increase awareness of opportunities for service utilization. It is important for the psychologist to be mindful the difficulty of seeking services for all home-based caregivers, particularly lower educated Hispanic caregivers. Service providers should work to understand the worldview and the perspective of caregiving that may vary between the different ethnic groups that fall under the Hispanic umbrella.

<p>The aim of this study was to develop guidelines for an HIV/AIDS support programme for teachers. In order to achieve this goal, Intervention Research: Design and Development model by Rothman and Thomas (1994) was adopted to guide the research process. Intervention research is a form of applied qualitative research utilized by researchers to design and develop interventions to ameliorate social problems. Intervention research: design and development model has six phases and unique operational steps to follow in each phase. The researcher adopted the first three phases to facilitate the design of the guidelines to assist with development of a programme to support teachers. Problem analysis and project planning is the first phase. In this phase, the aim was to understand the experiences of HIV/AIDS among teachers and in schools. Information was gathered from HIV/AIDS co-ordinators, principals, teachers living with HIV.</p>

In this study, to discuss the effect of the boundary between pipeline and clamp support changed by different pressures to the propagation of guided wave in the pipeline is the main idea. In addition, the author simulates the wave propagation situation by using finite element method. In this work, T(0,1) torsional mode was used to discuss when adding different pressures to the clamp support, the change of its reflection coefficients in different frequencies by the axial symmetric property propagates in the cylinder pipe. In the simulation, we take the ¡§fictitious layer¡¨ was used to describe the situation between the clamp support and pipeline when adding different pressures. Moreover, the stiffness normal to the fictitious layer and the stiffness parallel to the fictitious layer were taken as material parameters to achieve the situation between clamp support and pipeline. According to experimental results, when the torque increases, the reflection coefficients will decrease with increasing frequency. The reflection coefficients are about 0.08 to 0.02. By the result of experiment and simulation, one can know that when adding torque on the clamp support increases, the reflection coefficient will decrease. In addition, the author also prove that if we change the stiffness parallel to the fictitious layer material factor, then the T(0,1) guided wave will be more sensitive by its action of particle motion.

For parents, the birth of their first child sparks rapid change for each partner and for their romantic relationship. With the stress of the transition to parenthood, many couples experience declining marital satisfaction. However, previous studies have reported wide variation in the magnitude and time course of this decline. The present study sought to determine the trajectory of marital satisfaction across the first 2 years of parenthood. The study also examined the role of anxious and avoidant attachment, as well as relationship dynamics that prevent or augment declines in satisfaction for anxious and avoidant individuals. Data were collected from couples in five assessment waves: 6 weeks before the birth of the first child, and 6, 12, 18, and 24 months postbirth. Both partners completed self-report measures of attachment orientations and relevant situational stressors. It was hypothesized that, for insecurely attached partners, declines in marital satisfaction would be associated with the inability to pursue attachment-related goals. Thus, satisfaction should decline when: 1) anxious individuals are unable to increase proximity to their partners; and 2) avoidant individuals are unable to increase distance from their partners. Growth curve models examined changes in satisfaction over time, moderated by gender, attachment orientation (anxiety or avoidance), and situational stressors. Results yielded three key findings, which largely supported the hypotheses. First, for highly anxious individuals, satisfaction was lower or declined when they perceived their partners as less supportive and more negative toward them, and when they felt their babies interfered more in their romantic relationship. Second, for highly avoidant individuals, satisfaction was lower or declined when they felt their babies interfered more in leisure activities, and when they perceived more work-family conflict and more demands from their families. Third, an interesting pattern of gender differences emerged, such that satisfaction often declined more steeply in insecure men than women. Exploratory analyses revealed additional moderators of the attachment-satisfaction relationship. These are discussed as they relate to the goals of insecurely attached individuals. Findings suggest that attachment insecurities predict dissatisfaction in new parents primarily when situational stressors block the pursuit of secondary attachment goals.

Detection of targets in hyperspectral images is a specific case of one-class classification. It is particularly relevant in the area of remote sensing and has received considerable interest in the past few years. The thesis proposes the use of wavelet functions as kernels with Support Vector Data Description for target detection in hyperspectral images. Specifically, it proposes the Adaptive Wavelet Kernel Support Vector Data Description (AWK-SVDD) that learns the optimal wavelet function to be used given the target signature. The performance and computational requirements of AWK-SVDD is compared with that of existing methods and other wavelet functions. An introduction to target detection and target detection in the context of hyperspectral images is given. This thesis also includes an overview of the thesis and lists the contributions of the thesis. A brief mathematical background into one-class classification in reference to target detection is included. Also described are the existing methods and introduces essential concepts relevant to the proposed approach. The use of wavelet functions as kernels with Support Vector Data Description, the conditions for use of wavelet functions and the use of two functions in order to form the kernel are checked and analyzed. The proposed approach, AWKSVDD, is mathematically described. The details of the implementation and the results when applied to the Urban dataset of hyperspectral images with a random target signature are given. The results confirm the better performance of AWK-SVDD compared to conventional kernels, wavelet kernels and the two-function Morlet-Radial Basis Function kernel. The problems faced with convergence during the Support Vector Data Description optimization are discussed. The thesis concludes with the suggestions for future work.