Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a clinical condition affecting over 27 million Americans. There is no known cure for OA other than replacing the diseased joint with a joint prosthesis, total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Purpose: This study...
Image processing; Computer vision; Pattern recognition systems
Image segmentation is one of the most important problems in image processing, object recognition, computer vision, medical imaging, etc. In general, the objective of the segmentation is to partition the image into the meaningful areas using the...
Regression analysis is a statistical method used to relate a variable of interest, typically y (the dependent variable), to a set of independent variables, usually, X1, X2,...,Xn . The goal is to build a model that assists statisticians in...
The current study examined how Disclosure, Stereotype Disconfirming Information, and Stereotype Disconfirming Information and Disclosure Combined) influences an individual's stigma (stereotype endorsement, emotional reactions, and discrimination)...
Knee--Mechanical properties; Knee--Pathophysiology; Gait in humans; Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is associated with decline in functional capacity and ultimately leads to Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) in many of these patients. Exercise regimens prior to surgery may potentially enhance pre and post TKA...
Recent advances in high throughput methodologies offer researchers the ability to understand complex systems via high dimensional and multi-relational data. One example is the realm of molecular biology where disparate data (such as gene sequence,...
Speech intelligibility has been found to improve with prior exposure to a reverberant room environment. It is believed that perceptual mechanisms help maintain accurate speech perception under these adverse conditions. Potential factors underlying...
Alternatives to imprisonment--Kentucky--Jefferson County; Juvenile corrections--Kentucky--Jefferson County
Since the beginning of the juvenile justice movement in the United States over a century ago, considerable debate has persisted among policymakers and practitioners concerning the causes of juvenile offending and the appropriate responses to...
Executions and executioners--Press coverage; Mass media and public opinion; Capital punishment in popular culture; Death row inmates--Press coverage
The public's exposure to state sanctioned killings is limited to the mass media representations such as editorials, news reports, feature films, and books. Therefore it is important to examine the process of execution and its relation to the media...
Phase II clinical trial are generally single arm trial where a homogeneity assumption is placed on the response. In practice, this assumption may be violated resulting in a heterogeneous response. This heterogeneous or overdispersed response can be...
Problem children--Education; Teacher-student relationships; Child psychotherapy--Residential treatment
This dissertation contributes to the existing body of research investigating teacher efficacy, collective teacher efficacy, academic efficacy, and teacher-student relationships within residential treatment centers (RTCs) for adolescents. While past...
Eating disorders in children; Behavior modification
Feeding disorders occur when a child rejects significant amounts of food or drink. Food refusals are maintained by factors which may be behavioral based, due to structural impairments, or a combination of the two. One of the first steps to...
Hepatitis C virus--Research; Interferon--Therapeutic use; Adenosylmethionine
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of chronic liver disease in the United States and is a huge burden on the US healthcare system. The FDA-approved traditional standard of care for HCV is pegylated interferon-alpha (lFNα) combined...
Capital punishment--Public opinion; Murder victims' families--Attitudes; Murder victims' families--Psychology
Two common assumptions are that the family members of murder victims will achieve closure and perceive a sense of justice following the execution of their loved one's murderer. These assumptions, however, may be unfounded. Using family member...
Previous studies on the mechanistic induction of anti-tumor responses by IL-12 cytokine therapy have focused on the adaptive immune response, specifically the activation NK cells and T cells as the primary targets of IL-12 treatment. In contrast,...
Estimating and analysis of deformation, either rigid or non-rigid, is an active area of research in various medical imaging and computer vision applications. Its importance stems from the inherent inter- and intra-variability in biological and...
Cheating (Education); Web-based instruction; College students--Attitudes
This dissertation examined cheating attitudes and behaviors of undergraduates, especially those enrolled in online courses. While cheating is an established problem within the academy, it is also an issue on the job and has been in the spotlight in...
Dialectical behavior therapy; Women prisoners--Rehabilitation; Women prisoners--Psychology; Women prisoners--Mental health services; Women prisoners--Mental health
This dissertation examines the effectiveness of a partial skills group component of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in female prison inmates. DBT is an evidence-based comprehensive treatment which addresses emotional reactivity, impulsivity and...
Student evaluation of teachers; College teachers--Rating of; College students--Attitudes; Teacher-student relationships
This dissertation explored the relationship between student, course, and
instructor-level variables and student course ratings. The selection of predictor variables
was based on a thorough review of the extensive body of existing literature on...
Dropout behavior, Prediction of; Nontraditional college students; College dropouts; Academic achievement
For more than 100 years, nearly half of all undergraduate students have failed to persist to degree completion (ACT, 2010; Tinto, 1993; U.S. Department of Education, 2008). To make matters worse, adult students have consistently been victims of...
