Middle Tennessee State University
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DOES LOVING BREASTS AND WEARING PINK FIGHT BREAST CANCER?: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE BREAST CANCER PATIENT’S RHETORICAL ENVIRONMENT
No full textIn this dissertation, I investigate the rhetoric produced and disseminated by the larger actors in the breast cancer discourse community—organizations that produce philanthropy rhetoric for public audiences. Focusing particularly on the breast cancer rhetoric employed by university athletic departments on Twitter and the keeping/saving/loving breast slogans utilized by organizations and companies, I conducted two studies: 1) a content and rhetorical analysis of university athletic department tweets that are easily identifiable as breast cancer discourse, and 2) an IRB-approved survey of American adults meant to unearth the public’s actual perception of philanthropy slogans that focus on keeping/saving/loving breasts. Through these studies, I consider how supposed philanthropic messages are being used by some as ethos-building moves and/or in a way that further sexualizes/objectifies women, as well as that trivializes the disease and its effect on women. Furthermore, I consider the fact that college students are being socialized to conduct breast cancer philanthropy in a non-deliberative manner—in a way that does not necessarily benefit patients, as they are being exposed to rhetoric that conveys the message that merely wearing colors and slogans is an active and effectual way to aid breast cancer patients. I conclude this dissertation with a consideration of how current issues within the discourse community have arisen from assumptions made on behalf of patients—a stealing of agency that arises from taking a disembodied view from nowhere—and guidelines for creating future breast cancer philanthropy rhetoric that does not encourage negative responses toward patients or women in general, which can be employed in a deliberative manner, as well as in such a way that provides an opportunity for service-learning projects and a model for future philanthropic rhetorical actions.Ph.D
Tennessee's Shortcomings in Teaching Our Children to Protect Themselves and Their Peers Against Sex Trafficking
No full textThere are many different avenues that lead to child sex trafficking, and more often
than not, it is a known and or trusted adult who grooms the youth and lures them into
trafficking. This happens everywhere, so Tennessee is no exception. While there is a law
set in Tennessee’s Code that would at least teach youth about what sex trafficking is, this
has not yet been added to the state’s education requirements. Some districts are not even
aware of this requirement. Teachers, law enforcement, and caretakers tend to be the main
receivers for this type of training, but it is important that the youth are trained to
recognize how they and their peers might be at risk, as well as how to respond to sex
trafficking. This can be done simply through open conversation and positive interaction
to make youth feel heard and valued
The Effect of Globalization on Happiness
No full textKEYWORDS: Globalization; Economics; Happiness; Imports; Exports; Migration; Foreign Direct Investmen
Professional Pilot Student Survival Guide for MTSU Aerospace Program
No full textKEYWORDS: Aerospace; Flight labs; Flight School Check Ride Passing Rate Data; Check Ride Passing Rate Data Analysis; Interview Data; Interviews: Experience in the program; Program Analysis
Do You Like Me? First Impressions on LinkedIn
No full textThis study explored first impressions derived from LinkedIn profiles. Two independent factors were manipulated: viewing a hiring manager's LinkedIn profile and completing LinkedIn Learning courses. Four LinkedIn profiles were created to evaluate hiring manager's impressions of a job candidate. Participants were randomly presented with one of the four profiles and answered questions about their overall impressions of the candidate and their likelihood to invite the candidate for a job interview. Initial findings suggested that hiring managers provided more positive ratings for applicants who did not complete LinkedIn Learning courses. Further analyses, using only participants with correct manipulation responses, revealed no significant results for viewing a hiring manger's profile, completing LinkedIn Learning, or an interaction between the two on a hiring managers impression of a job candidate.M.A
Mechanism of Action of Antifungal Peptoids
No full textDue to the rise of drug resistant strains of fungal pathogens such as Cryptococcus
neoformans and Candida albicans, there has been a need to identify new antifungal agents.
In comparison to naturally produced antifungal peptides, antifungal peptoids, sequencespecific
oligo-N-substituted glycines, mainly differ in structure, which prevents protease
recognition giving higher bioavailability. Previous studies have shown that peptoids are
effective fungicides. RMG8-8 and RMG9-11, two peptoids recently discovered in the
Bicker Lab, have proven to be effective antifungal agents against C. neoformans and C.
albicans, respectively. Reported here will be studies to determine the mechanism of action
and other vital therapeutic properties of RMG8-8 and RMG9-11 using various biochemical
and microbiological assays. Preliminary results of critical micelle concentration, the
minimum concentration of a compound needed to form micelles, testing indicate that
RMG8-8 as well as RMG9-11 do not exist as micelles at their minimum inhibitory
concentrations, but rather function unimolecularly. Using a PAMPA assay, it was found
that RMG8-8 is likely unable to penetrate the blood brain barrier (BBB). However, RMG9-
11 demonstrated good permeability, indicating that it may be able to penetrate the BBB to
treat dangerous neurological infections of fungi. Through a cytoplasmic membrane
depolarization assay of RMG9-11 against C. albicans, it was discovered that the peptoid
was able to depolarize the cell membrane in a concentration dependent manner. In future
work, assays will be conducted to further understand the mechanism of action of both
peptoid compounds to address the rising concern of drug resistant strains of fungal
pathogens
Investigating how new college students make sense of their communication with individuals from different co-cultural groups and how these experiences shape their identity.
No full textThis study examined the interview results of twelve college students in the Southeast
region holding either freshman or sophomore status to answer two questions: How do
new college students communicate with students of perceivably different co-cultural
groups, and how does communication with perceivably different co-cultural groups shape
the identity of college students? Through analyzing the data and applying relevant
theories, two major themes developed: “Influences from New Co-cultures" and “Lack of
Cultural Understanding.” These major themes were followed by a total of 5 subthemes.
Through this analysis, the researcher found a need for cultural assimilation preparation to
be instilled in new college students
Validating a New Short Measure of the Dark Tetrad
No full textInterest in dark personality traits has gained an increasing amount of attention in the past few decades. With the demand for studying these traits, there is a lack of a valid short measure for the four dark personality traits known as the Dark Tetrad. This area is of significance to the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (I/O) as individuals in positions of leadership have been shown to possess one or more of the dark personality traits. This leaves researchers with the question of how to recognize, predict, and develop best practices to minimize or eliminate counterproductive work behaviors from leaders and their subordinates. This purpose of this study was to provide researchers with a reliable, valid short measure of the Dark Tetrad that can be used to further research in the respective areas of organizational and employee development. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the hypothesis that the model would replicate a 7-factor behavioral model, yielding 29-items for the measure. Additionally, the results also supported the hypothesis that all constructs were moderately correlated with each other.M.A
An Exploration of Sleep Hygiene as a Predictor of Migraine Headache Disability
No full textThis study explored the relationship between migraine disability and sleep hygiene. Specifically, the potential impact of sleep hygiene on migraine disability, and sleep hygiene acting as a mediator for the relationship between sleep efficiency and migraine disability were of interest. Ninety-five undergraduate participants were surveyed to measure migraine disability and sleep hygiene, in addition to other known covariates of migraine disability. Results indicated a positive correlation between poor sleep hygiene and migraine disability that remained statistically significant after controlling for other related covariates. In the tested mediation model, no significant direct effect of sleep efficiency on migraine disability was observed; however, small to medium-sized effects were observed among the indirect path from sleep efficiency, to sleep hygiene, to migraine disability. Taken together, these findings suggest that migraine disability may be influenced by sleep hygiene, which could predicate somewhat accessible forms of intervention to improve sleep for those with migraine headaches.M.A
The Broad Concept of Inevitability: A Video Game Soundtrack from the Ground Up
No full textKEYWORDS: game; soundtrack; audio; music; binaural; immersive; video game; album; midi; composition; surroun