CU Dissertations

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CU Dissertations

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CU Dissertations contains all the electronic dissertations since October of 2009 Graduation. Some dissertations can be accessed by Catholic University users only.

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: Architecture and Protocol for Optical Packet Switching; Degree awarded: Ph.D. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The Catholic University of America, This dissertation proposes a number of single and parallel processor architectures and protocols for optical packet switching in all optical networks making use of a number of recent advances in high speed processors and optical buffers and a number of packet contention resolution techniques in wavelength, time, and space, alternative routing and processing speeds. The input and output lines can transmit multiple wavelengths per line (i.e., wavelength division multiplexed lines). In the developed architectures the header of a packet is separated from the body and is processed for determining the route and wavelength to be used to transmit the packet. The body is delayed for as long as is needed for processing the header. Thus only a portion and not the whole packet need to be saved. This reduces buffer size requirement. The optical packet switch also utilizes dynamically updated Link & Channel Availability Tables and dynamically updated hierarchical Routing Tables (OSPF, Next Best Route). Thirteen different Single Input Processor architectures and the Parallel Input Processor architectures are developed and evaluated with and without packet contention resolution techniques. Parallel processors are used at the output in all architectures except one. The various architectures are simulated by using OPNET software simulation package and their performance is evaluated from these simulation results in terms of packet loss rate, average throughput per line and total throughput. Many of the architectures did not provide acceptable performance. The Parallel Input Processor architecture with the number of wavelength converters equal to the number of input channels and Parallel Input Processor with Next Best Route are shown to provide the best performance (nearly zero packet loss) when using 10 gigabit per second processors for 10 gigabit per second input line rates. Higher rate input lines can be accommodated by down multiplexing the incoming data into 10 gigabit streams and parallel processing these streams. These results are presented on graphical forms. The results of this dissertation will lead to implementation of optical packet switching with its resultant benefits to the all optical networking., Made available in DSpace on 2011-06-24T17:11:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Condiff_cua_0043A_10223display.pdf: 3336258 bytes, checksum: e441cdbc730441d5059293d456c57350 (MD5)

: Aristotelian Naturalism and the Grammar of Goodness: An Essay on Human Nature and Practical Rationality; Aristotelian naturalism holds that practical goodness for human beings is to be understood as a form of natural goodness. On this view, the human life-form is a source of practical normativity, supplying the measure of human action. One form of resistance to this view is the Challenge from Reason, which questions whether the practical-rational “ought” can be understood in terms of any natural normativity. Indeed, the naturalist account seems to be precluded by the kind of power that practical reason is. The “ought” under which practical reason falls does not express a mere standard of goodness but an imperative, and the actions prosecuted in light of this imperative involve practical knowledge of that ought. By contrast, it seems that the human life-form does not underwrite any imperatives, and knowledge of it does not enter into practical reasoning. Thus it seems that practical normativity cannot be understood in terms of any natural normativity that belongs to human life. In this dissertation, the author argues that Aristotelian naturalism can meet the Challenge from Reason. He argues that natural goodness is a normative category characterized by the fact that its subjects are agents, or movers-for-the-sake-of-ends. The “natural” ought is already caught up in the logic of action and ends; agency and teleology are not special to the human case. Moreover, he argues that attempts to separate practical from natural normativity betray an accidentalist conception of human form, which interprets “rational animality” as an aggregate of two independently constituted parts needing to be pieced together. Finally, as the human life-form is manifest in the explanation of human action, he argues that human agents have an implicit practical knowledge of their life-form. The natural––human––ought is not alien to practical normativity but relates to it as its form., Ethics, Philosophy, Naturalism, Normative Ethics, Philosophical Psychology, Practical Reason, Virtue Ethics, Philosophy, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Philosophy. The Catholic University of America

: Aristotle on Nature and the Moral Life; Degree awarded: Ph.D. Philosophy. The Catholic University of America, Aristotle`s teleological view of nature has become increasingly difficult to understand and to accept the further we move from him in time. The goal of this dissertation is to offer a way of looking at Aristotle`s teleology that will make it more accessible to the contemporary reader while remaining true to Aristotle`s vision of nature. I compare his account of nature to his theory of moral action.Since Aristotle`s natural teleology is directly related to his definition of nature as an inborn principle of change or rest, the dissertation begins by examining Aristotle`s understanding of nature, focusing on the convergence of formal, final, and efficient causes in natural objects. For Aristotle, natural objects possess their own principles of change and rest and are therefore directed from within their own being. This means that natural processes are not simply the result of objects external to them acting in accordance with natural laws.The dissertation then distinguishes Aristotle`s account of natural causality from that of modern mechanism and further distinguishes it from the account he gives of the causality at work in artifacts, both of which lack the convergence of causes that Aristotle sees in natural objects. I argue that the concept of energeia, actuality, lies at the heart of Aristotle`s account of natural objects and is necessary for understanding the convergence of causes he finds there. The dissertation contrasts Aristotle`s teleology with the contemporary functionalist account, again focusing on the role of energeia.The most common analogy for understanding nature in Aristotle has been making, i.e., craftsmanship or the design and production of artifacts. The dissertation concludes by arguing that Aristotle describes the moral life in a way that in some respects parallels the teleology found in nature. In particular, the orientation of the moral life toward human flourishing highlights the concept of energeia, and to that extent provides a better model for natural objects than artifacts do. After considering the benefits and drawbacks of both the moral life and artifact models, we propose the moral life as a supplementary model for natural teleology., Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-20T15:48:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cecere_cua_0043A_10479display.pdf: 1745062 bytes, checksum: ae06a4c384c853160c25b0d9d007b0f0 (MD5)

: Aristotle on the Relation between Primary Matter and Extension

: Ars Christiane Philosophandi: Étienne Gilson’s Concrete Approach to the Christian Love of Wisdom; Ars Christiane Philosophandi: Étienne Gilson’s Concrete Approach to the Christian Love of WisdomFr. Ronald (Alcuin) H. Hurl, F.H.S., Ph.D. Director: Timothy B. Noone, Ph.D.Due to currents in the history of philosophy many contemporary scholars tend to see philosophy as more of an academic discourse and less as a practical way of life. For this reason when approaching the thought of Gilson many scholars tend to see him as primarily a historian and not as a philosopher mainly because he did not produce a systematic theoretical doctrine. However, Gilson approached philosophy as primarily a way of life and, when viewed in this light, Gilson appears as a life-philosopher whose personal mission was to revive the Catholic philosophical life and thereby revive and bolster Western culture. Our claim then is that the ‘spirit of Gilsonism’ is philosophy as a way of life.The first two parts of this dissertation contextualize Gilson in a post-Enlightenment movement of a return to the philosophical life. In part one we see this movement’s deep roots in both Romanticism and Nietzsche who attempted to live the philosophical life on the model of Diogenes the Cynic. In part two we look at three Nietzsche-inspired paradigms of the philosophical life. Henry Adams exemplifies the medieval model of a life based on a vital tension between faith and reason. Leo Strauss exemplifies the Greek Socratic model of a life of radical questioning. Pierre Hadot—along with Michel Foucault following him—exemplifies the Stoic-Epicurean model of a life of spiritual exercises.In part three we apply Hadot’s distinction between philosophy as a theoretical discourse and philosophy as a way of life to Gilson. This method shows that beginning with his encounter withBergson in 1904 Gilson always approached philosophy more as as a way of life than a set of endorsed propositions. This also reveals that the highpoint of Gilson’s work was the foundation of the PIMS as a veritable ‘school of philosophy’ (much like Plato’s Academy or Alcuin’s schools under Charlemagne) intended to train life-philosophers and transmit Western culture. I conclude that this important cultural mission and its rigorous curriculum makes PIMS possibly one of the most important schools founded in the twentieth century and makes Gilson arguably the most important Catholic philosopher of the twentieth century., Philosophy, History, Medieval history, Henry Adams, Leo Strauss, Philosophy as a Way of Life, Pierre Hadot, Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, Romanticism, Philosophy, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Philosophy. The Catholic University of America

: "Art and Beauty, Opposition and Growth in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram"; Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Religion and Culture. The Catholic University of America, Sri Aurobindo (nee Aurobindo Ghose, 1872-1950), a native of India, spent his youth studying poetry and the classics in England. Upon his return to colonial India, he became influential in Indian revolutionary politics. Inspired by his own spiritual experience, S'aktism, Vedanta, Tantra, and the Bhagavad Ghita, he later developed his own "integral yoga" in the French colonial city of Pondicherry. Instead of transcending the Earth, his yoga seeks to transform matter into what he calls "the new supramental creation." He wrote over 30 books in the areas of yoga theory and practice, social, political, and cultural reflection, art and poetry. He wrote his most important work, his epic poem Savitri, over a 35-year period as a way to develop his spiritual practice. Mirra Alfassa (1878-1973) shared Sri Aurobindo's goals and joined him in 1920. She was a gifted painter and musician and a spiritual seeker from Paris whom he named "the Mother" when they established the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926. He considered her the feminine ?akti to his masculine ?vara role, and their followers believe them to be their Avat'ras (God/dess in human form). After he died, the Mother continued to guide the Ashram until her death. For 52 years she used painting to grow in her spiritual practice. Both gurus encouraged many of their disciples to use the arts for spiritual growth. Sri Aurobindo's work has inspired various prominent thinkers, and is considered a significant contribution to Hindu studies, as well as 20th-century colonial Indian history. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the modern yoga renaissance; however, since the 1980s there has been a lack of scholarship on his thought, and particularly as this applies to art and religion. Also, the Mother's participation has never been critically examined in this tradition. This dissertation investigates the following question: What are the Mother's and Sri Aurobindo's aesthetic theory and to what extent does their artwork and their collaboration with their disciples demonstrate their aesthetics? This study uses a historical-critical methodology to examine the development of thought in their written texts on culture and aesthetics, and a visual culture approach to interpret their use of art, architecture, and visual culture. It relies upon disciples's diaries, reproductions of drawings and paintings by the Mother and her disciples, and the author's ethnographic data collected during his stay in the Ashram in India in 2012-13. The results of this dissertation: 1) their yoga is "descendant," demanding a principle of growth that welcomes oppositions found in life to stimulate the universalization of the basic consciousness and to divinize the Earth; the arts aid this process by helping the disciple to face oppositions with sincerity and resilience, and to unveil spiritual potentials that were not known until the creative process uncovered them; 2) they prize the intuition and higher spiritual faculties of consciousness in their creative process and spiritual experience, which diminishes and potentially annihilates the importance of the intellect; 3) for them, the arts are essentially tied to beauty, which aids their goal of the "new creation;" their ideal of beauty occurs when the physical art media harmonizes with the meaning of the artwork, uniting qualities of beauty with the value of beauty. This study concludes that if Sri Aurobindo is a guru who is primarily an artist, his teaching is principally found in an examination of his creative process, his poetry, and his work with his and the Mother's disciples. Likewise, as an artist-guru, the Mother's teaching is chiefly encountered in an investigation of her guidance of the Ashram, her painting, music, architecture, and visual culture, and most importantly her claims to the transformation of her own body. Their combined teaching is intended to be a transformative experience of growth through beauty, which for them is a way to create a non-sectarian sacred gaze in their followers. Their aesthetic goals might be characterized as expanding the basic consciousness in order to critique past uses of beauty that have become an abuse of others; to reinterpret past achievements in beauty with an intent to include all; and still further, to create new, more inclusive expressions of beauty in one's own historical context.

: "Art to Enchant": Shakespeare's Player-Dramatists Staging Recognition Scenes; In the mid and late twentieth century, scholars became fascinated with the way Shakespeare uses theatrical metaphors. The introduction of the term “metatheatre” in the 1960s launched a school of criticism that examines Shakespeare’s plays as self-consciously theatrical. To clarify some of the ambiguity surrounding the term “metatheatre,” this dissertation examines a class of characters I have denominated “player-dramatists.” The player-dramatists are characters who present any fiction intended for an audience inside the play. The dramas of the player-dramatists range from formal plays-within-plays, as in Hamlet, to other kinds of showmanship involving an audience, as in Don Pedro’s loud conversation staged to be overheard by Benedick. In every case, the player-dramatist attempts to hide some part of his or her artifice from the audience within the play. When the “in-play” audience comes to recognize that an artifice has been used, Shakespeare’s player-dramatists use this recognition to accomplish various goals. In the earliest plays, from Comedy of Errors to Much Ado About Nothing, the player-dramatists are largely concerned with changing behaviors in their in-play audience, almost to the point of seeming didactic. In the middle plays, from As You Like It to All’s Well That Ends Well, the player-dramatists use the recognition for a greater variety of ends; occasionally the end is related to audience behavior, but increasingly the player-dramatists use drama for private purposes of their own. Sometimes these player-dramatists overestimate the power of drama and try to use it for ends to which it is not suited. In the Jacobean plays from Measure for Measure to The Tempest the player-dramatists have a much greater impact on their audiences than their predecessors. This impact is related to the way in which the player-dramatists draw their in-play audiences into taking active part in the drama. These player-dramatists become increasingly successful as they move from using drama as a mere tool to shape an audience and begin to treat it as an opportunity for the audience to reshape itself. Although the typical effect of recognition in the late plays is a profound sense of wonder, the latest player-dramatist recognize the limitations as well as the power of drama. I conclude that the study of player-dramatists reveals something of Shakespeare’s understanding of his own drama. Like the player-dramatists, he often beguiles theater audiences into responding to the action of the play in ways that can and should lead to self-recognition, insofar as the audience is willing., English literature, Theater, anagnorisis, bisociation, metatheatre, player-dramatist, recognition, Shakespeare, English Language and Literature, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. English Language and Literature. The Catholic University of America

: Artificial Underwater Electrolocation; Degree awarded: Ph.D. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The Catholic University of America, Electric Fields can be used as a means of underwater detection, localization and characterization of objects. Observations of certain species of weakly electric fish suggest the possibility of near-field underwater detection capabilities through the use of biologically inspired electrolocation. A system featuring a dipolar electric field source, analogous to the electric discharge organ of weakly electric fish, and an appropriate arrangement of electric potential sensors could emulate this phenomenon. A mathematical model was developed through the method of images to represent canonical spherical targets in the presence of a static, finite, dipolar electric source in a conducting medium. Characteristics of the electropotential pattern on a sensor array are shown through matrix transform models to predictably vary according to the radius, location and material composition of the target spheres. Transform matrices are determined by parameters relating to a given set of physical circumstances. An inverse model follows from the invertible and linear forward model, such that the relevant target characteristics can be gleaned from a given electropotential pattern and appropriate matrices. The accuracy and effective range of predictions for certain practical cases of varying scales and configurations was calculated by comparing realistic noise and sensor parameters to simulation results. Applications to marine littoral environments were explored as they relate to the simulations., Made available in DSpace on 2011-06-24T17:10:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Arizzi_cua_0043A_10221display.pdf: 2012937 bytes, checksum: 3fa93563323f4da3b747c3bdaf04bd62 (MD5)

: Aspectus and Affectus in the Theology of Robert Grosseteste; This study offers the first full historical and systematic exposition of the aspectus/affectus distinction in the thought of Robert Grosseteste (c.1168-1253). Grosseteste used aspectus (vision) to name the cognitive power of the soul and affectus (feeling or desire) for the appetitive power. This study finds that the aspectus/affectus distinction is an important key to understanding a web of interrelated themes in Grosseteste’s thought. Not only are the doctrines accompanying these terms fundamental to his psychology, but they also have important connections to his metaphysics, his doctrine of salvation, his view of spiritual formation, and his theory of knowledge. The study finds that three themes consistently accompany Grosseteste’s use of this distinction: the priority of the aspectus, the primacy of the affectus, and the inseparability of knowledge and love. The priority of the aspectus describes Grosseteste’s belief that knowledge (or perception and judgment) must come before love or desire, at least logically. The primacy of the affectus refers to the ability of the affectus either to contract or to expand the range of things knowable to the aspectus, as well as its prerogative to govern the operation of the aspectus. The inseparability of knowledge and love describes the dynamic between aspectus and affectus according to which the powers are mutually dependent in performing their proper actions. The study contains two parts, in addition to an introduction and a conclusion. The first part, containing chapters one and two, provides the context in which one can understand Grosseteste’s use of aspectus and affectus. Chapter one provides an overview of relevant secondary literature, and chapter two investigates the sources of Grosseteste’s thought related to aspectus and affectus. Part two explains the meaning and significance of the aspectus/affectus distinction, and it is divided into two sections. The first section, encompassing chapters three, four, and five, treats primarily the meaning of the distinction but also addresses questions of development and consistency through the course of Grosseteste’s career. The second section of the second part contains chapters six through eight and explores the significance of aspectus and affectus to diverse areas of Grosseteste’s thought., Theology, Philosophy, Medieval history, Franciscan spirituality, illumination, medieval psychology, Robert Grosseteste, scholastic anthropology, soul, Historical Theology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Historical Theology. The Catholic University of America

: Assembly of Bacteriophage T4 DNA Packaging Motor: Analysis of Portal-Terminase Interactions; Degree awarded: Ph.D. Biology. The Catholic University of America, The icosahedral double-stranded DNA bacteriophages and herpes viruses package their genomes into preformed proheads by a powerful ATP driven motor. The packaging motor, an oligomer of gp17 (large terminase) in phage T4, is assembled at the special portal vertex of the empty prohead. The T4 motor is the fastest and most powerful motor reported to date. gp17 has an N-terminal ATPase that powers DNA translocation and a C-terminal translocase that causes DNA movement. The dynamic interactions between the motor (gp17) and the portal (gp20) are however poorly understood. Here, using biochemistry, bioinformatics, structure, and molecular genetics, the site in gp17 that interacts with the dodecameric portal protein is determined. Biochemical and structural studies suggest that the N-terminal domain of gp17 interacts with gp20, and that the stoichiometry of prohead-gp17 complex is five subunits of gp17 to twelve subunits of gp20. Sequence alignments predict that there are two potential portal binding sites in gp17. Mutational studies show that the portal binding site I in the N-terminal domain is critical for function whereas the site II in the C-terminal domain is not critical. Second site suppressors of site I D331Q mutant (temperature sensitive) show a single intragenic mutation in the helix-loop-helix (HLH) of N-terminal sub-domain II, suggesting the importance of this motif in portal interaction. Fitting the X-ray structure of gp17 into the cryo-EM density of portal-motor complex showed the same HLH (amino acids 333-352) in contact with gp20. A peptide corresponding to the HLH motif specifically binds to proheads as well as inhibits DNA packaging in vitro. Swapping of non-conserved residues of the helix, but not the conserved residues of the loop, from T4-family phages relieves the DNA packaging inhibition. Together these data for the first time identify a HLH motif in gp17 that interacts with gp20, leading to models for symmetry mismatch between the packaging motor and the portal as well as implications to the mechanism of viral DNA translocation., Made available in DSpace on 2011-02-24T20:46:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Hegde_cua_0043A_10057display.pdf: 4743078 bytes, checksum: 6d427b395d892815cb664cba9e4c2f9d (MD5)

: Assessing the Leadership and Management Skills of Senior VA Social Work Leaders by Internal Stakeholders; Degree awarded: Ph.D. Social Work. The Catholic University of America, Assessing the Leadership and Management Skills ofSenior VA Social Work Leaders by Internal StakeholdersKristin Shanahan Day, Ph.DKarlynn BrintzenhofeSzoc, Ph.DLeading experts in the field of social work advocate that social workers become expert leaders and managers able to bring business acumen, congruent with social work values to the human service industry (Brilliant, 1986; Edwards, Cooke, & Reid, 1996; Franklin, 2001; Patti 2003; Rank & Hutchinson, 2000). Yet, no leadership or management content is required for Council on Social Work Education accreditation (2010); thus the adequacy of preparation for social work executives may be questioned. The purpose of this study is to explore the actual and preferred levels of leadership and management skills of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) social work executives, as reported by the medical center director, the chief of staff, the social work executives and their social work subordinates. Specifically, are VA social work executives meeting the leadership and management expectations of their key internal stakeholders? This study used the VA's High Performance Development Model (HPDM) 360 Degree Assessment Scale to assess perceived levels of actual and preferred management and leadership competencies. An independent t-test was used to explore the level of preferred management skills by subscale; each subscale, systems thinking, technical skills, and flexibility/adaptability, was statistically significant in terms of differences in mean scores. For all three subscales, the medical center directors and the chiefs of staff mean scores for preferred level of management skills were significantly higher than for the social work executives and the social workers mean scores for preferred level of management skills. An independent t-test was used to consider the subscales comprising leadership skills; three subscales, customer service, personal mastery and organizational stewardship, were found to be statistically significant in terms of differences in mean scores between the two groups. Medical center directors and the chiefs of staff preferred higher levels of management and leadership skills than both the social work executives and the social workers. This is a call to action for the social work program at VHA. This study provides empirical support for the infusion of business and leadership theory and practice into social work education and practice., Made available in DSpace on 2011-03-01T11:45:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Day_cua_0043A_10152display.pdf: 965417 bytes, checksum: 5a24210455be062d494a42a242d12697 (MD5)

: Association and meaning in schizophrenics and normals /

: The Association Between Patient Activation and Diabetes Self-Management Among Asian Indians in the United States of America; Asian Indians, individuals from the subcontinent of India, comprise the second largest immigrant group in the US. According to the migration policy institute, 2.7 million Indian immigrants representing approximately 6% of the foreign-born population reside in the US. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is approximately 29% among Asian Indians which is far higher when compared to a 13.1% prevalence in non-Hispanic blacks, 8.7% in Mexican Americans and 7.4% among non- Hispanic whites. In addition, the mortality rate due to diabetes complications among Asian Indians is 40% higher compared to other ethnicities Statement of the problem: Asian Indians have higher rates of diabetes and diabetes-related morbidity and mortality compared to whites and other ethnic groups in the U.S.A. The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictors of patient activation among Asian Indians with Type II Diabetes, including demographic factors, and self-management practices. Methods: This study used a correlational design to fill a gap in the research on patient activation levels among Asian Indians residing in the United States. A cross-sectional survey collected self-reported data from N = 125 respondents with Type II diabetes using The Patient Activation Measurement (PAM) scale, the Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ) scale and demographic questionnaire. Results: The largest group (n = 50, 40.0%) consisted of the patients in PAM Level 2; "Becoming aware but still struggling". The patients in PAM Level 3 represented the second largest group (n = 42, 33.6%) who were assumed to use guideline behaviors to improve their health. The patients in Level 4; who were assumed to be "continuing to maintain guideline health behaviors" constituted a smaller group (n = 19, 15.2%). The smallest group (n = 14, 11.2%) consisted of the patients in Level 1 who were assumed to be "Disengaged and over-whelmed". The strongest and potentially most important relationship was the positive correlation between the PAM scale and the DSMQ scales (Pearson's r = .88). Education level, income, years in USA, relationship with health care provider, overall health status, as well as currently on medication were systematic predictors of the PAM scale, indicated by the 95% CI of the regression coefficients not capturing zero (equivalent to p <.05). The PAM scale was negatively correlated with the respondents' levels of HbA1c (Pearson's r = -0.36). Summary of Conclusions: The study findings contribute to the limited amount of research that has been conducted on the patient activation levels and self-management practices of Asian Indians. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which the correlations between the levels of patient activation, diabetes self-management practices, demographic characteristics, and HbA1c levels have been evaluated among Asian Indians living in the USA. The results laid the foundation for future research involving the development of interventions that may help to increase patient activation and self-management among Asian Indians with Type II diabetes. , Nursing, Asian Indians, Diabetes Self- management, Patient Activation, Nursing, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Nursing. The Catholic University of America

: Asthma Clinical Practice Guideline Implementation and Evaluation in a Military Treatment Facility Pediatric Clinic; Degree awarded: D.N.P. Nursing. The Catholic University of America, Asthma is a common chronic disease of childhood, affecting more than six million children (NHLBI, 2007). Several national guidelines regarding asthma diagnosis and treatment are available. Two of the most accepted are the National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute (2007) and the Department of Defense and Veteran's Affairs (DoD/VA, 2009) clinical practice guideline (CPG). These guidelines assist Health Care Providers (HCP's) in delivering the most current and accepted standards of practice for patients with asthma. However, compliance is often difficult for HCPs as well as patients. The purpose of this evidence-based project was to implement the DoD/VA asthma CPG at a Military Treatment Facility pediatric clinic. Compliance with the asthma CPG was evaluated in 5 specific areas: emergency department visits, acute care visits, hospitalization rate, use of a written asthma action plan and prescription of inhaled corticosteroid for any severity of persistent asthma. The Stetler Model of Research Utilization (2001) was used to facilitate this project. After literature review and an organizational assessment, this author utilized a combined approach of provider education and extrinsic tools to implement the CPG. A 3-month retrospective chart review was completed prior to and three months after CPG implementation. The two groups had similar ages, sex, and sponsor status. Following implementation of the CPG, there was a 6% decrease in the percentage of ED visits. However, there was a slight increase in rates of acute care visits and hospitalizations (2% and 6%, respectively). A small (2%) increase was also noted in the use of ICS. Unfortunately, post-CPG implementation data collection coincided with the winter months, which may have been a confounder. There was a larger increase in use of written asthma action plan post-CPG implementation (14 to 44%). Using the z-test of proportions, only the increase in the use of asthma action plan was statistically significant. Although there was not significant improvement in the majority of outcomes measured, the primary goal of this project was implementation of the asthma CPG. No one method of CPG implementation has been proven to be more successful than another method according to the literature. Through the process of this evidence-based practice project, Providers have voiced an increased awareness of the DoD/VA CPG. Although not formally measured, this provides a basis for future in depth study and analysis. This project will be sustained via ongoing process improvement monitoring and reporting., Made available in DSpace on 2012-02-15T20:53:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JacknewitzWoolard_cua_0043A_10285display.pdf: 1206260 bytes, checksum: 2db18bae6bf957a3d9e7cc5910b50dfb (MD5)

: Atlantic Connections: Gender and Antislavery women in the United States and Britain; Degree awarded: Ph.D. History. The Catholic University of America, The importance of antislavery activism in the rise of feminism in the US and Great Britain has long been acknowledged by historians of women in both countries. However, the historiography of antislavery women is missing important analytical elements: the role of class and attention to the words of the women themselves. Antislavery women were the first to advocate for their own rights to speak in public, participate in political debates and to challenge the ideology of separate spheres. The way in which antislavery women negotiated the restrictions on their own behavior reshaped the class-based gender roles that were being established in the first half of the nineteenth century. The way in which the middle class defined itself in each country limited how far antislavery women could bend gender roles. American women were able to make a case for their right to speak in public and participate in mixed-gender meetings much earlier than British women, mainly due to the fact that the middle class in America constructed itself in a racial and ethnic diametric. The letters, speeches and diaries of antislavery women illuminate how the leaders of the movement were able to challenge the boundaries of proper behavior and shift the margins of separate spheres to make advocacy for the slave permissible. In doing so, they realized the inequality they and all women lived under. The turning point for this realization was the 1840 World's Antislavery Convention in London, which brought together antislavery women from both sides of the Atlantic, forging and strengthening ties between individuals and groups of women involved in antislavery work. The networks created between 1840 and 1860 aided women in their antislavery work, but also supplied a support network that allowed women to circumvent the male-dominated antislavery movement in Britain and to exchange information about women's rights as well as antislavery issues. The lessons learned in the antislavery movement provided a strong base for feminist assertions in the second half of the nineteenth century for both American and British women. Women's rights activists drew on the skills and spaces their antislavery predecessors had carved out for women., Made available in DSpace on 2011-03-01T11:47:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Richmond_cua_0043A_10171display.pdf: 1312558 bytes, checksum: 9abad92807d2accde3cbd5239efe244a (MD5)

: Attachment Issues of Deaf Adults with Hearing Parents: Exploring the Lived Experience; Attachment Issues of Deaf Adults with Hearing Parents: Exploring the Lived ExperienceEllen Schaefer-Salins, Ph.D.Director, Lynn M. Mayer, Ph.D.The formation of attachment style between a parent and child is influenced by both verbal and non-verbal communication (Bowlby, 1988; Cassidy & Shaver, 2008). Of the 1,000,000 functionally deaf people in the United States (Mitchell, 2005), 96% are born to hearing parents (Mitchell & Karchmer, 2004) and 75% of these parents do not learn how to communicate with their children fluently or effectively (Mitchell& Karchmer, 2005; Oliva, 2004). Previous research with deaf children and adults has examined the relationship between attachment and deafness related to use of sign language and type of school attended (Greenberg & Marvin, 1979; Chovaz McKinnon, Moran, Pederson, 2004). However, a qualitative approach has not been used to understand the lived experience of a deaf person raised by hearing parents. This mixed methodology research studied the impacts of deafness on the attachment style of deaf adults with hearing parents. Fifteen deaf individuals, age 30 to 50, with two biological parents, who are still married, were interviewed. The participants filled out a demographic information form and Attachment Style Questionnaire which had been previously adapted for use with deaf individuals (ASQ-D) (Feeny & Noller, 1996, Steider, 2001). The research questions used were 1) How is the relationship between a deaf adult and her or his hearing parents understood and experienced? 2) How does a deaf adult describe the current relationship with her or his hearing parents? 3) How does/did the communication styles within the family impact the relationship between the deaf adult and her or his hearing parents? Ten participants (66%) presented with a secure attachment style, and five participants (33%) presented with an insecure attachment style. A grounded theory approach of data analysis was used to analyze the interview transcripts. The main common theme that impacted the attachment style of the study participants was the support that they received as a child from her or his parents, which was independent of what communication style was used. This study contributes to the knowledge of social work by demonstrating the importance of supportive parental relationships for individuals who are deaf., Degree awarded: Ph.D. Social Work. The Catholic University of America

: Attitudes of Women Residing in the Bethesda Area of Montgomery County, Maryland, Regarding Care for Children Not their Own; by Frances Parsons Simsarian., Typescript., Thesis (D.S.W.)--Catholic University of America, 1963., Includes bibliographical references., Also available in microfilm.

: Augustine the Preacher and the Judgment of God; Although the judgment of God is a dominant theme in Augustine’s Sermones ad populum, it has not yet been studied effectively. The problem is that modern scholarship strives to relate the judgment of God to other aspects of Christian teaching, or to understand its place in Augustine’s own thought, without consideration of its relevance for the life of the individual members of the Christian community. Not enough has been said about Augustine’s concrete exposition and application of this teaching, that is, his efforts to bring the judgment of God to bear on individual behaviors, and thereby to establish a dynamic link between personal life experience and ultimate human destiny. This study provides a comprehensive overview of Augustine’s homiletic application of the various teachings that are associated with divine judgment. These include original sin; divine mercy and justice; God’s activity in the world; his desire for the salvation of sinners; the incomprehensibility of divine election; the need for faith, love, and repentance to be saved; divine displeasure with sins and approval of works of charity; the divinely appointed means for receiving the forgiveness of sins in the one true Church; God’s judgment on those who unworthily partake in Christian sacraments and rituals; the mixture and separation of the good and the bad; various elements of the last judgment of Christ; and the timing of the last day. All of this amounts to what God has revealed in scripture and commanded his bishops to preach concerning the path of salvation. This is a contextualized study of the sermons, in which Augustine is portrayed as more than a thinker or a theologian. He is also a bishop, a shepherd of souls and a watchman over his flock, ever vigilant against the real dangers – both internal and external – that jeopardize the eternal welfare of his people. The same teachings are therefore applied differently in different sermons, which are distinct in their time, place, and audience. The content and style of Augustine’s preaching depends on his perception of what his listeners most need to hear., Degree awarded: Ph.D. Greek and Latin. The Catholic University of America

: Augustine's Unfinished Work Against Julian: The Ancient and Contemporary Dispute Over Concupiscence; Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Moral Theology/Ethics. The Catholic University of America, Augustine of Hippo's account of sexuality and concupiscence (concupiscentia; libido) has long been both praised and vilified. Even so, scholars often cannot agree about what positions Augustine holds on fundamental issues within his account of concupiscence. The first issue is whether Augustine thinks concupiscence is caused exclusively or primarily by the soul, or whether concupiscence is often caused by the body. The second issue is whether Augustine thinks concupiscence in the form of sexual desire is wholly an effect of the fall or was present and good before the fall. Within these interpretive debates, Augustine's final book, contra Iulianum opus imperfectum (Unfinished Work in Answer to Julian), has been relatively neglected, especially in moral theology and ethics. Focusing on Augustine's later works and drawing significantly on contra Iulianum opus imperfectum, I argue that the bodily element of concupiscence is central to Augustine's mature theology of sexuality and is central to understanding Augustine's final position on Edenic concupiscence. Chapter one shows that rival interpretations of Augustine's claims about bodily desire and sexual desire in Eden often underlie rival evaluative claims about Augustine's views on sexuality and concupiscence. Chapter two examines Augustine's dispute with Julian of Eclanum and shows how Augustine's views on concupiscence and the fallen body emerge from Augustine's broader theological commitments regarding God, creation, and God's original plan for human nature. Chapter three shows that Augustine's mature theology holds that concupiscence is very often a desire of the body distinct from desires of the will. Here I show how Augustine's theory of bodily desire fits well with his broader anthropological commitments regarding sensation and embodiment. Chapter four applies Augustine's account of bodily desire to his development on the issue of sexual desire in Eden. I show that Augustine develops significantly on the issue, with his final position in contra Iulianum opus imperfectum being that sexual concupiscence might or might not have been present in Eden. I show how Augustine's final ambivalent position results from tensions within Augustine's account of bodily desire. Overall, the project is in conversation with scholarship in theology, philosophy, history, and gender and sexuality studies.

: Ausonius of Bordeaux: Grammar, Rhetoric and the Establishment of a Christian Culture in the Late Roman West