UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item IS THE CURRENT DEFINITION OF THE METABOLIC SYNDROME A USEFUL TOOL FOR THE DETECTION OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IN NON-HISPANIC BLACKS?(2010) Rodriguez, Omayra Isabel; Song, Jiuzhou; Nutrition; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Blacks in the country suffer from higher prevalences of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease compared to whites. Paradoxically, they have the lowest prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome (MS) compared to whites and Mexican Americans. This is likely due to the fact that blacks tend to have lower triglycerides (TG) and higher high density cholesterol (HDL) levels. We challenged the current lipid criteria established by the Adult Treatment Panel III for the detection of the MS and set out to find more appropriate TG and HDL cutoffs to detect the MS in blacks. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999-2006, we identified that a more appropriate TG cutoff for blacks to detect the MS is 110 mg/dL but were not able to identify more suitable HDL cutoffs. Our results confirm that race/ethnic-specific criteria should be established for the detection of the MS across racial/ethnic groups.Item Black/African American Students' Perceptions of Mathematical Success and Success Factors at a Community College(2007-12-17) Marshall, Alycia Ana; Fries-Britt, Sharon L.; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this dissertation was to examine Black/African American students' perception of mathematical success and the various factors that they perceived to attribute to this success within a community college setting. The research questions guiding this study were: 1. How do mathematically successful, Black/African American students define mathematical success? 2. What are the factors (e.g., sociocultural, institutional, personal and disciplinary) that mathematically successful Black/African American students identify as directly impacting their mathematical success within a community college environment? 3. What are Black/African American students' perceptions of the relationship between these factors (e.g., sociocultural, institutional, personal and disciplinary) and their individual mathematical success at the community college level? The study sought to understand a variety of success factors including sociocultural, institutional, personal, and disciplinary factors, as the students perceived them to impact their mathematical success at the community college level. Through qualitative methods and a case study design, the current study has gained insight into the mathematics education of six, high-achieving African American students at the community college level. Data has been collected through individual and focus group interviews with African American students who have successfully completed several mathematics courses (e.g., Calculus I, Calculus II, etc.) at a predominantly White, community college in the Mid-Atlantic region of Maryland. Interview data from the six participants was collected, transcribed, and analyzed drawing from sociocultural perspectives. Findings indicated that these students perceived various disciplinary, personal, and sociocultural support factors to directly impact their mathematical success at the community college level. Throughout several identified success factors, major findings included an epic of caring conveyed to students through social interactions with others and a perceived relationship between mathematical success and liking mathematics as a discipline. The results of this study should help to inform the current understanding of African American success and achievement in the area of collegiate mathematics. Various implications for practice, policy, and research in this area are also presented.Item Status Discrepancies and Provider Roles in Psychologically and Physically Abusive Black Couple Relationships(2005-05-02) Mitchell, Gillian Mitchele; LaTaillade, Jaslean; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Intimate partner violence in African American couple relationships poses serious risks to the physical and psychological well being of Black women. The proposed research has three objectives: 1) to explore the relationship between both the male partner's and female partner's income, educational achievement, and occupational status and male-to-female physical and psychological abuse in African American couples, 2) to examine the role of income, occupational, and educational discrepancies between these partners in the incidence of male-to-female physical and psychological abuse, and 3) to examine the role of the male partner's attitude towards the provider role and incidence of said abuse. The findings suggest that increased female income is associated with decreased male physical violence and that the man's attitude towards the provider role moderates the relationship between the woman's occupation and physical and psychological abuse.