Freedom to Tweet or Tweet to Freedom: The Relationship between Freedom Status and Tweets during Elections

In this thesis, I conduct an exploratory study of the relationship between a country's freedom and the twitter activity during elections. While there have been many studies of Twitter and elections, there has been no previous research conducted to explore the relationship between a countries' freedom and how Twitter influences elections in that given country. My goal is to identify hypotheses for future work in this area, introduce research designs and to shed light on areas of research where there seems to be little indication of relationships. I explore this space with automated analysis of the tweets' text, election outcomes, freedom ratings for the countries, and sentiment analysis. My results show that there seems to be a weak relationship between the outcome of an election and the sentiment expressed towards a candidate in tweets and that there is no relationship between the freedom in a given country and the sentiment expressed towards the incumbent. I found promising initial results regarding the relationship among content removed from links during an election and freedom status of a country, as well as the correlation between how frequently a candidate is mentioned and the election outcome. In the discussion, I present research questions in areas that are promising for future work

The ring imaging Cherenkov detector for the BRAHMS experiment at RHIC

A ring imaging Cherenkov counter, to be read out by four 100-channel PMTs, is a key element of the BRAHMS experiment. We report here the most recent results obtained tested at the BNL AGS using several radiator gases, including the heavy fluorocarbon C4F10. Ring radii were measured for different particles (pions, muons, and electrons) for momenta ranging from 2 to 12 GeV/c employing pure C4F10 as radiator.Comment: 3 pages 3 figure

Nursing Care Aesthetic in Iran: A Phenomenological Study

Background: Despite the emphasis of contemporary nursing theories on the belief that nursing is a science and an art in care, published studies show that only the nursing science has developed. Many experts believe that by recognizing and perceiving this concept, the clinical field can develop aesthetic knowledge in nursing and education of students. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explain clients and nurses perspective of nursing care aesthetics. Patients and Methods: Using an interpretive phenomenology, 12 clients and 14 nurses were interviewed. Participants in this study were purposefully selected and their experiences were analyzed using Van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological framework. Results: Emerged themes were as follows: subjective description, overt spirituality, opening desperate impasse, sense of unity, continue to shine, and painful pass and pleasing. According the participants experiences, nursing care aesthetics includes subjective description of spiritual and desirable caring behaviors combined with sense of unity and sympathy between the nurse and the patients, which leads to opening in desperate impasse with creating the feeling of satisfaction and peace in the patient. It is a shining of clinical capabilities and an action beyond what should be combined with a decorating care that leads to a pleasant ending against the pain and suffering of the others for the nurse. Conclusions: Many caring behaviors associate with aesthetic experience for both patients and nurses and despite two different views, findings of this study showed that these experiences were similar in most cases. The aesthetics of nursing care was defined as what reflects the holistic nature of nursing with an emphasis on spirituality and skill. Results of this study are effective in identification of the values existed in nurse caring behaviors and developing of profession by instruction, implementation, and evaluation them

Designing Cyberbullying Prevention and Mitigation Tools

While cyberbullying is prevalent among adolescents, attempts by researchers to evaluate mechanisms for its prevention and mitigation have been largely non-existent. In this dissertation, I argue that the complex nature of cyberbullying, made more challenging by the affordances of diverse social media, cannot be solved through strictly algorithmic approaches. Instead, I employ multidisciplinary methods to evaluate data generated by teens on social media and work with teens to develop and test potential cyberbullying mitigation solutions. I further argue that solutions focused on improving users' well-being after being targeted online offer designers a valuable tool in fighting back against the harm caused by cyberbullying. Based on the interdisciplinary studies conducted in this dissertation, I offer design recommendations for cyberbullying prevention and mitigation tools. I address the mitigation of adolescent cyberbullying through a multi-methodological approach: 1) data-centric exploratory study of discourse occurring alongside cyberbullying 2) an experimental design of reactions to positive messages in response to cyberbullying 3) human-centered participatory design to design cyberbullying mitigation prototypes and 4) a longitudinal study evaluating the effectiveness of cyberbullying mitigation tools. I offer design recommendations for building and administering cyberbullying mitigation tools. This dissertation begins with a data-centric study to understand \textit{why} users are motivated to post and interact through ASKfm, a social media platform that affords cyberbullying and how anonymity and the site's other affordances affect these interactions. I discuss the unique affordances specific to semi-anonymous Q\&A social media platforms and how such affordances enable users to engage in self-disclosure and gaining social support on sensitive topics. I then present two studies to first determine if users will be receptive to anonymous positive messages responding to bullying messages, then to administer positive messages or \textit{Cyberbully Reversal Pings} to ASKfm users who have received bullying messages. I then use a human-centered approach methodology to co-design cyberbullying prototypes with teens. I use the design recommendations derived from the participatory design study to test the impact of a cyberbullying mitigation system. I address technological mechanisms to mitigate sadness and decline in well-being caused by negative online experiences and cyberbullying. I administer cyberbullying mitigation through technology-mediated memory; in other words, I use positive posts and images participants have previously shared on social media to remind them of existing social support in users’ social networks. The studies in this dissertation comprise of a mixed methods approach to understand social media platforms on which cyberbullying occurs, work collaboratively with users to design mitigation platforms and ultimately evaluate a cyberbullying mitigation platform with real users. These aforementioned studies result in design recommendations for building cyberbullying mitigation tools and design recommendations for designing a study to evaluate a cyberbullying mitigation tool

Composite particle production in relativistic Au+Au collisions at AGS: First results from the E866 forward spectrometer @ 2, 4, and 10.8 A{center_dot}GeV

Particle spectra were measured for Au + Au collisions at 2, 4, and 10. 8 A{center_dot}GeV using the E866 spectrometers. Recent results on proton emission and composite particle production form the E866 forward spectrometer data taken in 1994 together with the first results from the 1995/6 AGS running period are presented. Preliminary results indicate a decrease in the coalescence scaling coefficient with increasing projectile energy and centrality

Professional socialization in clinical nurses- A phenomenological study

زمینه و هدف: اجتماعی شدن، فرآیند پذیرش نقش های حرفه ای و یک راه واقعی برای توسعه هویت حرفه ای به شمار می رود؛ لذا این مطالعه با هدف تبیین این مفهوم در پرستاران در بالین صورت گرفته است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه توصیفی از نوع کیفی و با رویکرد پدیدارشناسی انجام شده است. 10 نفر پرستار بالینی از بیمارستان های آموزشی در شهرهای شهرکرد و تهران در مطالعه مشارکت داشتند. داده ها از مصاحبه های نیمه ساختار یافته و با تحلیل به کمک روشVan Manen استخراج گردید. یافته ها: شش درون مایه از تحلیل مصاحبه های پرستاران بالینی استخراج گردیدکه با کمک آن ها مفهوم اجتماعی شدن حرفه ای با درون مایه های شناوری شایستگی، استقلال عملی، پویایی بالینی، موردحمایت جامعه قرار گرفتن، دلبستگی حرفه ای و مشارکت منفعل گروهی تبیین گردید. نتیجه گیری: نتایج این مطالعه نشان داد که توصیف های تجارب پرستاران، راهنمای عملی برای مدیران آموزشی جهت بازبینی برنامه های درسی پرستاری وهمچنین مدیران پرستاری در برنامه های اجتماعی شدن مجدد بعد از انتقال نقش را فراهم نماید. این مطالعه، ضمن تبیین تجارب در خصوص مفهوم اجتماعی شدن در حرفه پرستاری، نقطه آغازی برای پژوهش بیشتر مفهوم و گسترش بدنه دانش حرفه ای پرستاری خواهد بود

Nursing Students' Competencies in Evidence-Based Practice and Its Related Factors

Background: Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is one of the nursing professional roles that can lead them to provide the best and more effective care. However, no studies are available on nursing students’ competencies in EBP. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the nursing students’ knowledge, attitude and intention to implement EBP and its related factors in two nursing and midwifery faculties in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 170 undergraduate nursing students were selected from two faculties of nursing and midwifery in Tehran, Iran. A census sampling method was applied and they were all before graduation in 2013. The Rubin and Parrish questionnaire was used to assess the students’ knowledge, attitude and intention to implement EBP as well as factors affecting the implementation of EBP. Students completed the instrument through self-report. Descriptive statistics, Independent sample t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data. Results: The students mean scores of knowledge, attitude and intention to implement EBP was 31.08 ± 5.77, 50.40 ± 9.58, 36.01 ± 4.64, respectively. The students’ age was inversely correlated with their scores of knowledge, attitude and intention to use EBP (P < 0.05). However, the students’ GPA was in direct association with their knowledge, attitude and intention to implement EBP (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between the males and females mean scores in the three subscales. However, significant differences were found between the students mean scores in the two subscales of knowledge and attitudes toward EBP in terms of familiarity with statistics and research methods (P < 0.05). Neither familiarity with research methods nor familiarity with EBP could significantly affect the students’ intention to implement EBP. Conclusions: The present study showed that nursing students have not a high mean score in the three subscales of knowledge, attitude and intention to implement EBP. It is essential for faculties and nurse managers not only to focus on education of EBP, but also to support nurses and nursing students to implement it in the process patient care

The explanation of effective factors on the healthy lifestyle of the nursing students' view: A qualitative study

Nurses have a key role in improving the client's health and their lifestyle is effective in representing services to the patients and client. This study aims to investigate the nursing students' perception about the effective factors on their healthy lifestyle. This study was done qualitatively with the content analysis approach and through 20 semi-structured and deep interviews with undergraduate nursing students of Tehran city. The participants were selected through purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and reviewed. Also, codes were extracted. Based on centrality, codes were put in a sub-category and then by reviewing sub-categories again, they were put in categories and finally, a theme was determined. During the process of content analysis, theme on the effective factors on nursing students' healthy life style was revealed. The theme included 9 categories: ``the perception of effective factors on health promotion'', ``having enough time'', ``inner factors'', ``work-related factors or activity'', ``environmental factors'', ``knowledge and awareness'', ``individual factors'', ``social factors'', and ``perceived priorities''. The participants believed that various and widespread factors affected their health promotion level. The extension of these factors demands the complete attention to different health dimensions and how to improve it by person, family, and community. Hosseini M, Ashktorab T, Taghdisi MH, Esmaeili Vardanjani SA. The explanation of effective factors on the healthy lifestyle of the nursing students' view: A qualitative study. Life Sci J 2012;9(4):5558-5567] (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 82

Applying Data Mining Techniques to Medical Databases

The data mining techniques such as Neural Network, Naïve Bayes, and Association rules are at present not well explored on medical databases. In this paper, we present and analyze our experimental results on thrombosis medical database by employing data mining tool of XLMiner and using different data mining techniques such as Naive Bayes and Neural Network for classification, Association rules, and Neural Network and K-Nearest Neighbors for prediction. As seen from experiments, some results are common across various mining techniques while others are unique