Digital Commons Network^™

Prelude To A Master Plan: Ware, Massachusetts, Belen Alfaro, Bruno Carneiro, Margaret Engesser, Kathryn E. Fox, Evadne R. Friedman, Timothy Inacio, Anita Lockesmith, Christina Mills, Stephanie Molden, Meagen Mulherin, Russell Pandres, Vinicius Pereira, Brian Reid, Pedro Soto, Jennifer Stromsten

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

Prelude to a Master Plan offers ideas, recommendations, and a toolkit to help the town chart its own path towards that future. While the teams and individual students worked to ‘drill down’ into specific topic areas, the Studio defined three basic areas in order to think about how the various assets, challenges and ideas undermine or reinforce one another. The report is loosely organized in those terms: addressing the outlying rural areas and issues specific to these places, considering one of the key growth areas that has extended from town and the conflicts that arise from the many uses occurring …

Locating The Source Of Approach/Avoidance Effects On Natural Language Category Decisions, Matthew Zivot

Open Access Dissertations

In this dissertation, two exemplar-based models of categorization, the General Context Model (GCM) and the Exemplar Based Random Walk model (EBRW), were used to describe between-group categorization differences in artificial and natural language categories. Prior research has shown that political Conservatives in avoidance mode are more exclusive categorizers of natural language category members than Conservatives in approach mode, but this effect was absent for Liberals (Rock & Janoff-Bulman, 2010). In Experiment 1, experimenter-generated stimuli were used to show that the EBRW could account for between-group differences in categorization decisions. In Experiment 2, the data collected by Rock and Janoff-Bulman were …

Gradients And Ranges Of Visually Selective Attention Based On Location, Objects, Color, And Size: Gradients Are Universal, But Range Is Uniquely Spatial, William S. Bush

Open Access Dissertations

Two interesting properties of the distribution of spatially selective attention have been noted in the behavioral and electrophysiological literature. First, there is a graded field of attention that expands from the center of the attended area. Second, the size of the attended area can be adjusted to be either larger or smaller in order to match the demands of the current task. Five event-related potential (ERP) studies are presented that extend these findings in several important ways; 1) The time frame of these two distribution properties is different. Results are consistent with a two stage model of spatial attention in …

A Formative Program Evaluation Of Treatment Integrity Practices, Assessments And Attitudes Within A Specialized School Setting, Lin Tang

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study, a formative program evaluation, was to provide an overview of treatment integrity rates, attitudes, and assessment methods within a specialized school for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The study utilized a partnership model whereby the evaluators worked collaboratively with primary stakeholders (school administrators) to determine areas of focus for the evaluation. The program evaluation was conducted between August 2009 and August 2010, spanning one school year. The evaluation participants were the school's teachers. The evaluation was based on an exploratory case study design and included both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data consisted …

The Interplay Among Preschool Child And Family Factors And The Development Of Odd Symptoms, Elizabeth Harvey, Lindsay A. Metcalfe

Elizabeth (Lisa) Harvey

Objective—The present study examined (a) the interactions between early behavior, early parenting, and early family adversity in predicting later ODD symptoms, and (b) the reciprocal relations between parent functioning and ODD symptoms across the preschool years. Method—Participants were 258 3-year-old children (138 boys and 120 girls) and their parents from diverse backgrounds who participated in a 4-year longitudinal study. Results—Early child behavior, parenting, and family adversity did not significantly interact in the predicted direction. Reciprocal relations between ODD symptoms and parent functioning were observed for maternal and paternal depression, and maternal warmth. Paternal laxness at age 4 predicted ODD symptoms …

Differential Expression Of Cancer Associated Proteins In Breast Milk Based On Age At First Full Term Pregnancy, Wenyi Qin, Ke Zhang, Beth Kliethermes, Rachel L. Ruhlen, Eva P. Browne, Kathleen F. Arcaro, Edward R. Sauter

Kathleen Arcaro

Background: First full term pregnancy (FFTP) completed at a young age has been linked to low long term breast cancer risk, whereas late FFTP pregnancy age confers high long term risk, compared to nulliparity. Our hypothesis was that proteins linked to breast cancer would be differentially expressed in human milk collected at three time points during lactation based on age at FFTP. Methods: We analyzed breast milk from 72 lactating women. Samples were collected within 10 days of the onset of lactation (baseline-BL), two months after lactation started and during breast weaning (W). We measured 16 proteins (11 kallikreins (KLKs), …

Paralemmin-1 Is Over-Expressed In Estrogen-Receptor Positive Breast Cancers, Casey M. Turk, Katerina D. Fagan-Solis, Kristin E. Williams, Joseph M. Gozgit, Sallie Smith-Schneider, Sharon A. Marconi, Christopher N. Otis, Giovanna M. Crisi, Douglas L. Anderton, Manfred W. Kilimann, Kathleen F. Arcaro

Douglas L. Anderton

Background Paralemmin-1 is a phosphoprotein lipid-anchored to the cytoplasmic face of membranes where it functions in membrane dynamics, maintenance of cell shape, and process formation. Expression of paralemmin-1 and its major splice variant (Δ exon 8) as well as the extent of posttranslational modifications are tissue- and development-specific. Paralemmin-1 expression in normal breast and breast cancer tissue has not been described previously. Results Paralemmin-1 mRNA and protein expression was evaluated in ten breast cell lines, 26 primary tumors, and 10 reduction mammoplasty (RM) tissues using real time RT-PCR. Paralemmin-1 splice variants were assessed in tumor and RM tissues using a …

An Investigation Of The Efficacy Of Speech And Language Interventions With Students With Asd Using Telepractice, Michelle Kathleen Boisvert

Open Access Dissertations

There is a national shortage of school-based Speech Language Pathologists (SLP). Schools located in rural and geographically remote areas are often impacted by the shortage, and as a result students with an autism spectrum disorder may not receive services that are mandated by their Individual Education Plan. This study examined the use of telepractice as a method of delivery of speech and language services to individuals with autism spectrum disorders in rural areas. A quasi-experimental, single-subject, time-series design was employed. The treatment conditions were manipulated. A counter-balancing methodology was used to control for order effects in this study. Inter-observer agreement …

The Prevalence And Identity Of Chlamydia-Specific Ige In Children With Asthma And Other Chronic Respiratory Symptoms, Katir K. Patel, Erica A. Anderson, Paul S. Salva, Wilmore C. Webley

Wilmore C Webley

Background Recent studies have confirmed the presence of viable Chlamydia in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of pediatric patients with airway hyperresponsiveness. While specific IgG and IgM responses to C. pneumoniae are well described, the response and potential contribution of Ag-specific IgE are not known. The current study sought to determine if infection with Chlamydia triggers the production of pathogen-specific IgE in children with chronic respiratory diseases which might contribute to inflammation and pathology.

Methods We obtained BAL fluid and serum from pediatric respiratory disease patients who were generally unresponsive to corticosteroid treatment as well as sera from age-matched control …

A Longitudinal Study Of The Relation Between Depressive Symptomatology And Parenting Practices, Paula A. Errazuriz, Elizabeth Harvey, Dhara A. Thakar

Elizabeth (Lisa) Harvey

This longitudinal study examined whether mothers’ depressive symptomatology predicted parenting practices in a sample of 199 mothers of 3-year-old children with behavior problems who were assessed yearly until age 6. Higher maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher overreactivity and laxness and lower warmth when children were 6 years old. Higher maternal depressive symptoms were also related to increases in overreactivity across the preschool years. Moreover, depression and parenting practices (overreactivity and laxness) covaried over time within mothers. These results provide evidence of a strong link between maternal depression and parenting during the preschool years.

Effects Of Blocking Developmental Cell Death On Sexually Dimorphic Calbindin Cell Groups In The Preoptic Area And Bed Nucleus Of The Stria Terminalis, Richard F. Gilmore, Megan Varnum, Nancy Forger

Nancy Forger

Background: Calbindin-D28 has been used as a marker for the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area (SDN-POA). Males have a distinct cluster of calbindin-immunoreactive (ir) cells in the medial preoptic area (CALB-SDN) that is reduced or absent in females. However, it is not clear whether the sex difference is due to the absolute number of calbindin-ir cells or to cell position (that is, spread), and the cellular mechanisms underlying the sex difference are not known. We examined the number of cells in the CALB-SDN and surrounding regions of C57Bl/6 mice and used mice lacking the pro-death gene, Bax, to …

The Theory Of Compromised Eating Behavior, Ellen Frances Furman

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this inquiry was to develop substantive theory that describes the social process that influences the eating behavior of hospitalized older adults. Undernutrition or the inadequate intake of dietary nutrients necessary to maintain health, contributes to negative health outcomes such as increased morbidity and mortality in hospitalized older adults. Inadequate dietary intake is a risk factor for undernutrition. Despite the availability of vast resources within the hospital environment, hospitalized older adults have inadequate dietary intake. Undernutrition has been studied from a dietary intake perspective; however, why dietary intake remains inadequate is unknown. Inquiry of eating behavior and the …

Expository And Narrative Discourse In Adolescents With Reading And Language Impairments: Assessment And Intervention, Beverly Iuliano

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this current study was to first examine through assessments and the use of school-based disability criteria, the quantitative and qualitative patterns in phonological processing, phonological working memory, oral retellings, and oral and written narratives in middle school-aged children with reading disabilities (RD; N=10) and those with language impairments (LI; N=5) in order to provide data to further explain the complex profiles of these two clinical populations. Secondly, a single-subject multiple baseline across subjects design study examined the effectiveness of an intervention program targeting expository and narrative discourse in adolescents with language and reading deficits (N=4). Expository and …

Food System Planning In Western Massachusetts: A Community Organization Assessment, Arianna R. G. Thompson

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Comprehensive planning for regional food systems is a relatively new focus in the planning field. Heightened national awareness of the economic, environmental and equity implications of our current food system has magnified the importance of planning engagement on food-system issues. While addressing food system concepts is relatively new to planners, community-based organizations have been historic players in the development of food-system programs and critical food-system policy, particularly with regard to food access and local food production. This thesis reviews the status of the regional food system in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts through an assessment of the efforts of …

Evaluating The Mebactive-Youth As A Measure Of Mental Toughness, Manneh Ghazarians

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The obesity epidemic in youth is increasing, due to the decreasing levels of physical activity within the youth population. One variable that has never been examined as a correlate of physical activity is mental toughness. Mental toughness is a psychological trait characterized by determination, resiliency, and perform optimally regardless of the circumstances. In order to evaluate this trait the MeBActive-Youth was developed. The purpose of this study was to first, evaluate the psychometric properties of the newly developed measure and secondly, to assess the relationship of mental toughness, social support and self-efficacy to physical activity. Participants (N = 106) completed …

Association Between Dietary Intake And Nutritional Status Among Adolescent Girls In Kilosa District, Tanzania, Shanshan Chen

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Underweight and stunting are highly prevalent public health problems in developing countries, particularly among populations exposed to food insecurity and chronic malnutrition. Underweight results from relatively recent malnutrition whereas empirical research has shown that early childhood malnutrition is a strong predictor of stunting. Dietary diversity has been recognized as an indicator of food security, with consumption of more food groups suggesting better nourishment. Greater dietary diversity has been associated with better nutritional outcomes and improved micronutrient intake. Zinc, an essential mineral, plays a critical role in child growth and development. A deficiency in Zinc may contribute to increased risk for …

The Effectiveness Of Point-Of-Purchase Nutrition Education On Improving Beverage Choices And Nutrition Knowledge In A College Foodservice Setting, Heather A. Wemhoener

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

College students are among the highest consumers of sweetened beverages, drinking more than 25% of their daily calorie needs from sweetened drinks. They also tend to be low consumers of milk. This is important, as high consumption of sweetened drinks and low consumption of nutrient-dense drinks is associated with obesity, dental caries and bone disease. Point-of-purchase (POP) marketing and nutrition education programs are thought to be effective in changing food selection behaviors of college students. Therefore, we conducted a 2-week intervention that combined POP marketing and nutrition education aiming to 1. decrease sweetened beverage consumption 2. increase milk/milk equivalent consumption …

Urinary Melatonin Levels And Risk Of Postmenopausal Breast Cancer In The Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, Ashley Doherty

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Prior studies have observed a link between night shift work and increased risk of breast cancer. Melatonin, a hormone related to circadian rhythm, has been proposed to lower breast cancer risk by inhibiting cell proliferation. The disruption of peak melatonin that occurs during night shift work could explain the increase in risk observed. Several studies have assessed whether higher melatonin levels are associated with decreased breast cancer risk, but results have been conflicting. We examined the relationship between urinary melatonin levels and breast cancer risk in a nested case-control study conducted within the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study. First morning …

Sensory Exploration Of Seasonally And Locally Available Vegetables And Its Effects On Vegetable Consumption Of Western Massachusetts Head Start Children, Shannon Sojkowski

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The current exploratory study, as part of the Massachusetts Farm Fresh (MAFF) research project: 1) examined the effect sensory attributes (i.e. taste profile, color, shape, texture, growth pattern) of the target vegetables have on children’s willingness to explore and consumption and 2) compared these outcomes for: facilitator-guided (FG), vs. children’s self-guided (SG) exploration.

We conducted a 6-week multi-sensory nutrition education intervention with Western Massachusetts Head Start preschoolers (3-5 years of age; n=94 children) using eight vegetable pairs; outcome measures were recorded by observers. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Results are reported for 50 children with complete data at …

Children's Cancer And Transplant Hospital: A Micro Town Within A Bubble, Kimia Samimi

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

As the greatest considerations in health-care design have traditionally been functional —hygiene, efficiency, and flexibility for changing technology— hospitals have evolved to become dehumanizing spaces. In this thesis two specific groups of chronically ill children who have among the longest inpatient stays are studied: cancer and organ transplant patients. Being under immunosuppressive drugs, these children are physically vulnerable thus are kept completely isolated. These long stays and isolation can be very depressing for them.

This thesis undertakes the challenge of designing a fully isolated space that doesn’t feel like one or in other words “a micro-town within a bubble”. The …

Culture And The Emotion Socialization Of Preschoolers, Claudia I. Lugo-Candelas

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Objective:The present study examined mothers’ emotion socialization of 3-year–old children with behavior problems, to determine whether emotion socialization practices, as well as the relation between these practices and child functioning, varied across ethnicities. Method: Participants were 156 preschoolers with behavior problems. Mothers were European American (n = 98), Latina American (n = 40; predominately Puerto Rican), and African American (n = 18). Audio taped mother-child interactions were coded for emotion socialization behaviors. Results: Overall, this study provided evidence for both differences and similarities across ethnicities on parental emotion socialization practices. Ethnic differences in use of emotion …

Investigation Of Compliance With The Ansi Z133.1 - 2006 Safety Standard In The New England Tree Care Industry, Alexandra K. Julius

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Arborists are exposed to many occupational hazards and experience more than three times the overall fatality rate of all U.S. workers. Investigations into fatal incidents lead to a better understanding of industry dangers. However, this knowledge does not extend to how tree workers operate when an injury or fatality does not occur. Current research regarding fatal and nonfatal injuries does not include the accreditation status of the company at which the worker was employed, nor whether certified arborists were on staff. Given the highly skilled nature of the work involved, certification and accreditation might ensure a minimum level of demonstrated …

Notch Regulation Of Adam12 Expression In Glioblastoma Multiforme, Ala'a S. Alsyaideh

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor, accounting for 17% of all primary brain tumors in the United States. Despite the available surgical, radiation, and chemical therapeutic options, the invasive and infiltrative nature of the tumor render current treatment options minimally effective. Recent reports have identified multiple regulators of glioblastoma progression and invasiveness. It has been demonstrated that ADAM12, A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase encoded by ADAM12 gene, is over-expressed in glioblastoma and directly correlated with tumor proliferation. Additionally, dysregulation of the Notch signaling pathway has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many gliomas. Lastly, an evolving role of microRNAs, …

The Process By Which Physicians Extract Information From Electronic Progress Notes During Handoffs, Brian D. Amster

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

A handoff requires that the responsibility for patient patient’s care is transferred from one healthcare professional to another. The goals of this research were to identify, evaluate, and use analytical methods to describe how physicians (n=10) extracted information from electronic progress notes, one important source of information used during handoffs. Participants also verbally summarized the notes as they would during handoffs. Six methods were used to analyze how participants read progress notes, each uniquely contributing to our understanding of physicians’ visual attention patterns during this process. The participants focused their visual attention on the Impression and Plan section of the …

The Effects Of Adolescent Binge Drinking On Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Cells In The Amygdala And Social Predictors Of Alcohol Intake In Male And Female Rats, Chrisanthi Karanikas

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Alcohol is one of the most common drugs of choice among adolescents. Normally, the method of consumption is drinking large quantities of alcohol in short periods of time, otherwise known as “binge drinking.” Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) stress peptide producing cells in central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) has been implicated in behavioral responses to stress and addiction. The goals of this thesis were to determine the effects of voluntary binge drinking in adolescence and vapor-induced alcohol dependence in adulthood on CRF cells in the CeA. These studies were done using an operant model of voluntary binge drinking in rodents …

The Impact Of Gestational Diabetes On Maternal And Cord Blood Lipids Among Prenatal Care Patients In Western Ma, Preethi Raj

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a pregnancy-induced metabolic disorder that affects 2-10% of pregnancies poses future risk for diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease in mother and child. However, few prospective studies have examined the effect of GDM on altered maternal and cord blood lipids, specifically HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol, both during and after pregnancy. We have evaluated the association between GDM and lipid metabolism in pregnant mothers and their infants using data from a prospective cohort study conducted at Baystate Medical Center’s Wesson Women and Infant’s Unit. GDM was assessed prenatally by 3-hr GTT blood samples and was …

Terahertz Imaging For Cancer Detection, Benjamin A. St. Peter

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This project evaluates the ability of terahertz (THz) radiation to differentiate cancerous from non-cancerous human breast lumpectomy and mastectomy tissue. This is done by aiming a narrow-band THz beam at medical samples and measuring reflected power. THz images of specimens from Breast Conservation Surgery (BCS) were created using a gas laser source and mechanical scanning. The design and characterization of this system is discussed in detail. The images were correlated with optical histological micrographs of the same specimens and discrimination values of more than 70% were found for five of the six samples using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Childhood Body Mass Index Trajectories: Modeling, Characterizing, Pairwise Correlations And Socio-Demographic Predictors Of Trajectory Characteristics, Xiaozhong Wen, Ken Kleinman, Matthew W. Gillman, Sherly L. Rifas-Shiman, Elsie M. Taveras

Public Health Department Faculty Publication Series

BACKGROUND:

Modeling childhood body mass index (BMI) trajectories, versus estimating change in BMI between specific ages, may improve prediction of later body-size-related outcomes. Prior studies of BMI trajectories are limited by restricted age periods and insufficient use of trajectory information.

METHODS:

Among 3,289 children seen at 81,550 pediatric well-child visits from infancy to 18 years between 1980 and 2008, we fit individual BMI trajectories using mixed effect models with fractional polynomial functions. From each child's fitted trajectory, we estimated age and BMI at infancy peak and adiposity rebound, and velocity and area under curve between 1 week, infancy peak, adiposity …

Estimation Of Newborn Risk For Child Or Adolescent Obesity:Lessons From Longitudinal Birth Cohorts, Anita Morandi, David Meyre, Stephane Lobbens, Ken Kleinman, Marika Kaakinen, Sheryl L. Rifas-Shiman, Vincent Vatin, Stefan Gaget, Anneli Pouta, Anna-Liisa Hartikainen, Jaana Laitinen, Matthew W. Gillman, Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin, Philippe Froguel

Public Health Department Faculty Publication Series

OBJECTIVES:

Prevention of obesity should start as early as possible after birth. We aimed to build clinically useful equations estimating the risk of later obesity in newborns, as a first step towards focused early prevention against the global obesity epidemic.

METHODS:

We analyzed the lifetime Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986) (N = 4,032) to draw predictive equations for childhood and adolescent obesity from traditional risk factors (parental BMI, birth weight, maternal gestational weight gain, behaviour and social indicators), and a genetic score built from 39 BMI/obesity-associated polymorphisms. We performed validation analyses in a retrospective cohort of 1,503 Italian children …

The Effects Of Aerobic Training And Age On Plasma Sicam-1, G. Many, N. Jenkins, Sarah Witkowski, J. Damsker, J. Hagberg

Sarah Witkowski

Chronic low-grade systemic infl ammation plays a role in the development of cardiovascular (CV) disease. Habitual endurance exercise training reduces the risk of CV disease in part through anti-infl ammatory mechanisms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the eff ects of age, endurance training status, and their interaction on pro-infl ammatory plasma cytokines involved in the pathogenesis of CV disease. Subjects were BMI-matched young (25 ± 3 years; endurance trained: n = 9, sedentary: n = 11) and older (62 ± 5 years; endurance-trained: n = 12, sedentary: n = 11) men. Plasma cytokine concentrations were determined by …