Digital Commons Network^™

Body Dissatisfaction In Division Iii Collegiate Male Athletes: An Exploratory Study, Andria Merrill

Master's Theses

Given the paucity of literature investigating body dissatisfaction in collegiate male athletes, more work is necessary to establish the extent and consequences of that phenomenon in this population. The purpose of this study was to explore body dissatisfaction in collegiate male athletes participating in varsity sports at SUNY Cortland. The specific aim was to determine the prevalence of body dissatisfaction in collegiate male athletes and other intra-individual factors that may exist within varsity men's sports. Thirteen participants completed electronic surveys for the Weight Pressures Scale for Male athletes (WPS-M), the Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS), and the Body Esteem Scale …

An Exploration Of Postural Control In Young Adults, Paul Franzese

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify any differences in time to boundary (TTB) among collegiate baseball players and a control group during quiet standing. Participants were 64 apparently healthy men, including 23 position players, 22 pitchers, and 19 control subjects. Testing consisted of two, individually randomized 3-minute quiet standing trials on a force plate, one with eyes open, and one with eyes closed. Average time to boundary values in anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) directions were calculated and a series of 2x3 (vision, group) repeated measures ANOVA were performed. Results include a difference in TTB in all groups …

Ankle Dorsiflexion Range Of Motion, Dynamic Balance, And Static Balance In Division Iii Collegiate Gymnasts, Emily Sabo

Master's Theses

Introduction: Artistic gymnastics is a demanding sport composed of high intensity activities. Decreased range of motion can increase the risk of lower extremity injury due to the inability to disperse forces properly upon landing. Landing from a height demands dynamic balance, which may be influenced by ankle range of motion. Due to the complexity of the sport, identifying potential deficits at the ankle could lead to the development of injury prevention programs. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate if correlations exist between active ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (AROM) and static balance and/or AROM and dynamic balance …

Morning Meeting And Closing Circles: A Sense Of Community, Positive Learning Environment, And Increased Social Interactions In An Elementary Classroom, Samantha Ryan

Master's Theses

This action research study was implemented over a three-week period in a first-grade classroom, collecting qualitative and quantitative data. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of Morning Meetings and Closing Circles on a sense of community in an elementary classroom. Preliminary findings show an increase in student social interactions, positive learning environment, and a climate of belonging. This presentation will also provide information on Morning Meetings and Closing Circles as an intervention to combat social and emotional competencies lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Pandemic Of Greed And A Disease Of Poverty In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque Of The Red Death", Benjamin Herrick

Master's Theses

The breakers tripped. Again. The breakers, a mandatory halt to trading on the floor of the stock exchange in response to the S&P falling more than 7% from the previous close. This was instituted after the Crash of 1987 to calm the markets before trading is allowed to resume. They are supposed to mitigate a drastic crash. They have only ever triggered once before, in 1997. Not for the tech bubble. Not even in the crash of 2008. All trading stops for fifteen minutes when the Level One breaker trips. If it drops further in the same day, the Level …

Subjective Observation Of Loss Of Subcutaneous Fat And Muscle Tissue – Is That The Answer To Pediatric Hospital Malnutrition Screening?, Grace C. Barcus

Master's Theses

Background: Hospital malnutrition is a prevalent issue with critically ill pediatric patients being at increased risk for nutritional loss. Nutritional risk screening has been associated with increased documentation of nutrition diagnosis and positive clinical outcomes, however, is not mandatory in developing countries. A nutrition screening tool that uses subjective examination of loss of subcutaneous fat and muscle tissue may be an efficient way to identify nutritional risk in hospitalized critical care pediatric patients.

Objective: To determine whether loss of subcutaneous fat and muscle tissue in specific body locations was associated with moderate or severe malnutrition determined by SGA in pediatric …

Translatina Immigrant Mental Health Wellness: Suggestive Intervention Strategies The City Of San Francisco Should Consider Adopting, Valeria Vera

Master's Theses

Translatina immigrants in the United States often suffer from intersectional traumas due to their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and immigration status — putting them in a vulnerable position socially, psychologically, economically, and medically. Due to their positionality in the intersections of migration, criminalization, cissexism, and mental health, they are often more marginalized and have greater needs than communities with privileged sociocultural identities. As a particularly vulnerable group, they need guaranteed access to gender-affirming healthcare that is inclusive of mental health services. Despite Translatinas’ need for mental health services, there exist many barriers making services inaccessible and insufficient in San …

Delayed Testosterone Treatment In A Rodent Model Of Repeat Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Attenuates Mechanisms Of Cellular Death In The Vestibular Nucleus, Michael Volyanyuk

Master's Theses

A common complaint after repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (rmTBI) is vestibular dysfunction, which can become persistent and decrease quality of life. Delayed testosterone treatment has been shown to reduce vestibular impairment and improve neuronal survival in the vestibular nucleus following rmTBI; however, the long-term molecular pathways associated with rmTBI and testosterone treatment remain widely unexplored. We utilized a 5-hit closed-head rodent rmTBI model and administered testosterone 35 days after injury (DPI). The vestibular nuclei were removed and prepared for RT-qPCR and western blotting. Gene expression and protein levels were elevated for markers of oxidative stress (NADPH oxidase 4) and …

Healing Sanctuary, Kammy Downs

Master's Theses

The natural world has hidden wisdom and resources that are disregarded as we misuse our responsibility to care for them. The benefits of being in tune with nature have been traded for a culture that manipulates nature on the altar of expediency, waste, and unquenchable desire. Healing Sanctuary presents a duality. My work speaks about the relationship between the seen and unseen, represented by ten larger-than-life drawings of medicinal herbal plants that have had a profound physical healing effect on me. At the same time, plants, roots, and seeds create visceral metaphors for mental health. Our accomplishments, outlook on life, …

Emotion And Cognition Analysis Of Intro And Senior Cs Students In Software Engineering, Justin Evans

Master's Theses

he software engineering community has advanced the field in the past few decades towards making the software development life cycle more efficient, robust, and streamlined. Advances such as better integrated development environments and agile workflows have made the process more efficient as well as more flexible. Despite these many achievements software engineers still spend a great deal of time writing, reading and reviewing code. These tasks require a lot of attention from the engineer with many different variables affecting the performance of the tasks. In recent years many researchers have come to investigate how emotion and the way we think …

Modeling The Spread Of Covid-19 Over Varied Contact Networks, Ryan L. Solorzano

Master's Theses

When attempting to mitigate the spread of an epidemic without the use of a vaccine, many measures may be made to dampen the spread of the disease such as physically distancing and wearing masks. The implementation of an effective test and quarantine strategy on a population has the potential to make a large impact on the spread of the disease as well. Testing and quarantining strategies become difficult when a portion of the population are asymptomatic spreaders of the disease. Additionally, a study has shown that randomly testing a portion of a population for asymptomatic individuals makes a small impact …

Optimizing Mri Experience For Children Living With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Lyn Tran

Master's Theses

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in pediatric patients living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is often complicated by challenges. The child perceives the MRI environment as abnormal and uncertain of the implications of the procedure. The child may exhibit distress becoming anxious and frightened, reluctant to enter the scanner, and unable to remain still throughout the duration of the procedure. The issue lies within the child’s mental and behavioral challenges to understand and follow the task demands to ensure safety and accurate acquisition of image artifacts. After reviewing literature, observing MRI protocol for pediatric patients, and conducting multiple nursing staff surveys …

Glial Endothelial Brain Cell Co-Cultures For Testing Signaling Response And Delivery Of Novel Materials Across Blood Brain Barrier, Neela Prajapati

Master's Theses

The brain accounts for 20% of overall energy metabolism in the body though it just comprises 2% of the total body mass but has a limited capacity of storing energy unlike other critical organs in the body such as the heart and liver. This energy along with oxygen and nutrients is supplied by cerebral blood flow (CBF), any interruption of which can cease the brain function within seconds with a potential irreversible neuronal injury, within minutes. Vascular cells along with astrocytes and neurons are a part of a recently developed concept known as the Neurovascular Unit responsible for Neurovascular coupling …

Assessing And Comparing Quality Of Life Scores In Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Diarrhea, Irritable Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Constipation, And Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Mixed, Hailey Rentz

Master's Theses

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal (GI) disorder that affects an estimated 1 in 10 people globally (Black & Ford, 2020). Since IBS is such a common GI disorder worldwide it is important to understand that impact it has on quality of life. This study assessed the differences in the effects of IBS on the quality of life in patients with each of the three types of IBS: IBS-D, IBS-C, and IBS-M. Potential respondents were recruited via social media using an online survey, which collected demographics and assessed the effects of IBS on quality of life. The survey …

The Effects Of A Loaded Pre-Competition Activity Using Tethered Swimming On 25-Yard Swim Sprint Performance 2021, Jacob Burchfield

Master's Theses

Warmup is a standard practice for swim competitions, but there is minimal scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of pre-competition activities (PCA) after the swim warmup. This study examined whether a loaded PCA using tethered swimming while attached to a power rack improves performance in a 25-yard swim sprint. Post activation performance enhancement (PAPE) may be the proposed mechanism for improvement resulting from a loaded PCA. To determine if PAPE existed following the loaded PCA, varsity swimmers from SUNY Cortland performed a 25-yard sprint a loaded PCA and after an unloaded PCA (control). All participants performed a standard meet warmup (1600-yards) …

Developing An Adaptive Rock Climbing Curriculum For Suny Cortland Outdoor Pursuits 2021, Rebekah Mills

Master's Theses

SUNY Cortland Outdoor Pursuits opened in August of 2015 with the completion of the newly constructed Student Life Center. Outdoor Pursuits is a smaller department within the Recreational Sports Department. Outdoor Pursuits offers rock climbing services at its facility located in the Student Life Center. Currently, Outdoor Pursuits offers Bouldering and Top Roping services only when the Student Life Center is open, these hours are typically 3-10 pm. Monday-Friday and Saturday-Sunday 2-8 pm. These services are only provided to eligible SUNY Cortland faculty, staff, students, alumni, and other affiliated members. As the facility has grown in popularity during its operation, …

Women In The Outdoors: Navigating Fear And Creating Space For Spiritual Inspiration 2021, Morgan Costello

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between fear and spiritual inspiration for women in the outdoors. Specifically, this study looked at participants from SUNY Cortland’s Outdoor Education Practicum, a core course in the Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Studies Department that culminates with a two-week outdoor experience, with the goals of teaching outdoor skills and building community. This was a mixed-method study, with quantitative data collected according to pre(mid)post design and qualitative data coming from journal entries over a 5-day period. Testing was conducted using the Outdoor Situational Fear Inventory to measure fear, and the Nature Relatedness …

Inclusion Of Olive Or Coconut Oil In A High-Fructose High-Fat Diet Increases Liver Injury In A Pig Model Of Pediatric Nafld, Kayla A. Dillard

Master's Theses

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents the major cause of pediatric chronic liver pathology in the United States. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of partial substitution of dietary lard by an isocaloric amount of olive or coconut oil on endpoints of NAFLD. Thirty-eight 15-d-old Iberian pigs housed in pens balanced for weight and sex were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 hypercaloric high-fructose high-fat (HFF) diets for 10 weeks: 1) lard (LAR; n=5 pens), 2) lard + olive oil (OLI, n=10), and 3) lard + coconut oil (COC; n=10). Additional pigs (BSL, n=4) were …

An Interdisciplinary Approach: Schizophrenia Derails Heteronormative Expectations In Psychological Narratives 2021, Bobbie Jo Weaver

Master's Theses

Required introductory psychology courses teach students a general and oversimplified version of the immense number of subfields within Psychology studies, much like introductory literature classes compress different genera throughout history into a miniscule number of “representative” texts. Nevertheless, these footholds generate an entryway into a whole new world of (specialized) exploration. Reading a text such as The Quiet Room: A Journey out of the Torment of Madness by Lori Schiller and Amanda Bennett provides a window for many students to crawl into one of Psychology’s darkest shadows, the field of abnormal psychology. Schiller’s non-fictional memoir, The Quiet Room, tells readers …

Development Of A Robust Methodology To Obtain And Assess Myogenic Precursor Cells For Their Use In Regenerative Therapies, Ricardo Lasa

Master's Theses

Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) is characterized by buildup of atherosclerotic plaque in peripheral arteries that leads to an occlusion that can interrupt the supply of blood to the peripheral tissue, causing downstream tissue ischemia/hypoxia. PAOD is estimated to affect over 200 million patients worldwide. Current surgical revascularization treatments can be effective in about half of the patient population, leading to a significant number of patients with no treatment options beyond pharmacological intervention and lifestyle modification. The decrease in blood flow downstream of the occlusion leads to increased blood pressure gradient in the microvasculature, specifically in vessels that connect arterial …

Associations Between Parenting Stress, Feeding Practices, And Child Eating Behaviors During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Maria G. Gonzalez

Master's Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic provides an important opportunity to understand how parenting stress during social crisis may predict child feeding practices and perceptions of child mealtime behaviors. The objective of the present study was to explore whether parents’ perceived increases in and overall levels of parenting stress during the pandemic were associated with controlling feeding practices and perceptions of child eating behaviors. Parents (n = 284) of 4–6-year-old children completed a cross-sectional online survey between March and April 2020. The survey assessed parents’ perceived change in parenting stress during the onset of the pandemic and levels of parenting stress during …

The Point In Which Peak Power Occurs In Relation To The Percentage Of One-Repetition Max For The Clean, Back Squat, And Bench Press Exercises Across Various Athlete Types, Maria Darling

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the force-velocity curve in the athletic population. There was special interest in determining the point of peak-power (PP%), the point of peak power drop-off (PPDO%), and the range (RANGE) between these points for three different exercises: the bench press (BENCH), the back squat (SQUAT), and the floor clean (CLEAN). Further investigation looked to find differences in these points between different sub-groups within the athletes sampled. Data was retrieved from an existing database on 72 healthy Fort Hays State University athletes from five different teams during their off-season six-week training cycle. All …

Effects Of A Run-Walk-Run Training Program On One Mile Time Trial Performance, Ashley Turpin

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe the change in performance on a timed one-mile run-walk-run, following training in the Galloway Run Walk Run Training Method (GRWRTM). Operational procedures, data collection, and deidentification were performed by the GRWRTM program director prior to inclusion of this study. Over the span of multiple iterations, 42 (28 female and 14 male) participants met the qualifying criterion of performing the post-training, time trial 7, 14, or 21 days after initial testing. Descriptive statistics and t-tests for paired two sample means were performed on 1) all participants, 2) male participants, 3) female participants, 4) …

Deported Veterans: The Unintended Consequences Of “Good Moral Character”, Jonathan Deras

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research is to argue that U.S. immigration policy, specifically the 1996 IIRIRA (also known as IIRAIRA), needs to change regarding the legal treatment of immigrant U.S. military veteran deportees due to the following concepts. The first concept is to articulate how the criminalization of immigration, and how the military system intersects to facilitate the Deportation of U.S veterans. A key concept in this analysis is the standard of “good moral character” set by the U.S. government that enlistees need to meet to be accepted into the military; this standard is also used against immigrant veterans during …

Eelgrass (Zostera Marina) Population Decline In Morro Bay, Ca: A Meta-Analysis Of Herbicide Application In San Luis Obispo County And Morro Bay Watershed, Tyler King Sinnott

Master's Theses

The endemic eelgrass (Zostera marina) community of Morro Bay Estuary, located on the central coast of California, has experienced an estimated decline of 95% in occupied area (reduction of 344 acres to 20 acres) from 2008 to 2017 for reasons that are not yet definitively clear. One possible driver of degradation that has yet to be investigated is the role of herbicides from agricultural fields in the watershed that feeds into the estuary. Thus, the primary research goal of this project was to better understand temporal and spatial trends of herbicide use within the context of San Luis …

Validation Of An Inertial-Measurement-Unit System For Calculating Hip And Knee Flexion Angles During Gait, Joonsun Park

Master's Theses

Technological advances regarding Inertial Measurements Units (IMUs) have positioned this type of sensor as an alternative for camera-based motion capture. This study introduces a new IMU based system (IMU_sys) to measure hip and knee flexion angles. PURPOSE: To validate the use of a five-sensor IMU_sys for the measurement of knee and hip flexion angles during gait in adults and pediatrics at two different time points. METHODS: Bilateral hip and knee flexion patterns (LH, RH, LK, and RK) of twenty-two healthy participants (12 adults and 10 pediatric) between the ages of 8 – 35 years were investigated. Participants …

Phantom Ocean, Real Impact: Natural Surf Sound Experiments Alter Foraging Activity And Habitat Use Across Taxa, Ryan N. Wardle

Master's Theses

A growing body of research focuses on how background sounds shape and alter critical elements of animals’ lives, such as foraging behavior, habitat use, and ecological interactions (Bradbury & Vehrencamp, 2011; Barber et al., 2010; Kight & Swaddle, 2011; Shannon et al., 2016). Much of this research has centered on the effects of anthropogenic noise (Dominoni et al., 2020; Francis & Barber, 2013; Ortega, 2012; Swaddle et al., 2015), but recent studies have also revealed that natural sound sources can influence animal behavior (Davidson et al., 2017; Le et al., 2019). Natural sounds, such as crashing surf, can create conditions …

Envrment: Investigating Experience In A Virtual User-Composed Environment, Matthew Key

Master's Theses

Virtual Reality is a technology that has long held society's interest, but has only recently began to reach a critical mass of everyday consumers. The idea of modern VR can be traced back decades, but because of the limitations of the technology (both hardware and software), we are only now exploring its potential. At present, VR can be used for tele-surgery, PTSD therapy, social training, professional meetings, conferences, and much more. It is no longer just an expensive gimmick to go on a momentary field trip; it is a tool, and as with the automobile, personal computer, and smartphone, it …

Study Of Plants Used Against Infections By California Native American Tribes, Maria J. Rojas

Master's Theses

The objectives of this research were to evaluate the antibacterial activity and to determine the chemical composition of a list of medicinal plants used by Native Americans in California. Artemisia californica, Mimulus aurantiacus, Equisetum telmateia, Equisetum hyemale, and Marah fabacea were selected from a list of plants reported as having been used for ailments related to infections by tribes located in California. The extracts obtained through steam distillation from E. telmateia, E. hyemale and M. fabacea were assayed for in vitro antibacterial activity against 16 Gram-negative and 6 Gram-positive bacteria using disk diffusion assays and measuring the diameters of inhibition …

Determinants Of The Carbon Footprint Of German Swimmers 2020., Ann-Marie Muehlbauer

Master's Theses

The current climate situation is placing our planet and future generations at risk, which demonstrates the urgency to combat climate change and conduct research to support this effort. Calculating the carbon footprint of active sport participation represents an important opportunity to conduct additional research. This study examined the environmental attitudes and practices of swim club members in Germany. The study had three goals: First, to calculate the total and partial carbon footprint of German swimmers; second, to understand how sport organizations induce participants to engage in pro-environmental behavior; and third, to analyze various factors associated with carbon footprint, such as …