Digital Commons Network^™

High-Frequency Broadband Seafloor Backscatter In A Sandy Estuarine Environment, Eric J. Bajor

Master's Theses and Capstones

Seafloor backscatter collected with high-frequency (> 100 kHz) hydrographic echosounders has become an important aspect of seafloor characterization for benthic ecologists and other scientists. The mechanisms that control acoustic scattering at these high frequencies are not completely understood, although surficial roughness and the presence of discrete particles (e.g., shell hash) are likely contributors. To further our understanding of the impact these mechanisms have on seafloor scattering, broadband (100-250 kHz) acoustic measurements were taken at a grazing angle of 45° in a shallow-water, sandy environment with a known presence of shell hash. Stereo imagery was collected simultaneously to quantify the surficial …

A Culturally Appropriate Cognitive Assessment Screening For Bhutanese Refugees, Holly Milligan

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: As the incidence of cognitive impairment continues to rise, timely and accuratediagnoses are essential. Aim: The aim of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the standard cognitiveassessment screening for Bhutanese refugees in a medical home, and compare an alternative,validated, and potentially more culturally appropriate tool. Also, an assessment of provider,nurse and interpreter satisfaction with the two tools was performed. Method: Mixed methods including qualitative observations and quantitative satisfaction surveysrelated to the implementation of a culturally appropriate cognitive assessment tool. Results: When assessed with the standard tool, all 10 people screened positive for cognitiveimpairment. However, when using the alternative …

Be Seen And Heard Being Clean: A Patient-Centered Approach To Hand Hygiene At Concord Hospital, Ashley Pinkham

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Regular hand washing is recognized as the most effective means to combat the spread of infectious illness; however hand washing behavior amongst health care workers (HCW’s) is inconsistent. Furthermore, measurement of hand washing behavior is subject to bias.

Aim: This quality improvement project aimed to remove the Hawthorne effect and improve the behavior of HH at Concord Hospital.

Methods: A quasi-experimental, pre-posttest design was used to evaluate HH rates on a 32 bed med-surge unit at Concord Hospital. Baseline data was collected for 30 days by asking patients if they had seen or heard staff cleaning their hands. Using …

Law, Justice, And All That Jazz: An Analysis Of Law's Reach Into Musical Theater, Amy Oldenquist

Master's Theses and Capstones

Narratives or stories are present in many facets of life. Narratives especially are seen in the media, fiction and nonfiction alike. These stories, seen in media, fiction, and nonfiction alike, have an immense impact on their audience. This influence displays the importance of continued research into media’s narratives, especially legal narratives. Much of past research looked at the social construction of these stories and its framing. Framing refers to how a subject is discussed in the media. While there is much research on media, framing, and legal narratives, very few researchers have examined live entertainment, including musical theater. My study …

The Effects Of Temperature On Cyp19a1a, Foxl2, Dmrt1 And Amh Expression During Sex Differentiation In Summer Flounder (Paralichthys Dentatus), Catherine Curro Caruso

Master's Theses and Capstones

Female summer flounder grow considerably faster and larger than males, and a tremendous increase in performance can therefore be realized through production of monosex female populations. Rearing temperature has been shown to affect sex differentiation in other teleost species by influencing expression of genes encoding transcription factors, hormones or enzymes involved in endocrine function such as cyp19a1a, foxl2, dmrt1 and amh. These genes have been linked to female (cyp19a1a, foxl2) or male (dmrt1, amh) development, and exhibit sexually dimorphic expression in some species. In the present study, summer flounder (37 days post hatch; DPH) were raised at 13°C, 16°C or …

Developing A Horizontal In-Line Diffused Aeration System For Removing Trihalomethanes From Water Distribution Mains, Meagan Mccowan

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study collected removal data for four EPA regulated trihalomethanes (chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform) for a pilot scale horizontal in-line diffused aeration (HILDA) system under various design and operational variables. Design variables included water flow rate, air to water (A:W) ratio, reactor length, pressure, trihalomethane (THM) speciation and mixer type.

A HILDA system that could remove THMs from a pressurized piping system was developed and an air-water mixing expression was used to model the treatment performance when using Komax static in-line mixers in the system. The models can be used to predict the mixing intensity needed to achieve a …

Creating A Smartphone Application For Measuring Responses Of An Experimental Structure At Multiple Locations And For K-12 Stem Outreach Related To Structural Engineering, Kyle David Wyatt

Master's Theses and Capstones

Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems are used to measure and analyze structure data (e.g., floor accelerations and strains in structural members) to identify damage (or structural changes) to a structure. With aging infrastructures and collapses of recent structures such as the 2007 I-35W Mississippi River Bridge and the 2013 clothing factory in Bangladesh, SHM can help address an important societal issue in structural safety and reliability. In the current practice, SHM systems include dedicated sensors linked (via wires or wirelessly) to data acquisition systems. These sensing systems are typically costly and impractical for many educational curriculums. A lack of exposures …

Invasive Plant (Alliaria Petiolata; Garlic Mustard) Homogenizes Fungal Communtiy Composition And Increases Fungal Richness, Mark Anthony

Master's Theses and Capstones

Non-native invasive plants can disrupt native plant communities and soil function (e.g., C and N cycling), but few studies have examined how soil microbial community structure differs in association with invasion. This work focused on Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard), a non-mycorrhizal Brassicaceae that can displace native plants and reduce aboveground diversity. Garlic mustard produces toxic phytochemicals that can suppress mycorrhizal fungi, but we currently do not know if garlic mustard invasion affects the general fungal community, including specific mycorrhizal fungi, saprotrophic fungi, and plant pathogens and parasites. The objective of this work was to compare uninvaded and invaded soils from …

Establishment Of The Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, Harmonia Axyridis, As A Model System For The Evolution Of Phenotypic Variation, Lindsay Havens

Master's Theses and Capstones

The mechanisms behind the evolution and maintenance of striking visual phenotypes are as varied as the species that display these phenotypes. Multiple study systems have been well characterized and provide critical information about the evolution of these traits. However, new study systems in which the phenotype of interest can be easily manipulated and quantified are essential to answer many questions about the functionality of core evolutionary processes. One such model is elytral spot number of the multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Chapter 1). I describe Harmonia axyridis as a potential novel model species for examining extreme phenotypic evolution. To …

Comparing Police Eyewitnesses And Lay Eyewitnesses: The Effect Of Eyewitness Reputation And Procedural Justice On Juror Verdict Decisions, Lindsey Marie Cole

Doctoral Dissertations

Verdict decisions can have potentially severe consequences for defendants including incarceration or even capital punishment. Previous researchers have identified many factors that can influence these decisions. One of the most influential aspects of juror decisions identified by researchers is witness testimony; however, there has been little empirical research on police officers as witnesses. Jurors may have pre-existing attitudes about the police that may influence how they view police officer witnesses on the stand. Furthermore, special rules govern the admission of credibility evidence against a police officer witness in the state of New Hampshire. The purpose of the study was threefold: …

Numerical Updating On Collapse Simulation Of Multi-Story Buildings Through Hybrid Testing, Miguel Negrete-Padilla

Doctoral Dissertations

The present dissertation introduces an innovative numerical updating approach within fully simulated hybrid testing with substructuring techniques through collapse. The proposed approach is based on utilizing the measured response from the experimental substructure to update during the test the parameters of the components of the numerical substructure. The main research objective is to improve the ability to predict and simulate collapse through hybrid testing with substructuring techniques. The proposed numerical updating approach demonstrates to be capable of reliably reduce the epistemic uncertainty existent on the calibration of initial component parameters of the numerical substructure, especially when the system is near …

Knowledge-Based Medication Administration: Program Evaluation And Optimization, Elizabeth Evans

Doctoral Dissertations

It has been reported by members of The Institute of Medicine that a patient is at risk for one medication administration error per day when hospitalized, thus prevention of medication administration errors is a priority patient safety goal. One recommendation to reduce the prevalence of medication administration errors is the use of barcoded medication administration (BCMA) systems. While there are many benefits to BCMA, there are also issues with existing systems. Suboptimal BCMA design and implementation has resulted in medication administration workarounds. A hospital located in southern New Hampshire, implemented a Knowledge Based Medication Administration (KBMA) system in January 2014. …

Sampling Of Soils With Metallic Residues Collected From Military Small-Arms Ranges, Jay L. Clausen

Doctoral Dissertations

Small-arms, artillery, mortar, and pyrotechnic military training introduces solid metallic residues into the environment. Previous energetic residue research showed conventional judgmental soil sampling and associated sample preparation methodologies are inadequate to address the heterogeneous distribution and still yield representative and reproducible results for the area of interest. Metallic residue deposition at military small-arms ranges occurs in a heterogeneous distributional pattern, similar to solid particulate energetic residue deposition.

One of the primary objectives of an environmental investigation is to estimate the mean contaminant concentration to evaluate human and ecological risk in an exposure unit (i.e., an area where the receptors are …

Seeing And Believing: The Emergent Nature Of Extreme Weather Perceptions, Matthew John Cutler

Doctoral Dissertations

Perceptions of environmental issues are influenced by a variety of factors. Sociological research on this topic has largely taken a social-psychological approach and as a result the effects of community and biophysical contexts on individual perceptions are given less attention than individual-level predictors, such as political party affiliation or measures of educational attainment. Using data from the Communities and Environment in Rural America (CERA) surveys, I employ a mixed-effects modeling technique to investigate the influence of individual- and county-level characteristics on public perceptions of unusual or extreme weather.

In addition to the survey data, I also utilize county-level weather events …

A Physiocratic Systems Framework For Open Source Agricultural Research And Development, Dorn Cox

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a new participatory approach to agricultural research and development. It surveys the biological, sociological, economic, and technical landscape and proposes a framework for adaptive management based on the 18th century Physiocratic school of land-based economics. Industrial specialization and heavy emphasis on deductive approaches to science have contributed to the disconnection of large portions of the population from natural systems. Conventional agriculture and agricultural research methods following this pattern have created expensive social, environmental, and economic external costs, while adaptive management and resilient agricultural systems have been hindered by the cost and complexity of quantifying environmental services. However, …

Examining Situations Involving Intimate Partner Aggression: A Dyadic Study Of Agreement On Behaviors, Attributions, And Emotional Effects, Angela Marie Neal

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a growing body of literature investigating agreement of partners on instances of intimate partner aggression (IPA) well as attributions for why people engage in IPA. Although our understanding has increased, there remains a major gap in the literature: the utilization of only one member of a couple's reports of the aggression and attributions (i.e., partners' perceptions of why an event of IPA occurred). Using a dyadic study, romantic couples were asked to independently discuss the same psychological, physical, and sexual IPA incidents in their relationship. Seeking to bridge the two bodies of literature of both perpetrators' and victims' …

Life Interrupted: The Experience Of Informal Caregivers Of Aging Family Members, Susan Wirka Fox

Doctoral Dissertations

While publicly-funded long-term care services have traditionally focused on institutionally-based care, informal family caregivers provide 80% of all long-term care in the US (Thompson 2004). This caregiving is physically and mentally demanding, unpaid, and often performed while the caregiver is balancing work and family responsibilities. With stress process theory (Pearlin 1989) as a guide, this research utilizes a mixed methods approach to study the relationships between the objective demands of caregiving, caregiver burden, and caregiver mental and physical well-being; whether burden mediates these relationships; how caregivers experience the demands of caregiving as stressful; and how they utilize coping strategies to …

Silvopasture In The Northeastern United States, Joseph Nathan Orefice

Doctoral Dissertations

Silvopasture, the sustainable integration of livestock and trees on the same unit of land, may have the potential to contribute to agricultural productivity in the Northeastern United States and concurrently encourage the ecosystems services which trees provide. Extremely little is known regarding the ecological characteristics of silvopastures being utilized, their social and economic drivers, or their agricultural productivity. Silvopasture characteristics, management, and reasons for use were documented through a purposeful sample of silvopasture practitioners in New York and New England. Results document the functional role of silvopastures on regional farms. This research also investigated the ecological and production dynamics of …

Pose Detection And Control Of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (Uuvs) Utilizing An Optical Detector Array, Firat Eren

Doctoral Dissertations

As part of the research for development of a leader-follower formation between unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), this study presents an optical feedback system for UUV navigation via an optical detector array. Capabilities of pose detection and control in a static-dynamic system (e.g. UUV navigation into a docking station) and a dynamic-dynamic system (e.g. UUV to UUV leader-follower system) are investigated. In both systems, a single light source is utilized as a guiding beacon for a tracker/follower UUV. The UUV uses an optical array consisting of photodiodes to receive the light field emitted from the light source.

For UUV navigation applications, …

Enduring Impact Of Childhood Stressors On Adult Health: Testing Psychological And Behavioral Pathways, Tracy Keirns

Doctoral Dissertations

Stress and health has been a topic of interest among researchers in a variety of fields such as medical sociology, psychology, public health, child abuse, and epidemiology. For decades this research had largely been conducted in silos within each of the respective fields. In recent years, these silos have started to diminish. Sociologists have begun to consider the accumulation of stressors over the life course, including how serious childhood stressors (such as child abuse) impact morbidity and mortality later in life. Using Wave I, Wave III and Wave IV data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health …

Nonlinear Waves On A String With Inhomogeneous Properties, Robert Arredondo

Doctoral Dissertations

Nonlinear waves on an infinite string with a rapid change in properties at one location are treated. The string is an idealized version of more complex configurations in both fluids and solids. This idealized version treats the property change as an interface with a discontinuity in properties. Packets of waves are then considered with a reduced model, here a set of nonlinear Schr¨odinger (NLS) equations. The stress and the displacement must both be matched at the interface, resulting in dynamic and kinematic interfacial conditions. The dynamic condition produces an inhomogeneous effect that cannot be treated successfully with separation-of-variables. This inhomogeneity …

Beyond Boston: Catholicism In The Northern New Borderlands In The Nineteenth Century, Molly Gallaher Boddy

Doctoral Dissertations

This study uncovers the religious and ethnic history of northern New England- Maine and Vermont- which has remained for too long on the periphery of scholars’ attention. In 1836, the Vermont Catholic missionary priest Jeremiah O’Callaghan warned members of the New England Catholic Church that “our own Catholicks (are) every where scattered in the woods,” writing not only of the hostile outside Protestant world faced by Catholics in Vermont during the nineteenth century, but also of the difficulty of ministering to such a geographically removed or “scattered” rural population. Still today, the story of these northern New England Catholics that …

Survey Of The Charge Properties Of Phospholipids Using Nanodiscs And Membrane-Confined Electrophoresis, Cheng Her

Doctoral Dissertations

Phospholipids (PL) are a major, diverse constituent of cell membranes. PL diversity arises from the nature of the fatty acid chains, as well as the head group structure. The head group charge is thought to contribute to both the strength, and specificity of protein-membrane interactions. Furthermore, the divalent cations Ca2+ and Mg2+, have been shown to be essential for optimal binding for some of these interactions. Because it has been difficult to measure membrane charge, it has been impossible to quantitate the role charge plays in these interactions. However, Nanodiscs provide a stable, planar membrane bilayer suitable for biophysical studies. …

Intermittently Connected Delay-Tolerant Wireless Sensor Networks, Ying Li

Doctoral Dissertations

Intermittently Connected Delay-Tolerant Wireless Sensor Networks (ICDT-WSNs), a branch of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), have features of WSNs and the intermittent connectivity of Opportunistic Networks. The applications of ICDT-WSNs are increasing in recent years; however, the communication protocols suitable for this category of networks often fall short. Most of the existing communication protocols are designed for either WSNs or Opportunistic Networks with sufficient resources and tend to be inadequate for direct use in ICDT-WSNs.

In this dissertation, we study ICDT-WSNs from the perspective of the characteristics, chal- lenges and possible solutions. A high-level overview of ICDT-WSNs is given, followed by …

Development Of An Isotopic Approach For Detailing Heparin Sequences, Qing Guo

Doctoral Dissertations

Heparin/heparin sulfates are carbohydrate polyionic polymers that participate in a host of critically important biological processes such as blood anticoagulation, pathogen infection, cell differentiation, growth, migration and inflammation, to mention a few. A century has passed since heparin’s initial discovery with a fair understanding of its overall composition. Unfortunately, there has been no structural work at the detailed chemical level that might support a synthetic effort. In this study, I utilize a chemical derivatization strategy (dual permethylation) that imparts isotopic structural specificity, which can be followed by step-wise disassembly in an ion trap mass spectrometer, (MSn). A set of analytical …

The Directed Molecular Self-Assembly Of A Novel Pentacene Derivative On Gold Surfaces: An Experimental And Computational Study, Amanda Margaret Larson

Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding electronic devices down to the atomic scale is essential for the development of novel organic molecule based nanotechnologies. Utilizing scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), new organic molecules can be imaged to understand their structural and electronic properties at the molecular level. 5,6,7-trithiapentacene-13-one (TTPO) is a promising organic semiconductor with potential applications in high temperature photovoltaic devices as an electron donor. My STM investigation of TTPO on the close-packed stepped Au(788) surface reveals interesting nanoscale surface structures ranging from molecular chains at low coverage to an ordered self-assembled monolayer. I have utilized density functional theory (DFT) to further probe this unique …

"Upward Bound Is College Bound": Pre-College Outreach Programs' Sponsorship Of Academic Writing, Shauna Wight

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines how Upward Bound (UB), a federally-funded pre-college outreach program for underrepresented students, impacted participants' access to academic writing and higher education. Based on the perspective that writing practices both reflect and shape identity, I constructed a series of case studies that followed five linguistically and culturally diverse students from the Upward Bound summer program to determine how this intervention impacted their identifications with academic writing during their senior year of high school and the college admissions process.

This year-long qualitative study used transcribed student interviews and focus groups along with writing samples as primary data sources. These …

A Study Of Interplanetary Shock Geoeffectiveness Controlled By Impact Angles Using Simulations And Observations, Denny Oliveira

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, we study the influence of interplanetary (IP) shock impact angles in the IP shock geoeffectiveness focusing on simulations and observations. In our simulations, we use OpenGGCM global MHD code to study the nightside magnetospheric, magnetotail, and ionospheric responses to IP fast forward shocks. Three cases are presented in this study: two inclined oblique shocks, hereafter IOS-1 and IOS-2, where the latter has a Mach number twice stronger than the former. Both shocks have impact angles of 30$^o$ in relation to the Sun-Earth line. Lastly, we choose a frontal perpendicular shock, FPS, whose shock normal is along the …

The Study Of Ionospheric Response To Precipitation Using Sounding Rocket Observations, Ian James Cohen

Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding the role that the ionosphere plays in phenomena such as the development of auroral arcs and ion outflow is basic to the investigation of these processes and critical to the advancement of the broader study of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. Sounding rockets present an optimal platform for such studies, allowing low-cost access to altitudes that are difficult to reach by other means. Additionally, these measurements are key to validating current models and furthering understanding of the near-Earth space environment. This thesis highlights two particular rocket-borne instruments that measure electron populations in the ionosphere: the Electron Retarding Potential Analyzer (ERPA) and the …

Genetic And Evolutionary Analysis Of Plant Replication Protein A 1 (Rpa1), Behailu Birhanu Aklilu

Doctoral Dissertations

Challenging human health issues include treatments for genetic diseases and providing improved agricultural crop output to feed the growing world population. The project described here, which focuses on how cells respond to chromosomal (genomic) damage, has significant implications in each example. In humans, accumulation of DNA damage induced mutations can result in genetic diseases such as cancer, and in plants can similarly result in genome instability, reducing productivity. Organisms from human to plants have conserved mechanisms to counteract DNA damage. However, detailed genetic and biochemical information on plant DNA repair systems is still limited. The goal of this dissertation was …