Digital Commons Network^™

Implementing Change: Training For Adult Emergency Assessment, Recognition, And Stabilization For Novice And Non-Critical Care Nurses, Shannon C. Clancy-Burgess

Master's Theses and Capstones

Abstract

Background At a macrosystem in New England hospital nurses are requesting more training for better preparedness in situations of clinical deterioration in the patient. Current education offerings were focused on cardiac and respiratory arrest situations. Review of the literature reveals the need for training in recognition and response to clinical deterioration. Simulation training can be a useful training tool.

Methods Several assessments were conducted to determine the need for a new course that focuses on recognition and response for stabilization. These assessments included an AHRQ Gap Analysis, a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, Stakeholder feedback using Qualtricsä, …

Increasing Education And Staff Knowledge Of Delirium Care: An Evidence-Based Quality Improvement Project, Serena Martinath

Master's Theses and Capstones

Introduction At a small, community hospital in Massachusetts a gap analysis was conducted leading to a quality improvement project to increase staff education and knowledge regarding delirium and evidence-based best practices for delirium care. Delirium is a growing, often under recognized medical condition that occurs in hospitalized patients (Loftus & Wiesenfeld, 2017). Delirium is characterized by acute changes in congnition, level of consciousness, and attention (Loftus & Wiesenfeld, 2017). A better understanding of this condition is expected to result in improved patient care.

Methods The clinical microsystem studied in this gap analysis project was assessed by using the AHRQ Gap …

An Exploration Of Conventional Beamforming Applied To A Phase Measuring Sonar, Joao Celso Silva De Deus

Master's Theses and Capstones

Brazilian rivers are a particularly challenging navigation environment because of frequentchanges in bathymetry due to sediment transport. To accelerate the production of hydrographic information for these regions, the Brazilian Hydrographic Office has been investigating efficient ways of riverine surveying. In this context, Phase Measuring Bathymetric Sonars (PMBS) are being considered because of their potential to provide wider swaths than traditional Multibeam Echo Sounders (MBES) in shallow waters. Although these systems historically had severe limitations in sounding quality and nadir density, new models with multiple stave pairs are being built to overcome these issues, including the EdgeTech 6205, which claims to …

Avian Functional Diversity Response To Changes In Forest Structure And Degradation In Northern New England, Michael Christopher Thompson

Master's Theses and Capstones

Exploitative forest harvesting has led to widespread economic degradation of forests across the northeastern United States. Tree species composition and structure vary across degradation categories, which may lead to differences in wildlife communities and the ecosystem functions wildlife provide. Avian communities in particular respond quickly to changes in habitat, are easy to survey, and contribute to a variety of important ecosystem functions. Here, we investigated the relationship between economic degradation and avian functional diversity focusing on the ecosystem functions of seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, and pest control. We found that avian functional diversity responded to degradation in a unimodal manner …

The Potential Of Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Epiphytes To Acclimate To A Drier Microclimate., Emily Anders

Master's Theses and Capstones

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests (TMCF) are characterized by frequent cloud immersion and host a rich community of canopy epiphytes. Epiphytes rely on atmospheric inputs of water, making them susceptible to reductions in cloud immersion. We used an experimental cloud reduction experiment in a Peruvian TMCF to examine the potential of five functional groups of vascular epiphytes (orchids, ferns, shrubs, bromeliads, and succulents) to acclimate to reduced cloud immersion via plasticity in morphological and physiological traits related to water use, water storage, and productivity. Complementary data for vascular and nonvascular epiphyte growth and dieback collected over a 3-year period provided additional …

Controls Of Benthic Microbial Communities In Headwater Streams Across A Land Use Gradient In Northeastern Usa, Joshua Michael Buonpane

Master's Theses and Capstones

Benthic microbes are important drivers of biogeochemical cycling in streams, influencing the storage, transformation, and emission of carbon and nutrients. While the impact of land use and land cover on water quality has been extensively studied, the connection between water quality and microbial community composition and function remains unresolved. In this study, we examined how the water quality changes accompanying watershed development impact the diversity, composition, and functional potential of benthic bacterial/archaeal, and fungal communities. This was explored in headwater streams across an urbanization gradient in the northeastern US. We did not find a link between urbanization and α-diversity of …

Cultural Control Tactics For Managing Spotted Wing Drosophila, Drosophila Suzukii, In New Hampshire Highbush Blueberry, Catherine Doheny Coverdale

Master's Theses and Capstones

Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), is an economically important pest that damages small, soft-skinned fruits. Female spotted wing drosophila (SWD) have a heavily sclerotized, serrated ovipositor which allows them to lay their eggs in ripe and ripening fruits. Woven polyethylene weed mat has been reported to influence ambient temperature and relative humidity within blueberry canopies. There is a lack of context-specific evidence regarding the mechanisms impacting its efficacy and how it may interact with other control methods, like crop sanitizer sprays containing peroxyacetic acid (PAA) and hydrogen peroxide (HP).This study was a two-year, split-plot field experiment in …

Using Large Language Models To Modify Robot Behavior In Response To Natural Language Prompts, Garrick Michael Craft

Master's Theses and Capstones

A common scenario in robotics is needing to change the behavior of a deployed robot according to new requirements. This usually requires intervention from the creators of the robot, which both labor- and time-intensive. In this work, we explore the capability of a large language model (LLM) to address this issue by modifying the existing behavior of robots represented using PDDL. Specifically, we prompt the GPT-4 LLM to generate new PDDL problem files given an existing problem file and a natural language description of how the robot's behavior should change. We evaluate both zero- and one-shot versions of this method …

Population Viability Analysis Of A Remnant New England Cottontail Population In Southern New Hampshire, Brett Ferry

Master's Theses and Capstones

ABSTRACT

Population Viability Analysis of a Remnant New England Cottontail Population in Southern New Hampshire

ByBrett Ferry University of New Hampshire, December 2023

Early successional forest in the northeastern United States provides habitat for a rich diversity of wildlife. Historically, weather events, beaver activity, and fires were continually creating a mosaic of early successional habitat. However, with modern land use very little early successional habitat is created, leading to the decline of the species’ that rely on it. New England cottontail (sylvilagus transitionalis) is an early successional obligate species whose population has been in decline since the mid-twentieth century. In …

Parental Bonds And Mental Health Treatment In Adolescence: An Analysis Of Disparities By Race And Sex, Jonni Norman

Master's Theses and Capstones

Awareness of adolescent mental health issues has been rising since the start of the twenty-first century. While certain barriers to adolescent mental health treatment have been alleviated due to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), racial barriers to treatment still exist. Many studies on racial and gendered disparities consider barriers to mental health treatment, such as stigma. Few examine the role of parents and parental bonds with children as key variables in understanding disparities in treatment. This thesis utilizes data from the 2019 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a cross-sectional nationally representative survey, for the …

The Blueberry Gall Midge Complex And Its Specialist Parasitoids, Monique Michele Raymond

Master's Theses and Capstones

The cosmopolitan blueberry gall midge complex causes serious damage to the terminal vegetation of blueberry plants. The nature of their infestation, paired with prolonged periods of abundance, requires an integrated pest management approach. Of all known parasitoids present in the system, members of the subfamily Platygastrinae are the only oligophagous clade specialized against true gall midges. In this study, we present the results of blueberry gall midge and platygastrid surveys in high- and low-bush blueberry crops in the northeastern and southeastern United States, along with an identification key, with emphasis on blueberry parasitoid Synopeas species to facilitate their identification.

Understanding Riverine Plastic Accumulation Along An Urbanization And Spatial Gradient: A Plastics Study In The Ipswich River Watershed, Emily Kathryn Lever

Master's Theses and Capstones

Plastic pollution in marine and freshwater ecosystems is a pervasive issue on regional, national, and global scales. A portion of land-based plastics ends up in the world’s oceans through river transport; some land-based plastics are retained within the surface freshwater network. Little is known about how much plastic pollution entering the surface water network is stored vs. exported to oceans. We studied macro- and microplastic in a suburban coastal watershed, the Ipswich River Watershed of Massachusetts, USA in 2022 to gain a better understanding of plastic accumulation in sediments versus downstream flux during baseflow versus storms in streams of different …

The Estimation Of Forest Inventory Biometrics Using Uas-Lidar, Sarah Ashley Reny

Master's Theses and Capstones

Knowing how to best conserve and sustain forests is of the utmost importance given the indispensable direct and indirect ecosystems services they provide. In order to make informed management decisions for better conservation and sustainability, forest change and growth (biometrics) must be quantified. Biometrics are typically made through forest inventorying, but this field-based procedure has spatial and temporal limitations. Given the vital role forests have, it is imperative that different technologies be explored for their potential to improve forest inventorying methodologies. Remote sensing technology, specifically unmanned aerial system (UAS) light detection and ranging technology (Lidar), has presented itself as a …

Exploring Forest Structural Complexity: Scale Effects And Metric Relationships In New England Hardwood Forests, Alex Jed Siebert

Master's Theses and Capstones

Forest structural complexity (FSC) is an informative characteristic in forest management due to its connections to ecosystem resilience, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration. Despite its widespread use, quantifying FSC remains a challenge because of the many attributes that can comprise an assessment of FSC and ambiguity around what exactly is meant by “complexity.” Many assessments of FSC involve metrics derived from lidar data, yet there is not a clear understanding of how spatial extent impacts metrics of FSC. This thesis investigates the influence of spatial extent on FSC metrics and metric relationships in the context of New England mixed hardwood forests. …

Evaluating Growth Patterns Of Beech Bark Disease Fungal Agents Neonectria Faginata And Neonectria Ditissima Under Different In Vitro Conditions, Santiago Rivera Reyes

Master's Theses and Capstones

The co –occurring fungal species Neonectria ditissima and Neonectria faginata are major canker-forming pathogens in the beech bark disease (BBD) systems which has caused restructuring of forests throughout northeastern North America. The role of nutrients in structuring microbial community interactions has been studied in BBD forests stands but has yet to be fully understood and examined under specific in-vitro conditions. This study aimed to investigate how nitrogen, phosphorus, and temperature levels influence the growth, reproduction, and competitive hierarchies between N. ditissima and N. faginata. We performed in-vitro assays where species were first individually and then jointly grown under different concentrations …

“An Alarming State Of Evil Among Our Juveniles” A Case Study Of Public Education In Manchester, New Hampshire From 1845-1915, Amy Cummings Sherr

Master's Theses and Capstones

This thesis investigates the effectiveness of compulsory public education laws in Manchester, New Hampshire from 1845-1915, drawing on detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis of school attendance records, legislative proceedings, and media coverage. The thesis identifies shifting objectives in the campaigns for compulsory education laws and child labor laws in New Hampshire over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which help to explain lackluster enforcement. Reformers re-defined the perceived problems over time which led to new legislation and changing priorities in enforcement. Initially, reformers focused on “idle children” causing trouble and disrupting society. Then with mass immigration to the …

Mechanistic Models Of Human Decision-Making And Ecological Dynamics In Small-Scale Fisheries, Sophie Wulfing

Master's Theses and Capstones

Small-scale fisheries are essential to the livelihoods of 40 million people worldwide. They are key sources of nutrients and income for these communities that rely on them. However, understanding the status of these fisheries requires in-depth data collection, often in remote areas. Further, each small-scale fishery is very individualized, and external groups attempting to impose fishing restrictions are often met with low compliance or are unsuccessful in their efforts to conserve fish stocks due to a lack of understanding of either fishing culture or the ecology of the harvested species. In this thesis, I employ various mechanistic models to small-scale …

Investigation Of Temperature And Deformation Path Effects On Induced Martensite Transformation Of Ss304l During Double-Sided Incremental Forming, Matthew Dana Adams

Master's Theses and Capstones

Incremental sheet forming (ISF) was invented to make sheet metal manufacturing more flexible, enabling rapid prototyping. However, it was initially plagued with inaccurate tolerances. With the advent of double-sided incremental forming (DSIF) more accurate sheet metal parts are capable and thus has received more interest from industry in recent years. In this thesis, the effects of both temperature control, using a vortex tube with compressed shop air, and deformation path, utilizing a reverse, reforming sequence, have on the strain induced γ-austenite to a’-martensite phase transformation in stainless steel 304L (SS304L) during double sided incremental forming were studied on a pyramidal …

Relationship Among Police Officers’ Alcohol Use, Child Sexual Abuse Material Exposure And Department Practices And Policies, Mahmuda Akter

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study explores the complex interplay of departmental practices and policies, exposure to child sexual abuse material (CSAM), social support, group connectedness, and gender in relation to alcohol consumption among police officers. The cross-sectional study utilizes self-reported data from 528 police investigators, forensic examiners and others connected with the criminal justice system from across the United States. Analysis reveals exposure to CSAM does not demonstrate a significant correlation with drinking habits among police officers. However, one significant positive relationship was observed between viewing CSAM that involves children aged 6 to 10 and drinking patterns. Furthermore, departmental practices are not associated …

Laboratory Techniques For Measurements Of A Dynamic Water Surface, Vivek Anand Bheeroo

Master's Theses and Capstones

The free surface at an air-water interface can provide information regarding bathymetriccomplexities, as well as the subsurface flow. This work covers an exploration of optical techniques that allow for non-intrusive measurements over a wide domain of the free surface. We present a comparison of the performance of two recent advances in light-based optical techniques for free surface measurements, Total Internal Reflection-Deflectometry and Moon- Glade Background Oriented Schlieren, with the more established method of Free-Surface Synthetic Schlieren. We make use of an optical flow algorithm over the more traditional Digital Image Correlation, in order to obtain higher spatial resolution data across …

Rapid Retreat Of A Marine-Terminating Margin Of The Laurentide Ice Sheet In The Seacoast Region Of New Hampshire, Usa, Julia E. Brazo

Master's Theses and Capstones

A better understanding of the transition of marine-terminating margins of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) to land-based termini is instructive for monitoring modern glaciers that are currently undergoing a similar transition and influencing sea-level. Expanded knowledge of regional ice retreat rates and the timing of deglaciation of the LIS also provides insight on mechanisms of ice sheet retreat and collapse. Here we reconstruct the style and timing of ice recession and attendant marine regression in coastal New Hampshire during the last deglaciation. Our approach involves geospatial analysis of glaciomarine deposits to assess regional marine limit variability combined with 10Be surface …

Habitat Suitability Modeling Long-Term Growth And Healthy Cover Trends Of Staghorn Coral (Acropora Cervicornis) Outplants In The Lower Florida Keys, Glenna Dyson

Master's Theses and Capstones

In the Florida Keys Acropora cervicornis has been targeted for restoration due to its importance as a reef building stony coral. Habitat suitability models have been utilized within restoration ecology to identify potential locations for outplanting. To date, habitat suitability models have used coarse spatial data of large areas throughout the Florida Keys, resulting in recommended outplant sites that restoration groups have financial and logistical limitations to access and regularly monitor, due to being far away. Additionally, outplanting success can vary widely within a limited space, necessitating improved predictive abilities of coral outplant success within a restoration site. With the …

Climate Change Resiliency In Coastal New Hampshire Roads With The Application Of Natural And Nature-Based Features, Lauren Emma Dwyre

Master's Theses and Capstones

Coastal communities rely heavily on their road network for the transportation of goods, services, and people. However, rising sea levels due to climate change are causing many of the communities’ transportation infrastructure to become vulnerable to coastal stressors. Understanding how sea-level rise (SLR) will impact pavement performance and identifying adaptation strategies is vital for making coastal communities more resilient. Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBF) are becoming increasingly recognized as an adaptation solution to protect coastal communities from SLR-induced stressors and provide ecological and social benefits. This research aims to identify the linkages between storm surge and pavement damage and identify …

Associations Of Dietary Patterns With Brain Volume In The Boston Puerto Rican Health Study, Chris Guarino

Master's Theses and Capstones

Adherence to the MeD (Mediterranean Diet), MIND (Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Reduce Hypertension Intervention for Neurocognitive Delay), and other dietary patterns may benefit cognitive function among Hispanic/Latino adults. Greater regional and total brain volumetric measures are associated with an increased risk of dementia, but whether the MeD and MIND dietary patterns relate to brain volume among Hispanic/Latino adults remains unclear. The objective of the current study was to quantify the associations of the MeD, MIND, and empirically derived dietary patterns with brain volume among Hispanic/Latino adults. We used data from the longitudinal Boston Puerto Rican Health Study. Approximately 12.7 y from …

Investigation Of Common Milkweed As A Novel Food Crop For New England, Colter Allen Flynn

Master's Theses and Capstones

Neglected and underutilized crop species (NUCS) represent a reservoir of biodiversity that can be leveraged to help develop a more robust and sustainable food production system. This investigation sought to identify an edible crop species with potential as a novel food crop for the New England food system and conduct a subsequent evaluation of the chosen species based on agronomic traits of interest. A series of interviews were conducted between August and December 2020 with regional experts and specialists with experience in the subject matter. Based on interview data and a subsequent literature review, Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) emerged as …

Stand Structural Diversity, Not Functional Traits, Drives Variation In Maximum Stand Density In Old-Growth Kauri (Agathis Australis) Dominated Forests, Heidi Isabelle Giguere

Master's Theses and Capstones

Old-growth kauri (Agathis australis) dominated forests are highly diverse and species-rich, making their survival critical to maintaining global biodiversity. The ability to accurately quantify stand density in such complex forests is difficult, but important to their effective management and protection. However, studying mature versions of these forests today is unlikely due to extensive historic logging efforts and the recent onset of the prolific kauri dieback. Fortunately, an opportunity presented itself in the uncovering and reconfiguring of historic data collected across 25 old-growth kauri dominated stands by Ahmed and Ogden (1991a,b). I successfully determined the maximum stand density of these complex …

Rare Earth Element Distributions In Forest Soils Across Bedrock Gradients In New Hampshire And Vermont, Ashley Grengs

Master's Theses and Capstones

Within Earth surface systems, forests factor critically in carbon cycling and sequestration and accordingly play an important role in many climate change mitigation strategies. Predictive models of carbon storage require assessments of carbon storage as well as nutrient cycling, which, in turn, has long-term impacts on carbon storage. Nutrient allocations affect tree biomass, leaf growth, stem density, and biodiversity. Yet, bedrock contributions to nutrient allocations are not routinely quantified, even though bedrock compositions can influence soil types, soil pH, and tree species within forest.

Here, I expand on previously developed approaches to conduct a comparative study between eight sites across …

Effects Of Perennial Forage Composition And Harvest Intensity On The Weed Seedbank Community, Lilly E. Hartman

Master's Theses and Capstones

Most arable weeds arise from a resident soil seedbank and are typically controlled with tillage and herbicides, each of which pose sustainability challenges to growers and consumers. However, agronomic management practices that reduce weed seed input to the seedbank and that accelerate mortality of seeds already in the soil could reduce the need for more conventional weed control. Previous research and farmer practice has demonstrated that rotation of annual crops with several years of perennial forage can reduce weed abundance and the need for chemical weed control. In perennial forage systems, crop species and harvest intensity may have important effects …

The Under-Appreciated Roles Of Spatial Scale, Individual Variation, And Nonlinearity In Spatial Ecology, David Heit

Master's Theses and Capstones

Spatial ecology is a central component of ecological inquiry. In an ever-changing world facing threats including climate change, human sprawl, and novel zoonotic diseases, understanding how animals use space and make habitat decisions can be invaluable to research, management, and conservation of animal species. The techniques and technology used in spatial ecology have advanced continuously over time to provide increasingly detailed data and analyses and mitigate potential statistical biases. However, there remain many potential biases that warrant further attention in the discipline of spatial ecology. This is especially true for conceptual biases, or biases inherent to the ways in which …

Replacing Ground Corn With Liquid Molasses In Diets Of Jersey Cows Fed Red Clover Baleage: Effects On Milk Production, Nitrogen Efficiency, Energy Utilization, And Enteric Methane Emissions, Adam Lee Konopka

Master's Theses and Capstones

Molasses is a food byproduct rich in sucrose commonly added to the diets of cattle which has been reported to enhance milk production, promote rumen microbial growth, and increase digestibility of nutrients. Variable results obtained when partially replacing starch sources with molasses have led to an increased interest in the dietary conditions under which molasses could optimize the production of dairy cows. We aimed to investigate the effect of partially replacing ground corn with sugarcane liquid molasses on dry matter intake, milk yield and composition, enteric methane emissions, and N utilization in lactating Jersey cows fed red clover baleage. Eighteen …