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Manchester Snow Emergency Analysis: Who Is Being Towed From Where And Why, Michael James Pelletier

Master's Theses and Capstones

This Capstone paper analyzes the City of Manchester, New Hampshire’s policy and community impacts when their Towing Snow Emergency procedures are implemented. While the public expects their city streets and sidewalks to be cleared of snow during and following snow storms, the process to do so in the city streets requires vehicles to be re-located from parking on the street. This process requires privately owned vehicles to be ticketed or towed during the worst of weather during the winter. Although the city administration has attempted to avoid having to tow vehicles as the report shows, there is still a historical …

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 …

Using Servqualto Identify Gaps In Quality Care For Patients With Cystic Fibrosis: A Hospital-Based Quality Improvement Project, Alisha M. Nadeau

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Care Centers were established to centralize and integrate the knowledge and skills of pulmonary medicine, nutrition, gastroenterology, nursing, respiratory therapy, social work, and genetics to efficiently provide care for people living with CF. The high quality, specialized care that is given at CF Care Centers has led to the improved length and quality of life for people living with CF.

Aim: The aim of this quality improvement project was to identify any gaps in providing effective, high quality care to patients with CF to reduce the variability in nursing practices and improve their quality …

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 …

Improving Emergency Response In The Outpatient Clinic Setting, Matte Horton

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Effective triage, assessment, and activation of necessary systems in emergent situations of clinical instability is vital in reducing morbidity and mortality of patients in any clinical setting. When medical emergencies occur outside of the hospital, organized and expedited transfer to a higher level of care reduces the potential for adverse events, lasting deficits, and patient death. Aim: The aim of this project was to identify weaknesses in the emergency response system in the community-based outpatient clinic setting and to propose solutions. Methods: The “Swiss Cheese” theoretical framework was used to do a root cause analysis of two clinical scenarios. …

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 …

Engaging Patients To Improve Documentation Of Oral Intake On A Cardiac Telemetry Unit: A Quality Improvement Initiative, Timiny A. Mosher

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background Information
It is important for patients with heart failure to have awareness of their intake & output to effectively manage their disease. There is evidence that tracking intake & output is a component of missed nursing care resulting in discrepancies between the actual patient intake and what is documented in the patient’s electronic health record (EHR).

Aim

The aim of this quality improvement project was to engage patients in monitoring their intake by using teach-back and patient engagement techniques to track their own oral fluid intake throughout the day.

Methods
The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model was used as the framework …

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 …

Quantifying Glacier Sensitivity To Late Glacial And Holocene Climate Changes In The Southern Peruvian Andes, Elizabeth Grace Huss

Master's Theses and Capstones

Tropical glaciers are highly sensitive to small-amplitude climate changes, implying that paleoglacier positions are valuable proxies for reconstructing paleoclimate conditions. However, it is still unknown how glaciers in different regions along the Andes responded to changes in specific climate parameters, and in particular, to changes in the dominating influences of temperature and precipitation. To identify the dominant controls on tropical paleoglacier mass balance, a surface energy balance model (SEBM), coupled with an ice dynamics model, was applied to three valleys in the Cordillera Vilcabamba of southern Peru. These valleys contain present-day glaciers and preserve evidence for the areal extents and …

Finite Element Analysis Of Pv Drains For A Test Embankment On Soft Clay, Americo Joseph Santamaria

Master's Theses and Capstones

In 2012 the New Hampshire Department of Transportation constructed a test embankment with prefabricated vertical drains on top of soft marine clay in Dover, NH. The test embankment was built with variable drain spacing and embankment geometry in order to determine effective and efficient treatment for long term ground settlement. Findings from this study are to be implemented in future applications in the New Hampshire seacoast where soft marine clay is present. Using data collected from several in situ and laboratory tests, this thesis investigates the use of finite element analysis to predict total settlement and time rate of consolidation …

Effects Of Substrate Material On Marine Fouling Community Composition And Ascidian Larval Settlement, Anna Lindsey Chase

Master's Theses and Capstones

Driven by the rising global population and shoreline development, man-made marine structures are becoming ubiquitous in coastal areas. These alterations may have enormous ecological consequences, as anthropogenic structures provide novel habitat for marine organisms and often host communities that differ from those on natural substrates. These community differences are frequently driven by non-native species, which can be more prevalent on man-made marine structures than on adjacent natural surfaces. Although multiple factors, including light intensity, surface orientation, predation exposure, and habitat type, are known to contribute to these patterns, relatively few studies have directly examined the influence of substrate material on …

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 …

Molecular Dynamics Studies Of Nucleic Acids And Ribonucleoprotein Complexes, Tyler James Mulligan

Master's Theses and Capstones

Molecular simulations of protein-nucleic acid complexes, as well as the HIV-1 Trans Activation Response Element (TAR) RNA molecule, were conducted. First, three different molecular dynamics techniques were studied on the molecule HIV-1 TAR RNA. The three techniques studied were classical molecular dynamics, steered molecular dynamics (SMD), and metadynamics. The classic molecular dynamics simulations were used to equilibrate the HIV-1 TAR RNA system, as well as every other system studied in this thesis. The SMD technique was used in order to observe the breaking force of the nucleotide interactions within TAR. This breaking force averaged to about 100pN. The metadynamics technique …

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 …

Implementing A Checklist & Hourly Huddles To Increase Situational Awareness During The Second Stage Of Labor-A Perinatal Quality Improvement Project, Kelly Knowles

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Current management of the second stage of labor often follows tradition-based routines rather than evidence-based practices. A lack of situational awareness and tunnel vision can limit medical decision-making. Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network (NNEPQIN) has listed Second Stage Situational Awareness as a priority initiative. Standardized checklists are useful for maintaining situational awareness. Regular debriefings using a standardized tool have been shown to improve communication and team based care, which generally leads to improved patient outcomes. Based on this evidence, developing a standardized checklist including regular hourly care team “huddles” is valuable and could result in improved birth …

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 …