Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding And Promoting Parent-Child Sexual Health Communication, Shannon Phelps

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Parent-child sexual health communication (PCSHC) can have a positive impact on adolescents’ sexual health choices, outcomes, and capabilities for communicating with others about sexual health. Many parents are hesitant and feel unprepared for and uncomfortable with communicating about sexual health with their children. Other parental factors as well as child factors can impact the quality, frequency, coverage, and effectiveness of PCSHC. Some adolescent sexual health outcomes have improved, however, teen birth rates in the United States are elevated compared to other developed countries and half of all sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnoses are made to adolescents and emerging adults. This …

The Economic Impact Of The Seattle Area’S Transportation Infrastructure Expansions And Changes, Meredith Crane

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

This paper uses annual, tract-level data to estimate the economic impact of the Seattle area’s newly operational light rail system and recently implemented toll on a bridge traversing Lake Washington, the large lake immediately east of Seattle that bisects the region. Two modeling approaches are utilized in the estimation of each transit intervention’s economic impact: the primary model allows the transit intervention to affect the designated impact area prior to the system’s operation, under the assumption that individuals will respond to the knowledge of the change and relocate accordingly. The secondary model accounts for an impact from the intervention upon …

The Effect Of A Patient And Provider Education Program On Antibiotic Overuse In Respiratory Tract Infections In A Rural Primary Care Population, Erin Chiswell

DNP Projects

Objective: In the “walk-in” portion of the Jessamine Medical and Diagnostic Center (JMC) primary care (PC) practice in Jessamine County, Kentucky, a combination patient and provider education program was implemented to assess its effects on antibiotic prescribing in respiratory tract infections (RTIs). The goal was to conduct an evaluation of the patient and provider education program at JMC, by specifically examining changes in immediate antibiotic prescribing in RTI (i.e., prescription given during visit to start taking immediately) one-year after implementation of the education program (March 1, 2015- February 28, 2016).

Methods: Utilizing a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design, a retrospective electronic medical …

Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute Annual Technical Report Fy 2016, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

KWRRI Annual Technical Reports (USGS’s 104b Grant Program)

The 2016 Annual Technical Report for Kentucky consolidates reporting requirements for the Section 104(b) base grant award into a single document that includes: 1) a synopsis of each student research enhancement project that was conducted during the period, 2) citations for related publications, reports, and presentations, 3) a description of information transfer activities, 4) a summary of student support during the period, and 5) notable awards and achievements.

No funds were requested for general program administration activities. However, travel funds were provided to support the participation of the director and associate director in the annual meeting of the National Institutes …

The Grass Is Greener On The Other Side: Finding A Remedy For Palestinian Farmers For Harms Created By The Israeli Security Wall, Omar Ghani

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Combating Climate Change In The Indus River Basin, Waseem Ahmad Qureshi

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Global Competence Survey Development, Kathryn Brantley Todd

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The research objective for this dissertation study was to build a preliminary survey that would, in its final form, allow educators and administrators to establish baseline information on individuals’ global competence characteristics prior to instruction, cross-cultural experience, international study or collaboration. A secondary aim concerned length: The intent was to keep the eventual final survey at 15 minutes or less to make it adaptable to a variety of settings. The researcher extracted terms and phrases from existing global competence definitions (e.g., Boix-Mansilla, Jackson, Asia Society & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2011; Hunter, 2005), related literature (e.g., Lambert, 1994), …

The Big "Blue" Nation: Expanding Aquaculture In Kentucky, K. Cassandra Keck

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

No Such State As Palestine: Notions Of Home And The State In Palestinian Relationships With Palestine, Osama A. Abdl-Haleem

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

There is no such state as Palestine. But nearly 70 years after the termination of the British mandate for Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel, Palestine remains a home for the Palestinian. It is an identity not dependent on the existence of a Palestinian state, nor arrested by the presence of an Israeli one. Palestinians have a home relationship with Palestine, where home is a sense of belonging that comes from within, that isn’t earned and given, but personal and chosen, even while it is communal. Home is a self-determined relationship of person to place. The relationships …

Politics Below The Surface: A Political Ecology Of Mineral Rights And Land Tenure Struggles In Appalachia And The Andes, Lindsay Shade

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This dissertation examines how confusion and lack of access to information about subsurface property rights facilitates the rapid acquisition of mineral rights by mining interests, leaving those who live 'above the surface' to contend with complicated corporate and bureaucratic apparatuses. The research focuses on the first proposed state-run large scale mining project in Ecuador, believed to contain copper ores, and on the natural gas hydrofracking industry in three counties in north central West Virginia. Qualitative and visual methods, including mapping, are employed to determine (i.) how the geography of subsurface ownership patterns is changing, (ii.) links between changes in subsurface …

Entrepreneurialism Meets The Sustainable City: The Case Of Lexington’S Town Branch Commons, Thomas E. Grubbs

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Although the idea of the entrepreneurial city is nothing new, recent research in contemporary urban geography and related disciplines indicates that the modus operandi of such entrepreneurial endeavors has shifted, as a result of an increasing recognition and acceptance of global climate change, to include and even prioritize sustainable urban development discourses and practices. While these discourses purportedly culminate in the production of the “sustainable city,” they often fail to deliver upon their promise to create a greener, more sustainable city for all. Such practices, in an effort to help cities obtain an urban sustainability fix (While et al. 2004), …

Cadmium Exposure And Residence-To-Road Proximity In Eastern Kentucky, Ellen Flora

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background and Objectives

Cadmium is a carcinogenic and toxic metal. The general population can be exposed to cadmium from multiple sources. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association of urinary cadmium and residence distance-to-road by performing landscape analyses in eastern Kentucky, a region where smoking prevalence is high, coal production has been a primary industry, and the landscape is predominantly undeveloped. Composite dust samples were also collected and analyzed for Cadmium (Cd), Manganese (Mn), and Zinc (Zn). The primary objective of this study is to ascertain if there is an association between participants with elevated accumulated cadmium …

Natural Resource, Regional Growth, And Human Capital Accumulation, Na Zuo

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

The dissertation research will comprise three essays on the topic of the resource curse hypothesis and its mechanisms. The phenomenon of low economic growth in resource-rich regions is recognized as the “resource curse”. These essays will contribute to an understanding of the regional resource-growth relation within a nation.

Essay one tests the resource curse hypothesis at the U.S. state level. With a system of equations model, I decompose the overall resource effect to account for the two leading explanations — crowding-out and institution effects, thus investigate whether the institutions mediate the crowding-out effects. I did not find evidence of an …

The Effects Of Improved Water And Sanitation Access On Under Five Child Diarrhea In Peru, April Ballard

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Significance: Diseases related to poor or lack of access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene negatively impact health, education, and development worldwide and cause millions of deaths in children each year. Health outcomes associated with lack of access to clean water and sanitation are under-evaluated.

Aim: To assess the effect of improved water and sanitation infrastructure development on child morbidity in Peru by investigating diarrhea in children under five years of age.

Methods: The child, family, and household data from the Peruvian Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) were used to evaluate the association between access to water …

Do Numbers Matter? Comparing Single Homicide Followed By Suicide And Multiple Homicide Followed By Suicide Using The National Violent Death Reporting System, 2003-2012, Courtney Blondino

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Introduction

Homicide-followed-by-suicide or homicide-suicides were examined to understand the dynamics of acting outwardly and inwardly violent in a single incident. The purpose of this study was to identify if specific circumstances had an association with the number of victims per homicidesuicide incident. This study addresses an important public health issue by encouraging an accurate viewpoint of homicide-suicide in order to properly program prevention efforts.

Methods

Using the restricted access data (RAD) from 17 National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) states, we characterized 1904 homicide-suicide incidents through qualitative and quantitative analysis based on victim and suspect demographic information, method of injury, …

Diversity: How Is Aall Doing?, James M. Donovan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This paper describes the possible approaches to encouraging diversity within the workplace that are available to all professional organizations, including the American Association of Law Libraries [AALL]. Part I reviews the basic terms: discrimination, bias, and diversity. Reasons for pursuing diversity in the workplace are discussed in Part II. Two instrumental justifications and one intrinsic rationale reveal the range of motivations behind these projects. Each rationale supports its characteristic form of diversity: reflective, substantive, and cognitive. Because the kind of diversity determines the anticipated outcome, disagreement over progress may be the result of expecting different kinds of diversity. Clarity on …

Examining The Role Of Host Use On Divergence In The Redheaded Pine Sawfly, Neodiprion Lecontei, Across Multiple Spatial Scales, Robin Kimberly Bagley

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Phytophagous insects make up over one quarter of described species on Earth, and this incredible diversity seems directly linked to feeding on plants. Comparative studies of sister groups have shown shifts to herbivory are consistently associated with increased species diversity in insects, but the reasons for this diversification remain unclear. While other explanations, such as decreased extinction rates or influences on population structure, exist, one prominent hypothesis suggests shifts and subsequent adaptation to novel host plants can lead to the evolution of reproductive barriers.

Given their extreme specialization on host plants in the genus Pinus and intimate, life-long association with …

Characterization Of A Large Vertebrate Genome And Homomorphic Sex Chromosomes In The Axolotl, Ambystoma Mexicanum, Melissa Keinath

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Changes in the structure, content and morphology of chromosomes accumulate over evolutionary time and contribute to cell, developmental and organismal biology. The axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is an important model for studying these changes because: 1) it provides important phylogenetic perspective for reconstructing the evolution of vertebrate genomes and amphibian karyotypes, 2) its genome has evolved to a large size (~10X larger than human) but has maintained gene orders, and 3) it possesses potentially young sex chromosomes that have not undergone extensive differentiation in the structure that is typical of many other vertebrate sex chromosomes (e.g. mammalian XY chromosomes …

Interpretation Of The Depositional Environments And Soft-Sediment Deformation In The Upper Tanglewood Member (Upper Ordovician) Of The Lexington Limestone, Central Kentucky, U.S.A., Dibya R. Koirala

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The upper Tanglewood Member is the final member of the Lexington Limestone and is well-known for its soft-sediment deformation. This study has confirmed the carbonate-shoal-complex origin of the unit, and detailed study shows that its development took place during five small-scale, sequence-like, fining-upward cycles related to eustasy and tectonics. Four lithofacies are represented in the unit. Facies analysis of each cycle shows that the thickest and coarsest part of each cycle corresponds to previously uplifted basement-fault blocks; the occurrence of thick, coarse facies on the same fault blocks suggests that the blocks continued to experience uplift due to Taconian far-field …

The Hopes And The Realities Of Aviation In French Indochina, 1919-1940, Gregory Charles Seltzer

Theses and Dissertations--History

My dissertation examines how and why the French employed aviation in the five constituent parts of French Indochina (Annam, Cambodia, Cochinchina, Laos, and Tonkin) during the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. I argue that the French, believing that the modern technology of powered flight possessed seemingly endless potential, saw aviation as a vehicle for extending, consolidating, developing, and protecting their interests both within the colony and around Southeast and East Asia. Aircraft, whether civil or military, were viewed and used as a multi-purpose tool of empire. Indeed, planes were employed for a variety of tasks in Indochina: transportation …

Bluegrass Capital: An Environmental History Of Central Kentucky To 1860, Andrew P. Patrick

Theses and Dissertations--History

This dissertation traces the long-term evolution of the Inner Bluegrass region of central Kentucky with a focus on the period between the first Euro-American incursions into the area and the Civil War era. Utilizing an agroecological perspective that analyzes cultivated landscapes for their ecological features, it explores the ever-shifting mix of cultural and natural influences that shaped the local environment. Most prominently, it reveals the extent to which intertwined strands of capitalism and slavery mingled with biology to produce the celebrated Bluegrass agricultural system.

It begins with an appraisal of the landscape before white men like Daniel Boone arrived, emphasizing …

Geography, Trade, And Macroeconomics, Hao Guo

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

This dissertation studies the effects of external integration and internal liberalization on the economic geography within a country when regions within the country have different access to the world market.

The first paper introduces internal geography into the Melitz (2003) model to examine how external and internal liberalizations affect the economic geography within a country. By dividing a country into a coastal region and an inland region, the model shows that trade leads the coastal region have a higher than proportional share of industry, and causes firms in the coastal region to be larger and more productive than firms in …

Social Determinants Of Health And Disparities In Outcomes Related To Cardiovascular Health In Vulnerable Populations, Jennifer L. Miller

Theses and Dissertations--Nursing

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the mechanism of association between social determinants of health (SDH), particularly limited health literacy, and disparate outcomes related to cardiovascular disease in vulnerable populations. Specific aims were to 1) compare quality of life (QOL), anxiety, and depressive symptoms between genders in implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) recipients; 2) examine the association between multi-morbidity burden and QOL; 3) determine whether health literacy levels independently predict CVD risk in the male prison population; 4) examine the relationship between health literacy and decisiveness regarding end of life (EOL) choices, and 5) examine SDH as predictors of …

A Grounded Theory Study Of Maternal Engagement Of Low Income, Young Rural Mothers In Home-Based, Early Intervention Services, Elaine K. Fehringer

Theses and Dissertations--Rehabilitation Sciences

Home-based, early intervention programs as a preferred delivery model are widely endorsed, heavily funded and highly utilized as prevention and remediation initiatives for families with young children (Eckenrode, et al., 2010; Karoly, Killion, & Cannon, 2005). Of concern, is that while an estimated 40 billion dollars are spent annually between federally funded programs and private foundations, a significant number of families disengage from services before the end of a child’s eligibility period (Stevens, Ammerman, Putnam, Gannon, & van Ginkel, 2005). Several meta-analyses indicate only modest effectiveness of home-based services (Tandon, et al., 2008). It is estimated that well over 500,000 …

Diagnostic Prevalence Of Diabetes Among Older Adults In Rural Appalachia, Gabriella Hodges

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background

The rural, mountainous Appalachian region continuously has poorer health outcomes than the rest of the United States. This is true for many chronic diseases including diabetes: the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. This study assessed differences in the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes between older adults in rural, Appalachian counties and rural, non- Appalachian counties.

Methods

Data for the year 2013 was extracted from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Public Use Files for Medicare beneficiaries (September 2015), which provides county level prevalence for diabetes as well as several other conditions among Medicare fee-for-service …

An Examination Of Nonprofit Lobbying Expenditures, Danielle Middleton

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Nonprofit organizations are characterized by both their programmatic and advocacy activity. Nonprofits are called on not only to provide essential services for many citizens, but also to advocate on the behalf of the issues impacting the populations they serve. An important advocacy activity engaged in by nonprofits is lobbying which is defined as communication directed at a legislative body with the intent to influence a legislative outcome (Raffa, 2000). Nonprofit lobbying is regulated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which ensures that lobbying does not constitute a substantial part of a nonprofit’s budget. Statistics show that few nonprofits report lobbying …

A Study Of Acculturation In Chinese-Mongolian Er’Rentai Folk Opera, Luyin Shao

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Er’rentai, or Mongolian dance and song duets, is a genre of folk opera in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. Er’rentai performances can be categorized into two styles—the “western-style” and the “eastern-style.” The aim of this thesis is to explore the acculturation in Chinese-Mongolian er’rentai genre in the following ways. First, I address the historical background of the western-style er’rentai. Then, I draw on fieldwork with Huo Banzhu, a famous er’rentai musician, to introduce contemporary state of er’rentai's development. Finally, I employ musical analysis to demonstrate the borrowings of Mongolian music and culture in the formation and transmission …

The Search For Consistent Intonation: An Exploration And Guide For Violoncellists, Daniel Hoppe

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This paper provides a system that helps diagnose and address the specific challenge to cellists of intonation in any passage. Learning to play consistently in tune is essential for every cellist. In the over three hundred years of cello history, teachers have tried approaching the topic from a variety of perspectives. While each technique is useful in its own right, there is scant attention to how they work together. Viewing intonation through its component sub-skills is the first step toward integrating existing exercises and paving the way for further advances in pedagogy. The following paper categorizes training techniques according to …

In The Butternut Big Time: Food Hubs, Farmers, And The Development Of Community Agro-Food Economies, Lilian Brislen

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

Food hubs, a new model of values-based agro-food enterprise, are promoted by their advocates as a means to simultaneously improve the livelihoods of small and mid-sized farmers, increase the social and environmental sustainability of the food system, and supply the ever increasing consumer demand for health, local food. Noting the contradictions embedded in the promise of simultaneously generating both social values and economic value, this study explores how goals of promoting positive social, economic, or environmental change are achieved and/or inhibited when implemented though marketbased activities. Through a series of three in-depth case studies of food hubs in the Southeastern …

Genetic Perspectives On Biodiversity In Rocky Mountain Alpine Streams, Scott Hotaling

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

In alpine regions worldwide, climate change is dramatically altering ecosystems, affecting biodiversity across habitats and taxonomic scales. For streams, the associated recession of mountain glaciers and snowfields, paired with altered precipitation regimes, are driving shifts in hydrology, species distributions, and basal resources – often threatening the very existence of some habitats and biota. Globally, alpine streams harbor particularly substantial species and genetic diversity due to significant habitat insularity and environmental heterogeneity: however, anthropogenic warming threatens to homogenize habitats through the reduction of the cryosphere, thereby reducing biodiversity from micro- to macroscopic organisms and genes to communities. Still, alpine stream biodiversity, …