Digital Commons Network^™

2020-04-17_Michiganoverview_Covidsymptoms, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Syndromic Surveillance System Data

The Syndromic Surveillance System Data report was obtained from Michigan's COVID-19 dashboard, from under the link "​Coronavirus Symptoms": https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus. Data was compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The information was updated daily.

Syndromic Surveillance System data is obtained from approximately 183 facilities participating in syndromic surveillance (132 Emergency Departments (ED), 51 Urgent Cares) across the State of Michigan. The reporting is based on individuals who present at EDs and may not be representative of the overall population. The coronavirus-like symptoms query searches visit free-text (chief complaint, triage notes, and clinical impression) for fever or …

The Rhetorical Functions Of Levantine Burial Practices During The Chalcolithic Period: Form, Function, And Symbolism As A Pedagogical Tool, Moline Mallamo

Honors Theses

This undergraduate honors thesis project explores the rhetorical implications of burial practices from the southern Levant during the Chalcolithic period. The purpose of this thesis is to expound upon research that has already been conducted in order to offer additional, and sometimes alternative, theories to what currently exists in the literature. I argue that the forms and functions of the burial techniques were used, at least partially, as “tools” to teach cultural and religious beliefs regarding life, death, and the afterlife to the individuals in the community. The inferred relationship between the materiality and symbology of these burial practices provides …

Understanding Individual Color Perceptions Within Print And Digital Media, Morgan Haskins

Honors Theses

Color is a subjective attribute that is seen differently by each individual and this research is intended to build upon the subjective nature of color perceptions. This research aims to determine the effect of subjectivity on print and digital design and of extended gamut printing and effective color management on color perception. The significance of understanding color perception is directly applicable to consumer perception of designs using color. If designers want their brand to be immediately recognized and be positively accepted, they must be able to accurately reproduce their brand colors with little to no color difference and be able …

Social Media As Occupation: Implications For Occupational Therapy Practice, Sheryl Eckberg Zylstra, Kimberly Erler, Wendell Nakamura, Brenda Kennell

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

No abstract provided.

Examining Occupational Therapy Students’ Responses To Integrative Seminars, Robyn Wu, Chi-Kwan Shea

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The integrative seminar is an innovative teaching-learning approach that focuses on active learning and peer collaboration, characteristics that align with millennial learners’ preferences. The use of integrative seminars has been reported by various health professions with positive outcomes. Course feedback survey data from the first cohort of occupational therapy students who participated in a new four-course integrative seminar series were analyzed. Findings suggest that the format of the courses was engaging for the learners. The students particularly valued the small class; the opportunities for peer collaboration; and the variety of active learning opportunities, including simulations. The students also indicated that …

Development Of The Occupational Performance Inventory Of Sexuality And Intimacy (Opisi): Phase One, Beth Ann Walker, Kasey Otte, Kelsey Lemond, Pamela Hess, Kandyse Kaizer, Tori Faulkner, Davis Christy

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: The occupational therapy profession needs a framework to guide understanding of the occupational nature of sexuality and intimacy, assessment, intervention design, and measurement of outcomes. This study aimed to define the occupational nature of sexuality and intimacy and develop a theoretical and occupation-based screen, in-depth self-assessment, and performance measure.

Method: The Occupational Performance Inventory of Sexuality and Intimacy (OPISI) was developed following DeVellis’s (2017) guidelines for scale development that involved mapping the construct, generating an item pool, determining the format for measurement, and reviewing the initial item pool.

Results: The Occupational Therapy Sexual Assessment Framework (OTSAF) was developed to …

Pilot Study Of The Just Right Challenge Feeding Protocol For Treatment Of Food Selectivity In Children, Michelle A. Suarez, Elsie Bush

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background. This pilot study investigated the Just Right Challenge Feeding Protocol, a multicomponent treatment protocol for food selectivity that combines escape extinction, positive reinforcement, and systematic desensitization.

Method. This study used a single-subject, multiple-baseline-across-participants design to investigate whether treatment produced increases in the food inventories for seven children. All of the children in the study started with parent report of fewer than 15 foods in their dietary repertoire. A sensory profile for each child provided information for treatment planning and interpretation of the results of the study.

Results. Five out of the seven children accepted significantly more …

A Survey Of Occupational Therapy Services Provided For Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Alisha Ohl, David Schelly, Dustin Brown, Nette Schulze, Maria Smith, Beth Davies

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: We examined the services provided to adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by occupational therapists across the United States.

Method: This cross-sectional study used an online survey, with a combination of structured and open-ended questions, to collect data from a nonprobability sample. Descriptive, inferential, and nonparametric statistics were used to analyze data.

Results: In our sample (N= 57), the majority of the participants spent less than half of their workweek intervening with the adult ASD population. Caregivers were instrumental in both referral and discharge, and Medicaid was the most common payer source. The Adult …

Exploring How Older People Living At Home Alone Occupy Their Time – A Time-Geographic Study, Alison Wicks, Megan Blanchard, Ingeborg Nilsson

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Knowing what older people choose to do with their time informs occupational therapists in their everyday practice. This study explored how sixteen older Australians living at home alone without support occupied their time.

Method: People aged 70 years and older living alone in one’s home and receiving no support services were voluntary recruited. The participants completed time-use diaries for 5 days and recorded how, with whom, and where they spent time. Data were coded and analyzed using the software program Vardagen.

Results: The participants reported 217 different daily activities. While patterns of daily participation varied, all …

How To Be A Good Peer Reviewer, Diane Powers Dirette

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

No abstract provided.

2020-04-15_Michiganoverview_Covidsymptoms, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Syndromic Surveillance System Data

The Syndromic Surveillance System Data report was obtained from Michigan's COVID-19 dashboard, from under the link "​Coronavirus Symptoms": https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus. Data was compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The information was updated daily.

Syndromic Surveillance System data is obtained from approximately 183 facilities participating in syndromic surveillance (132 Emergency Departments (ED), 51 Urgent Cares) across the State of Michigan. The reporting is based on individuals who present at EDs and may not be representative of the overall population. The coronavirus-like symptoms query searches visit free-text (chief complaint, triage notes, and clinical impression) for fever or …

The Effects Of Ai On Children’S Use Of Politeness, Pooja Mandagere

Honors Theses

This project is a study of the influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on children’s politeness by providing positive reinforcement for good verbal behavior. How children communicate with artificial intelligence is identified. There is an observation as to how positive reinforcement will influence their behavior. The survey administered before and after the introduction of the Google Nest Hub into the homes of participating families (pre-intervention survey and post-intervention survey) is included in this document. There was an observation period during which the Google Nest Hub recorded queries made by the child participant within each of those families. These records were used …

Biological Evaluation Of Fda-Approved Drugs As Mirna-31 Inhibitors Using Real Time Qrt-Pcr And A Luciferase Assay, Nicholas Sienkiewicz

Honors Theses

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of post-transcriptional, negative regulators of gene expression, consisting of ~19-24 nucleotides. Since their discovery in 1993, miRNAs have been found to be involved in a diverse amount of cellular and disease pathways, including certain types of cancer. Overexpression of certain oncogenic miRNAs, including miRNA-31, have been shown to play a role in cancer cell development. Recent findings have suggested that miRNAs play a significant role in every stage of colorectal cancer (CRC) initiation, progression, and development, as well as induce resistance to chemotherapy drugs like 5-FU. In particular, research has shown that increased levels of …

Worldwide Wonder: The Positive Impact Of Academic Travel On The Education Major A Scholarly Personal Narrative, Katherine Rutherford

Honors Theses

This article examines the implications of study abroad specifically on those studying education. The article utilizes research to support its central focus of a personal narrative regarding the author’s experiences studying abroad in various countries. The countries that are examined in this article are the United Kingdom, Japan, Russia, and Ireland. This piece delves into how study abroad has an impact on the education major specifically.

Beginning with examining the research on the topic of study abroad and how partaking in study abroad has impacted undergraduate students, this piece dives into lessons that can be learned from various study abroad …

66th Conference On Senior Engineering Design, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

Senior Engineering Design Conference

The 66th Conference on Senior Engineering Design Projects. The conference will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 14, 2020 at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences on the Parkview Campus of Western Michigan University. The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences sponsors the conference to showcase the work of its graduating seniors, who are required to complete a capstone project that puts into practice what they have learned. Many of the projects are sponsored by business and industry.

Sunseeker Display And Driver Controller, Alec Kwapis

Honors Theses

Digital dashboard displays with critical driver information are found in all modern vehicles. Examples of such information available to the driver include a speedometer, odometer, engine RPM, fuel gauge and more. The current 2016 Sunseeker solar car already has numerous displays that can show critical information to the driver, however, there are several problems that exist. Each display itself is less than two inches in size, the text on the screens is difficult to read, and the measurements have no units. Furthermore, these displays were made by a company that no longer exists, thus preventing the solar car team from …

Aerodynamics Of Wind Loading On Buildings, Kayla Burch

Honors Theses

A three-dimensional model of a one-story residential home, with an emphasis on the roof style and structure, was modeled using CATIA and then built and tested in the wind tunnel at Western Michigan University. The wind tunnel allowed an airflow over different style roofs to be tested at 100 mile per hour winds, strengths typical for hurricanes and other natural phenomena. The measured results show the lift and drag, along with the pressure gradient and the skin friction over the roofs. The effect of these aerodynamic characteristics of the building due to adding solar panel prototypes were also evaluated. The …

Understanding Stem Instructors’ Experiences With And Perceptions Of Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Students: The First Step Towards Increasing Access And Inclusivity, Makayla Long

Honors Theses

Through an anonymous survey we analyzed Western Michigan University (WMU) STEM instructors’ experience with and understanding of teaching and interacting with Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) students. The goal of this study was to capture the experiences of WMU STEM instructors and the resources available to them given their direct impact on Deaf/HoH students’ ability to succeed and receive a post-secondary education. The findings of this study support the claim that instructors are not well supported or aware of the needs of Deaf/HoH students, and do not have access to adequate resources to resolve the issue.

The first steps …

Sunseeker Solar Car Display And Driver Unit, Conner Mccarthy

Honors Theses

Digital dashboard displays with critical driver information are found in all modern vehicles. Examples of such information available to the driver include a speedometer, odometer, engine RPM, fuel gauge and more. The current 2016 Sunseeker solar car already has numerous displays that can show critical information to the driver, however, there are several problems that exist. Each display itself is less than two inches in size, the text on the screens is difficult to read, and the measurements have no units. Furthermore, these displays were made by a company that no longer exists, thus preventing the solar car team from …

Self-Disclosure Of Stuttering To Various Social Referent Groups And Its Relationships With Psychological Distress, Katrina Rourke

Honors Theses

Purpose: Research has shown that there are benefits associated with verbal disclosure of stuttering. However, most of the existing literature on stuttering disclosure has focused on how it affects listener perceptions of people who stutter, and little is known about speaker-focused outcomes of verbal stuttering disclosure. The purpose of the current study was to investigate who people who stutter verbally disclose to (e.g. friends, co-workers, neighbors) and if relationships between extent of disclosure and distress vary depending on the confidant’s social referent group. The seven social referent groups of focus were family, friends, romantic partners, people in the workplace, healthcare …

Gender And Socioeconomic Disparities In Iatrogenic In-Hospital Torsades De Points, Bradley Reinoehl

Honors Theses

It has been well established for decades that women are at increased risk for torsades de pointes (TdP). Additionally, it has been well documented that patients of lower socioeconomic status (SES) tend to have inferior health outcomes compared to other patient populations. In this study we investigate the incidence of iatrogenic in-hospital TdP among these two demographic groups. Iatrogenic in-hospital TdP is a complex combination of medical issues and including danger from QT prolonging medications. In theory, a combination of identifiable, demographic risk factors coupled with specific clinical settings could be used to identify patients at high risk for iatrogenic …

2020-04-13_Michiganoverview_Covidsymptoms, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Syndromic Surveillance System Data

The Syndromic Surveillance System Data report was obtained from Michigan's COVID-19 dashboard, from under the link "​Coronavirus Symptoms": https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus. Data was compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The information was updated daily.

Syndromic Surveillance System data is obtained from approximately 183 facilities participating in syndromic surveillance (132 Emergency Departments (ED), 51 Urgent Cares) across the State of Michigan. The reporting is based on individuals who present at EDs and may not be representative of the overall population. The coronavirus-like symptoms query searches visit free-text (chief complaint, triage notes, and clinical impression) for fever or …

A Comparison Study Of Naming, Kassidi Krzykwa

Honors Theses

Bidirectional naming is the ability to acquire a listener response or tact for a stimulus and then emit the other operant without further training. Incidental naming refers to the ability to emit the listener response and tact for the item without direct reinforcement after just being exposed to the name of the item. The development of naming could allow a child to learn more readily from the natural environment. However, it is unclear if bidirectional naming and incidental naming are two separate skills, or if one is potentially a prerequisite for the other. For this project, procedures outlined by Greer …

Stimulus Fading On Teaching Receptive Identification, Dennis Pomorski

Honors Theses

Many of the skills needed to live happily and independently are not in the repertoires of children diagnosed with autism, and they do not learn these skills through exposure to others (MacDuff, 2001). One of the skills children diagnosed with ASD struggle to develop is receptive identification. There is often a risk of prompt dependence or failure to transfer stimulus control to the desired stimuli when using LTM prompting methods. Children with autism spectrum disorder may require a different approach in developing a receptive language repertoire. The purpose of this study was to teach a child diagnosed with ASD receptive …

Effects Of Maternal Chemotherapy On Fetal And Childhood Development, Payton May

Honors Theses

The diagnosis of cancer during pregnancy is uncommon. It is estimated that only 3,500 cases of cancer during pregnancy are diagnosed each year, which correlates to one case per 1,000 pregnancies (Pavlidis, 2000). The management of cancer during pregnancy is complex since it involves both the expecting mother and the fetus. Although there are several treatment options available, they are commonly aggressive. The diagnosis of cancer during pregnancy can create dilemmas for patients and health care providers. Pregnant women may be hesitant to receive cancer treatment due to the potential effects it may have on their developing fetus. On the …

Prevalence Of Sexual Harassment Among Nursing Students, Emily M. Johnson

Honors Theses

Objective

The purpose of this presentation is to exhibit the synthesis of research on the prevalence of sexual harassment against nursing students in clinical and academic settings. This presentation will also address research findings on to the effectiveness of programs to combat this problem.

Data Sources

Gather data from the databases CINAHL, ClinicalKey, PubMed, OVID and Scopus using the search terms “sexual harassment in nurs*”, “patient initiated sexual harassment”, “sexual harassment healthcare workers”, and “sexual harassment healthcare environment”.

Data Extraction

Inclusion criteria: published between the years 2009 -2019, primary research, nursing students as participants, sexual harassment experiences, harassment occurrences inside …

Teaching Echoics To A Student With Autism: Video Model Vs Live Model, Dana Waddell

Honors Theses

Learning a language is not always an easy task for all children. Typically, language is a skill that comes naturally very young in a child’s life, but for children with autism, the path to learning language is very different. The first stages of learning language involve many skills, one of which are called “echoic skills,” because the child directly echoes a sound a person elicits. This is fundamental to learning language, especially in children with autism. The field of behavior analysis has conducted great amounts of research on this topic and has found that using technology in therapy sessions can …

Matching-To-Sample Using A Tablet, Karina Salazar-Ponce

Honors Theses

Kids with autism tend to have a difficult time with one-to-one correspondence matching. Matching-to-sample is the process of pairing an identical stimulus to its corresponding stimulus, for example, matching a physical object to its corresponding picture. This is an important skill because it is the first step in teaching individuals with developmental delays visual discrimination skills and generalization of matching. The use of technology is beneficial because it helps with attending in instructional learning. Technology is also becoming more advanced and is being used more in classrooms. The purpose of this study was to teach matching-to-sample using a tablet. There …

Increasing The Echoic Repertoire Of A Child With Autism Using An Imitation And Echoic Sequence, Rose Bridges

Honors Theses

A prerequisite to many things in life is the ability to communicate. Although this may mean many different things, such as verbal language, sign language, written language, and even icons, there must be some form of communication that may be utilized to get needs across. Many young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are non-verbal, however there are also many children with ASD who have the ability to say words but are still not independently speaking. Reinforcing approximations to word sounds has been previously used as an effective way of increasing the child’s verbal repertoire (Shane, 2017). The present study …

Using A Progressive Time Delay To Increase Mands In A Child With Autism, Brielle Babcock

Honors Theses

Mands are a building block for all communication and are therefore important to teach to individuals who do not consistently use mands. Skinner defined a mand as a “verbal operant in which the response is reinforced by a characteristic consequence and is under the control of relevant conditions of deprivation or aversive stimulation” (Hall & Sundberg 1987). By providing individuals with a way to express their desires and needs, individuals display less problem behaviors. A functional form of communication is imperative to typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorders alike. The goal of the current study was to …