Digital Commons Network^™

International Students’ Adjustment Challenges In The United States: A Case Study Of West Virginia University, Lawrencia Baaba Okai

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

International students face challenges as they endeavor to study abroad ranging from host government policies to the host country’s attitudes vis-à-vis foreign students and immigration. In some instances, they also face obstacles leaving their country of origin. The United States is the largest destination country with 24% of all international students worldwide, followed by the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and Germany. In the United States, international students make up about 6% of all college students. They make significant contributions to the United States economy and bring several benefits, particularly to federal and state governments. They contribute to the federal government’s …

Neuromechanical Tuning For Arm Motor Control, Russell Lee Hardesty Jr

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Movement is a fundamental behavior that allows us to interact with the external world. Its importance to human health is most evident when it becomes impaired due to disease or injury. Physical and occupational rehabilitation remains the most common treatment for these types of disorders. Although therapeutic interventions may improve motor function, residual deficits are common for many pathologies, such as stroke. The development of novel therapeutics is dependent upon a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms that govern movement. Movement of the human body adheres to the principles of classic Newtonian mechanics. However, due to the inherent complexity of …

Toward An Understanding Of The Professional Work Of Ncaa Division I Soccer Coaches, Lynda Ellen Bowers

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Very little is known about the professional work of NCAA Division I (DI) coaches, which poses challenges for coach educators to create relevant professional development opportunities for coaches in this context. The present study looked at the full scope of work of NCAA DI FBS head women’s soccer coaches. The aim of this project was to explore the coaches’ perspectives of their jobs to improve our understanding of the contextual nuances of working in a DI environment. In this qualitative study, four participants were interviewed in-person utilizing a vignette-style, semi-structured interview guide. Data were analyzed using an interpretivist- constructivist approach …

Relating Sonic Velocities, Minimum Horizontal Stress, And Natural Fracture Distribution To Stimulation Efficiency During Completion Of The Marcellus Shale Mip-3h Unconventional Well, West Virginia, Usa, Kaitlin Gayle Evans

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Log data from the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory (MSEEL) was acquired along the lateral of the MIP-3H well. This unconventional shale-gas well was completed within the Marcellus Shale just above the Cherry Valley Limestone, a thin limestone member separating organic rich units of the Marcellus. The geomechanical moduli, Poisson’s Ratio (PR) and Young’s Modulus (YME), were generated using compressional and shear sonic logs to indicate zones of increasing brittleness for each of the 28 stages along the 6124 ft. (1867m) horizontal lateral. Brittle reservoir rock is more readily fractured during hydraulic stimulation than more malleable rock. Stages with …

Semi Analytical Approach For Binary Mixture Conductivity In Hydraulic Fracturing, Vuong V. Pham

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In hydraulic fracturing, a proppant injection schedule practice typically applies a binary proppant mixture (for example: 100 Mesh sand following by 40/70 Mesh sand in well MIP-3H, Marcellus Shale). The former injection agent is finer in size or less resistant to stress, whereas the latter injection agent is coarser in size or more resistant to stress. This practice creates a special region inside the fracture, in which two injected proppant types co-exist and is defined as the mixture zone. This research concentrates on the variability of the mixture zone under impact of different factors, introduces novel semi-analytical modelling approach to …

Utilization Of A Numerical Reservoir Simulation With Water And Gas Injection For Verification Of Top Down Modeling, Ashley Konya

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The primary purpose of this thesis was to confirm the capabilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning through Top Down Modeling in history matching and predicting the oil, gas, and water production rates, reservoir pressure, and water saturation, of one limb of an anticline with water and gas injection. Several other characteristics were also applied to make the model more realistic to industry standards. The second purpose of this thesis was to determine the minimum amount of training and calibration data required in order to obtain good results for this particular dataset by increasing the blind validation in one year …

Creating A Community-Based Protocol To Prevent Unintended Pregnancy In Homeless Women In Monongalia County, West Virginia, Jessica Eva Wukasch

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: At any given time, 10% of homeless women are pregnant, about twice the rate of all U.S. women of reproductive age (5%) (Healthcare for the Homeless, 2001). According to Healthcare for the Homeless Council ([HHC], 2012), approximately “73% of pregnancies among homeless women were unintended at the time of conception.” In addition, “about 12% of homeless children are placed in foster care compared to 1% of other children” (HHC, 2012). There is an evident need to address unintended pregnancy among homeless women.

Objective: The overall objective was to create an accessible and useful community-based protocol to reduce the rate …

Assess The Performance Against Ets And Pm1 And Evaluate The Users’ Experiences Of Comfort Of Nasal Filters, Ibrahim Almuhaidib

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Many cities around the world experience severe air pollution. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 7 million people die annually from exposure to small airborne Particulate Matter (PM) that is found in atmospheric pollution. Particulate matter in atmospheric pollution is one of six classifications of common air pollutants and is typically referred to as PM₁ and PM_2.5. Particulates designated as PM₁ and PM_2.5 refer to particles having aerodynamic diameters of 1 or 2.5 micrometer (µm), respectively. These size ranges of particles are the most commonly found in air pollution. It is hard to differentiate …

Clincial Translational Science Research Of The Functional Role Of Large Conductance Potassium Channels In Selective Destruction Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Gina Sizemore

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

ABSTRACT

The preliminary background that puts this research into context is threefold; it is the aggressive nature of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), the complexity surrounding its pathology, and the significant lack of targeted treatment for this disease. To clarify the focus of my research, I have concentrated on identifying a targeted treatment for TNBC. In the process, I have identified cycles of reciprocity between treatment, clinical diagnosis, staging, and pathology that will be addressed in smaller papers. However, the weight of this work is in the discovery of a novel target for triple negative breast cancer. The value of …

Health Outcomes Associated With Gulf War Illness, Shannon K. Barth

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background:

Nearlythirty years after the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War a definitive case definition for Gulf War Illness (GWI) is lacking. The objective is to explore health outcomes associated with GWI using currently accepted classifications in order to better understand GWI by examining pre-war medical conditions as predictors of probable GWI, mortality outcomes of veterans with probable GWI, and female-specific medical conditions among women with probable GWI. Additionally, we utilize an alternative GWI case definition.

Methods:

Data come from theDepartment of Veterans Affairs (VA)1995-1997 National Health Survey of Persian Gulf War Era Veterans, a population-based survey of deployed …

Production Allocation Of Reservoir Layers Using Data-Driven Reservoir Modeling, Semaa Alessa

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The pros of having a commingled layer scheme would be considered high with successful reservoir management. If not, the cons will impact the production drastically as unfortunate consequences may result in reservoir fluids communication, well integrity issues, and production termination. Although the plane requires optimizing production with minimal capital investments and operating expenses, it is an enormous challenge considering commingled layers frequent surveillance and workover requirements.

As the value of information is a decision tool for the surveillance frequency, the oil industry often uses static assumptions as an economical replacement of dynamic measurements such as KH static modeling. However, the …

The Effects Of Internal Physiology On Polyphenic Horn Development In The Dung Beetle Onthophagus Taurus, Naomi Garrett Williamson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

An organism’s phenotype can be affected in development by alterations to gene expression based on environmental inputs. Nutrition is one such environmental input and the central regulator of development of large horn or small horn phenotypes in the dung beetle species, Onthophagus taurus. However, little is known about the nature of chemical compounds that are critical to this plastic horn development. To better understand these compounds, we are utilizing an untargeted metabolomic approach as well as a targeted gene approach. Through the metabolomic approach, it was uncovered that environmental conditions tend to have a greater impact on metabolomic composition …

Asthma-Copd Overlap: Economic Burden And Medication Adherence, Mona Nili

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In many older adults, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) coexist as “Asthma-COPD overlap” (ACO). This dissertation pursued three Aims: 1) estimate the economic burden of ACO and its contributory factors; 2) evaluate the association of ACO to “cost-related medication nonadherence” (CRN); and 3) identify adherence trajectory patterns and examine the impact of initial maintenance therapies (IMT) type (inhaled corticosteroids monotherapy (ICS) vs. fixed-dose combination of ICS and long-acting beta agonist (ICS/LABA)) on adherence trajectory patterns among older adults Medicare Beneficiaries. The first and second Aims were cross-sectional studies by using Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data. For the third …

Making Implementation Last: Understanding The Sustainability Of An Evidence-Based Treatment, Carrie Beth Jackson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Although advances have been made in facilitating the implementation of evidence-based treatments, little is known about the most effective way to sustain their use over long periods of time. Prior systematic reviews and research have suggested that organizational characteristics and training methods may be strategies that support sustainability, yet this has remained relatively unstudied in the field of behavioral health. The current study examined the sustainability of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy following a statewide implementation trial testing three training methods. Participants included 100 clinicians and 50 administrators from 50 organizations across Pennsylvania. Multi-level path analysis was utilized to examine the role …

Exploring Aspects Of Science Literacy Demonstrated By Early Undergraduate Stem Majors Through A Manuscript-Style Writing Assignment, Samantha Lynn Jusino

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Over the past twenty years, scientific literacy amongst undergraduates has not improved despite their exposure to higher education science classes. Underlying mechanisms of science literacy development are poorly understood; however, exposure to authentic practices in science has been demonstrated as a means to fostering science literacy development. A unique approach to studying science literacy is through examining the three domains of the science literacy conceptual framework developed in this study, Science as Access, Science as Process, and Science as a Sociopolitical Factor and their components as they emerge through the process of writing a manuscript-style writing assignment. In …

The Impact Of The Global Financial Crisis On Visitation To The Monongahela National Forest: An Activity-Based Segmentation Approach, Connor Braxton Akers

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Research on recreational use market segments and trends are essential for determining how tourism businesses can better meet the needs of their customers and find new target markets especially during challenging times. The purpose of this study is to determine how recreation participation has changed over five years on the Monongahela National Forest following the world financial crisis in 2008. Data used for this research were collected with the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) surveys in fiscal years 2009 and 2014. NVUM surveys are onsite interviews conducted at the end of a visit. The surveys produce descriptive information about visitors. …

Light And Shadow In Kaija Saariaho's Maan Varjot, Benjamin M. Cornelius-Bates

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Kaija Saariaho’s work Maan Varjot is a relatively new addition to a set of repertoire that includes the organ as a part of the orchestra. This commission from the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre National de Lyon, Southbank Centre, and the Philharmonia Orchestra, was premiered in 2014 and features the organ as a timbral enhancement and contrast to the orchestra. The 52nd Stanza from the poem Adonais, written by Percy Shelley and dedicated to John Keats, provide an important insight into the analysis and interpretation of the work. Two lines in particular are important: “The One remains, the many change …

It’S All Fun And Games Until Somebody Dies: Grief, Mortality Salience, And Coping In Meaningful Permadeath, Mckay Steven West

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Because part of the enjoyment of video game experiences is rooted in their ability to afford players to fail but still reattempt gameplay with relatively little consequence, the appeal of playing games with permadeath seems paradoxical. This dissertation proposed that players’ motivations for playing these games with permadeath stem from an enhanced sense of appreciation garnered by players through the meaningfulness of permanent character death, rather than just through simple, hedonic enjoyment. Enhanced appreciation was expected to arise from permadeath through the grief players experienced toward the loss of their characters and through their contemplation of their own mortality. Grief …

Women Veterans’ Descriptions Of The Patient-Provider Interaction With Civilian Providers, Billie S. Vance

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

BACKGROUND: Women veterans require care for unique gender, and war-related health issues. Concerns exist regarding non-Veterans Health Administration (VHA), civilian healthcare providers’ preparedness to deliver care to the veteran population. Health outcomes are influenced by the quality of care provided to patients. There is a significant gap in the literature with regard to woman veterans’ perspectives about the quality of the patient-provider interaction between women veterans and non-VHA, civilian providers.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe women veterans’ perspectives about interactions between themselves and civilian providers and to critically analyze the veterans’ data to further inform the …

Effects Of Commission Errors During Noncontingent Reinforcement, Stephanie Hope Jones

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) is a behavioral treatment in which a reinforcer is provided at set intervals independently of responding. Although NCR is commonly used, effects of inconsistent implementation (i.e., implementation with integrity failures) during NCR were previously unknown. The current study included six participants, but full-integrity NCR suppressed problem behavior for only three participants. Thus, we evaluated effects of one kind of integrity failure, reinforcement of problem behavior, on NCR outcomes for three children who engaged in inappropriate vocalizations maintained by access to tangible items. Effects of commission errors were idiosyncratic across participants.

Mnemonic Discrimination And Social Anxiety: The Role Of State Anxiety, Gabriella T. Ponzini

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST) measures mnemonic discrimination, or the ability to correctly identify new stimuli from highly similar, old stimuli. Neuroscientific and theoretical suppositions suggest that poor mnemonic discrimination may represent a potential risk or maintenance factor for anxious individuals. However, state affect appears to moderate the relation between mnemonic discrimination abilities and trait anxiety. The current study aimed to elucidate the nascent research on mnemonic discrimination and anxiety by evaluating the MST in a specific subtype of anxiety (i.e., social anxiety) and utilizing a clinically relevant stressor task (i.e., knowledge of a future speech). Participants (N = …

Evaluation Of The Impact Of An Educational Intervention Aimed At Improving Tuberculosis Infection Control Knowledge Among Health Care Workers In A Military Treatment Facility: A Quality Improvement Project, Allen C. Potter

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Florida (FL) is one of the top five states in the nation for Tuberculosis (TB) infections. A majority of new infections can be found in the minority populations which represents 78% of all TB infections in the state. A combination of TB rates in FL, Orlando located 60 miles away and a transient population who frequently deploys worldwide to austere locations may result in an increased risk of acquiring TB. Literature suggests Health Care Providers (HCPs) obtain training regarding TB Infection Control (TB-IC). The Patrick AFB Military Treatment Facility (MTF) lacked a TB Infection Control (TB-IC) plan. Objective: The …

Interoperability Of Ip-Based Cameras, Faythe C. Maston

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this day and age of advancing technology and increasing crime, more and more citizens are investing in technology to increase their personal security. One such technology is the use of home-based IP security systems. These systems are comprised of one or more IP-based security cameras with owners preferring to have a way to view all camera feeds at once. Since not all security cameras are made to interact with each other, it is necessary to find a program that allows a user to view all security cameras at once, regardless of what brand of cameras they use. After researching, …

Perceptions Of Asian American Representation In Entertainment Media, Lydia Susan Owens

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The rise of Asian American representation in entertainment media has brought new questions to the current perceptions of Asian Americans in American culture. Where whitewashing of roles or stereotypes of the Model Minority were once portrayed frequently in the past, there are now more diverse stories being shown. When representational images are being shown in entertainment media, there is need for a media literacy lens to critically analyze these images. With this rise in Asian American representation, what are current perceptions of Asian Americans in American culture and American entertainment media? What are current levels of media literacy? This study …

Evaluation Of The Care And Communication Bundle To Improve Palliative Care In Intensive Care Units, Angela Susan Bohon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Review of local data and concerns from nursing staff revealed the need to improve palliative care in a local, community hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU). This effort was mobilized by implementing the Care and Communication Bundle within evidence-based time frames, into this local, community ICU, using Lewin’s Change theory as a guide for implementation. The Care and Communication Bundle is a grouping of nine palliative, quality measures found to improve palliative care in the ICU. A pre/post-educational intervention evaluated if the implementation of the Care and Communication Bundle in the ICU improved palliative care by reviewing the documentation of the …

Comparison Of Skeletal And Dentoalveolar Changes Between Two Bone-Borne Maxillary Expanders, Mohamad Sarraj

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Introduction: Bone-borne maxillary expander (BBME) are designed to provide additional anchorage to widen the maxillary arch for patients who exhibit maxillary transverse deficiency. One form of BBME is the hybrid BBME which uses mini-implants (bone-borne) and posterior teeth (tooth-borne) as anchorage for maxillary expansion. The other form of BBME is absolute BBME which only uses mini-implants as anchorage. It is not clear in the literature if there is a difference in skeletal and dental changes with these two types of expanders. The objective of this study was to compare the skeletal, dentoalveolar, and periodontal changes between the hybrid and the …

Multimorbidity, Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Use, And Healthcare Expenditures Among Older Patients With Late-Stage Melanoma, Pragya Rai

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With decades of unchanged cancer care with no added survival benefit, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) changed the treatment landscape of late-stage melanoma in 2011. A key factor in determining the use of ICIs is the presence of pre-existing chronic conditions, which can influence the outcome. However, the prevalence of multimorbidity (defined as presence of two or more chronic conditions) among older patients with late-stage melanoma remains unknown. It also remains unknown if the presence of multimorbidity factors into the use of ICIs. Hospital-related factors associated with ICI use have been studied. Yet, patient-level factors, such as age, sex, marital status, …

The Importance Of Mindfulness And Self-Compassion In Clinical Training: Outcomes Related To Self-Assessed Competency And Self-Efficacy In Psychologists-In-Training, Chelsea Latorre

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The release of the APA (2011) Revised Competency Benchmarks used for evaluation of doctoral-level psychology trainees calls for literature to examine competencies in this population with use of appropriate instrumentation. The recent publication and validation of the Professional Competencies Scale-Revised (Taylor, 2015) allows for researchers to explore factors associated with trainee competencies as it relates to the benchmark system. Previous literature suggests a strong relationship between counselor self-efficacy and professional competency (e.g., Constantine, 2002), suggesting that interventions that can foster these constructs may lead to enhanced counseling performance. This study examined the predictive value of mindfulness and self-compassion for self-assessed …

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of Crime Incidents For Forensic Investigation, Jamie Spencer Spaulding

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Crime analysis and mapping has been routinely employed to gather intelligence which informs security efforts and forensic investigations. Traditionally, geographic information systems in the form of third-party mapping applications are used for analysis of crime data but are often expensive and lack flexibility, transparency, or efficiency in uncovering associations and relationships in crime. Each crime incident and article of evidence within that incident has an associated spatial and temporal component which may yield significant and relevant information to the case. Wide variations exist in the techniques that departments use and commonly spatial and temporal components of crime are evaluated independently, …

Quality Improvement Of Substance Misuse Screening Of Older Adults In Primary Care Using Evidence-Based Training, Kelly Lopez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background

The largest increase in preventable overdose deaths from 1999-2017 occurred among adults 50 and older, yet substance misuse among older adults is often not screened for or recognized in primary care settings. This oversight has been attributed to many factors, including age-related biases, unrecognized psychosocial and physiological differences, stigmatization, and a rapidly growing geriatric population.

Objectives

A quality improvement program using evidence-based educational training was implemented in a primary care setting with the intention to expand care knowledge and ultimately improve screening practices of older adults, especially those suffering from substance misuse.

Design

This quality improvement (QI) project used …