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Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

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A Poultry Litter Marker Gene Correlates With Pathogen And Indicator Bacteria Deposition On, Growth In And Transport From Poultry Bedding, Kameswari Sirisha Mantha Jan 2014

A Poultry Litter Marker Gene Correlates With Pathogen And Indicator Bacteria Deposition On, Growth In And Transport From Poultry Bedding, Kameswari Sirisha Mantha

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Poultry is one of the major contributors of inputs to U.S. environmental waters due to the large number of poultry grown per year in the U.S. and litter disposal practices. Two studies were conducted during this research: (1) to determine the temporal rate of deposition and growth or decay of microorganisms in poultry litter originating from poultry feces and (2) the release and transport of poultry litter associated microorganisms from soiled poultry litter applied as fertilizer through soil columns under simulated rainfall. First, deposition studies were conducted to evaluate the deposition rate of microorganisms on poultry bedding during the growth …


Clinical Practice Guideline For Venous Thromboembolism, Angela Miller Jan 2014

Clinical Practice Guideline For Venous Thromboembolism, Angela Miller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: The morbidity associated with venous thromboembolism often goes unrecognized. Identifying patient populations at risk for venous thromboembolism and implementing evidence-based guidelines can decrease the number of untoward effects of this disease. Clinical pathway guidelines are valuable tools needed by nurses in the prevention and treatment of disorders for patients. Education of the guideline can increase knowledge and understanding of what prevention, interventions, and treatment are available for the orthopaedic patient and how to apply this knowledge to everyday patient care.;Objective: To educate orthopaedic nurses on the clinical practice guidelines of thromboembolism.;Method: Incorporate the education of thromboembolism in an orthopaedic …


Effects Of The Popcorn Flavorings, Diacetyl And 2,3-Pentanedione, In The Airways, Eric J. Zaccone Jan 2014

Effects Of The Popcorn Flavorings, Diacetyl And 2,3-Pentanedione, In The Airways, Eric J. Zaccone

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

"Popcorn workers' lung" (PWL) is a bronchiolitis obliterans-like obstructive disease caused by inhalation of butter flavoring vapor during the manufacture of microwave popcorn. Lung function tests of employees at several microwave popcorn plants revealed that the severity of abnormal lung function correlated with increasing cumulative exposure to the butter flavorant, diacetyl. Recently, the diacetyl substitute, 2,3-pentanedione, has also been identified as a respiratory hazard. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) demonstrated in rats that inhalation of occupationally-relevant concentrations of diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione vapor for 6 h resulted in airway epithelial necrosis and apoptosis in the nasal passages …


The Effects Of A Happiness Intervention On Measures Of Psychological Well-Being And Motivation To Quit Smoking Among Smokers With Depressive Symptoms, Kelly A. Bailey Jan 2014

The Effects Of A Happiness Intervention On Measures Of Psychological Well-Being And Motivation To Quit Smoking Among Smokers With Depressive Symptoms, Kelly A. Bailey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Depressed smokers are a group of individuals whose health and overall functioning can benefit from interventions aimed to enhance well-being. Researchers have recently found significant relations between positive affect and smoking cessation success, and between low affect and smoking relapse, and unsuccessful abstinence (Cook et al., 2010; Leventhal et al., 2008, 2009; Niemiec, 2010). The examination of the effects of happiness interventions for a population considered to be “underserved” has only just begun (Borrelli, 2010, p. 2; Kahler et al., 2013). In this study, the independent variable was a happiness intervention and the outcome variables were psychological well-being and motivation …


Fault-Tolerant Trajectory Tracking Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Using Immunity-Based Model Reference Adaptive Control, Brenton K. Wilburn Jan 2014

Fault-Tolerant Trajectory Tracking Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Using Immunity-Based Model Reference Adaptive Control, Brenton K. Wilburn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation presents the design, development, and simulation testing of an adaptive trajectory tracking algorithm capable of compensating for various aircraft subsystem failures and upset conditions. A comprehensive adaptive control framework, here within referred to as the immune model reference adaptive control (IMRAC) algorithm, is developed by synergistically merging core concepts from the biologically- inspired artificial immune system (AIS) paradigm with more traditional optimal and adaptive control techniques. In particular, a model reference adaptive control (MRAC) algorithm is enhanced with the detection and learning capabilities of a novel, artificial neural network augmented AIS scheme. With the given modifications, the MRAC …


The Use Of Hand Bacteria As A Human Biometric Identifier, Amanda Holbert Jan 2014

The Use Of Hand Bacteria As A Human Biometric Identifier, Amanda Holbert

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Molecular and bio-molecular biometrics are an advancing field that involves the analysis of a person's unique biological markers at a molecular level to ascertain identity. Bacteria communities found on the skin of the human hand have shown to be highly diverse and to have a low percentage of similarity between individuals. The goal of this research effort is to see if a person's demographics, primarily ethnicity, share a relationship with the bacteria communities that exist on their hand. A sample collection was carried out in which the left and right inner palms of 250 individuals were swabbed to obtain a …


An Overview Of Acute Myeloid Leukemia And Cancer Immunology: (I) Concepts And Therapeutic Strategies And (Ii) Repsox As A Candidate Cell-Engineering Tool, Audrey Nadine Jajosky Jan 2014

An Overview Of Acute Myeloid Leukemia And Cancer Immunology: (I) Concepts And Therapeutic Strategies And (Ii) Repsox As A Candidate Cell-Engineering Tool, Audrey Nadine Jajosky

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation is intentionally broad in scope and describes the conceptual frameworks, research advances, and clinical successes that inspired a therapeutic vision that, in turn, prompted specific RepSox experiments (Jajosky, 2014). The goal of this dissertation is to guide and encourage students interested in engineering anti-cancer immune therapies by providing perspective and suggestions. Chapter I provides background on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the cancer stem cell (CSC) theory, and the chemical reprogramming tool "RepSox." Chapter II describes how tumor cells passively evade immune recognition and actively suppress immune cells to escape destruction. Immunotherapeutic strategies are described that increase tumor-cell immunogenicity …


Aquaponic Production Of Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa L.) Using Effluent From A Cold Water Flow-Through Aquaculture System, Gaylynn Elise Johnson Jan 2014

Aquaponic Production Of Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa L.) Using Effluent From A Cold Water Flow-Through Aquaculture System, Gaylynn Elise Johnson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Aquaponics is the integration of aquaculture (the rearing of fish) and hydroponics (the conventional method of soilless farming). Effluent produced from the production of fish can be utilized as a source of nutrients by plants for growth in a hydroponic subsystem. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is an economically important vegetable crop that can be grown aquaponically. However, the suitability of lettuce for production in cold water flow-through systems (FTSs) is poorly described. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the growth, market rating, and nutrient uptake of lettuce grown in a cold water FTS. Three objectives were established to examine …


The Effectiveness Of A New Graduate Nurse Precepted Orientation Program On Retention, Rose M. Morton Jan 2014

The Effectiveness Of A New Graduate Nurse Precepted Orientation Program On Retention, Rose M. Morton

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: A shortfall of 340,000 registered nurses (RNs) is projected by the year 2020. New graduate nurses often experience anxiety, apprehension and stress with their first job after graduation. Approximately 30% of new graduate nurses leave their first jobs within the first year of practice, and 57% within the second year. Many facilities are relying on new graduate nurses to fill vacancies. Recently a focus has been placed on orientation programs to prevent newly hired nurses from resigning. Orientation plays a critical role in job satisfaction and retention of the new graduate nurse.;Objective: The aim of this capstone project is …


Planning Development: International Experts, Agricultural Policy, And The Modernization Of Nigeria, 1945-1967, Bekeh Utietiang Jan 2014

Planning Development: International Experts, Agricultural Policy, And The Modernization Of Nigeria, 1945-1967, Bekeh Utietiang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The period after the Second World War was a significant moment in British colonialism in Nigeria. It was the height of the decolonization movements in many of Britain's colonial holdings and was the cradle of what David Low and J. M. Lonsdale call the "second colonial occupation." This occupation in which the British government carried out expansive development policies was an intentional attempt to wrestle with social unrest due to the neglect of the social welfare of the people during the Great Depression and in the period thereafter. Such a development vision was represented by the passage of the 1940 …


Design Guidelines For An Apartments For Life Community, Sarah Elizabeth Walkup Jan 2014

Design Guidelines For An Apartments For Life Community, Sarah Elizabeth Walkup

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study pilots a process for programming and collecting data to inform the design of this type of elder housing community. The thesis follows that process to develop a list of user requirements and design recommendations, or design guidelines, for a prospective long-term elder housing community in Morgantown, West Virginia, inspired by the Apartments for Life model established in Rotterdam, Netherlands by Stichting Humanitas Rotterdam. This study uses design research and evidence-based design, with data collection from focus groups, interviews, and surveys, to develop a set of objectives and potential design solutions for an Apartments for Life community and facility, …


Advanced Doc-Dpf Model To Predict Soot Accumulation And Pressure Drop In Diesel Particulate Filters, Alessandro Cozzolini Jan 2014

Advanced Doc-Dpf Model To Predict Soot Accumulation And Pressure Drop In Diesel Particulate Filters, Alessandro Cozzolini

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) are regarded as the most effective technology to reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions from modern diesel engines. PM mass collected inside the filter needs to be periodically oxidized to clean the porous walls in order to avoid excessive backpressure that could negatively affect engine and turbocharger performances leading to higher fuel consumption. Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOCs), on the other hand, represent an effective means to reduce hydrocarbon (HC) emissions and set the proper chemical conditions at the inlet of the DPF to enhance soot oxidation during filter regeneration. Due to the impact that these devices have …


Immunization Reminder For Caregivers Of Young Children, Jessica Scritchfield Wooten Jan 2014

Immunization Reminder For Caregivers Of Young Children, Jessica Scritchfield Wooten

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Vaccines are one of the most successful and easily accessible prevention tools available to clinical practitioners in the United States. Falling levels of immunity in the entire population amplify concern for increases in preventable childhood diseases, making improving vaccination rates an important goal for current clinical practitioners (Omer et al., 2009).;Purpose: The purpose of this intervention was to increase the percentage of vaccinated children 0-6 years of age by sending a reminder letter to parent/guardians of children who are unvaccinated and under-vaccinated per the CDC's current immunization recommendations at a rural health center in West Virginia.;Project: The project plan …


Creation Of In Vitro Disease Models Using Micro-Nanoengineering, Allison Bruce Jan 2014

Creation Of In Vitro Disease Models Using Micro-Nanoengineering, Allison Bruce

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cells are typically housed in a complex microenvironment (ECM) in vivo, where the cells interact with the extracellular matrix (ECM) and neighboring cells. The ECM provides physical support for cells and affects cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, differentiation, and gene expression. Primary components of the ECM include fibrous proteins which contribute significant nanotopography cues to cells. Due to limitations of two-dimensional (2-D) in vitro studies where cells are cultured on flat, plastic substrates, the conventional cell culture does not mimic the in vivo scenario. This manifests the critical need for biomimetic cell culture platforms which mimic the in vivo microenvironment. During …


Comparison Of Two Protocols For Maxillary Protraction: Tooth Anchored Versus Bone Anchored Protraction Facemask, Nicole M. Deshon Jan 2014

Comparison Of Two Protocols For Maxillary Protraction: Tooth Anchored Versus Bone Anchored Protraction Facemask, Nicole M. Deshon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Early orthopedic interventions have been advocated for patients presented with Class III malocclusion. However, many conventional treatment modalities have negative dental changes that accompany the positive skeletal changes. There is a lack of literature on comparing a new hybrid hyrax bone anchored maxillary protraction to conventional tooth anchored maxillary protraction. The objective of this retrospective study is to quantify and compare differences in craniofacial morphology, if any, between patients treated with tooth anchored versus bone anchored maxillary protraction. A total of 40 patients (16 males, 24 females) with Class III malocclusion who had received early orthopedic treatment with tooth anchored …


Factors That Are Associated With Readiness To Transition From Pediatric To Adult Health Care In Cystic Fibrosis, Lindsay A. Corman Jan 2014

Factors That Are Associated With Readiness To Transition From Pediatric To Adult Health Care In Cystic Fibrosis, Lindsay A. Corman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Life expectancy of patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) has been increasing, with most children with CF expected to live at least into middle age adult years. Consequently, the majority of patients with CF will have to transition from a pediatric to an adult clinic. Unfortunately, few transition programs exist that attend to the physical, developmental, and psychological factors of adolescents with CF who need to transfer to adult clinics. Moreover, to date, there is a dearth of quantitative research that has been conducted to assess factors that may influence readiness to transition. The purpose of this study is to examine …


Desired Leadership Styles In Classroom And Court: Comparing Ideal Coaching And Teaching Styles Of Collegiate Student-Athletes, Elzbieta Klein Jan 2014

Desired Leadership Styles In Classroom And Court: Comparing Ideal Coaching And Teaching Styles Of Collegiate Student-Athletes, Elzbieta Klein

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to compare student-athletes' ideal coaching leadership styles and teaching leadership styles. Further, this study examined the relationship between student-athletes' level of argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness and their ideal leadership styles. Student-athletes (N=67) were surveyed about their ideal coaching and teaching leadership styles and their communication traits. The averages of each leadership styles were compared to rank them from most ideal to least ideal. Student-athletes prefer the leadership styles of Paternalistic, Democratic, and Transformational for coaches and the leadership styles of Laissez-Faire and Transactional for teachers. Student-athletes' argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness were related to some …


Optimization Of An Optical Thermal Absorber Plasmonic Metamaterial: Understanding The Two Particle Interactions, Anitesh Anand Lal Jan 2014

Optimization Of An Optical Thermal Absorber Plasmonic Metamaterial: Understanding The Two Particle Interactions, Anitesh Anand Lal

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the recent years, the emergence of electromagnetic metamaterials (MMs) have ushered in an exciting new field with many promising applications in direct energy conversion. One of the more promising applications of MMs is the ability to fully harness the solar energy through the design of a perfect electromagnetic absorber. Electromagnetic MMs posses the ability to manipulate a material's response resulting in augmented properties such as negative index of refraction, artificial permittivity, and permeability. One of the proven methods for the construction of electromagnetic metamaterials is to use a metal-dielectric composite whereby the electromagnetic response is governed by oscillating surface …


Effects Of A Postpartum Sleep Schedule On Childless Women's Sleep, Circadian Amplitude, Daytime Sleepiness, Performance, And Mood, Amanda L. Mcbean Jan 2014

Effects Of A Postpartum Sleep Schedule On Childless Women's Sleep, Circadian Amplitude, Daytime Sleepiness, Performance, And Mood, Amanda L. Mcbean

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

OBJECTIVES: A complex process of physiological and environmental changes during the postpartum period confounds our understanding of the discrete impacts of postpartum sleep fragmentation. The aim of this dissertation was to isolate the effects of postpartum sleep fragmentation by manipulating the sleep of childless women in the laboratory to model a postpartum sleep fragmentation schedule. Actigraphically and polysomnographically-recorded sleep, daytime functioning, mood, and melatonin amplitude were quantified.;METHODS: Eleven healthy, childless women (25.4 [SD+/-2.3] years, 72.7% white, {dollar}23,000 [SD+/-{dollar}11,000] household income) contributed continuous wrist actigraphy and daily psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) for one baseline week followed by 3 consecutive nights of …


"It's Not Just Your Dad And It's Not Just Your Coach..." The Dual-Role Relationship In Female Tennis Players, Olivier N. Schmid Jan 2014

"It's Not Just Your Dad And It's Not Just Your Coach..." The Dual-Role Relationship In Female Tennis Players, Olivier N. Schmid

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Parents and coaches were encouraged to keep their roles separate in order to promote optimal youth sport participation and avoid excessive and pressuring involvement (Gould, et al., 2008; Wolfenden & Hoyt, 2005). Despite these recommendations, the phenomenon of parents volunteering to coach their own children has dramatically increased (Brown, 1998). Managing the blurred boundaries of these coaching dual-role relationships throughout the athlete's development is a delicate endeavor and remains unexplored in individual sports (Jowett, 2008; Weiss & Fretwell, 2005). Tennis has been identified as an ideal context to examine the dynamics of parenting and coaching relationships and is notorious for …


The Role Of Self-Efficacy In Predicting Treatment Adherence In Youth With Cystic Fibrosis, Margo M. Szabo Jan 2014

The Role Of Self-Efficacy In Predicting Treatment Adherence In Youth With Cystic Fibrosis, Margo M. Szabo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Adolescents with cystic fibrosis (CF) demonstrate relatively poor treatment adherence in comparison to other age groups, which can lead to adverse health outcomes. Though previous research has examined various factors associated with treatment adherence in pediatric CF samples, no studies to date have explored the interrelations among self-efficacy, parental style, level of responsibility for CF care, and treatment adherence in this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of self-efficacy, parental style, and level of responsibility for CF care in predicting treatment adherence in adolescents with CF. A sample of 59 adolescents with CF (M …


Burden Of Breast Cancer And Associated Health And Economic Outcomes In Elderly Women In West Virginia: Comparison With National Estimates, Ami Maulik Vyas Jan 2014

Burden Of Breast Cancer And Associated Health And Economic Outcomes In Elderly Women In West Virginia: Comparison With National Estimates, Ami Maulik Vyas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

West Virginia (WV) which is the only state which lies entirely in Appalachia and which is predominantly rural and medically underserved region, has lower incidence of breast cancer (BC) but a higher BC-related mortality as compared to the national averages in elderly women age 65 and above. This may be due to lower mammography utilization in these rural elderly women, limited physical access to services, shortage of healthcare professionals and services, and untimely and/or inappropriate care. This is dearth of epidemiological studies that have focused on understanding the factors associated with these disparities among these rural and underserved population such …


Design, Fabrication, And Control Of An Upper Arm Exoskeleton Assistive Robot, Reza Shisheie Jan 2014

Design, Fabrication, And Control Of An Upper Arm Exoskeleton Assistive Robot, Reza Shisheie

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Stroke is the primary cause of permanent impairment and neurological damage in the United States and Europe. Annually, about fifteen million individuals worldwide suffer from stroke, which kills about one third of them. For many years, it was believed that major recovery can be achieved only in the first six months after a stroke. More recent research has demonstrated that even many years after a stroke, significant improvement is not out of reach. However, economic pressures, the aging population, and lack of specialists and available human resources can interrupt therapy, which impedes full recovery of patients after being discharged from …


Immunity-Based Accommodation Of Aircraft Subsystem Failures, Adil Togayev Jan 2014

Immunity-Based Accommodation Of Aircraft Subsystem Failures, Adil Togayev

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis presents the design, development, and flight-simulation testing of an artificial immune system (AIS) based approach for accommodation of different aircraft subsystem failures.;Failure accommodation is considered as part of a complex integrated AIS scheme that contains four major components: failure detection, identification, evaluation, and accommodation. The accommodation part consists of providing compensatory commands to the aircraft under specific abnormal conditions based on previous experience. In this research effort, the possibility of building an AIS allowing the extraction of pilot commands is investigated.;The proposed approach is based on structuring the self (nominal conditions) and the non-self (abnormal conditions) within the …


Developed A Remote Technique To Assess The Effectiveness Of Thermal Insulation In Households In West Virginia, Prateek Vaish Jan 2014

Developed A Remote Technique To Assess The Effectiveness Of Thermal Insulation In Households In West Virginia, Prateek Vaish

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Physical energy audits and interventional methods cannot sustain the increasing demand of assessing the effectiveness of existing thermal insulation in households. As for now, there does not exist a sufficiently accurate remote technology or method to assess the efficiency of a thermal envelope. Usually, the energy bills and the age of the furnace are good indicators of the performance of insulation in houses. To overcome the lack of availability of a proper framework to calculate the effectiveness of the thermal envelope, a standard methodology using multiple linear regression and temperature data acquired from a house has been developed. The major …


Head And Neck Cancer Invasion: Contributions Of Actin Regulatory Proteins And The Microenvironment, Elyse Lindsey Walk Jan 2014

Head And Neck Cancer Invasion: Contributions Of Actin Regulatory Proteins And The Microenvironment, Elyse Lindsey Walk

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Metastasis of primary tumor lesions is the leading cause of cancer-related death. In head and neck cancer, a local-regional disease, metastasis is achieved mainly through invasion into surrounding tissue and spreads to cervical lymph nodes. Movement from the initial tumor site requires dynamic reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, which utilizes the coordinated action of many actin regulatory proteins. However, there is increasing evidence that the tumor microenvironment is also a driver of invasion. This work aims to determine the contributions of proteins which regulate the actin cytoskeleton during head and neck cancer invasion both in vitro and in vivo, and …


Effects Of Ethanol On Pigeons' Near-Win Responding In A Slot-Machine Analog, Alexander A. Ward Jan 2014

Effects Of Ethanol On Pigeons' Near-Win Responding In A Slot-Machine Analog, Alexander A. Ward

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In slot machine play, near wins are losses that are visually similarity to wins and increase gambling persistence, but provide no reinforcer. To measure effects of ethanol on near-win responding, pigeons pecked for food in a slot-machine analog following ethanol administration. In any given trial, one of four outcomes was signaled by consecutive presentations of red or green key lights, followed by a white "collect key." Three red lights signaled a win and three green lights signaled a loss. Two red lights followed by a green light signaled a near win. On winning trials, food was delivered 5 s after …


A New Gaussian Process Method For Modeling And Design Of Multi-Source Data In Exposure-Response Toxicology Studies, Kai Wang Jan 2014

A New Gaussian Process Method For Modeling And Design Of Multi-Source Data In Exposure-Response Toxicology Studies, Kai Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

One of the most fundamental steps in risk assessment is to quantify the exposure-response relationship for the material/chemical of interest. This work develops a new statistical method, referred to as SKQ (stochastic kriging with qualitative factors), to synergistically model exposure-response data, which often arise from multiple sources (e.g., laboratories, animal providers, and shapes of nanomaterials) in toxicology studies. Compared to the existing methods, SKQ has several distinct features. First of all, SKQ integrates data across multiple sources, and allows for the derivation of more accurate information from limited data. Second, SKQ is highly flexible and able to model practically any …


The Utilization Of Adventure Based Programming To Foster Posttraumatic Growth Within A Veteran Population: A Mixed Methods Study, Joseph A. Wassif Jan 2014

The Utilization Of Adventure Based Programming To Foster Posttraumatic Growth Within A Veteran Population: A Mixed Methods Study, Joseph A. Wassif

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There is a lack of research exploring interventions that promote posttraumatic growth with veterans. The current project represents a first attempt to explore posttraumatic growth among veterans who participate in a strength-based program specifically designed for the healthy reintegration and socialization of returning members of the armed services. Through the use of a mixed methods approach, I hoped to show that veterans would report increases in posttraumatic growth following participation in an Outward Bound Veterans Program. Veterans that completed the program were compared to a waitlist control, which consisted of other military personnel that had signed up for, but had …


Analysis Of Haul Truck- Related Fatalities And Injuries In Surface Coal Mining In West Virginia, Meng Zhang Jan 2014

Analysis Of Haul Truck- Related Fatalities And Injuries In Surface Coal Mining In West Virginia, Meng Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Trucks are the primary means of haulage in surface coal, metal, and nonmetal mining operations. The number of fatal accidents involving trucks is higher when compared to all other mining equipment. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reports that 137 fatalities were haul truck- related in the United States between 1995 and 2011. A total of 12 truck-related accidents, including 13 fatalities, were recorded in surface coal mining operations in West Virginia (WV) during this period. The objectives of this research were to (i) analyze the root causes of these accidents, and (ii) develop effective intervention strategies to eliminate …