Digital Commons Network^™

The Effectiveness Of Medication Assisted Treatment (Mat) Programs In Correctional Facilities: A Review Of The Evidence And Recommendations, Woodlyn Joachim

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Characterizing Groundwater Quality And Bacterial Community Composition In Chloride Impacted Drinking Water Wells In Sherman, Ct., Ryan Ordung

Master's Theses

The following chapters of this thesis are written with regards to the hydrogeologic investigations of the anthropogenically impacted fractured bedrock aquifer located in Sherman Connecticut. Several domestic and public water supply wells in the town center have consistently exhibited concentrations of chloride and sodium above state and federal drinking water standards over at least a four-year period. Using multiple methodologies and analysis to characterize subsurface conditions and flow pathways provides a greater understanding of the controls on water quality in the town center. Through the analysis of geochemical trends, spatial distribution of well locations and construction along with geologic context, …

Design Optimization Of A Small Scale Hydropower Harvesting Device, Rishav Aryal

Master's Theses

This study presents a semi-analytical model that facilitates the optimum design of small-scale hydropower systems, so that maximum possible energy can be harvested under such settings. The model comprises a rotating cylinder attached to a piston producing reciprocating motion when placed in moving water. Taking this model as base, the semi-analytical model employs Genetic Algorithm based optimization and develops optimal dimensions for the system, with the objective to minimize the time period while at the same time maximizing stroke of the piston. The model is tested first with single-parameter optimization and then with multi-objective optimization. As many energy harvesting approaches …

The Context Of Disorder: How The Physical Environment Affects Judgments Of Police-Citizen Interactions, Cassidy Burt

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Overactive Bladder: Shortcomings Of Current Diagnostic And Treatment Approaches And A New Etiological Paradigm, Nina L. Franzen

Master's Theses

Aims: To examine the effectiveness of the current diagnostic and treatment approach of overactive bladder (OAB) and the relative impact of cognition on what is currently a bladder-centric condition. Methods: A review of the literature on OAB from the population to organ/brain level was conducted. The impact of age-induced bladder dysfunction via cognitive changes to sensory integration and attention control are discussed. Results: OAB uses bladder-centric terminology to represent a collection of symptoms with inconsistent and often unknown pathology. Proposed etiologies and therapeutic models for overactive bladder focus on the bladder organ, but evidence suggests that age-related degradation to inhibitory …

Human Dimensions Of Roadside Vegetation Management Across The Connecticut Landscape, Daniel Connor Hale

Master's Theses

Context For the roadside forest, utility vegetation management is a driver of landscape change that involves tradeoffs between reliable electric power and preservation of trees. Little is known about public perceptions of vegetation management in the landscape context.

Objectives Our objective was to evaluate landscape characteristics and social factors associated with resident attitudes toward roadside utility vegetation management across Connecticut.

Methods We used a mail survey to collect social science data from residents in two study areas in Connecticut. We measured landscape characteristics associated with tree cover and development density at multiple scales around each respondent household. Random forest predictive …

Food Liking In Chronic Smokers: Associations With Sweet E-Juice And Adiposity And Short-Term Changes Across An E-Cigarette Intervention, Brittany Larsen

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Community Living In Context: Rural, Suburban, And Urban Differences Among Older Money Follows The Person Participants, Kaleigh Ligus

Master's Theses

Older adults (65+) are a growing and significant population in the United States. Due to medical conditions and other social factors, some older adults may move to institutional settings to receive care. The Money Follows the Person (MFP) Rebalancing Demonstration is a federal initiative that offers Medicaid recipients the opportunity to live independently in the community by facilitating transitions from institutional settings. A secondary data analysis was performed using longitudinal data from a Quality of Life (QoL) survey conducted with 1,577 older adults in Connecticut (CT). The purpose of these analyses was to explore potential differences among rural, suburban and …

The Effect Of Guilt Free Claims On Restrained And Non-Restrained Eaters' Purchase Intention, Perception Of Product Healthfulness, And Amount Willing To Pay For A Novel Product, Alexis Ludwig

Master's Theses

Products with health-related claims that are perceived to be tasty are more likely to be purchase by consumers than products without a claim. Restrained eaters rely more on external cues such as food packaging rather than internal cues such as hunger signals in a way to control their caloric intake.^1,2 Restrained eaters may be more susceptible to marketing and food claims compared to non-restrained eaters. We propose a guilt free message will affect perception of healthfulness. We also propose a guilt free message and eating restraint will affect purchasing decisions. Lastly, perception of healthfulness and valuing nutritious products mediates …

The Temperature-Dependent Mechanics Of Human Articular Cartilage Under Large-Strain Shear, Lauren Marshall

Master's Theses

Articular cartilage is a soft tissue that facilitates joint movement and protects bone contact surfaces. Human articular cartilage sees a range of temperatures in vivodepending on external thermal conditions. Researchers recently demonstrated that cartilage dissipates energy during physiological loading to elevate the temperature to enhance cell viability. Despite these important insights, researchers often consider the knee isothermal, thus the large deformation mechanical response under transient thermal conditions remains largely unknown. We aimed to quantify the mechanical responses at 24°C, 40°C, 70°C, and 24°C repeated, and apply our data to determine whether the mechanical responses of cartilage vary within the …

Perceived Chewing Ability In Adults With Or Without Dentures, Mara Cuberos Guevara

Master's Theses

Background: Masticatory impairment impacts both oral health as well as general health. Self-perceived chewing ability can be a tool to assess denture satisfaction, food choices and quality of life. Objective: To describe the perceived chewing ability with or without use of dentures in adults of different ages and implications in food choices. Methods: Administration of a 20- question survey to adult patients at the Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) residency clinic at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine. Results: Chewing ability and food choices were significantly impacted by denture status (p = 0.015). Denture status …

“Stop! In The Name Of Civility”: Testing The Effectiveness Of An Intervention To Reduce Workplace Incivility, Corey Grantham

Master's Theses

Workplace incivility is a common problem within organizations. Recent data estimates that 96% of the total workforce population in the United States has experienced incivility at one time or another. Individual targets of incivility face detrimental effects to their psychological and professional well-being. Workplace incivility also leads to poor outcomes for workgroups and for organizations as a whole. Results are mixed for the use of formal training programs to curb incivility in organizations. A workshop designed to train employees on behaving in a civil manner in the workplace, as well as how to respond to workplace incivility, was implemented across …

Using Google Translate To Prepare Discharge Instructions: Spanish-Speaking Patients With Limited English Proficiency In The Emergency Department, Alexis Cordone

Master's Theses

The purpose of this project is to evaluate whether Google Translate can be used to accurately translate discharge instructions from English to Spanish, and whether native speakers prefer translations provided by a certified interpreter or Google Translate upon leaving the Emergency Department. In order to study this question, 211 patient charts with discharge instructions in English were translated by a certified human interpreter and by Google Translate; then, those translations were analyzed by two independent reviewers who counted the number of errors in each translation. The human translations contained substantially less errors than those provided by Google Translate, and the …

Risk Factors For Attrition From A Pediatric Weight Management Program, Richika Makol

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Who Receives Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder?, Daniel Madden

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Malaria Related Issues In Western Uganda During A 9-Year Period Of Implementing Prevention Strategies, Natalie Moore

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Akap18 And Protein Phosphatase Inhibitor-1 In The Heart: Defining Their Binding Domain, Shania Aponte Paris

Master's Theses

Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of mortality worlwide. Heart failure occurs when the heart does not meet the body’s demand. Although significant medical advances have been made, 50% of heart failure patients still die within five years of prognosis, suggesting the need for more research. Alterations of inhibitor-1 (I-1) levels and activity have been associated with heart failure. I-1 PKA-mediated phosphorylation activates its inhibitory activity against PP1, which leads to calcium re-uptake into the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Calcium mishandling plays an important role in cardiac diseases, such as heart failure. Since I-1 is at the top of this …

How Slps Assess, Treat, And Make Discharge Decisions For People With Mild Aphasia: A Survey Of Current Practice In The U.S., Andrea Pascariello

Master's Theses

The goal of the present study is to provide a comprehensive overview of how speech-language pathologists (SLP) are currently assessing, treating, and discharging patients with mild aphasia. In addition, the present study aims to learn which factors may be limiting SLP involvement with this population and how, as a field, we can better serve these patients. A 26-question survey, consisting of both open-ended and closed ended questions, was developed and distributed via email and social media to selected groups of speech-language pathologists. A total of 133 speech-language pathologists responded to the survey. Reports of assessment, treatment, and discharge procedures were …

Implementing An Sbirt Interprofessional Simulation Curriculum: When More Is More, Iwona Pawlukiewicz

Master's Theses

Background. Regular screening for psychoactive substance misuse in primary care and other health care settings enables earlier identification and management of substance misuse; however, wide-scale implementation of Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) services is lagging. The early exposure of health professional students to simulated interprofessional SBIRT education is one solution to address barriers in the uptake of service delivery methods in health care settings. Methods. The feasibility of a newly-developed SBIRT simulation curriculum was tested with 35 interprofessional Urban Service Track Scholars during two separate training events in April and November of 2018. Results. The evaluation …

1-Norm Support Vector Machine On Single-Trial Eeg And Ecg Data To Identify Neural Oscillatory Features In The Ketamine Model For Schizophrenia, Xiao Yang

Master's Theses

Ketamine provides a useful model for studying the physiopathology of schizophrenia as it induces and exacerbates schizophrenic symptoms in healthy individuals and patients, respectively. However, it remains unclear how ketamine affects neural oscillations across frequency bands and the extent to which changes in cortical firing are independent from ketamine’s cardiovascular effects. The present study used 1-norm support vector machine (SVM) as a classification approach to determine sources of psychophysiological signal, considering both EEG and ECG, characterizing primary effects of ketamine administration. EEG and ECG recordings of 11 participants were collected before (saline) and after the ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) intravenous infusion …

The Impact Of Socioeconomic Status On Physical Literacy In Children, Emma Zuk

Master's Theses

Context: Physical literacy is a growing concept throughout the United States. In order to be physically active, children must develop physical literacy, which is the competency to control their body, and the confidence and motivation to be active. Socioeconomic status of children’s living communities may influence opportunities for physical activity and motor development, but this has not been examined in relation to physical literacy in the United States. The purpose of this study was to evaluate physical literacy competency between a low-resourced community and a high-resourced community. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to compare children between high-resourced (HIGH) …

Medication Adherence In Pediatric Asthma: A Preliminary Analysis Of A Randomized Control Trial Using Electronic Monitoring Devices, Ye Sun

Master's Theses

Objective – Non-adherence to asthma medication is a common problem in patients with asthma, especially in children, leading to more frequent asthma exacerbations, ED visits and hospital admissions. Current methods of assessing adherence are unreliable. Electronic monitoring devices (EMDs) are more accurate means of assessing for adherence, but little is known about whether EMDs have a sustained effect on adherence in children. The objective of this study is to determine whether a mobile-based reminder system paired with EMD scan result in sustained improvement in adherence to asthma therapy over six months.

Methods – Children (8-17 years) with physician-confirmed persistent asthma, …

See The Forest For The Leaves: Foliar Fungal Community Composition And Volatile Organic Compound Production, Joshua Copeland

Master's Theses

Endophytes are microbes that live within plants without causing detectable illness. These microorganisms can emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), airborne signaling molecules that can significantly affect plant growth. Despite the prevalence of endophytes and their VOCs, little is known about these factors important to plant health. With this in mind I isolated fungal endophytes from leaves of Populus trichocarpa and Populus fremontii, tree species with economic and environmental uses, to determine if endophyte communities are reserved between the closely related tree species and over seasons. Surface sterilized leaf fragments were plated onto malt extract agar and the resulting fungi were …

“Flowing Along The Wall”: Anarcha-Feminist Bioethics And Resistance In Octavia E. Butler’S Dawn 2019., Theresa Mendez

Master's Theses

Science fiction (sf) texts conversant with the temporal play between past, present, and future push readers to imagine the extremes of human and environmental existence, interaction, and potential. Simultaneously, despite the sf genre’s tendency to traffic in extremes, these texts provoke readers to consider the ways in which these imagined worlds are grounded in history as well as in the contemporary social moment. As Donna Haraway has argued, “the boundary between science fiction and social reality is an optical illusion” (306). This illusory boundary must continue to be traversed in order to consider how sf literatures, particularly those which imagine …

Nekton Usage Of High Marsh Habitats In Connecticut Salt Marshes, With Emphasis On The Genus Fundulus, Amanda L. Tucker

Master's Theses

Large scale habitat use patterns of salt marsh nekton are fairly well understood, but small-scale patterns within marsh habitats are not as well known, including the genus Fundulus, an important salt marsh species. This is an area of study that needs more research, particularly in light of increases in salt marshes loss within the last several decades. Salt marshes are a primary habitat for Fundulus species. Sea level rise and urbanization have been major contributors to salt marsh loss and alteration.

Salt marshes are highly variable habitats both spatially and temporally due to tidal cycles, high and low marsh areas …

Addressing Barriers To Preventative Health Care For Transgender Populations: A Systems Approach To Improving Access To Gynecological Care, Meghan N. Flynn

Master's Theses

The current study addresses the lack of research exploring the individual and systemic barriers to accessing gynecological care for transgender populations. An integrated mixed-methods needs assessment was designed to explore the individual and systemic barriers to gynecological health care for transgender and gender diverse populations. Participants of the study included established community providers known to serve the transgender community through advocacy or research efforts, as well as clinical psychologists and medical professionals working in gynecological settings. The study includes a brief quantitative survey, which measured “Perceptions of Inclusivity Importance” among key stakeholders. Following the survey, participants were invited to engage …

A Partial, Age-Graded Examination Of Agnew’S General Theory Of Crime And Delinquency, Jessie Slepicka

Master's Theses

Previous examinations of Agnew’s (2005) general theory of crime and delinquency have garnered mixed results for the theoretical construct. These previous investigations have concentrated on a singular stage of an individual’s life—with analyses focusing on either the adolescent (Muftić, Grubb, Bouffard, & Maljević, 2014; Ngo & Paternoster, 2014; Roh & Marshall, 2018; Zhang, Day, & Cao, 2012) or the adult (Cochran, 2017; Ngo, Paternoster, Cullen, & Mackenzie, 2011) time juncture—failing to empirically assess the variability hypothesis centrally proposed by Agnew. Using data from a nationally representative sample of participants—the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health [n = 20,745 …

The Impact Of Shod Versus Unshod Walking On Center Of Pressure Variability, Zachary Barrons

Master's Theses

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the influence of footwear on walking stability. Twenty healthy women walked at 1.3 m/s on an instrumented treadmill. One hundred steps (50-right, 50-left) were analyzed from two walking conditions (shod, unshod). The variability of the center of pressure (COP) for each step was calculated for quadrants of the contact period. Significant differences in variability were seen between shod and unshod conditions in all quadrants as well as differences between left and right feet in quadrants one and four. Restricted foot motion while shod may explain the differences seen in COP variability. …

Exploring Language Construction And The Meaning Of “Success” In Addiction Recovery Settings, Ashleigh Pulling

Master's Theses

The number of drug overdose deaths has spiked in recent years, currently at a rate where 142 Americans die from opioid overdose every day (Goodnough 2017). This public health crisis has been framed as an epidemic, and this collective understanding may shape the way individuals and communities experience this tragedy. Few studies, however, have examined how the term success is defined in addiction recovery settings. To investigate language regarding what successful addiction recovery means, this research examined framing strategies in two recovery models, cognitive behavior therapy and shamanic therapeutic mechanisms, and connected them to the practices being employed by practitioners …

Organized Chaos: Daily Routines As A Potential Mechanism Linking Household Chaos And Child Behavior Problems, Kristy L. Larsen

Master's Theses

Children living in chaotic households exhibit more externalizing behaviors. Child externalizing behavior, exhibited as early as the toddler and preschool years, is a risk factor for later maladjustment. Understanding the mechanisms linking household chaos to early externalizing behaviors is important since those mechanisms could be targeted as a point of intervention. The primary aim of this study was to examine daily routines as a potential mediator of the relation between household chaos and both child externalizing behavior and bedtime resistant behavior. A secondary aim was to examine different levels of routines (family routines, general daily child routines, and specific bedtime …