Digital Commons Network^™

Talking About Death, Laura Dostal Reicks

Graduate Research Papers

Grief counseling for students in school is a need that comes unexpected, and thus demands prior preparation for the School Counselor. School is where we teach and help youth explore how to live a life. Death is a part of life. School Counselors can play an important role in helping students to identify what is normal when experiencing loss. The death marks the beginning of a transition period. Failure to communicate the needs of a student who is grieving can result in problems later in life. Grief is a unique journey that cannot be predicted or duplicated. Discussing and sharing …

Impact Of Time Reduction In Physical Education Class, Ada Potratz

Graduate Research Papers

Time is a precious commodity for school personnel, especially teachers. Teachers are talking about needing more time to teach and less time to consume administering standardized tests. The No Child Left Behind legislation has put pressure on teachers, schools, and districts to perform in Math and Reading. As a result, students are tested daily, weekly and monthly so data can be collected. This data is not used to put school and/or districts on the No Child Left Behind list of making progress or in need of assistance. Instead, it is used in districts to plot progress. To comply with the …

Predictors Of Posttraumatic Growth, Shame, And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms In Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence: The Roles Of Social Support And Coping, Nancy-Jane Kimberly Doane

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Research suggests that college students suffer higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) than older adults, with between 30 and 60 percent experiencing one or more violent events by their intimates (O'Hearn & Margolin, 2000). Unfortunately, IPV can result in severe psychological complications, including depression, anxiety, problems with interpersonal relationships, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and shame (Coker et al., 2002; Coker et al., 2003; Kaura & Lohman, 2007; Taylor, 2003). However, research indicates that certain religious and general coping styles and social support can serve as resilience factors, buffering victims from the negative consequences of IPV (Bosch & Schumm, 2004; …

Fuels Management Policy And Practice In The U.S. Forest Service, Erik K. Hakanson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This dissertation investigates the history and development of wildland fire and fuels management policy in the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the implementation of this policy in fuels management project planning at the national forest and ranger district levels. The policy guiding fuels management is broad and ambiguous but may be summarized as: 1) reducing the risks posed by wildland fire and 2) restoring or maintaining ecosystem health and sustainability. Wildland fire management policy is interagency in scope, including input from state governments and is dispersed among a multitude of policy and strategy documents, such as the 1995/2001 Federal Wildland …

From Subsistence To Dependence: The Legacy Of Reclamation And Allotment On Quechan Indian Lands, 1700-1940, Ian Michael Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Quechan Indians of southeastern California’s Fort Yuma Indian Reservation have occupied the fertile floodplain near the confluence of the Colorado and Gila rivers for more than 300 years. Since their southward migration to this area sometime in the seventeenth century, tribal members supported themselves through the adoption of a multifaceted subsistence strategy that incorporated cultivated agriculture, the semi-cultivation of wild plants, and the gathering of wild-grown foods. To support their agricultural endeavors, the Quechans relied on the annual flooding of the Colorado River to provide both irrigation water and naturally fertilizing silt to the river-bottom lands on which they …

Effect Of A Structured Exercise Program On Physical Activity Patterns And Assessing Relationships Between Accelerometry And Strength And Running Performance Characteristics In Male, College Students, Vernon Matthew Grant

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a supervised exercise training program on physical activity (PA) patterns. A secondary objective of the study was to determine if accelerometers can predict variables associated with strength and running performance. A total of 79 adult, male, college students completed a 12 week exercise training program that consisted of pull-ups, sit-ups, push-ups, and running three hours per week. The subjects trained three days/week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and conducted a performance test (PT) every Wednesday. Physical activity (average daily time spent in sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous PA), performance …

Elemental Stoichiometry Of Freshwater Hyporheic Microorganisms, Alejandra Valenzuela

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The work presented herein is part of the Microbial Observatory Project in the Nyack Floodplain. The Nyack Valley Floodplain is a glacier-carved floodplain in the Middle Fork of the Flathead River on the south west border of Glacier National Park and north of the Great Bear Wilderness in northwest Montana. The study focuses on the bacterial diversity including elemental stoichiometry along a hyporheic flowpath underlying the Nyack floodplain. We isolated and characterized 44 bacterial strains, sampled microbial biofilm communities across the floodplain, characterized the bacterial isolates and determined elemental ratios (C:N:P). We tested the hypothesis that while the elemental stoichiometry …

Expanding The Role Of Criterion A2 In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Daniel Evan Dewey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric construct that refers to symptoms that may follow exposure to a traumatic event. The current definition of a traumatic event differentiates between the objective event, criterion A1, and an individual’s subjective response, criterion A2. This study investigated the importance of criterion A2 and other intense negative emotions in the development of PTSD. Self-report measures were used to determine the presence or absence of the event criteria A1 and A2, PTSD symptoms, and intensity of emotion type at the time of an event. Criterion A2 emotions at the time of the event were associated with …

Relationship Between Circulating Progenitor Cells, Vascular Function And Oxidative Stress With Long-Term Training And Short-Term Detraining In Older Men, Sarah Witkowski, Michael M. Lockard, Nathan T. Jenkins, Thomas O. Obisesan, Espen E. Spangenburg, James M. Hagberg

Exercise and Sport Studies: Faculty Publications

Exercise may contribute to the maintenance of vascular function via enhanced liberation and action of bone-marrow-derived progenitor cells. Activity related changes in oxidative stress may also influence the number and function of these cells. In the present study, we sought to determine (i) whether adaptations in reactive hyperaemic FBF (forearm blood flow) response associated with long-term endurance exercise and short-term detraining were related to resting putative progenitor cell number and function, and (ii) whether oxidative stress affected these factors. Participants included men with a history of more than 30 years of moderate-to-high-intensity exercise (HI group) and healthy low-active age- and …

The Global Food Crisis: Law, Policy And The Elusive Quest For Justice, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Faculty Articles

The food crisis of 2008, the subsequent financial crisis, and the ongoing climate crisis have created new challenges to the attainment of global food security. This essay examines the historic and current practices that have contributed to food insecurity in developing countries, and recommends several steps that the international community might take to promote the fundamental human right to food. The essay begins by outlining the trade and aid policies that laid the foundation for food insecurity in the global South from colonialism until the early twenty-first century. It then examines the impact of the financial crisis and the climate …

A Chance For Redemption: Revising The "Persecutor Bar" And "Material Support Bar" In The Case Of Child Soldiers, Kathryn White

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Armed groups in conflicts around the world frequently exploit child soldiers. Despite the unique experience of child soldiers, who are frequently recruited by means of force and deceit, immigration law as it is currently applied may bar former child soldiers from receiving asylum in the United States. In particular, the prevailing agency interpretation of the "persecutor bar" and the "material support bar" equates child soldiers with adults who have committed serious atrocities. This Note argues that the application of these asylum bars to former child soldiers runs against social values and standards of moral culpability in the United States. Child …

Periodontal Disease And Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: Treatment Recommendations For The Pregnant Patient, Tabitha Price

ETSU Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Reducing Disparities Through Health Care Reform: Disability And Accessible Medical Equipment, Elizabeth Pendo

Articles

People with disabilities face multiple barriers to adequate health care and report poorer health status than people without disabilities. Although health care institutions, offices, and programs are required to be accessible, people with disabilities are still receiving unequal and in many cases inadequate care. The 2009 report by the National Council on Disability, The Current State of Health Care for People with Disabilities, reaffirmed some of these findings, concluding that people with disabilities experience significant health disparities and barriers to health care; encounter a lack of coverage for necessary services, medications, equipment, and technologies; and are not included in the …

Effects Of Lightning And Other Meteorological Factors On Fire Activity In The North American Boreal Forest: Implications For Fire Weather Forecasting, David Peterson, Jun Wang, Charles Ichoku, Lorraine Remer

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The effects of lightning and other meteorological factors on wildfire activity in the North American boreal forest are statistically analyzed during the fire seasons of 2000–2006 through an integration of the following data sets: the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) level 2 fire products, the 3-hourly 32-km gridded meteorological data from North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), and the lightning data collected by the Canadian Lightning Detection Network (CLDN) and the Alaska Lightning Detection Network (ALDN). Positive anomalies of the 500 hPa geopotential height field, convective available potential energy (CAPE), number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, and the number of consecutive dry …

Factors Affecting The Success Of Robinson Scholars, Amanda Michele Dunn

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Robinson Scholars Program was created by the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees as an effort to combat historically high rates of poverty and low rates of educational attainment in Kentucky’s Appalachian region. The first class was selected in 1997 and was part of a broader effort to improve community and economic development in eastern Kentucky.

The Robinson Scholars Program provides financial and academic support for potential first-generation college students from the program’s 29-county service area. Scholars are selected in the eighth grade and are provided with enrichment opportunities and college preparation activities throughout their high school careers. Once …

Analyzing The Assets For Independence Ida Program, Natalie Denney

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

United Way of the Bluegrass is applying for the Federal Assets for Independence (AFI) grant. The AFI program was established under the Assets for Independence Act (Public Law 105-285, enacted on October 27, 1998) to provide federal funding for state and local Individual Development Account (IDA) projects nationwide. An IDA is a savings account designed to help the low income citizens establish a pattern of savings and, ultimately, obtain assets. United Way of the Bluegrass (UWBG) has decided that they want to target three specific populations—ex-offenders, recovering substance abusers, and the homeless/formerly homeless. This study is to provide more insight …

Assessment Of The Neighborhood, Housing, Family, And Personal Characteristics That Affect Whether Students Drop Out Of High School, Montara Renée November

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This paper seeks to present research that will allow education officials to identify and target individuals who are likely to drop out of high school. By simultaneously using neighborhood, housing, family, and personal factors to identify at-risk students, education officials can link students to the social programs they need to meet their individual needs. Parent’s educational level had statistically significant effect on whether students dropped out of high school. The lower the education level the more likely a student will drop out of school. Parents who are high school dropouts are more likely to earn less and their children are …

Partner Violence During Pregnancy: Prevalence, Effects, Screening, And Management, Beth A. Bailey

ETSU Faculty Works

The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy. Pregnancy IPV is a significant problem worldwide, with rates varying significantly by country and maternal risk factors. Pregnancy IPV is associated with adverse newborn outcomes, including low birth weight and preterm birth. Many mechanisms for how IPV may impact birth outcomes have been proposed and include direct health, mental health, and behavioral effects, which all may interact. Screening for IPV during pregnancy is essential, yet due to time constraints and few clear recommendations for …

Sensitivity Of Air Pollution-Induced Premature Mortality To Precursor Emissions Under The Influence Of Climate Change, Efthimios Tagaris, Kuo J. Liao, Anthony J. Delucia, Leland Deck, Praveen Amar, Armistead G. Russell

ETSU Faculty Works

The relative contributions of PM2.5 and ozone precursor emissions to air pollution-related premature mortality modulated by climate change are estimated for the U.S. using sensitivities of air pollutants to precursor emissions and health outcomes for 2001 and 2050. Result suggests that states with high emission rates and significant premature mortality increases induced by PM2.5 will substantially benefit in the future from SO2, anthropogenic NOX and NH3 emissions reductions while states with premature mortality increases induced by O3 will benefit mainly from anthropogenic NOX emissions reduction. Much of the increase in premature mortality expected from climate changeinduced pollutant increases can be …

Coadministration Of Adenoviral Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor And Angiopoietin-1 Enhances Vascularization And Reduces Ventricular Remodeling In The Infarcted Myocardium Of Type 1 Diabetic Rats, Samson M. Samuel, Yuzo Akita, Debayon Paul, Mahesh Thirunavukkarasu, Lijun Zhan, Perumana R. Sudhakaran, Chuanfu Li, Nilanjana Maulik

ETSU Faculty Works

OBJECTIVE - Hyperglycemia impairs angiogenesis in response to ischemia, leading to ventricular remodeling. Although the effects of overexpressing angiogenic growth factors have been studied in inducing angiogenesis, the formation of functional vessels remains a challenge. The present study evaluates the reversal of diabetes-mediated impairment of angiogenesis in the infarcted diabetic rat myocardium by proangiogenic gene therapy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - Ad.VEGF and Ad.Ang1 were intramyocardially administered in combination immediately after myocardial infarction to nondiabetic and diabetic rats. Ad.LacZ was similarly administered to the respective control groups. The hearts were excised for molecular and immunohistochemical analysis at predetermined time points. …

Mitochondrial Function As A Determinant Of Life Span, Ian R. Lanza, K. S. Nair

ETSU Faculty Works

Average human life expectancy has progressively increased over many decades largely due to improvements in nutrition, vaccination, antimicrobial agents, and effective treatment/prevention of cardiovascular disease, cancer, etc. Maximal life span, in contrast, has changed very little. Caloric restriction (CR) increases maximal life span in many species, in concert with improvements in mitochondrial function. These effects have yet to be demonstrated in humans, and the duration and level of CR required to extend life span in animals is not realistic in humans. Physical activity (voluntary exercise) continues to hold much promise for increasing healthy life expectancy in humans, but remains to …

Foothills Academy: A Program Ranking And Comparative Analysis Of Residential Treatment Programs, William Aaron

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Foothills Academy is an all male adolescent residential treatment facility in Albany, Kentucky. As more states turn toward alternative treatment options to address the growing needs of youth suffering from mental and emotional disorders and substance abuse issues, demand for more efficient treatment programs is on the rise. To remain competitive and to administer the best treatment services for their clients, residential treatment programs must utilize industry best practices that allow efficient use of public funds. By identifying high performing programs, those programs may then be studied to identify factors key to individual program success.

My findings were consistently …

What Is The Impact Of Kentucky’S Pharmacy Recovery Network?, Benjamin Paul Clark

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Problem Statement: This capstone will focus on Kentucky’s Pharmacy Recovery Network (PRN). In general, professional recovery networks are organizations that act as a liaison between professional state boards and the health professionals who are dealing with substance abuse and addictions that sometimes result in negative consequences to that individual and/or their profession. Instead of a “one-strike and you are out” approach, these organizations recognize that there is a disease process occurring. Thus, as opposed to engaging in strictly punitive measures, a rehabilitative approach is chosen to allow the health professional an opportunity to recover and successfully reenter into their profession. …

Impact Of Levalbuterol Versus Albuterol In Kentucky Medicaid Patients, Velma Henry

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Problem:

Asthma is a chronic pulmonary disease that occurs in approximately 10 percent of the population worldwide and is associated with a significant increase in direct medical expenditures. Levalbuterol and racemic albuterol are two short-acting β2-agonists (SABA) prescribed for the treatment of asthma. Racemic albuterol has been used for more than 40 years but is associated with several side effects including tremor. When levalbuterol was approved in 2005 its manufacturer and several studies suggested that using levalbuterol results in better respiratory parameters, fewer hospitalizations, less adverse effects and therefore, lower overall treatment costs and hence less need for β-adrenergic agonist …

Comparative Analysis Of The Financial Performance Of Nonprofit Organizations: Focusing On The Franklin County Senior Activity Center, Shinwoo Lee

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Franklin County Senior Activity Center is a nonprofit organization founded in 1966 to provide services to help older residents lead independent lives. Cooperating with twelve board members, a staff of 24 people operates the Center and makes huge efforts to accomplish its mission. The mission of the Center is to contribute to and empower the quality of life of the aging citizens in Frankfort and Franklin County, Kentucky. The Center delivers various public services to them including opportunities for socialization, health promotion, benefit counseling, transportation service, home care service, recreation and exercise programs, adult day care, caregiver support, and …

Providing Department Of Defense Support Domestically: A Study Of Cost Effectiveness, Meredith Howes

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Department of Defense is one of the highest costs to the United States government at any given time. However, as two foreign wars have been going on for nearly 10 years, the amount of resources needed is significantly higher than usual. This increase in required funds is necessary for military personnel salaries, military equipment, government personnel supporting the Department of Defense, along with support services provided by private military contractors. There have been several recent studies reviewing the effectiveness of contractors on the battlefield, but most overlook those supporting the warfighter at home. While there are many different factors …

A Study Of The Effects Of Budget-Balancing Practices And Fiscal Policies On State Fiscal Health, Candice Schultheis

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

During times of economic recessions, many states throughout the U.S. may experience budget pressures that impact their overall fiscal health. Kentucky, in particular, has been faced with structural budget imbalances, declining revenue receipts, and spending reductions. Although economic conditions greatly affect states’ abilities to maintain balanced budgets, other factors may contribute to the variation among states’ financial conditions. This study assesses the effect that budget-balancing strategies, processes, and policies have on states’ fiscal health, as measured by state fiscal peril scores reported by the Pew Center on the States and year-end budget balances as a percentage of expenditures estimated by …

Disability Preparedness: Availability Of Ada Compliant Emergency Shelters Across Pennsylvania, Lisa J. Peterson

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Since the events of September 11th and Hurricane Katrina, the field and research associated with emergency preparedness have grown substantially. Despite the positive contributions of research, problems relating to the use of emergency shelters during the disasters have surfaced. Through anecdotal evidence and subsequent research, it was soon discovered that the needs of those with disabilities were not adequately addressed at many sites. Many potential residents were turned away at shelters due to their disability, or if allowed in, were forced to live in sites with barriers that could hinder activities of daily living.

To address concerns, emergency management officials …

The Makeup And Utilization Of University Student Unions: A Comparative Analysis, Ashley N. Wineki

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The University of Kentucky’s Top 20 Business Plan established a list of goals the university must meet in order to become a top 20 research institution by the year 2020. The University of Kentucky Student Center houses student programming and facilities that impact student involvement and retention, both of which are mandated to increase in order to reach the Top 20 goal.

I conducted this research in order to determine how the University of Kentucky Student Center is utilized by the campus and how, if at all, it could improve to better serve the student body and campus. Survey data …

The Ada Amendments Act Of 2008: Do The Amendments Cure The Interpretation Problems Of Perceived Disabilities, Allison Ara

Santa Clara Law Review

No abstract provided.