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Corn Ethanol, A Bad Idea, Taylor Hackbart

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Corn Ethanol, A Bad Idea

Proprioception And Developmental Motor Training: A New Treatment For Chronic-Phase Stroke Patients

Dissertations

With stroke occurrence increasing, along with survival rate, it is imperative to find ways of treating the chronic-phase of stroke. The purpose of this study was to determine if either or both of two interventions, or their combination, could improve functional performance in patients at least four years post-stroke. One intervention was resistance strength training while the other consisted of neurodevelopmental activities that parallel those used with developing children. Six participants, four male and two female, ranging in age from 23 to 60 (M age 44.5), were randomly assigned to one of the interventions. Participants ranged in stroke types and …

The Impact Of Changing Surface Ocean Conditions On The Dissolution Of Aerosol Iron, Matthew Fishwick, Peter Sedwick, Maeve Lohan, Pau Worsfold, Kristen N. Buck, Thomas Church, Simon Ussher

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The proportion of aerosol iron (Fe) that dissolves in seawater varies greatly and is dependent on aerosol composition and the physicochemical conditions of seawater, which may change depending on location or be altered by global environmental change. Aerosol and surface seawater samples were collected in the Sargasso Sea and used to investigate the impact of these changing conditions on aerosol Fe dissolution in seawater. Our data show that seawater temperature, pH, and oxygen concentration, within the range of current and projected future values, had no significant effect on the dissolution of aerosol Fe. However, the source and composition of aerosols …

Biofilm Microenvironment Analysis Systems For Medicine And Agriculture, Jinzi Deng

Doctoral Dissertations

Biofilms are aggregated bacteria embedded in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Biofilms are the dominant growth form of bacteria in most natural environments, and are also important in many industrial and in vivo settings. The function of a biofilm system is inherently different from the function of the same cells dispersed in liquid culture. Existing methods to study biofilm either do not maintain the essential biofilm architecture or do not capture the dynamic nature of their responses. This research describes the development of a set of biofilm microenvironment analysis systems that maintain the essential micro-scale structure of biofilms. These systems are …

Self-Regulation In The Iep Classroom: Developing Lifelong English Language Proficiency, Jeannie Slayton

Doctoral Dissertations

Although students in Intensive English Programs (IEPs) acknowledge the importance of acquiring academic English skills, their primary concern is obtaining an acceptable Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score. In order to continue improving their English skills beyond the last English class, learners need to have the capability of self-regulating their own learning. The problem for IEP teachers is fostering self-regulation in students who tend to be exam-oriented learners.

The conceptual framework for this qualitative study was constructed by examining and synthesizing research from the fields of adult education and educational psychology. This framework informed the interview protocol, …

Improving Patient Outcomes And Nurse Satisfaction By Reducing Avoidable Interruptions During Medication Administrations, Roberta Howard

Master's Projects and Capstones

Medication administration is an important part of nursing duties in acute-care settings. The nurse is responsible for prioritizing safe quality care when administering medications but errors do occur. This project addressed interruptions as one of the challenges of safe medication administration. The aims of this project are 1) to determine a standardized medication administration process 2) to identify perceived and actual interruptions on the unit and 3) to address and reduce the avoidable interruptions of calls, pages and call lights at the nurse station. The purpose of this project is to improve patient outcomes, nurse satisfaction and nurse workflow by …

Teaching Health Literacy In Conjunction With Esl, Dora Lee

Master's Projects and Capstones

In the United States, many English as a Second Language (ESL) speakers who have limited English proficiency also have low levels of health literacy. The purpose of this project is to create a curriculum that ESL teachers can implement to improve the English language proficiency and the health literacy skills of adult ESL speakers with limited English proficiency residing in the United States. The curriculum is designed for teachers who work with ESL speakers who may be having trouble obtaining, processing, communicating, or managing health information due to language barriers.

Improving The Hcahps Score For Pain Well Controlled, Uwaezu J. Umeh

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project took place on a Renal/Endocrine unit of a northern California Hospital. As observed on this unit, pain was not well controlled and this caused the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) score for ‘pain well controlled’ to be low. Hence, this project sought to address the underlying reasons why pain was not well controlled and to proffer solutions to raise the HCAHPS score to at least 65% from an average of 55%. In order to find the root causes, the nurses were surveyed, the patients and certified nursing assistants (CNAs) were interviewed, and a 24-hour …

Patient Satisfaction Related To Noise In The Coronary Care Unit, Anjanette S. Dominguez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Background The CCU staff recognized a department trend for low patient-satisfaction score related to environmental noise levels. Based on the Press Ganey score, the patient-satisfaction score plummeted in relation to noise level beginning in March 2014.

Purpose To improve patient satisfaction regarding noise level in the CCU to 100% by November 21, 2014.

Methods Senior & Fleming’s Hard System Model of Change guided this literature search of CINAHL and Fusion for articles published from 2009 to 2014. Specific terms used were noise, critical care, and sleep promotion. From September to November 2014, earplugs were offered to all alert/oriented patients entering …

Increasing Compliance Of Personal Protective Equipment S Election And Use For Isolation Precautions Among Rns & Nas On A Med-Surg Unit, Megan R. Alsmeyer

Master's Projects and Capstones

Background: Due to the high potential of transferring infectious diseases and/or organisms among patients, themselves, and the community, healthcare workers (HCWs) must be knowledgeable and confident in selecting the appropriate type of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the use in technique when putting on (donning) and removing (doffing) PPE based on the level of isolation precautions required for the patient being cared for.

Project Purpose: The purpose of this project is to determine whether assessing the knowledge and actual practice with observing, and utilizing an innovative approach of video and educational tools to isolation precautions would improve the consistency of …

Safe Patient Handling & No Lift Policy: Reducing The Incidence Of Work-Related Injuries Among Nursing Staff, Marissa N. Scanlon

Master's Projects and Capstones

Background: Patient handling is a major risk factor for work-related injuries among nurses. Inadequate and inappropriate safe patient handling practices contribute to increased work-related injuries, lost/restricted work days, and hospital costs.

Purpose: The focus of this study was to increase the use of mechanical lift equipment and Lift Team to reduce the incidence of work-related injuries among nursing staff involved in patient handling activities on the Medical-Cardiac IICU.

Methodology: The theoretical framework employed for this project was Lippitt’s change theory. Pre-and post-survey self-report evaluations were conducted prior to and following the implementation of the Bedside Mobility Assessment Tool (BMAT) and …

Pepperbox - December 12, 2014, Student Newspaper Of Arcata High School

The Pepperbox

Volume 87, Number 2

Comparative Genomics Reveals Insights Into Avian Genome Evolution And Adaptation, Guojie Correction Zhang, Cai Li, Qiye Li, Bo Li, Denis M. Larkin, Chul Lee, Jay F. Storz, Agostinho Antunes, Matthew J. Greenwold, Robert W. Meredith, Anders Ödeen, Jie Cui, Qi Zhou, Luohao Xu, Hailin Pan, Zongji Wang, Lijun Jin, Pei Zhang, Haofu Hu, Wei Yang, Jiang Hu, Jin Xiao, Zhikai Yang, Yang Liu, Qiaolin Xie, Hao Yu, Jinmin Lian, Ping Wen, Fang Zhang, Hui Li, Yongli Zeng, Zijun Xiong, Shiping Liu, Long Zhou

Faculty Publications

Birds are the most species-rich class of tetrapod vertebrates and have wide relevance across many research fields. We explored bird macroevolution using full genomes from 48 avian species representing all major extant clades. The avian genome is principally characterized by its constrained size, which predominantly arose because of lineage-specific erosion of repetitive elements, large segmental deletions, and gene loss. Avian genomes furthermore show a remarkably high degree of evolutionary stasis at the levels of nucleotide sequence, gene synteny, and chromosomal structure. Despite this pattern of conservation, we detected many non-neutral evolutionary changes in protein-coding genes and noncoding regions. These analyses …

Impact Of Improving Throughput In The Emergency Department, Katherine J. Edrington

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the patient experience in the emergency department (ED) and in the inpatient setting while correlating increased throughput and patient outcomes at a suburban Acute Care facility in Ohio. The culture in the organization has lacked accountability and ownership of the patients. The ED admitted length of stay (ALOS) was 358 minutes in the beginning of 2013. For the first time in the organization’s history, the ED ALOS is now typically less than the recommended benchmark of 300 minutes. A report of findings among ED’s surveyed showed the ALOS best practice is 244 …

Implementing An Evidence Based Foot Assessment Protocol For Use By Nurses Caring For Adult Diabetic Patients Seeking Care In The Thanh Nhan Hospital Endocrinology Department, Amy Ly

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

The purpose of this primary care nursing practice improvement project was to implement a diabetic evidence-based protocol for use by nurses caring for adult patients seeking care in the Thanh Nhan Hospital Endocrinology Department (TNH/ED) in Ha Noi, Vietnam.

Prior to project implementation, physicians performed all patient foot assessments. No standardized foot assessment tool existed.

The author made an on-site visit to the clinic to assess current practice. The author then recommended expanding nursing practice by using an evidence-based assessment tool. The author conceived an implementation approach, then designed, developed and presented the plan via an Internet-delivered fully interactive Virtual …

Implementing And Evaluating A Clinical Information Interface Between An Electronic Medical Record And A Patient Classification System, Tanya Osborne-Mckenzie

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

As a result of the Affordable Care Act and the Institute of Medicine’s initiatives, hospitals are challenged to improve outcomes as efficiently as possible. How does the national initiative of RNs partnering with other healthcare professionals to improve the quality of patient care at a lower cost, cascade down to individual organizations? One answer may come by focusing on nurse staffing in acute care hospitals. Considering the impact RNs have on patient quality outcomes and the bottom line of hospitals, appropriate management of the RN workforce is one of the most important areas hospitals can focus on in order to …

Transitional Care Services: A Nurse-Led Quality Improvement Project, Debra Conroy-Mccue

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

With the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) and a national requirement for health care providers and systems to deliver care that is safe, outcome driven, and cost effective, Dignity Health (DH) as part of the hospital engagement network (HEN) launched an initiative called the “No Harm” campaign to reduce all-cause avoidable hospital readmissions. The project, led by a Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) student and readmission team, sought to achieve a 20% reduction in preventable readmissions by December 2014. After having achieved initial success in implementing transitional care services for patients with heart …

Clean Up Techniques Used For Coastal Oil Spills: An Analysis Of Spills Occurring In Santa Barbara, California, Prince William Sound, Alaska, The Sea Of Japan, And The Gulf Coast, Henry R. Walther Iii

Master's Projects and Capstones

An analysis of four spills occurring within the last 50 years to see the progression in clean up techniques used for coastal oil spills. The Santa Barbara, California Oil Spill of 1969, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill of 1989 occurring in Prince William Sound, Alaska, the Nakhodka Oil Spill of 1997 occurring in the Sea of Japan, and the Deep Water Horizon Oil spill of 2010 occurring in the Gulf of Mexico, are analyzed. The different types of oil, the composition of oil, and the variables that effect spilled oil’s movement, are provided. Oil spill response planning and preparation are …

Addressing Health Disparities In Refugees, Claire E. Lopez

Master's Projects and Capstones

I completed the required 300 hours of my fieldwork internship at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Oakland, CA. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a non-profit international organization that responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and aids displaced individuals in rebuilding their lives in new countries by providing support in health care, finance, education, infrastructure, and resettlement.

I worked as a Health Access/Intensive Case management Intern. As a Health Access Program Intern, it was my job to ensure that refugees coming to the United States had a place to seek medical care, advice, and preventative services. In order …

Prevention Of Medication Errors During The Transcription Process, Angela Huang

Master's Projects and Capstones

Medication administration is a multistep process that involves prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, and administering drugs. The transcription of medication orders during patient admissions have been described as an error prone process by nurses on the unit. An FMEA analysis and unit surveys indicated a need for improvement. The specific aim for this project is to improve the mediation transcription process for new patients with 100% participation from all staff by December 1, 2014. Based on the microsystem system analysis and the research on evidence, strategies approved for testing include mandating the double checking new mediations with another nurse, omitting the use …

Acoustic Tractor Beam Named A Top 10 Physics Breakthrough, University Communications, Illinois Wesleyan University

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

J/Ψ Polarization In P + P Collisions At √S=200 Gev In Star, James K. Adkins, Renee H. Fatemi, Wolfgang Korsch, Suvarna Ramachandran, G. Webb, L. Adamczyk, G. Agakishiev, M. M. Aggarwal, Z. Ahammed, I. Alekseev, J. Alford, C. D. Anson, A. Aparin, D. Arkhipkin, E. C. Aschenauer

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report on a polarization measurement of inclusive J/ψ mesons in the di-electron decay channel at mid-rapidity at 2T/c in p+p collisions at √s=200 GeV. Data were taken with the STAR detector at RHIC. The J/ψ polarization measurement should help to distinguish between different models of the J/ψ production mechanism since they predict different p_T dependences of the J/ψ polarization. In this analysis, J/ψ polarization is studied in the helicity frame. The polarization parameter λ_θ measured at RHIC becomes smaller towards high p_T, indicating …

The Creation And Implementation Of A Transgender Cultural Competence Nursing Education Toolkit, James Bl Donovan

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Healthcare disparities in the transgender populations have been linked to lack of healthcare provider cultural competence (IOM, 2011; Bradford et al., Harbin et al., 2012; Eliason, Dibble, & DeJoseph, 2010; Lim, Brown, & Jones, 2013). Prior research has identified that healthcare providers receive little, if any, transgender cultural competence training during their formal education. A survey of nursing educators at the University of San Francisco School (USF) of Nursing and Health Professions suggested that few educators are providing transgender content or understand the unique healthcare needs of that population. A literature review concluded that little is known about the best …

Implementation And Evaluation Of An Oral Hygiene Program In Long-Term Care, Lawrence P. Lemos

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

A review of the literature focusing on oral care within long-term care (LTC) suggests positive resident care outcomes occur when standardized practices are employed. Studies of staff education programs, trained oral hygiene aides, and dental hygienists working within LTC, have linked regular oral hygiene practices to decreased pneumonia rates. While these studies make the connection between good oral hygiene and reducing risk for pneumonia, best practices focused on implementing and sustaining an oral hygiene program in LTC facilities are lacking. The aim of this quality improvement project was to ensure that dependent residents in LTC receive assistance with daily oral …

Dec. 12, 2014, P. Alston, Letter To J. Kim Re Wb Esf, Philip Alston

World Bank Inspection Panel 1994-Present

No abstract provided.

Decreasing Medication Errors Through The Reduction Of Avoidable Interruptions, Julia Nyznyk

Master's Projects and Capstones

In recent years, the media has been rife with stories of medical mistakes in hospitals or other health care settings that lead to patient injury or death. While most of the media attention rightfully focuses on the horrific psychological and emotional toll such injuries and deaths impose upon patients, their loved ones, and the healthcare providers involved, there is also an enormous economic cost associated with the results of such mistakes that, if not resolved, will continue to strain an already heavily burdened system. Progressive step down units are fast paced and highly demanding. This type of unit is placed …

Reducing Avoidable Interruptions During The Medication Administration Process, Lindsay A. Umeda

Master's Projects and Capstones

Background: Medication safety and preventing medication errors continues to be a high priority for hospitals and clinics, as medication errors are the most common and most costly errors in U.S. hospitals (Kliger, 2010, p. 690). Kliger (2010) reported that 450,000 medication errors occur annually, costing hospitals approximately $3.5 to 29 billion dollars a year. Furthermore, Ching, Long, Williams & Blackmore (2013) estimated that 770,000 injuries and deaths occur each year as a result of medication errors.

Purpose: To decrease medication errors by reducing the number of phone call and call light interruptions during the medication administration process.

Methods: Lippitt’s Change …

Does Thorium Have A Place In The Future U.S. Electricity Mix?, Danny West

Master's Projects and Capstones

Thorium is an alternative fuel source for nuclear energy. Coupled with its use in a new reactor design, called a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor, the two have the ability to disrupt the nuclear industry and power sector. Nuclear energy is a clean and reliable source of energy; however, it generates hazardous waste that must be stored away for hundreds of thousands of years and power plants are at risk of a catastrophic incident that can lead to a wide scale release of radiation. These drawbacks to nuclear energy can be mitigated using thorium in a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor. These …

Avoiding 30-Day Readmissions Of Acute Mi Patients Utilizing Cardiac Rehabilitation, Patricia T. Forsberg

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

A significant number of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) patients were readmitted to an urban San Francisco Medical Center within 5-7 days post discharge this year. Two of the main identified causes were symptom management issues and medication instructions, both of which are part of the discharge instructions. It’s not surprising that 80% of all discharge teaching is forgotten by patients by the time they hit the parking lot. With the recommended timeframe for post discharge follow up appointments at 48 to 72 hours post discharge and as those appointments are not typically available within the recommended timeframe, patients are more …

Emergency Preparedness On An Inpatient Hospital Unit, Hailee Marie Barnes

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper will discuss the implementation of an emergency preparedness quality improvement project conducted by a University of San Francisco Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) student on an inpatient cardiac unit, Unit H, at an urban teaching hospital in Northern California, Hospital B. An assessment of the current state of emergency preparedness, a diagnosis of Unit H’s area of greatest needs, the details of planning and implementing the quality improvement as well as the final evaluation will be discussed. The nursing process will be used for the structure of this paper as it was used as the structure of this project. …