Digital Commons Network^™

Plato And The Sophists : Eristic Practice, Cognition, And Perception, Kevin W. Olbrys

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation traces metaphysical, epistemological and cognitive developments in Plato’s canon from his earlier Euthydemus and Charmides to his great work on epistemology, the Theaetetus. I argue that Plato’s confrontation with eristic (the methodology of his philosophical predecessors, the sophists) presents him with a serious epistemological challenge that can only be met through the development of a philosophical theory of cognition and perception. I also argue that the Theaetetus only appears to be an aporetic dialogue; read in the context of Plato's earlier work, it actually offers a series of refutations aimed at the theoretical assumptions that underpin the practice …

Examining The Craniofacial Biomechanics Of Paranthropus Boisei, Amanda L. Smith

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An engineering method, finite element analysis (FEA), was used to examine the craniofacial biomechanics of Paranthropus boisei. The craniofacial morphology of Paranthropus boisei exhibits a number of highly derived characteristics that have commonly been thought to be related to feeding. This series of studies includes an ex vivo strain gage study (validation of techniques), an assessment of the effects of intraspecific craniofacial shape variation in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), and an examination of the feeding biomechanics of Paranthropus boisei. Modeling experiments were also conducted to test mechanical hypotheses regarding the effects of specific derived craniofacial features on Paranthropus feeding function.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program And Home Food Availability : The Role Of Depression And Household Characteristics, Marta D. Hernandez

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Although about 47 million low-income people participated in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) program at the end of 2012, the effect of SNAP participation on some nutrition related outcomes is controversial or unknown. Particularly, the effect of SNAP on food availability at-home has not been examined despite its association with food consumption. In addition, little is known about individual and social factors influencing this relationship. This study examined the effects of the interaction between SNAP participation and depression and the effects of the interaction between SNAP participation and the presence of children under 17 years of age on food …

Does Self-Care Moderate The Relation Of Stress To Quality Of Life Of Female Doctoral Students In Professional Psychology?, Erin Elizabeth Ayala

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Increasing numbers of women are pursuing doctoral degrees in psychology, and the stress of being a female doctoral student can create a risk for aversive consequences (e.g., ineffective clinical work, impaired competence). Psychologists lack an understanding of the extent to which women can protect themselves from undue stress in professional psychology programs by engaging in self-care. The lack of a comprehensive framework for this phenomenon calls for the need to apply and test the Health Promotion Model to the experience of women in professional psychology programs. The current investigation assessed the extent to which self-care activities would moderate the negative …

Preserve Or Perish : The Orange County Food Preservation Battalion And Food Conservation Efforts In New York State During The Great War, 1917-1919, Sarah Elizabeth Wassberg

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This thesis examines the role of both private voluntary organizations like the Orange County Food Preservation Battalion as well as city- and state-sponsored organizations in food conservation efforts during World War I in New York state (1917-1919). Society women such as Orange County Food Preservation Battalion chairman Mrs. Theodore Bailey, in conjunction with professional home economists, played an important role early in the war effort in disseminating the patriotic pleas of Herbert Hoover and the U.S. Food Administration, but their efforts were later subsumed by state-run entities such as the New York State Food Commission. Using an unpublished scrapbook kept …

An Investigation Of Alkaline Earth And Rare Earth Elements In Human Bone Following Long-Term Parenteral Nutrition, Aubrey L. Galusha

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This investigation focused on a unique collection of archived human bones obtained post-mortem from 7 patients, who had received long-term parenteral nutrition (PN) for up to 21 years. Parenterals are administered intravenously as a nutritional supplement, and may be contaminated with metals, which are completely absorbed into the blood compartment. Some metal contaminants may be deposited in the body’s reservoir for inorganic elements – bone.

An Evaluation Of Eligibility, Accessibility, And Social-Emotional Outcomes For Young Children In The New York State Early Intervention Program, Kirsten M. Siegenthaler

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A wealth of interdisciplinary research on early childhood development by the neurobiological, behavioral, and social sciences has occurred in the past 100 years. The findings from this research have led to an understanding and appreciation of the importance of early life experiences, the centrality of relationships in early childhood to support positive development, the complexity of social skills that are learned in early childhood and their long-term effect on adult success and well-being, and the ability to impact the trajectory of children’s development with effective early intervention. The New York State Early Intervention Program (NYSEIP) is one of the largest …

Physical Activity And Sports Team Participation As Predictors Of Suicidal Behavior In High School Students, Jacquelyn E. O'Connor

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Youth suicidal behavior is a significant and worldwide public health problem. Although a variety of demographic variables and risk factors have been found to be associated with youth suicidal behavior, research on wellness activities that may be inversely associated with youth suicidal behavior is lacking. Using the Center for Disease Control’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) data from 2011, this study examined the relationship between physical activity, sports participation, and suicidal behavior in high school students. Results indicated that suicidality did vary by level of physical activity in the sample used in the study (t = 4.679, p = …

The Acquisition Of Adult Skills In Oecd Countries : Individual And Societal Antecedent, Suehye Kim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Using the OECD the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competences (PIACC), the World Bank open data, the OECD data lab, and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, this study sets forth two conceptual frameworks to examine the effect of education on adult basic literacy and problem solving skills in technology-rich contexts. Based on a traditional approach to adult skills, this study explored how a differentiated form of initial education influences the acquisition of basic literacy and numeracy. Second, it build a proposed model assessing the effect of post-initial learning on problem solving skills in technology-rich contexts given that adults are required …

The Great Migration And Health Of The Left-Behind Elderly In Rural China, Qian Song

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In face of massive internal migration in China, this dissertation brings attention to the wellbeing of the left-behind elderly in the social context that adult children, the potential out-migrants, are still the culturally expected and de facto major eldercare providers. This dissertation has attempted to untangle and explain associations between adult out-migration and the psychological and physical health of the left-behind elderly in rural China.

Breastfeeding Initiation, Duration And Exclusivity In New York State : Impact Of Hospital Maternity Care Practices, Hospital Characteristics And Individual/Socio-Demographic Factors, Eileen Mary Fitzpatrick

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Prevalence of breastfeeding initiation in New York State (NYS) nearly meets Healthy People 2020 goals. Improvements in breastfeeding duration and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) have lagged behind those achieved for initiation. Implementation of Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding in hospital maternity care has improved breastfeeding initiation, duration and exclusivity; but data on the independent association with specific Steps have been equivocal. Utilizing NYS-linked data from the Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) and the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), the associations of individual maternity care practices/Steps with breastfeeding behaviors were evaluated. Analyses included mothers who participated in PRAMS …

Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile Of Asian Indians In The U.S. : Analysis Of Data From The Diabetes Among Indian Americans Study, Sanghamitra Siddharam Savadatti

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation sought to investigate the associations between health promoting lifestyle behaviors and chronic cardiometabolic conditions among Asian Indians residing in the U.S.

A Retrospective Evaluation Of The Locally Grown Produce Initiative Of New York State's Hunger Prevention And Nutrition Assistance Program, Marie Allsopp

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) is administered by the Bureau of Nutrition Risk Reduction in the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). This program provides state funds to food banks, the United Way of New York City and other organizations within the emergency food network. Those organizations use HPNAP dollars to fund food and other resources for food pantries, soup kitchens and emergency shelters. In 2012, HPNAP received a one-time $2 million funding allocation for a Locally Grown Produce Initiative. This one-time stimulus to increase the proportion of state-grown fresh produce in emergency food relief services …

Effect Of Tai Chi Exercise Combined With Mental Imagery Theory In Improving Balance In A Diabetic And Elderly Population, Abdulrahman Alsubiheen, Jerrold S. Petrofsky, Noha S. Daher, Everett Lohman, Edward Balbas

College of Health & Human Services (TUN) Publications and Research

BACKGROUND: One of the effects of diabetes mellitus (DM), peripheral neuropathy, affects the sensation in the feet and can increase the chance of falling. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of Tai Chi (TC) training combined with mental imagery (MI) on improving balance in people with diabetes and an age matched control group.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seventeen healthy subjects and 12 diabetic sedentary subjects ranging from 40–80 years of age were recruited. All subjects in both groups attended a Yang style of TC class using MI strategies, 2 sessions a week …

Scn 100n.01: Issues In Biology, Jennifer A. Corbin

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Ahrc 231.01: Respiratory Critical Care, Nicholas J. Arthur

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Musical Stairs: Encouraging Physical Activity Through Persuasive Technology, Meagan Combs 15

Honor Scholar Theses

This study examined persuasive technology and its effect on participants’ motivation to engage in physical activity. A set of musical stairs was built using infrared proximity sensors, designed to make the experience of climbing the stairs more “fun”. The software was written in such a way that each step a participant took on the stairs provided a musical response. The experiment tested three conditions: the control condition (without sounds), a condition with piano note sounds, and a condition with guitar chord sounds. The results suggest that more participants interacted with the stairs during the conditions with sound compared to the …

Role Of Caveolin-1 And Nrf2 In Nutritional Modulation Of Pcb Toxicity, Michael C. Petriello

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in Western societies and is linked to multiple modifiable risk factors including lifestyle choices. Emerging evidence implicates exposure to persistent environmental pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as a risk factor for the development or progression of cardiovascular disease. To reduce disease risks, it is critical to identify sensible means of biomedically reducing the toxicity of persistent organic pollutants and related environmental stressors.

First, we tested a hypothesis that endothelial cell inflammation and subsequent cardiovascular toxicity initiated by coplanar PCBs is modulated by the crosstalk between caveolae and Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like …

Food-Based Activities Versus Material Possessions: Alternatives To Consumption, Robin René Wikoff, Madeleine E. Pullman

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examine how food-related experiential activities offer different types of intrinsic pleasures, create an alternative path to consumerism, and subsequently affect happiness and well-being. Participant’s perspectives on these activities are compared to those of their favourite material possessions to explore the differences in meaning and motivations. Phenomenological interviews centred on food activities and material possessions revealed that experiential food-related hobbies are valued highly and a source of great life satisfaction because of meeting a variety of psychological needs. These activities offer an alternative conception of what it is to flourish and to enjoy a ‘high’ standard of living as they …

Open Source Business Models And Synthetic Biology, Tej Singh

Law Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Evidence Of Son Preference And Resulting Demographic And Health Outcomes In Pakistan, Zeba Sathar, Gul Rashida, Sabahat Hussain, Anushe Hassan

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Pakistan has a highly patriarchal society. Consequently, the desire for sons is a dominant and widely prevalent cultural value that is reinforced by feudal kinship systems that permeate many parts of the country. While reliance on sons is stronger in rural areas because of agricultural work and the tying of land ownership with male inheritance, even in other areas boys are seen to be important in carrying on the family name and taking care of parents in old age. On the other hand, daughters are seen as an expense and an economic burden in both rural and urban areas. A …

A Comprehensive Understanding Of Corpse Management In Termites, Qian Sun

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Undertaking behavior is the disposal of dead individuals in social colonies to prevent potential pathogenic attack. This behavioral trait has convergently evolved in social insects (primarily termites, ants, and honeybee), and is considered an essential adaptation to social living. In honey bee and ants, workers recognize dead colony members through the postmortem change of chemical profile, and corpses are usually removed out of nest. However, in termites, little is known about the behavioral pattern, chemical cue or molecular basis. In the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, this study investigated undertaking behavior toward corpses of different origins and postmortem times. …

The Medicalization Of Nonhuman Animal Rights: Frame Contestation And The Exploitation Of Disability, Corey Lee Wrenn, Joanne Clark, Maddie Judge, Katharine A. Gilchrist, Delanie Woodlock, Katherine Dotson, Riva Spanos, Jonothan Wrenn

Animal Rights Movement Collection

Nonhuman Animal rights activists are sometimes dismissed as ‘crazy’ or irrational by countermovements seeking to protect status quo social structures. Social movements themselves often utilize disability narratives in their claims-making as well. In this article, we argue that Nonhuman Animal exploitation and Nonhuman Animal rights activism are sometimes medicalized in frame disputes. The contestation over mental ability ultimately exploits humans with disabilities. The medicalization of Nonhuman Animal rights activism diminishes activists’ social justice claims, but the movement’s medicalization of Nonhuman Animal use unfairly otherizes its target population and treats disability identity as a pejorative. Utilizing a content analysis of major …

Health Facility Guidelines And Management Benchmarks: Improving Workplace Health Services And Health Management In Factories, Farms And Other Workplaces In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, David Wofford, Marat Yu, Lauren Shields, Maria Pontes

Reproductive Health

This document contains a set of voluntary health and management guidelines for corporations and their supply chains to promote continual improvement and application of good practices, better access to men’s and women’s health services, and more effective use of health resources at workplaces in the developing world. It is focused on both quality of health services provided at the workplace and adequacy of company policies and management systems to ensure that workers have access to health services. The main goals of the guidelines are to: 1) help enterprises—multinational companies and their supplier or subsidiary companies in developing countries—improve the management …

Progesterone Vaginal Ring: Results Of A Three-Country Acceptability Study, Saumya Ramarao, Heather Clark, Deepa Rajamani, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku, Babacar Mane, Francis Obare, Harriet Birungi, Nafissatou Diop, Wilson Liambila, Fatou Mbow, Chi-Chi Undie, Godwin Unumeri, John Townsend

Reproductive Health

Global and national policies have refocused attention on postpartum family planning as an important component of ensuring healthy outcomes for women and babies. The progesterone vaginal ring (PVR) is used to extend the contraceptive effectiveness of lactational amenorrhea among breastfeeding women. Clinical trials have proven the PVR to be safe and effective; it is currently registered in eight Latin American countries. There is a need to assess acceptability prior to introduction into country programs, and the Population Council conducted PVR acceptability studies in Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal. This report represents the results from a pooled analysis of data from the …

A Technical And Cultural Feasibility Assessment Of Household Microbial Fuel Cells For Use In Hanan'g District, Tanzania, Erinn Kunik

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are an emerging electricity generation technology that has the potential for use in developing countries. This study assessed the feasibility of using MFCs in Tanzania through technical analysis of a MFC prototype alongside with interviews with Tanzanians for a cultural feasibility assessment of MFCs. For the technical analysis, this study evaluated the inputs needed for a household MFC to operate and produce electricity with cattle manure as a fuel and evaluated the electrochemical and chemical performance as well as the fecal coliform reduction of the manure during MFC operation. For this study, a MFC was built …

Consumer Health Reference Interview: Ideas For Public Librarians, Lili Luo

Faculty Publications

This two-stage study seeks to help public librarians become better prepared, and more confident and competent, when answering medical/health questions. At the first stage, eleven barriers that public librarians often encounter in the consumer health reference interview were identified through a comprehensive literature review, and at the second stage, input from professional consumer health librarians on how to overcome the barriers was gathered via a qualitative survey. Findings of the study provide concrete and practical strategies that will help public librarians more successfully conduct the reference interview to assist library users in their health information-seeking journey.

Do Scaffolded Supports Between Aspects Of Problem Solving Enhance Assessment Usability?, Jan D. Mccoy, Leanne Bettesworth, Gerald Tindal, Jenelle Braun-Monegan Stone

Faculty Publications - College of Education

While problem solving as an instructional technique is widely advocated, educators are often challenged in effectively assessing student skill in this area. Students failing to solve a problem might fail in any of several aspects of the effort. The purpose of this research was to validate a scaffolded technique for assessing problem solving in science and social studies at the middle school level. This technique attempts to isolate three aspects of problem solving (data collection, analysis and display, and interpretation) and to measure each aspect separately. Problem solving measures were developed in both science and social studies. These were administered …

Promoting Innovation: The Wils Model, Andrea Coffin, Stefanie Morrill

Collaborative Librarianship

WiLS, a membership organization of over 600 libraries of all types in Wisconsin and beyond, has developed a model to help its member libraries turn their good ideas into innovative services and projects. This paper details what it means to innovate in the current library climate and describes the model, its critical facets, how it promotes innovation, how WiLS has implemented it internally, and ways WiLS has worked to broaden the impact of the model.

2015 Annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report, Florida Blue Foundation

Florida Blue Archives Printed Materials

Annual company report to the community for 2015 detailing Florida Blue Foundation charitable initiatives, community involvement, business operations, financial assets and expenditures, and executive leadership.