Digital Commons Network^™

Automatic Detection Of Sensor Calibration Errors In Mining Industry, Rambabu Pothina

Engineering

Sensor errors cost the mining industry millions of dollars in losses each year. Unlike gross errors, "calibration errors" are subtle, develop over time, and are difficult to identify. Economic losses start accumulating even when errors are small. Therefore, the aim of this research was to develop methods to identify calibration errors well before they become obvious. The goal in this research was to detect errors at a bias as low as 2% in magnitude. The innovative strategy developed relied on relationships between a variety of sensors to detect when a given sensor started to stray. Sensors in a carbon stripping …

Baseline Data Of Bird Populations In The Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Mexico: A Citizen Science Approach, Teresa S. Anderson

Natural Resources

This project tested the viability of converting a local environmental education group, "Eco Chavos" into a team of citizen scientists. In rural biosphere reserves in Mexico, with few resources and large resident populations, community-based biological inventory and monitoring has the potential to increase the impact of Mexican biosphere reserves by generating scientific information and engaging local residents in hands-on environmental education. To test this, I formed a citizen science birding group and trained them in bird identification, survey techniques, data collection, and data management. The project began in January 2016 and in December 2016 I stopped mentoring the program and …

Perceptions Of Success: A Case Study Of Planning For Climate Change In Shaktoolik, Alaska, Stefan G. Tangen

Natural Resources

Climate change planning is increasingly used in places like northwest Alaska where people are dealing with the effects of global climate change in dramatic and life altering ways. Planning for climate change often involves multiple actors from all levels of government working together with various goals, motivations, and perceptions of success. This research provides a perspective on what compelled the community of Shaktoolik to formally plan for climate change, documenting who they worked with throughout the process, the dynamics involved, and the outcomes created. I used a case study approach and qualitative methods in the form of participant observation, semi-structured …

Sensitivity To Hydrocarbons And Cytochrome P4501a Enzyme Activity In Arctic Marine Birds And Waterfowl, Ann E. Riddle-Berntsen

Marine Biology

The Arctic is host to a taxonomically diverse group of birds, including species of conservation and subsistence importance that spend many months of their annual cycle in the region. With prospects for oil and gas resource development and increases in vessel traffic in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, arctic birds could be valuable bioindicators to monitor contaminants and specifically hydrocarbons from crude oil. Using liver cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) activity, I measured levels of hydrocarbon exposure in three bird species of subsistence importance: king eiders (Somateria spectabilis), common eiders (Somateria mollissima), and greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons). Over the course of …

Winning Ideas, Jody Record

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Language Abilities In Single- And Dual- Language Learners With Autism Or Other Developmental Disorders, Yael Dai

Master's Theses

Parents and providers worry that exposure to two languages will impair language acquisition in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other developmental delays (DD). However, limited research to date suggests that language milestones and abilities are unaffected. The current study explored language abilities in toddlers with ASD or DD exposed to one versus multiple languages, prior to any intervention. Results showed slower language acquisition in ASD than DD but no main effect of language exposure group or interaction of language group by diagnosis. This study suggests that bilingual parents can communicate with their children in both languages without harm …

Human Dimensions Of Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus Horridus) Management In Connecticut, Lindsay Keener-Eck

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Factors Influencing Maternal Involvement In Early Childhood: Exploring The Roles Of Maternal Stress And Children’S Narrative Representations Of Mothers, Rahmet Akpolat

Master's Theses

For children from low-income families, parent school involvement can be a crucial protective factor that supports children’s cognitive and emotional development. The present study seeks to explore how maternal stress in early childhood is associated with mothers’ later school involvement and whether children’s internalized positive, disciplinary and negative maternal representations act as potential mediators of this relationship. Currently, little research has been done on the contextual factors influencing parent school involvement in early childhood and this study aims to fill this gap in the literature. The data included 169 children and mothers from low-income families. Mothers completed questionnaires designed to …

Decision Making Processes For Bim Software Selection In The U.S. A.E.C. Industry: Developing A Unified, Streamlined Framework., Richelle Fosu

Purdue Polytechnic Doctoral Dissertations

The use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) techniques and tools continues to gain popularity in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry as more companies in the various sectors are utilizing it in one form or another. In this research, the decision-making process of construction firms with respect to the selection of BIM software for use is investigated. Through one on one interviews and gathered survey responses, a framework mapping out the various paths the exist in the decision-making process are explored. This data is then used to form a framework for BIM software selection in the construction sector of …

Testing Environmental Dna Sampling And Predictive Modeling As Means To Investigate Wood Frog (Rana Sylvatica) Distribution In Alaska And Northern Canada, Mark Anthony Spangler

Biological Sciences

Global amphibian declines over the past 30+ years have led to a greater awareness of amphibian conservation issues. Few amphibian species occur in northern landscapes, however, and the species that do occur are widely dispersed and at the northern extent of their range. Accordingly, amphibian research is not prioritized in northern landscapes. Deficient monitoring practices have resulted in incomplete distribution knowledge that impedes the management of wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) in Alaska and northern Canada. I developed an environmental DNA detection assay to complement monitoring practices at the northern extent of the wood frog's range. This assay was tested to …

Social-Ecological Soundscapes: Examining Aircraft-Harvester-Caribou Conflict In Arctic Alaska, Taylor R. Stinchcomb

Biological Sciences

As human development expands across the Arctic, it is crucial to carefully assess the impacts to remote natural ecosystems and to indigenous communities that rely on wild resources for nutritional and cultural wellbeing. Because indigenous communities and wildlife populations are interdependent, assessing how human activities impact traditional harvest practices can advance our understanding of the human dimensions of wildlife management. Indigenous communities across Arctic Alaska have expressed concern over the last four decades that low-flying aircraft interfere with their traditional harvest practices. For example, communities often have testified that aircraft disturb caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and thereby reduce harvest opportunities. Despite …

Music To Mend Heartache: Song Choices To Match, Change, And Distract Mood, Rhiannon Kallis, Anna V. Ortiz Juarez-Paz

The Qualitative Report

Romantic turmoil is something that most people experience in their life. When faced with an upsetting event, such as a breakup or fight with a partner, a person may turn to music to achieve a more desirable state of mind. The current study extended past research on music and coping by focusing specifically on a person’s use of music when they have emotional distress due to a romantic event. Ten interviews revealed the major theme “Music as a Tool,” regarding how people use music as social support. The first subtheme, Alliance with Mood, describes how participants used music as a …

Following The Flâneur: The Methodological Possibilities And Applications Of Flânerie In New Urban Spaces, Jessica Rizk, Anton Birioukov

The Qualitative Report

This paper considers the historic concept of flânerie, the act of “strolling” through urban spaces, as an unconventional approach to gathering qualitative data. In adopting a flânerie identity, the researcher is able to critically analyze urban spaces and the relation of self to those spaces. Through a (re)conceptualization of the 19th century flâneur, we explicate the methodological possibilities and applications of flânerie, in particular, as suited to excavating new urban tropes, whilst giving expression to new urban subjectivities. The authors adopt a flânerie identity, engaging in a qualitative inquiry vis-à-vis two “strolls” occurring in Toronto, Canada. The strolls provide opportunities …

Empowering Refugees Through Self-Education, Ayanna Osborne

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project focuses on how to create easier access to education in refugee camps. This is discussed through the ideas of self-directed learning and cooperative learning. As well, the current need for education is explored. Several case studies are provided demonstrating that people without a formal education have successfully been able to seek information and teach themselves. As well, studies are discussed in which individuals have been shown to efficiently seek information and teach one another.

My website provided is still under construction as of 01/2018. It will be completed by the end of the year. Anyone is welcome to …

Straying, Stress, And Potential For Reproductive Interactions Between Hatchery-Produced And Wild Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus Keta) In Southeast Alaska, Casey John Mcconnell

Fisheries

Approximately 1.5 billion juvenile hatchery-produced Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are currently released each year into Alaskan waters with goals of enhancing important fisheries and minimizing detrimental impacts on wild stocks. As the abundance of hatchery-produced salmon has increased, so have concerns about hatchery-origin strays entering wild systems and interactions with wild individuals on the spawning grounds. The influx of non-native strays and their associated fitness-related traits can reduce the resilience and productivity of recipient wild stocks, and is likely to be most deleterious when disparities in population sizes and heritable phenotypic characteristics between wild and hatchery fish exist. Thus, understanding …

Active Normal Faults And Coupled Landscape Response: Bedrock Variability In The Southern Gulf Of Corinth, Central Greece, Jr Zondervan, Ac Whittaker, Re Bell, Se Watkins, Sas Brooke

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Fluvial erosion processes control landscape response to climatic and tectonic signals and its propagation into sedimentary basins. Considerable effort has gone into quantifying and modelling the effect of changes in uplift rates on fluvial erosion in bedrock rivers. However, current landscape models, based on stream power, tend to ignore the effects bedrock variability. The lack of available data relating rock strength to bedrock erodibility in fluvial settings has limited our ability to explore this question. Recent attempts at modelling to resolve this issue rely on indirect or theoretical rock strength properties. An alternative approach requires field measurements of rock strength …

Cancer Survivorship: Promoting A Lifetime Of Health, Janelle Coleman-Smith

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

Introduction Cancer survivors can face post-cancer treatment effects that need addressing throughout their care trajectory. Education provided to stakeholders and patients will be beneficial in preventing fragmented care, increasing patient satisfaction, and expanding ongoing supportive clinical survivorship care. Methods An adapted Dr. Joanne Lester survivorship needs survey was given to n=7 post-cancer treatment patients within a northern California cancer patient advisory committee. The survey results were analyzed to identify common underserved chronic long-term survivorship needs. Based on the data, an evidence-based educational component was included within a booklet to enhance future survivorship care. Additional surveys were sent to stakeholders …

Improved Communication For Safer Patient Care: The Implementation Of Sbar, Amanda Dowden

Master's Projects and Capstones

This Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) quality improvement project aims to improve the consistency of intradepartmental communication between Urgent Care Center (UCC) staff, through standardized SBAR patient hand-offs. The aim is to improve; (1) the consistency and clarity of patient hand-offs, (2) staff experience and satisfaction with communication during hand-offs, and (3) prevent adverse patient outcomes resulting from poor communication. As a safety net hospital, traditionally serving a predominately underserved, and underinsured, multicultural demographic, the UCC is designed to alleviate the Emergency Department (ED) of non-emergent patient encounters, providing a cost effective alternative, whilst adhering to Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor …

Save The Internet, Mark Y. Herring

Winthrop Faculty and Staff Publications

With rare exception, nothing has galvanized activists and those of us in libraries more these days than net neutrality. It’s also “a thing” with just about everyone else. If you “google” the phrase, the first two or three trillion hits that come up are in favor of the status quo and against the current Federal Communications Commission’s chairman, Ajit Pai, and the FCC’s plans to scuttle the Obama-era rules on net neutrality: no blocking, no throttling, and no paid prioritization

Arctic Landscape Dynamics: Modern Processes And Pleistocene Legacies, Louise M. Farquharson

Geosciences

The Arctic Cryosphere (AC) is sensitive to rapid climate changes. The response of glaciers, sea ice, and permafrost-influenced landscapes to warming is complicated by polar amplification of global climate change which is caused by the presence of thresholds in the physics of energy exchange occurring around the freezing point of water. To better understand how the AC has and will respond to warming climate, we need to understand landscape processes that are operating and interacting across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. This dissertation presents three studies from Arctic Alaska that use a combination of field surveys, sedimentology, …

Reducing Rehospitalizations From One Skilled Nursing Facility: A Quality Improvement Project, Victoria Ann Phillips

Doctoral Dissertations and Scholarly Projects

The purpose of this quality improvement project initiated by a core project team in a large medical center was to investigate possible causes for increased hospital readmissions from one specific skilled nursing facility. The conceptual framework utilized was the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) model from the Lean Six Sigma methodology. Data collection from chart audits, a staff survey, a system probe, and a process mapping project assisted to narrow the focus of the plan to improve communication among facilities by standardizing documentation and coordination of care as patients transitioned from the skilled nursing facility to the medical center’s …

Shanghai Quartet With Yiwen Lu, Office Of Arts + Cultural Programming, Peak Performances At Montclair State University

2017-2018 Women Innovators in the Performing Arts

Known worldwide for its passionate musicality, impressive technique and expansive repertoire, the Shanghai Quartet melds traditional Chinese folk music, masterpieces of Western musical literature and cutting-edge contemporary works. This renowned quartet continues its tradition of expanding the musical palette of its audiences by introducing Yiwen Lu, acclaimed young master of the erhu, a two-stringed instrument whose versatile, expressive tone is an essential element of Chinese folk music and culture. Lu’s virtuosity allows her to blend techniques and styles – modern and traditional, Eastern and Western –defying expectations for this “simple” instrument.

Cultural Differences In Group Therapy: A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Embodied Experience Of The Cultural Bump, Natalie R. Breitmeyer

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

Utilizing transcendental phenomenology, this study sought to better understand dance/movement therapists’ experiences of the culture bump phenomenon in the group therapy setting. Culture bumps are defined as moments in which two or more people enter a situation with different culturally-based expectations about customs, behavior, beliefs, communication styles, and other norms (Archer & Nickson, 2012). Data were collected using individual inperson semi-structured interviews with five Chicagoland dance/movement therapists who self identified as having experienced the phenomenon of the culture bump while in the group therapy setting. Data analysis was completed using Moustakas’ (1994) adaptation of the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method and resulted in …

Parental Perceptions On The Impact Of Adhd Medication Regarding Children’S Inappropriate Behavior And Academic Performance, Amy Vest

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014) suggested that parenting a healthy child brings about a variety of challenges throughout life, however parenting a child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) proves a daunting task inundated with unanswered questions and multitudes of stressful situations. The purpose of this research is to study parent perceptions of a child’s ADHD medication to determine if a relationship exists between the ADHD medication, inappropriate behavior and academic performance. The quantitative survey instrument provided the means to examine the significance of the child’s ADHD medication on one day of the parent’s choice within the …

Setting:Home, Adrienne Cole

CGU MFA Theses

I look at the world graphically, seeing people as objects, objects as shapes and shapes as lines. I develop these elements into textural abstractions and patterned representations. Sometimes my work is almost entirely abstract while at other times traces of visual references can be seen. I am interested in intersections and in-between; my works fill space with disorder allowing the audience to see through my scattered, confusing and often times mysterious lens.

Preventing Obesity And Cardiovascular Disease In At-Risk Youth, Allison Patricia Woolf, Nicole Ashley Bauernfeind, Rachel Katharine Civale, Elizabeth Rose Spellman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The literature review that was conducted focuses on exploring the most effective way to prevent development of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) as a late effect of childhood obesity or risk thereof. Our research focused on the 8-10 year old at-risk and obese pediatric populations and whether the use of interactive educational interventions in the community setting can be of use to reduce CVD development and improve overall health status. Our findings determined that interactive educational interventions early in childhood can improve health outcomes for these populations and prevent subsequent development of CVD. We minimized the inclusion of all research whose evidence …

Using Social Narratives To Improve The Healthcare Experiences Of Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Margaret Spindel

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often experience significant emotional stress when they visit a healthcare provider. The focus of this research project was to explore the use of social narratives to help reduce stress associated with this environment. Social narratives are short stories designed to walk a child through a potential situation that they will encounter, that they may not be familiar with, or that they are not currently handling properly. As part of an initial literature review, evidence for the need for additional intervention in the healthcare setting for children with ASD was established. Continuing literature review then …

Aspects Of Resiliency Among The Lives Of Student Veterans, Sydney Nolan

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This study focuses on aspects of resiliency among the narratives of student veterans; specifically psychosocial difficulties, being in a relationship, social support, and sense of purpose and control. Seven student veterans attending James Madison University participated in the study. Using qualitative interviews, the researcher was able to gather information about the transitional experience of each veteran from active duty soldier, to civilian, to student. The purpose of this study is to identify the key aspects of resiliency that helped these men transition, in hopes that programs can use this information in the future to better assist veterans in their transition …

Out Of The Darkness And Into The Limelight: How Nurse Jackie Betters The Nursing Image, Shayla M. Holloway

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Due to the media’s portrayal of nurses, the nursing image has been

misconstrued over the past few years. Although nurses tend to be overlooked in the

media, there are television series out there that help promote the profession. This

essay considers how the television series Nurse Jackie is positively changing

society’s view of the modern day nurse. By analyzing some of the main protagonists

in season one of this controversial late night drama, one can see how Nurse Jackie

dispels popular nursing stereotypes and enhances the nursing image. Although

viewers may not grasp this shows impact on nursing, this show …

Navigating Culture: An Exploration Of Domestic Violence And Abuse Resource Provision To The Harrisonburg Iraqi Refugee Community, Kaitlin Michelle Holland

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

There are currently 22.5 million refugees worldwide who have been displaced from their home countries due to war, conflict, or persecution. Of this total, only 1% are recommended for resettlement each year. In recent years, many of these resettled refugees have come from Iraq, fleeing conflict stemming from the Iraq war and ISIS. Upon resettlement, refugees face significant acculturation difficulties that can negatively affect mental health. Additionally, experiencing domestic violence and abuse (DVA) can also negatively affect physical and mental health. I researched how the refugee migration experience and domestic violence and abuse affect mental health as well as what …