Digital Commons Network^™

Can Addressing Language Skills For Fifth Grade Ells In A Multiplication Curriculum Help Address The Achievement Gap In Math? A Multiplication Workbook For Big Kids, Michelle Douglas

Master's Projects and Capstones

Currently, the state of California has 1,332,405 students from grades k-12 who speak a language other than English at home (Caledfacts, 2016). When I started my first year teaching fifth grade with 95% of my students being English language learners (ELLs), I was surprised to see an achievement gap of two to three years in my student’s reading and math skills. I found that my student’s developmental language and math skills contributed to a lack of engagement during math time. Upon further research, I found that these three factors play a role in the wide achievement gaps between ELLs and …

Discharge By 11:00 Am And The Effects On Throughput, Gena Bravo

Master's Projects and Capstones

This Clinical Nurse Leader project aims to improve the discharge process to increase the percentage of patients discharged before 11:00 AM on the Progressive Care Unit (PCU). One evidence-based approach to help alleviate capacity constraints in the hospital is to create an effective and timely discharge process. The goal of this project is to educate the front line staff, care coordinators, and providers to a standardized discharge process. The PCU is a cardiac telemetry unit with 30 private rooms. The patients on the PCU are post-cardiac surgery with some overflow medical patients throughout the unit. Kotter’s theoretical framework was chosen …

Preserving The Health & Well-Being Of Elderly Adults: Encouraging Standards Of Care Within Residential Care Facilities, Katie Schollander

Master's Projects and Capstones

Hospitalizations are expensive to our healthcare system, and too often can be prevented. A large portion of preventable hospital stays are elderly individuals. In this case, these hospitalizations can also be detrimental to the health of the individual, as they may begin to decline while not going through their daily routines. The Institute on Aging (IOA) is an agency that seeks to keep elderly and disabled adults out of institutionalization. The Community Care Settings Pilot Program (CCSP) is a subset of IOA as a whole, which works with the San Mateo Health Plan patients. Residential care facilities for the elderly …

Health Starts In The Home: An Assessment Of Efforts To Improve Occupant Health Through Healthy Building Materials In San Francisco’S Affordable Housing, Staci Hoell

Master's Projects and Capstones

Americans spend 90% of their lives indoors, and much of this time is spent at home, surrounded by building materials that typically have added chemicals like flame retardants, highly fluorinated compounds, and antimicrobials. Recent research has linked these chemicals to adverse health outcomes such as asthma, endocrine disruption, cancer, neurodevelopmental issues, and reproductive problems (Bayer et al., n.d.; Green Science Policy Institute). Furthermore, these chronic health conditions disproportionately affect low-income populations. Fortunately, substantial efforts in research, practice, and policy are working to reduce the use of these potentially harmful chemicals in building materials, particularly in San Francisco’s affordable housing sector. …

Improving Early Sepsis Identification On Inpatient Units, Courtney Sumanqui

Master's Projects and Capstones

Sepsis is a medical emergency that if left untreated can rapidly cause death for many patients due to effects that this systemic infection has on the human body. Millions of Americans nationwide are affected by sepsis on an annual basis. To reduce the number of patients who decline to sepsis in the hospital, efficient sepsis protocols must be effectively implemented throughout the hospital. Healthcare organizations must dedicate themselves to providing high quality patient care from the time of admission to discharge. This quality improvement project focused on improving early sepsis identification on inpatient units.

Nurse practices, knowledge, understanding related to …

Improving Early Sepsis Identification On Inpatient Units, Leslie Virtudazo

Master's Projects and Capstones

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises from a complication of severe infection characterized by a systemic inflammatory response (SIRS). As a time critical illness requiring early identification and treatment, delayed recognition of sepsis can lead to organ failure and death. Effective sepsis protocols need to be established and implemented to reduce the number of patients declining to sepsis in the hospital setting. For this project, nursing practice and knowledge of SIRS and sepsis protocol were assessed to obtain a baseline measure of the nurses’ knowledge.

A root cause analysis was used to identify existing barriers to performing timely sepsis …

Dancing At My Desk: Examining The Foundations Of A Nonprofit Dance Education Organization, Caeli Koizumi

Honors Thesis

With the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, the demand for further development in arts education has grown. In California, the Visual and Performing Arts have been mandated components of education since 2001; yet, students often experience limited and inconsistent access to the arts due to budget cuts. Thus, the need for a specialized approach to synthesizing the arts and education is imminent. Arts Integration, a pedagogical method that refers to the combination of a visual or performing art with a core content area to provide equal understanding of a topic from both selected fields, is sprinkled throughout primary …

Horizontal Cybersurveillance Through Sentiment Analysis, Margaret Hu

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Essay describes emerging big data technologies that facilitate horizontal cybersurveillance. Horizontal cybersurveillance makes possible what has been termed as “sentiment analysis.” Sentiment analysis can be described as opinion mining and social movement forecasting. Through sentiment analysis, mass cybersurveillance technologies can be deployed to detect potential terrorism and state conflict, predict protest and civil unrest, and gauge the mood of populations and subpopulations. Horizontal cybersurveillance through sentiment analysis has the likely result of chilling expressive and associational freedoms, while at the same time risking mass data seizures and searches. These programs, therefore, must be assessed as adversely impacting a combination …

Pictures Of You, Unh Communications And Public Affairs

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Intrinsic Motivation Factors In Gamified Photography Learning: Direct And Indirect Effects, Domenic Dini, Leping Liu

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

To help students with motivation to learn, gamification has been explored as a method of delivering content to students in an engaging and motivating way. This study explored the motivation components in gamified design that linked to learning outcomes in a gamified photography curriculum. Six intrinsically motivating factors (challenge, curiosity, control, cooperation, competition, and recognition) were carefully integrated into the game experience design. Participant test scores and survey data were used to develop a maximum likelihood structural equation model. The model showed that among the six intrinsic motivation factors curiosity and control were directly linked to learning outcomes while challenge …

Novel Therapeutic Approaches For Juvenile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (Cln3), Megan Elizabeth Bosch

Theses & Dissertations

Juvenile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (JNCL) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by autosomal recessive mutations in CLN3. Neuronal loss is thought to occur via glutamate excitotoxicity; however, little is known about neuron-astrocyte glutamate regulation in JNCL. We discovered that Cln3^Δex7/8 astrocytes have significantly lower basal spontaneous Ca²⁺ oscillations and decreased responses to glutamate, indicating a disrupted signaling network. Cln3^Δex7/8 astrocytes also displayed significantly lower basal mitochondrial respiration and ATP production, suggesting impaired metabolic functions. Concurrent with diminished astrocyte metabolism and Ca²⁺ signaling, Cln3^Δex7/8 neurons were hyper-responsive to glutamate stimulation. These studies suggest that CLN3 …

Self-Efficacy For Symptom Management In Adult Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patients, Lynn White

Theses & Dissertations

Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is a treatment for hematologic cancers and other hematologic conditions that causes severe treatment-related symptoms. The first 30 days after HSCT, or the acute phase, is when symptoms are most intense. During this time, the ability of patients to manage their symptoms, in collaboration with their health care providers, is crucial to reduce the distress caused by the symptoms. Self-efficacy is the person’s confidence in their ability to perform a behavior, such as symptom management. This body of work describes the concept of self-efficacy for symptom management (SESM), presents an integrated literature review on self-efficacy …

Novel Therapeutic Strategies For Treatment Of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer, Matthew A. Ingersoll

Theses & Dissertations

Prostate cancer (PCa) remains the most commonly diagnosed solid tumor and is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in United States men. While androgen deprivation therapy is the current standard-of-care treatment for metastatic PCa, most patients eventually relapse and develop castration-resistant (CR) tumors, for which there is currently no effective treatment. Therefore, synthesis of novel therapeutic agents and identification of alternative target proteins are necessary to improve treatment. Herein, I investigate the efficacy of novel imidazopyridine and statin derivatives as alternative therapeutic compounds. These molecules not only inhibit androgen receptor signaling, but also block activation of the AKT axis, …

A Role For Δ-Catenin In Synaptic Regulation, Li Yuan

Theses & Dissertations

The cadherin-catenin complex regulates cell-cell adhesion and signal transduction in epithelial cells. It is becoming increasingly evident that components of the complex regulate various aspects of neuronal architecture and function. δ-catenin is a cytosolic component of the cadherin-catenin complex and is predominantly expressed in the central nervous system. Loss of CTNND2, which encodes δ-catenin, is associated with intellectual disability and mutations in CTNND2 have been identified in autism, suggesting that δ-catenin is a critical component of the molecular machinery underlying neural circuit function. We have previously demonstrated that δ-catenin regulates multiple aspects of synaptic and dendritic development, including dendritic …

Identifying The Role Of Janus Kinase 1 In Mammary Gland Development And Breast Cancer, Barbara Swenson

Theses & Dissertations

The development of the postnatal mammary gland is tightly controlled by peptide hormones and cytokines. The signaling of these extracellular ligands through their corresponding receptors rely on Janus Kinases (JAKs) that activate downstream Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STATs). The JAK/STAT signaling pathway is crucial for processes such as growth, proliferation, and cell survival of the epithelial tissue, but also for the breakdown and remodeling of the mammary gland via IL-6 class inflammatory cytokines (e.g. LIF and OSM). JAK1 and JAK2, which are expressed in the mammary gland, are thought to have redundant functions. However, our previous studies demonstrated …

Role Of Ezrin In Colorectal Cancer Cell Survival Regulation, Premila Leiphrakpam

Theses & Dissertations

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer related deaths in the United States, mainly due to metastasis to the distant organ sites. However, the molecular basis of CRC metastasis is poorly understood. Therefore, identification and characterization of novel potential anti-cancer therapeutic targets CRC is of urgent need. Utilizing a 2D-DIGE proteomics approach ezrin was identified as a protein that is differentially expressed between primary colon tumors xenografts, orthotopically implanted in athymic nude mice, and corresponding and liver metastatic deposits. Ezrin, a cytoskeletal protein belonging to the ezrin–radixin–moesin (ERM) family plays important roles in cell motility, invasion …

Exploring Perceptions And Experiences With Resources Among Rural Alzheimer's Dementia Family Caregivers In The Midwest, Rita M. Million

Theses & Dissertations

Exploring PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCES WITH RESOURCES AMONG RURAL Alzheimer’s Dementia Family Caregivers in the Midwest

Rita M. Million

University of Nebraska, 2017

Supervisor: Karen Schumacher, Ph.D., RN

Background. Despite vast amounts of research on informal caregiving in the Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) population, research on the experience and perceptions of rural caregivers is limited. A better understanding of rural caregivers’ knowledge, use, and nonuse of resources is essential to offset the impact of caregiving. Purpose. This study explored Alzheimer’s dementia family caregivers’ experiences and perceptions with resources in rural Midwest communities. Design. A descriptive qualitative approach with one-time semi-structured interviews was …

Building Social Support: A Mixed Methods Study Exploring How College Students Self-Disclose Emotions With Others In Order To Build Social Support, Aimee Brickner

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The purpose of this study was to examine the process by which college students self-disclose feelings of sadness or depression to create social support. This mixed methods study, which focused primarily on qualitative data, explored the lived experience of participants through an online survey and face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Results indicated that college students who are experiencing negative feelings grapple with challenges such as identifying someone to share their emotions with and choosing what information to share with others. Findings also demonstrated the importance of social support to college students who are dealing with feelings of sadness and depression in order …

Dreams: A Unified Theory Approach, Chance Mcdermott

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Henriques (2011) proposed a new unified theory of psychology (UT) which he argued could assimilate and integrate divergent lines of thought into a coherent whole. An implication of this claim is that the system can be applied to phenomena that was not addressed in the original work and the current work tests this proposition. Specifically, the current work utilized the UT and its components to examine the dream literature, especially psychodynamic, physiological and evolutionary approaches. Following a brief introduction, the project reviews the various lines of research and interpretations of why we dream and what they may mean for us. …

Color-Grapheme Synesthesia: A Study Of Population Prevalence, Christopher Hill

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Given the current state of the literature and weaknesses of many previous prevalence studies, the primary purpose of this research study was to gather base-rate data of color-grapheme synesthesia in a general population sample. Over a period of seven months, 502 participants enrolled in the study on Mechanical Turk and completed the online Synesthesia Battery. The primary data collected was the participant’s score on the synesthesia test, whereby a score of a one or below is deemed by the battery to be indicative of someone with a color-grapheme synesthetic ability. Of the 502 participants, eight percent (0.082) of the population …

Strength Analysis For The Rudders Of Power-Free Underwater Vehicle In Kuroshio Subjected To Typhoon Waves, Chuan-Tsung Lee, Ray-Yeng Yang, Huang Hsing Pan, Li-An Kuo

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this study, a 1/25 hydraulic model of a power-free vehicle was developed. Typhoon waves and Kuroshio current flow in a wave-current flume (200 x 2 x 2 m3 ) were applied to the model for determining the net flow velocity and mooring forces. Through hydraulic experiments with a wave period of 16 s, wave height of 10 m, and ocean current speed of 1.0 m/s, a net flow velocity of up to 3.81 m/s was measured. The maximum lift and drag forces acting on each rudder were calculated through computational fluid dynamics as -245.6 and 151.6 kN, respectively, when …

Cascaded Uuv Trajectory Tracking Control Based On Model Predictive And Sliding Mode Control, Bing Sun, Wenyang Gan, Man Mei, Daqi Zhu, Simon X Yang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper describes a cascaded dynamic trajectory tracking control approach based on model predictive control (MPC) and sliding mode control for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The proposed method combines kinematic and dynamic controllers to achieve robust control. First, MPC is employed to realize tracking control kinematically. The MPC algorithm is proposed as a solution to the speed jump problem. Considering the computational burden for nonlinear UUV dynamic models, the MPC method is used in conjunction with sliding mode control to achieve dynamic tracking control, which solves problems of modeling uncertainty and external disturbances. Experimental results showed that the proposed method …

Using Learning Analytics To Improve Instructional Support Design For Online Learning, Lin Zhong

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Learning analytics has been demonstrated as a great tool to evaluate quality of instructional design. This study examined how instructors can utilize learning analytics to improve online learning support design. 128 students from a southern university in United States participated in this study. All learning data related to learners and online learning environment was collected and analyzed. Results showed that learning analytics results were very helpful for instructors to improve online instructional support timing, adjust learning module design, and enhance learning materials accessibility.

Factors Affecting Faculty Use Of Video Conferencing In Teaching: A Mixed-Method Study, Juhong Christie Liu, Rob Alexander

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Teaching and learning can now utilize a variety of real-time technologies to build online social presence and learning interactions. However, teachers and students must effectively prepare for this experience; and the identification of contextual and perceptual influences become evolving and necessary (Lehman & Conceição, 2010; Liu & Kaye, 2016). In this paper, the authors explore factors that impact faculty use of synchronous video conferencing (VC) in teaching. The two-phase mixed-method study spanned a year, converging qualitative and quantitative approaches through observations and recordings during a 6-week faculty professional development program, a campus-wide survey, and focus groups. Thematic analysis was used …

Untangling The Mechanics Of Co-Entangled Cytoskeletal Networks, Shea Ricketts

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Active networks of interlinked protein filaments comprising the cytoskeleton largely control cellular mechanics and cell architecture. By forming cytoskeleton networks that combine motile, semiflexible actin with rigid, supportive microtubules, cells maintain structural integrity and shape while being able to flow and move. To elucidate the complex mechanical processes that arise between interacting networks of actin and microtubules within cells, we create a suite of randomly-oriented, well mixed networks of actin and microtubules by co-polymerizing varying ratios of both proteins in situ. We use optical tweezer microrheology in order to characterize the nonlinear mesoscale mechanics of in vitro co-entangled actin-microtubule composites. …

The Impacts Of Explicit Systematic Phonics Instruction On The Areas Of Decoding And Fluency For Students With A Specific Learning Disability In Reading, Marina Hingston

Capstones, Research Projects, and Curricula

The purpose of this embedded, mixed methods action research study was to examine the impacts of explicit, systematic phonics instruction on students with a specific learning disability in reading. A phonics intervention program, S.P.I.R.E., was implemented over the course of four weeks. The participants were two 4th graders and one 6th grader, all who had an identified specific learning disability in the area of reading. Data was collected on decoding accuracy pre and post intervention, as well as on reading fluency using timed one minute fluency drills. In addition, student perceptions of the S.P.I.R.E. program were also gathered using a …

"Call Before You Fall", Kimy Mira

Master's Projects and Capstones

National organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Collaborative Alliance for Nursing Outcomes (CALNOC) have prioritized reduction of inpatient falls as a patient safety goal. An improvement project utilizing the model for improvement and Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles was conducted on a 40-bed unit that provides care to cardiac, and medical-surgical patients. The current fall prevention quality council team is composed of nurses and interdisciplinary clinicians, who focus on improving clinical and financial outcomes related to fall prevention and potential injuries. A Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) was asked to lead a practice improvement project in …

A Multi-Prong Fall Awareness Program To Reduce The Occurrence Of Falls In A Skilled Nursing Unit, Cheri Labrador

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

A multi-prong falls awareness program to reduce the occurrence of falls in a skilled nursing unit

Keywords: Fall awareness program, skilled nursing unit, fall rate

The project goal was to reduce the patient fall rate by 20% by implementing a fall awareness program for clinical staff. The program had two prongs and began with a pre-survey to determine current fall prevention knowledge. The staff was encouraged to participate in the training by providing risk factors that contribute to falls and simple strategies to prevent falls based on their knowledge of the patients (Boushon et al, 2012). A post-survey was …

The Effectiveness Of K-12 Principal’S Digital Leadership In Supporting And Promoting Communication And Collaboration Regarding Ccss Implementation, Lin Zhong

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Technology plays an important role in supporting successful College-and Career- State Standards (CCSS) implementation, which requires principals and educators effectively communicate and collaborate at the local, state, and national level. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of digital leadership in supporting communication and collaboration regarding CCSS implementation in K-12 schools. In this study, 254 public school teachers from five school districts in Mississippi were surveyed. Results showed that principals were most effective in supporting professional development and digital citizenship. In addition, teachers’ age and teaching grades have an impact on the effectiveness of principals’ digital leadership strategies. Implications are …

Next Generation Sequencing Technologies For Real-Time Genotyping And Targeted Sequencing For Precision Medicine, Priyanka Rawat

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Astounding success of Human genome project and accelerating success of sequencing technologies have enabled $ 1000 genome goals possible. But, this is still far-fetched from the reach of many resource refrained populations with high genetic variations causing lethal genetic diseases. Based on present technology principles, I have developed prototypes for affordable, scalable and customizable point-of-care genotyping and targeted sequencing. Ion-sensitive field effect transistors with novel read-out and signal amplification techniques are used for laying foundation of possible ISFET based allele-arrays. Sequencing-by-synthesis based full-fledge sequencer is made with novel immobilization, flow-cell and data acquisition methods for massive sequenciing.