Digital Commons Network^™

Libraries As Pivotal Community Spaces In Times Of Crisis, Renate L. Chancellor

Urban Library Journal

Over the past several years, society have witnessed an unprecedented number of tragedies. From the Paris bombings to the shooting of an unarmed man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, civil unrests has become a part of our everyday life. Consequently, these disturbances have had a far-reaching impact on our global and local communities. In communities in the United States, police shootings and public protests in urban cities have resulted in crises that have been particularly hard-felt, but more significantly, they live vividly in our memories. Libraries in these communities often serve as safe havens in times of crisis. This paper presents two …

The Complex Evolutionary History And Phylogeography Of Caridina Typus (Crustacea: Decapoda): Long-Distance Dispersal And Cryptic Allopatric Species, Hendrik Freitag, Samuel C. Bernardes, Almir R. Pepato, Thomas Von Rintelen, Kristina Von Rintelen, Timothy J. Page, Mark De Bruyn

Biology Faculty Publications

The evolutionary history of the old, diverse freshwater shrimp genus Caridina is still poorly understood, despite its vast distribution – from Africa to Polynesia. Here, we used nuclear and mitochondrial DNA to infer the phylogeographic and evolutionary history of C. typus, which is one of only four species distributed across the entire range of the genus. Despite this species’ potential for high levels of gene flow, questions have been raised regarding its phylogeographic structure and taxonomic status. We identified three distinct lineages that likely diverged in the Miocene. Molecular dating and ancestral range reconstructions are congruent with C …

Effects Of Moderate Pressure Massage On Self-Regulation And Play In Preterm Babies, Helene Chaya Hendel

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine whether mother-administered moderate pressure massage intervention could improve self-regulation, which would result in improvements in play outcomes. It was posited that a child who is self-regulated may be more successful in his/her play and that moderate pressure massage could be an effective tool to improve self-regulation in preterm infants with decreased self-regulation. Participants in the study were five preterm children ranging from 12 to 18 months corrected age and their mothers. The study utilized an A-B nonconcurrent multiple baselines across subjects design in which each participant acted as his/her own control as …

Enhancing Childrens Social-Emotional Learning Skills Through Mindfulness Practices, Shun Yi Wan, Stephanie Chang, Jordan Fenlon, Amrith Shettigar, Mckenzie Johnson, Sam Lealofi

Research Day

Background: The Kalamazoo Eastside neighborhood has been subject to a great deal of economic and functional instability, particularly impacting the youth. Local demographic studies indicate that 90% of children are eligible for free or reduced lunch due to low income, 58% of households are single-female households, and 29% of parents do not have a high school diploma. Eastside Youth Strong (EYS) is a local organization focused on improving the lives of these children. This study will be investigating the EYS afterschool program’s mindfulness initiative. Purpose: Social and emotional learning were chosen to be studied because these skills are critical for …

Educating Calvary Baptist Church, Asheville, Nc, On The Value Of Following The Christian Year As A Means For Spiritual Renewal Through Worship, Jeffrey C. Hayes

Doctor of Ministry Projects

This project introduced the spiritual value of following the Christian year in worship. Through a series of sermons and study lessons that focused on eight major seasons (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time), participants were exposed to the history and spiritual purpose of each, respectively. Two surveys were administered, along with weekly evaluations, and interviews, to measure the project’s effectiveness. The desired outcome was a greater degree of knowledge and interest in worshipping through the Christian year. According to the final analysis, increased understanding, spiritual growth, and desire to worship through the Christian year did …

(Anti)Poverty Measures Exposed, Francine J. Lipman

Scholarly Works

Few economic indicators have more salience and pervasive financial impact on everyday lives in the United States than poverty measures. Nevertheless, policymakers, researchers, advocates, and legislators generally do not understand the details of poverty measure mechanics. These detailed mechanics shape and reshape poverty measures and the too often uninformed responses and remedies. This Article will build a bridge from personal portraits of families living in poverty to the resource allocations that failed them by exposing the specific detailed mechanics underlying the Census Bureau’s official (OPM) and supplemental poverty measures (SPM). Too often, when we confront the problem of poverty, the …

Comparative Analysis Of Privilege In Relation To The School District Of Philadelphia And The Tredyffrin-Easttown School District, Kathryn Battafarano

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Although public education is an option for all local residents, the variation in American public education is littered with inequalities. In particular, the School District of Philadelphia and the Tredyffrin-Easttown School District are representative of this variation. The School District of Philadelphia is located within the biggest Pennsylvanian city. The Tredyffrin-Easttown School District is a smaller school district operating in a suburban area in close proximity to Philadelphia. There are three focus areas, socio-economic levels, geographic region, and funding, which specifically constitute the differences in these school districts. The differences show how privileged educational circumstances arise. This analysis suggests that …

Reproductive Biology Of The Critically Endangered Endemic Planterodium Somanum In Turkey, Di̇lek Oskay

Turkish Journal of Botany

The reproductive characteristics of Erodium somanum (Geraniaceae), a critically endangered endemic species, were investigated in order to evaluate the main factors that affect its reproductive success and to evaluate their importance on its conservation. The estimated pollen/ovule ratio was calculated as 1187. Pollen viability and stigma receptivity experiments showed that stigma receptivity and pollen viability were high and synchronous throughout the anthesis. E. somanum is a strictly dioecious species and pollinated by insects. Flower visitors in the studied populations were mostly beetles and ants. The average percentage of fruit formation for each plant was determined as 46%. Capacity of seed …

Evaluation Of A Childhood Community-Based Comprehensive Asthma Management Program, Stephanie E. Welsh

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: The Dayton Children’s Hospital Comprehensive Asthma Management Program incorporates Community Health Worker (CHW) interventions to improve child asthma control and reduce urgent health resource utilization.

Methods: Children in grades two to five with parent- or physician-identified asthma received one of three levels of intervention, based on self-selection by caregivers: (1) child asthma education; (2) child and caregiver asthma education; (3) child and caregiver asthma education, plus home assessments. Child Asthma Risk Assessment Tool (CARAT) scores were collected before intervention to assess risk. Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT) scores and urgent health visit numbers were collected before and after intervention. …

Therapist Knowledge, Attitudes Toward, And Experiences With Social Media Use In Treating Adolescent Females, Kristin Hess

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Recent research on social media use suggest that over 90% of adolescents aged 13 to 17 years use the Internet and 73% spend time on social networking sites (Cingel, Lauricella, Wartella, & Conway, 2013). This makes it increasingly important for therapists to be aware of the current social media applications, as well as the risks and benefits that may accompany use. Although there is much literature on the possible benefits and risks to social media use, there is minimal research on how therapists use this information to treat an adolescent population effectively. The present study utilized a cross-sectional web-survey design …

What Is Diversity?, Arden Kirkland

Design for Learning: 21st Century Online Teaching and Learning Skills for Library Workers

No abstract provided.

Diversity: How Is Aall Doing?, James M. Donovan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This paper describes the possible approaches to encouraging diversity within the workplace that are available to all professional organizations, including the American Association of Law Libraries [AALL]. Part I reviews the basic terms: discrimination, bias, and diversity. Reasons for pursuing diversity in the workplace are discussed in Part II. Two instrumental justifications and one intrinsic rationale reveal the range of motivations behind these projects. Each rationale supports its characteristic form of diversity: reflective, substantive, and cognitive. Because the kind of diversity determines the anticipated outcome, disagreement over progress may be the result of expecting different kinds of diversity. Clarity on …

Prevention Of Ovarian And Endometrial Cancer By Combined Oral Contraceptives: A Demographics Study, Joanna S. Heywood

CMC Senior Theses

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer with 54,870 cases occurring in the United States in 2015 and causing 10,170 deaths, an 18.5% mortality rate (Elit and Reade, 2015). Ovarian cancer, while less common, is much more fatal. In 2015 in the United States, 21,290 cases occurred and resulted in 14,180 deaths, a 66.6% mortality rate. This mortality rate makes ovarian cancer the fifth most deadly cancer for women in the United States, which is largely explained by ineffective screening strategies and limited treatment possibilities (Cramer, 2012). Thus, developing effective prevention strategies is especially important to saving the lives …

Tigard-Tualatin School District Enrollment Forecast Update 2017-18 To 2026-27, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Charles Rynerson, Xi Yang

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

This report presents the results of a demographic study conducted by the Portland State University Population Research Center (PRC) for the Tigard‐Tualatin School District (TTSD). The study includes analysis of population, housing and enrollment trends affecting the District in recent years, estimates of the impacts of housing development on TTSD enrollment, and forecasts of district‐wide and individual school enrollments for the 2017‐18 to 2026‐27 school years.

Mining Social Media Data For Improved Understanding Of Disaster Resilience, Lei Zou

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Disaster resilience is the capacity of a community to ‘bounce back’ from disastrous events, by effecting resilience building activities through the four phases of emergency management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. However, data describing a community’s behaviors in each phase are difficult to access in traditional databases. Social media data provide an innovative data source to better understand communities’ responses and behaviors in each phase of emergency management during disasters, and thus could ultimately monitor and enhance disaster resilience. This study analyzes the spatial-temporal patterns of Twitter activities during Hurricane Sandy, which struck the northeastern United States on October …

Do Submental Deoxycholic Acid Injections Reduce Submental Fat In Adult Patients Enough To Create A Significant Increase In Patient Satisfaction?, Alec W. Curry

PCOM Physician Assistant Studies Student Scholarship

Objective: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not “Submental deoxycholic acid injections reduce submental fat in adult patients enough to create a significant increase in patient satisfaction”

Study Design: Review of 3 double blind, randomized control trials that were selected based on their relevance to the clinical question.

Data Sources: All three peer-reviewed articles were found using PubMed and Cochrane Database. The keywords “ATX-101”, “submental fat”, and “deoxycholic acid” were used.

Outcomes Measured: Satisfaction with appearance in association with face and chin evaluated by a patient reported subject self-rating scale …

An Assessment Of Tire-Buying Among Millennial Consumers, John R. Hojnacki, Caleb P. Ohrn, Ben M. Nelson, Addie A. Hujar, Taylor J. Kirian

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This study first examines general purchasing trends among millennial consumers before digging into the perceptions that millennial consumers have of the tire-purchasing experience. Our initial hypothesis was that the negative view of tire-purchasing held by many millennial age consumers was driven by the difficulty of the process itself. Through our own research, we discovered that it is the perceptions held by those who have not yet purchased tires rather than the reality of the purchasing experience that is the issue.

To Help Or Not To Help? Assessing The Impact Of Envy And Gratitude On Prosocial Behaviors, Anna Maria C. Behler

Theses and Dissertations

Envy is an other-oriented but negative emotion; no research has examined the influence of envy on prosocial behavior. Study 1 examined whether envy and gratitude would promote or inhibit prosocial behavior. I hypothesized that envy would result in less helping behavior than a neutral condition, whereas gratitude would increase helping behavior. Results supported the hypothesis that envy inhibits prosocial behavior. There was not enough evidence to suggest that gratitude promoted helping.

Study 2 examined how envy and gratitude affected prosocial behavior when participants were given the choice to help or harm others. I hypothesized that experiencing envy would result in …

Exploring Barriers To Primary Care In The Lgbt Community, Desiree R. Price

DNP Projects

Purpose: The specific aim of this study was to identify the LGBT patient’s perspective of what factors could contribute to a more responsive primary care environment.

Methods: The study was a non-experimental, descriptive study utilizing an anonymous, internet based electronic survey. A survey/questionnaire tool, developed for the study, was disseminated among a social media site and a listserv for two organizations with strong connections to the LGBT community.

Results: Eighty-one responses were received. Participants: 60% identified as female, 95% were Caucasian, with 84% never having a Pap smear, and only 6.6% having recommended breast cancer screenings. The incidence of …

Development And Dynamics Of The Informal Workers In Thailand: A Case Study Of Informal Workers Network, Tanachot Assawarotjanamitre

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This thesis aims to analyze the informal worker movement that is associated with a labor NGO named HomeNet Thailand, which helped mobilize informal workers and strengthen their skills and knowledge. The core analysis of thesis follows Resource Mobilization Theory and Political Process Theory to analyze the informal workers' developments, conditions, and limitations. This thesis explores the Informal workers' situation during Yingluck Shinawatra's civilian government (2011-2014) and Prayut Chan-o-cha's miliatry government (2014-Present). The thesis consists of 5 parts. Firstly, an introduction elaborates the research methodology of Archival Research and Interview methods. Secondly, a literature review and theoretical framework show the limitations …

Prevalence And Molacular Genetic Analysis Of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus And Enterovirus 68 Among Children With Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection In Thailand, I-Lada Thongpan

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes acute lower respiratory tract infection in infants and young children worldwide. A clear description of local RSV molecular epidemiology, evolution, and transmission requires detailed sequence data and can inform new strategies for virus control and vaccine development. To investigate the RSV burden in Thailand over six consecutive years (January 2012 to December 2017). There were two different methods to detect RSV in the present study. First, we screened 3306 samples obtained from children ≤5 years old with acute respiratory tract infection using semi-nested reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) during January 2012 to December 2015. Second, …

Reactions To Age Metastereotypes In The Workplace : Challenge, Threat, And Boost, Elora C. Voyles

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

As workplaces become more age-diverse, it becomes increasingly important to better understand how metastereotypes influence cross-generational interactions. In the context of ageism, metastereotypes occur when a person of one age group perceives what they believe other age groups think about members of their age group. These perceptions have been found to influence interpersonal interactions, career planning, as well as retirement. Between the activation and the ultimate outcomes of age metastereotypes, there are likely affective reactions that occur before the measured outcomes. Based on a model of age metastereotypes, some of the reactions to age metastereotypes that may occur are challenge, …

Evolutionary Interactions Of Feather Molt In Birds, Ryan Scott Terrill

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The evolution of feathers was a key innovation for birds. The many functions that feathers provide have allowed birds to diversify into myriad habitats and styles of life. However, feathers are lightweight and break down, and must be replaced regularly in a process known as molt. The patterns and timing with which birds molt varies within and between species, and these different strategies are likely a product of the different ways birds use their feathers and the uneven distribution of resources available for molt in time and space. So far, no studies have attempted to place these strategies into an …

Race, Retreat, And Refuge: Black Voices, American Nature Writing, And Ecocritical Exile, Bryon Patrick Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While existing scholarship has begun to recognize the extensive environmental experience of African Americans during the nineteenth century, black-authored environmental writing from the era is conspicuously scant in studies and anthologies into the present, even in volumes devoted to ecocritically-inflected texts by authors of color. My dissertation argues that contemporary, racially-aligned divides and gaps in environmental discourse have roots in the 1840s and 50s, when the nature writing genre coalesced into its most enduring form in the works of Henry David Thoreau, literary artist turned cultural icon. This key era—during which black Americans were frequently subject to systematic deprivation of …

A Little About My Father, Peter D. Thomsen, Kathy Thomsen

The Bridge

Peter D. Thomsen (1922 - 2015) was one of eighty-two students at Grand View College (GVC) in 1940. The students came from Danish immigrant communities all over the United States, including Chicago, Illinois; Seattle, Washington; Los Angeles, California; Kimballton, Iowa; Tyler, and Askov, Minnesota; Racine, Wisconsin; and in my father’s case, Marinette, Michigan and Menominee, Wisconsin. He was a first generation American; his parents had immigrated to the United States from Langeland, Denmark shortly before he was born. His experiences in Danish Lutheran church communities around the country reflect many of the changes that came about as Danish Americans integrated …

Marriage Dissolution In The Active Duty Air Force, Mark Edelstein

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the advent of the Global War on Terror in 2001, more than 2 million troops have deployed in support of contingency operations throughout the world. During this time, the divorce rates have increased throughout the military, hitting an all-time high in 2011, and dropping slightly thereafter. Enlisted members on active duty in the United States Air Force exhibited a higher rate of divorce than did their counterparts in any other branch of military service. At present, the reasons for the heightened Air Force divorce rates are still unknown. Perhaps more importantly, research has not identified which specific subgroups within …

Loneliness And Student Health: Replication And Exploratory Analysis, John Copeland

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Loneliness occurs in the absence of belonging or social connectedness and has been linked to many physical and mental health problems. Among these conditions are depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and stress. College students report these four conditions as the largest barriers to good academic performance. For as much is known about loneliness, much less is known about belonging and health or the role loneliness plays in these relationships prompting a need for investigation. Using a sample of 301 university students, we replicated previous findings that loneliness predicts depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and stress. Next we replicated and contributed new findings …

An Evaluation Of The Use Of Pentosidine As A Biomarker For Ageing Turtles, John B. Iverson, Randal S. Stahl, Carol Furcolow, Fred Kraus

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Concentrations of the biomarker pentosidine have been shown to be useful measures of age for a number of avian and mammalian species. However, no study has examined its usefulness as an age marker in a long-lived ectotherm despite the fact that such a marker could prove useful in understanding age distributions of populations subject to conservation programmes. Therefore, we evaluated pentosidine concentrations in the interdigital webbing of 117 female yellow mud turtles (Kinosternon flavescens) at a 35 year study site in western Nebraska where nearly all turtles are of known age. Pentosidine concentrations were extraordinarily low and positively …

Differential Impacts Of Wildfire On The Population Dynamics Of An Old-Forest Species, Jeremy T. Rockweit, Alan B. Franklin, Peter C. Carlson

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Ecological disturbances shape and maintain natural communities, but climate change and human land use can alter disturbance regimes and affect population persistence and vital rates in unpredictable ways. Species inhabiting landscapes shaped by wildfire have evolved mechanisms allowing them to persist under this dynamic disturbance type, which creates habitats of varying quality for these species. We utilized data from a 26-yr demographic study of northern spotted owls to analyze the influence of wildfire on apparent survival and recruitment rates. Wildfires occurred across different years and affected different spotted owl territories, which allowed us to implement a retrospective Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) analysis …

Quantile Regression Of Microgeographic Variation In Population Characteristics Of An Invasive Vertebrate Predator, Shane R. Siers, Julie A. Savidge, Robert N. Reed

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Localized ecological conditions have the potential to induce variation in population characteristics such as size distributions and body conditions. The ability to generalize the influence of ecological characteristics on such population traits may be particularly meaningful when those traits influence prospects for successful management interventions. To characterize variability in invasive Brown Treesnake population attributes within and among habitat types, we conducted systematic and seasonally-balanced surveys, collecting 100 snakes from each of 18 sites: three replicates within each of six major habitat types comprising 95% of Guam's geographic expanse. Our study constitutes one of the most comprehensive and controlled samplings of …