Digital Commons Network^™

Strategies For Dealing With Life's Difficulties, Jennifer Viveros, David G. Schramm

All Current Publications

This fact sheet outlines four healthy, effective approaches to coping with the challenges of life: eliminating overthinking, working from your strengths, taking time for self-care, and finding meaning in your experiences.

Helpful Hints For Parents Of Picky Eaters, Chelsea Feller, Mateja R. Savoie-Roskos, Carrie Durward

All Current Publications

This fact sheet offers helpful hints to reduce picky eating and make mealtime enjoyable and fun for the whole family.

A Case Study Of The Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, Sonia Vanhook

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The purpose of the study was to identify the impact that the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center (SWVHEC), located in Abingdon, has had on area residents in the past twenty years. The case study presented here is different from others that have been written in that it measures the number of courses offered, student registrations, and professional developments available to local residents. The data was collected and triangulated using different methods, such as structured interviews, archival records, newspaper articles, University websites, and participant-observations. The study included colleges and universities with either main campuses or satellite locations in Southwest Virginia and …

The Relationship Between Habitual Physical Activity And Food Choices, Safiya E. Beckford

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Physical activity (PA) and exercise aid in prevention and treatment of obesity and its comorbidities. Previous research has demonstrated a J-shaped curve between activity level and food intake, but minimal research examines whether PA and exercise affect food choices. As such, the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between habitual PA and exercise with food choices. 174 participants completed an electronic survey involving a series of binary choices among food options (aided by visual food cues) with varying reward values and time points. Participants also completed monetary binary choice questions and an exercise and activity questionnaire, with …

Not So Bizarre Foods: Exploring The Historical And Cultural Traditions Behind The Foods Of France, Germany, And Italy, Kari Pederson Behrends

Capstone Collection

Not So Bizarre Foods is a summer-term program designed for upper-level Culinary Arts students from Johnson and Wales University, Providence. Unlike other programs serving students in the Culinary Arts, this unique model includes multiple locations and an internship. The proposed program features three month-long modules based in Lyon, France; Munich, Germany; and Naples, Italy allow for comparison across locations. Drawing from the theoretical frameworks of Kolb, Vygotsky, and Mezirow, the experiential, transformative curricular design combines an academic seminar, a practical seminar, and an internship placement, emphasizing the interplay between history, culture, and culinary tradition, a concept inspired by the popular …

Incorporating Collaborative Online International Learning (Coil) Into Study Abroad Courses: A Training Design, Michelle Esche

Capstone Collection

Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is known as an innovative, cost-effective instructional method that promotes intercultural learning through online collaboration between faculty and students residing in different countries or locations within the context of a course. Two international faculty teaching courses in different locations typically partner to co-facilitate online collaborative activities, such as assignments, projects, presentations and discussions, between their students. COIL continues to grow as an important intercultural instruction tool in higher education as U.S. universities, and universities around the world, work to internationalize their campuses and curricula, as well as increase access to intercultural learning. At the same …

Differences In The Rothman Index Score In Evolving Emergent Events In Medical-Surgical Patients, Deborah Cardenas, Dnp, Msn, Rn, Paralegal

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: The Rothman Index (RI), an early warning system using software integrated with the electronic medical record provides scores monitoring patient conditions. Minimal findings exist regarding RI scores in medical-surgical patients.

Objectives: Explore differences in the RI scores in medical-surgical patients who suffered rapid response, cardiopulmonary resuscitation or death events.

Methods: A retrospective comparative design of 75 subjects with a rapid response or cardiopulmonary resuscitation event on medical-surgical units over 12-months at an academic medical center using RI scores at admission, 48- and 24-hours before and at time of event. Deaths were identified immediately following the emergent events.

Results: The …

Differences In Preventable Cardiovascular-Related Versus Unavoidable Occupational Causes Of Firefighter Fatalities On Duty, Amy Goad, Dnp, Ms, Np-C

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Firefighters across the United States face high fatality rates in the line of duty of which many are likely related to preventable cardiovascular risk factors.

Objectives: To assess differences in firefighter cardiovascular-related versus unavoidable occupational-related fatalities by career status, age, smoking, obesity, and hypertension.

Methods: We used an exploratory, comparative secondary data analysis design. We extracted data from a national database of deceased firefighters over 14 years. Variables extracted were career status, age, smoking, obesity, and hypertension as well as the reason for death while on duty (i.e., cardiovascular-related or unavoidable occupational-related death). Data were analyzed using Chi-Square to …

Organismal Biology (Georgia Tech), Shana Kerr, David Garton

Biological Sciences Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Organismal Biology was created under a Round Six ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Anatomy And Physiology I & Ii (Ung), Larry Gibson, Valerie Fambrough

Biological Sciences Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Anatomy and Physiology I & II was created under a Round Eight ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Altered Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Phenotype In Copd: Disease Vs. Disuse, Jayson R. Gifford, Joel D. Trinity, Oh-Sung Kwon, Gwenael Layec, Ryan S. Garten, Song-Young Park, Ashley D. Nelson, Russell S. Richardson

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibit an altered skeletal muscle mitochondrial phenotype, which often includes reduced mitochondrial density, altered respiratory function, and elevated oxidative stress. As this phenotype may be explained by the sedentary lifestyle that commonly accompanies this disease, the aim of this study was to determine whether such alterations are still evident when patients with COPD are compared to control subjects matched for objectively measured physical activity (PA; accelerometry). Indexes of mitochondrial density [citrate synthase (CS) activity], respiratory function (respirometry in permeabilized fibers), and muscle oxidative stress [4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) content] were assessed in muscle fibers biopsied …

Trying And Dying: Are Some Wishes At The End Of Life Better Than Others?, Oliver J. Kim

Dalhousie Law Journal

In the United States, efforts to create a "rightto try," or to provide access for the terminally ill to try experimental drugs, have seen overwhelming success in passing state legislatures. This success provided the foundation for advocates' long-term goal of a federal right to try. Yet proposals ranging from very modest advance-care-planning consultations to the "rightto die,"or medical aid in dying, face steep political challenges despite seeming public support. This paper discusses the legal underpinnings of both "rights" and the current political and policy debate over each. More often than not, these "rights" are grantedthrough legislation rather than judicial decisions, …

Ursinus Magazine, Spring / Summer 2018, Brock Blomberg, Ed Moorhouse, Mary Lobo, Jennifer Meininger Wolfe, Johannes Karreth, S. Ross Doughty, Herb Smith

Ursinus Magazine, 1995–Present

Ursinus Fulbright Fellow • The Tenth Soldier • Researching changing landscapes • Social justice through spirituality • Building on a legacy • Getting to know: Rebecca Roberts • Office space • Uniting nations • The humanitarian • The road less traveled: In search of the green Buddha • Can we prevent civil wars? • Anatomy of the perfect pitch • Lost and found • Alumni Weekend • Commencement • Class notes • Births • Deaths • Weddings • Alumni Awards • Remembrance of professors past: An appreciation of our mentors

Dia De Los Muertos: Two Days In November, Manuel F. Medrano

History Faculty Publications

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience where Pagans have praised him, popes have proclaimed him and shamans have exalted him.

Resetting Healthy Defaults: Live Your Best Life With Ms., Une Applied Nutrition Program

All Student-Created Educational Resources

This pamphlet is designed to give a basic overview of what health defaults are. It supplies examples and offers advice to set healthy defaults. It addresses nutrition concerns for people with MS. It also outlines other aspects of areas to attempt to develop healthy lifestyle defaults. It also has helpful websites to provide additional information.

An Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of Preschool Participation Upon Kindergarten Readiness, Simone Sellers

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore whether children who attended a full day of preschool were better prepared for kindergarten than those who attended a part-time program or no program at all. Two levels of the independent variable, preschool participation, were utilized: (a) full-time participation and (b) part-time or no participation. Readiness rates among children who attended a public preschool in a large school district in Florida were examined using standardized academic achievement scores as dependent variables. When looking at kindergarten readiness, males who attended preschool scored higher academic levels than males who attended no preschool. However, …

Preparing Nursing Students To Respond To Disasters: Faculty Perspectives, Melissa Jayne Freshwater

Dissertations

This mixed methods study explored emergency preparedness and disaster response in the concept-based learning curriculum adopted by the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) in 2016. The concept-based curriculum employs active learning in lieu of the traditional lecture-style teaching methods.

This study addressed the problem that educators may be unfamiliar with this content and are unsure how to present this material to students. The purpose of this study was to gain insight on teaching methodologies, to better prepare nursing students on this content.

Kolb’s 1984 Experiential Learning Theory was the framework that parallels closely with this curriculum. Kolb emphasizes four stages …

The Effects Of A Three-Hour, After School Bout Of Sedentary Vs Active Behavior On Reward And Cognitive Control Activation In 8- To 9-Year-Old Children: A Randomized Crossover Study, Mary Linn White

Theses and Dissertations

PURPOSE: To compare the effects of after-school sedentary versus active play on activation in the reward and cognitive control regions of the brain to pictures of high- and low-calorie foods. METHODS: 32 children (12 girls, 20 boys; age 8.7 ± 0.5 years; height 137.9 ± 6.9 cm; weight 32.4 ± 6.2 kg) participated in a randomized crossover study with counterbalanced treatment conditions. Conditions took place on separate days after school and included three hours of active or sedentary play. After each condition, neural activation in reward and cognitive control regions of the brain were assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging …

Application Of Mixture Design Response Surface Methodology For Combination Chemotherapy In Pc-3 Human Prostate Cancer Cells, Richard Vernon Oblad

Theses and Dissertations

Combining chemotherapeutics to treat malignant tumors has been shown to be effectivein preventing drug resistance, tumor recurrence, and reducing tumor size. We modeledcombination drug therapy in PC-3 human prostate cancer cells using mixture design responsesurface methodology (MDRSM), a statistical technique designed to optimize compositions thatwe applied in a novel manner to design combinations of chemotherapeutics. Conventionalchemotherapeutics (mitoxantrone, cabazitaxel, and docetaxel) and natural bioactive compounds(resveratrol, piperlongumine, and flavopiridol) were used in twelve different combinationscontaining three drugs at varying concentrations. Cell viability and cell cycle data werecollected and used to plot response surfaces in MDRSM that identified the most effectiveconcentrations of each …

Comparison Of Functional, Nutritional, And Sensory Properties Of Spray-Dried And Oven-Dried Cricket (Acheta Domesticus) Powder, Fred Stephen Bassett

Theses and Dissertations

Three dried cricket products – Oven-roasted Cricket Meal (ORCM), Oven-roasted Cricket Powder (ORCP), and Spray-dried Cricket Powder (SDCP) – were prepared and compared to assess their relative nutritional, functional, and sensory properties. The range of particle sizes in SDCP was wider than that of ORCP; while SDCP had more particles in the 7.78-22.0 µm range, it also had more particles in the 176-498 µm range, which contributed to differences in functional and sensory properties. ORCM and SDCP meet the FDA definition of an "excellent source" of vitamin B₂, ORCP is a "good source" of vitamin B₂, …

Wrack Lines Spring-Summer 2018, Judy Benson, Ann Baldelli, Bill Hanrahan, Ellen Johnson

Wrack Lines

From Sea to Table: Fish, Shellfish and sea vegetables from local waters

Friends Of The Hilton M. Briggs Library Newsletter: Spring 2018, Hilton M. Briggs Library

Friends of the Hilton M. Briggs Library Newsletters

Features:
SDSU Digital Collections Move into National Platform
Notes from the Chief University Librarian
Little and Solberg Receive Library Research Awards
Naturally Detailed
Students Benefited by Library Gift
Library Resources at Your Fingertips
Explore Briggs Online!

Assisted Death: Historical, Moral And Theological Perspectives Of End Of Life Options, Catherine Bando

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The paper explores historical positions on suicide and philosophical, theological, and moral positions on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. In 1900, most people died from infectious diseases, which have relatively short periods of morbid decline. With advances in the biomedical sciences, people are living longer, and most people die from chronic diseases, which are usually accompanied by prolonged periods of morbid decline. In addition to living longer, people today are generally more individualist and seek methods to control many aspects of life. While assisted death is rarely used, it represents a means to control end-of-life suffering. The paper demonstrates that there …

Chronic Administration Of Probiotic L. Rhamnosus Increases Anxiety-Like Behavior In Group-Housed Male Long Evans Rats, Parker Maddison Griff

Honors Theses

Early life stress is a risk factor for later development of alcohol use disorders and anxiety disorders in humans. Using rodent experimental models, we know that rats experiencing social isolation as early-life stress exhibit greater anxiety-like behavior and alcohol consumption than rats housed in groups. Examining potential preventive strategies, we investigated the effects of probiotics, which have previously been shown to decrease rodent anxiety-like behavior, on the relationship between early-life stress and anxiety-like behavior in rats. We hypothesized that probiotics consumption would decrease anxiety-like behavior in socially isolated rats, as well as in rats housed in groups. To our surprise, …

Alcohol Deprivation Effect: An Investigation Of A Model Of Alcohol Dependence And Relapse Behaviors In Male And Female Long Evans Rats, Hanna J. Peterson

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand relapse behavior through a pre-clinical rodent model of relapse which models the important aspects of the human addiction and relapse condition, called the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) model. It has been found to model alcohol addiction and relapse in rats and can therefore allow for further understanding of relapse behavior as well as allow for testing of the effects of various variables like stress or therapeutic drugs on relapse behavior. The model gives rats baseline access to ethanol and then allows them access to only water, called deprivation periods, and then gives …

The Effect Of Oral Rehydration Solutions (Sports Drinks) On Strength, Speed, And Endurance: A Field Study, Andrea Wisniewski

Honors Theses

Research Objective: The specific objective of this study is to contrast three different oral rehydration solutions (sports drinks) during a prolonged exercise trial on muscular strength, speed, and endurance in healthy young adult males.

Methodology: Thirteen (13) healthy male subjects will participate in a 5-mile walk on an outdoor track carrying a 40-pound rucksack on three separate occasions while drinking one of three (3) oral rehydration solutions (sports drinks) at a rate of 250 mL every 15 minutes as recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine. All three trails will be performed outdoors and differences in environmental conditions accounted …

Improving The Nutrition And Screen Time Environment Through Self-Assessment In Family Childcare Homes In Nebraska, Dipti A. Dev, Natalie A. Williams, Iheoma Iruka, Aileen S. Garcia, Yage Guo, Irina Patwardhan, Katrina Cummings, Zainab Rida, Emily Hulse, Ami Sedani

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: To determine if family childcare homes (FCCH) in Nebraska meet best practices for nutrition and screen time, and if focusing on nutrition and screen time policies and practices improves the FCCH environment.

Design: A pre–post evaluation was conducted using the Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Childcare (Go NAP SACC).

Setting: FCCH in Nebraska, USA.

Subjects: FCCH enrolled in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP; n 208) participated in a pre–post evaluation using Go NAP SACC.

Results: At baseline, all FCCH met the minimum childcare standards for fifty-four of fifty-six practices …

Culturally Sensitive Diabetic Group Education, Kelly Marie Flores

Doctoral Projects

This study assessed the effectiveness of a culturally sensitive type 2 diabetes group education program delivered to Hispanic women in Merced County. Design: A pre-test post-test design. Purposeful sampling was used. Fifteen Hispanic women from a Merced County outpatient clinic were invited to participate in a culturally relevant group education workshop over a 6-week period. Four (N=4) women accepted the invitation, completed the educational workshop, and participated in the assessments. Topics discussed in the education sessions included: (1) diabetic diet, (2) exercise, (3) blood sugar monitoring, (4) medication, and (5) preventative health. A knowledge check was completed by …

Prevalence And Prevention Of Diabetes In School Age Children: A Parent Education Module, Christine Mary Whitmyer

Doctoral Projects

The Center for Disease Control reports that there continues to be an increasing number of children being diagnosed with childhood-onset Type Two Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). The recommendation is to provide education to parents regarding the risks and possible risk factors of T2DM, and strategies to prevent and treat these risk factors (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2014). Educating parents of school age children on T2DM risk factors, and prevention practices may help to slow down this rising number of new cases. The Aim is to provide educational modules that may increase knowledge, which could in-turn change behavior, that may prevent …

Understanding Occupational Injuries, Hanbit (Joyce) Choi

Doctoral Projects

The purpose of this project is to better understand the potential negative impact of longer commute times on work-related health complaints and its relationship with frequency of work-related injuries among general assembly workers from various factories in the Bay Area. Companies in the United States seek to reduce the cost of work-related injuries by investigating the causes of and implementing necessary programs in their workplaces. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are about 115,000 employees who spend more than 90 minutes commuting to their jobs in the San Francisco Bay and San Jose Silicon Valley areas (2013). However, there …