Exploring The Challenges To Sustainable Rural Drinking Water Services In Chile, Jami Nelson-Nuñez, Jeffrey P. Walters, Denisse Charpentier

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Many countries around the world now face the dual challenges of closing the remaining gaps in access to drinking water in rural areas while further addressing the issues of equity, quality, and sustainability outlined in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our research explores the key factors for sustainability in rural drinking water services in Chile, an important example not only due to its success in rural water access but also because of the new directions the country is taking to achieve the SDGs. Drawing on results from a Delphi study of Chilean rural water experts, we discuss the most …

Balance Billing In Idaho 2019, Benjamin Larsen, Matthew May, Cheong Kim, Vanessa Crossgrove Fry

Idaho Policy Institute Reports

There is growing concern about the financial burden of balance billing, or surprise billing, on individuals with private health insurance plans. Idaho has limited provisions concerning balance billing, but none that protect patients who are unaware they are receiving services outside their insurance carrier’s network. Idaho residents receiving emergency care or major surgeries often do not choose their treating physicians, putting them at risk of being charged staggering amounts for out-of-network services. Research shows that balance billing disparities exist between geographic areas and service type which may point to private health insurance network inadequacies.

Half of states have full or …

2019 Symposium Brochure

Programs

No abstract provided.

Differences Between Occupational And Non-Occupational-Related Motor Vehicle Collisions In West Virginia: A Cross-Sectional And Spatial Analysis, Toni Marie Rudisill

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

Motor vehicle collisions comprise the majority of occupational-related fatalities in the United States and West Virginia has one of the highest occupational-related fatality rates in the nation. The purpose of this study was to compare work and non-work-related collisions, crash locations, and the characteristics of in-state and out-of-state drivers ≥18 years of age who were fatally injured in work-related collisions in West Virginia.

Methodology

Data were from the 2000–2017 Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Work and non-work-related crashes and characteristics in-state vs. out-of-state drivers were compared using binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Crash locations were compared via spatial analyses …

Measuring Urban Spatial Activity Structures: A Comparative Analysis, Lihua Xu, Huifeng Xu, Tianyu Wang, Wene Yue, Jinyang Deng, Liwei Mao

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abstract: Human activity recognition has been of interest in the field of urban planning. This paper established a general framework by which expected human activity intensity (HAI) measured by the built environment and factual HAI measured by the Baidu thermal chart were estimated and comparatively analyzed so as to identify abnormal human activities in Hanghzou, China. Three elements of the built environment (i.e., residential density, road connectivity, and land-use mixing degree) from multi-source data with high precision are selected to assess the expected HAI. Results indicate Hangzhou has evolved into a polycentric city with three urban clusters. In addition, a …

Impact Of Ethanol Plant Location On Corn Revenues For U.S. Farmers, Ani L. Katchova, Ana Claudia Sant'anna

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

settings Open AccessArticle

Impact of Ethanol Plant Location on Corn Revenues for U.S. Farmers

by Ani L. Katchova 1,* andAna Claudia Sant’Anna 2 1 Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA 2 Division of Resource Economics and Management, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Sustainability 2019, 11(22), 6512; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226512 Received: 22 October 2019 / Revised: 11 November 2019 / Accepted: 15 November 2019 / Published: 19 November 2019 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Green, Closed Loop, Circular Bio-Economy) …

The Influence Of Location On Water Quality Perceptions Across A Geographic And Socioeconomic Gradient In Appalachia, Ross G. Andrew, Robert C. Burns, Mary E. Allen

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abstract: Understanding perceptions of water quality held by residents is critical to address gaps in public awareness and knowledge and may provide insight into what defines communities that are more/less resilient to changing water conditions locally. We sought to identify spatial patterns of water quality perceptions gathered in a survey of Southern West Virginia (WV) residents during spring/summer 2018. Using over 500 survey responses across 15 counties, we calculated spatial autocorrelation metrics and modeled the relationships between overall water quality perceptions and county-level socioeconomic endpoints, such as poverty rate, per capita income, and education level. We identified significant differences across …

The Economics And Politics Of Carbon Taxes And Regulations: Evidence From Voting On Washington State’S Initiative 732, Michael Reed, Patrick O'Reilly, Joshua Hall

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

n November 2016, Washington State voters were presented with a ballot initiative (Initiative 732) advancing the first carbon tax on production and use of fossil fuels in the United States. Initiative 732 promised to reduce fossil fuel consumption by taxing carbon emissions, while remaining revenue-neutral by lowering taxes on businesses, consumers, and working families. In promising revenue-neutrality, Initiative 732 sought support beyond environmentalists and similarly sympathetic voters. It failed to pass, achieving 41.2 percent of votes cast. To investigate this initiative’s failure at the ballot, we analyzed zip code-level voting patterns and demographic data. Relying on a two-step LASSO (Least …

Observed Mesoscale Hydroclimate Variability Of North America’S Allegheny Mountains At 40.2° N, Evan Kutta, Jason Hubbart

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Spatial hydroclimatic variability of Eastern North America’s Allegheny Mountain System (AMS) is commonly oversimplified to elevation differences and the rain-shadow effect. Descriptive and higher order statistical properties of hourly meteorological observations (1948–2017) from seven airports were analyzed to better understand AMS climatic complexity. Airports were located along a longitudinal transect (40.2 °N) and observation infrastructure was positioned to minimize climatic gradients associated with insolation, slope, and aspect. Results indicated average ambient temperature was well correlated with airport elevation (R2 = 0.97). However, elevation was relatively poorly correlated to dew point temperature (R2 = 0.80) and vapor pressure deficit (R2 = …

Climatic Trends Of West Virginia: A Representative Appalachian Microcosm, Evan Kutta, Jason Hubbart

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

During the late 19th and very early 20th centuries widespread deforestation occurred across the Appalachian region, USA. However, since the early 20th century, land cover rapidly changed from predominantly agricultural land use (72%; 1909) to forest. West Virginia (WV) is now the USA’s third most forested state by area (79%; 1989–present). It is well understood that land cover alterations feedback on climate with important implications for ecology, water resources, and watershed management. However, the spatiotemporal distribution of climatic changes during reforestation in WV remains unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, daily maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and precipitation data were acquired …

Sense Of Coherence And Caregivers Of Persons With Dementia, Kristina M. Childers

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Unpaid caregivers (CG) provide most of the assistance to persons with dementias (PWD) living in the community. This study explores the current state of knowledge regarding the concept of sense of coherence (SOC) and CG of PWD via a concept analysis. The identified defining attributes were health, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), CG burden, CG stress, coping as a strength, gender, and decreasing sense of CG coherence over the progression of the disease (dementia). Further study by health care professionals using clinical observations, large samples of respondents, a consistent theory, valid and reliable instruments used to measure defining attributes consistently, …

Redesign, Field-Testing, And Validation Of The Physical Activity Campus Environmental Supports (Paces) Audit, Tanya M. Horacek, Elif D. Yildirim, Dean Seidman, Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Sarah Colby, Adrienne A. White, Karla P. Shelnutt, Melissa D. Olfert, Anne E. Matthews, Kristin Riggsbee, Lisa Frazen-Castle, Jesse S. Morrell, Kendra Kattelmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper describes the redesign, field-testing, and convergent validity of a practical tool—Physical Activity Campus Environmental Supports (PACES) audit. Methods. The audit includes two parts: (1) PACES-Programs, which is comprised of questions regarding populations served, fees, programs (recreation/fitness classes and intramurals), proximity, adequacy of facilities, and marketing, and (2) PACES-Facilities, which is comprised of questions regarding built environment (aesthetics, bike racks, stairs, and universal design), recreation equipment, staff, amenities, and access. Each item criterion is specifically scored using a five-point, semantic-differential scale ranging from limited to extensive environmental support. A few questions utilize select all that apply for a summed …

More Than Fast Food: Development Of A Story Map To Compare Adolescent Perceptions And Observations Of Their Food Environments And Related Food Behaviors, Kristin A. Riggsbee, Jonathon Riggsbee, Melissa J. Vilaro, Lauren Moret, Marsha Spence, Elizabeth A. Steeves, Wenjun Zhou, Melissa D. Olfert, Lisa Franzen-Castle, Tanya Horacek, Elizabeth Hall, Sarah Colby

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The purpose of this convergent, multiphase, mixed methods study was to better understand the perceptions of adolescents’ food environments and related food behaviors using grounded visualization and story mapping. Adolescents from one high school (13–16 years) in the southeastern United States were evaluated via data from health behavior surveys (n = 75), school environment maps, focus groups (n = 5 groups), and Photovoice (n = 6) from October 2016 to April 2017. Data from each phase were integrated using grounded visualization and new themes were identified (n = 7). A story map using ArcGIS Online was developed from data integration, …

Contextual Factors Associated With County-Level Suicide Rates In The United States, 1999 To 2016, Danielle L. Steelsmith, Cynthia A. Fontanella, John V. Campo, Jefferey A. Bridge, Keith L. Warren, Elisabeth D. Root

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Importance Understanding geographic and community-level factors associated with suicide can inform targeted suicide prevention efforts.

Objectives To estimate suicide rates and trajectories, assess associated county-level contextual factors, and explore variation across the rural-urban continuum.

Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study included all individuals aged 25 to 64 years who died by suicide from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2016, in the United States. Spatial analysis was used to map excess risk of suicide, and longitudinal random-effects models using negative binomial regression tested associations of contextual variables with suicide rates as well as interactions among county-level contextual variables. Data …

Planning Emergency Shelters For Urban Disasters: A Multi-Level Location–Allocation Modeling Approach, Yijun Shi, Guofang Zhai, Lihua Xu, Quan Zhu, Jinyang Deng

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In recent years, cities are threatened by various natural hazards. Planning emergency shelters in advance is an effective approach to reducing the damage caused by disasters and ensuring the safety of residents. Thus, providing the optimal layout of urban emergency shelters is an important stage of disaster management and an act of humanitarian logistics. In order to study the optimal layout of emergency shelters in small mountain cities, this paper constructs multi-level location models for different grades of emergency shelters so as to minimize the travel and construction costs and maximize the coverage rate. Specifically, the actual service of emergency …

Thinking Deeply In College: An Inquiry Into Contemplation Amongst Undergraduate Students, Dan R. Read

Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

In student development theory, a crisis is considered the impetus for development. For undergraduate students, contemplation is one of the ways students resolve their crises. This study was an inquiry into those contemplative practices and was guided by the following research question: What are the contemplative practices of undergraduate students, and what are the outcomes of those practices? After eleven students were interviewed, findings revealed 1) an enrichment of the meaning of the word space to include space in time; 2) contemplation is perceived by students as deep thinking; 3) contemplation is often connected to spiritual practices; and 4) students’ …

An Analysis Of Violin And Viola Instructors’ Opinions Of Using The Third Position As The Home Position For Beginning-Level Violin/Viola Education, Eylem Arıca

Research & Issues in Music Education

Despite the existence of educators who use the third position as the home position for beginner violin training and get positive results, repertoires of violin pedagogues and current music school curricula show an overwhelming preference for the first position. I determined that studies on this preference and research related to the use of the third position technique as an alternative in beginner violin/viola education were scant and narrow in scope, and sent a questionnaire to violin/viola teachers to garner their views. Ninety-four participants who wrote comments in Part 4 of the questionnaire made up the study’s sample. The study aimed …

Veganism, Race, And Soul Food: Evaluating Reproductions Of Race In Vegan Spaces, Emily Martin

Student Library Research Awards

Independent Study Award recipient for 2019. Project completed for course ANTH 350. Supporting faculty: Justin Armstrong

The Caged Bildungsroman: Feminist Avian Narratives In Charlotte Brontë’S Jane Eyre And Thomas Hardy’S Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Samantha English

Honors Thesis Collection

Perhaps the most famous quotation from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847) is “I am no bird, and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.” But Jane's powerful and memorable feminist declaration to Rochester is often at odds with the many avian metaphors Brontë invents for the novel that compare women to birds. I've long been interested in how certain writers transform traditionally feminized or sexualized natural images like birds to craft a feminist poetics of their own. My senior thesis examines avian imagery in Brontë's Jane Eyre and Thomas Hardy's Tess of the …

Time-Longitudinal Interactions Of Menstruation, Mood, And Diet With Vaginal Microbiome In Healthy, Young Women, Stephanie Song

Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Spatial Variation In Sedimentary Characteristics Of Tsunami Sheets Deposited In Aceh, Indonesia, Shannon Dennehy

Honors Thesis Collection

Spatial variations of thickness and grain size of 2004 and prehistoric tsunami sand layers from Aceh province, Indonesia, are analyzed to better characterize sediment transport by tsunamis. Approximately 200 auger and gravity cores were collected along ~ 10 km of coastline over the past 10 years in an area that was severely impacted by the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake and Indian Ocean tsunami. The sediment cores were described sedimentologically, and grain size distributions of selected sand layers were measured using laser diffraction techniques. The spatial distribution of sedimentary characteristics was analyzed using ArcGIS software. Radiocarbon dating and sediment analysis from onshore …

Municipal Composting Programs In Massachusetts: What Works, Where, Why And How?, Kimberly Chia Yan Min

Honors Thesis Collection

The disposal of municipal solid waste is a cause of concern in its potential for pollution and its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, pushing municipalities to embrace greener waste management strategies. Within this context, composting has grown in importance in recent years, particularly as an organic waste management strategy. This includes implementing curbside compostable waste collection programs, operating food scrap drop-off sites, and distributing compost bins. Given that municipal composting seems to be the way forward for many municipalities, it is crucial to ensure that such schemes are environmentally just, economically equitable and socially accessible. My thesis examines within the …

If You Climb Into The Saddle, Be Ready For The Ride: Looking At Contemporary Gay Rodeo, Kate Hansen

Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Producing The Lone Star State: The State Sponsored Confinement Of Native Americans, Tejanos, And African Americans In Nineteenth Century Texas, Alexandria Otero

Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Reimagining Local Education Systems In Sri Lanka Through Design Anthropology, Kavindya Thennakoon

Honors Thesis Collection

My research project is focused on exploring how design anthropology could be used as a tool to reimagine local education systems in Sri Lanka. The project culminated from fieldwork in Sri Lanka that focused on testing a five-hour long design session with a diverse group of researchers and educators. This was followed by a visual ethnography component that followed three local educators from the village of Wanathawilluwa. Through these ethnographic findings and field observations, I argue that design anthropology presents a unique toolbox for collaborative, participatory, solutions-driven forms of community engagement that aim to radically reimagine everyday structures of power.

Power & The City: An Embodied Approach To Analysis, Sabina Unni

Honors Thesis Collection

States use various mechanisms to legitimize and control behavior. My thesis examines how ancient states regulated power through deliberate city planning by focusing on the postclassic Aztec settlement of Tenochtitlan between 1200 and 1519 CE. More specifically, I discuss (1) sociospatial seclusion, (2) markets, and (3) public monuments. My analytic approach to this thesis is interdisciplinary, bridging the gap between archaeology and anthropology through conventional primary and secondary sources (such as codices, excavation reports, maps, theoretical analysis) as well as experimental sensory approaches. If the city is teeming with affect, why not consider how that came to be? Engagement with …

Food Security In A Warming World: The Role Of A “Right To Food” In National Policy Responses, Nathalie Bolduc

Honors Thesis Collection

The ultimate purpose of this thesis is to contribute to evidence on good practices for countries to employ in support of food security under the conditions of climate change. Food security, as defined by the World Food Summit of 1996, is "when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” It is usually broken down into four pillars: availability, accessibility, usage, and stability, creating a comprehensive foundation of the elements required for people to be properly nourished. This four-pillar approach is central to the framework of this thesis, as …

Suicide Prevention Methods Within A Modern-Day Society: Focusing On Mental Health In Our School Prevention Programs, Madelyn Ross

Integrated Studies

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents in our current society, but it is a preventable tragedy that often happens to many families within our communities. This paper offers insight of suicide prevention programs within the current mental health system, and the methods used within each program to educate youth on at risk behaviors and warning signs within their peer groups. The prevention programs will also dissect how school staff are handling sensitive cases of students have attempted suicide or considering suicide. Throughout the research, this paper will look at several current prevention programs like: gatekeeper …

2018 Touro College & University System Faculty Publications, Touro College & University System

Faculty Publications Books

This is the 2018 edition of the Faculty Publications Book of the Touro College & University System. It includes all eligible 2018 publication citations of faculty within the Touro College & University System, including New York Medical College (NYMC). It was produced as a joint effort of the Touro College Libraries and the Health Sciences Library at NYMC.

Employment Disparity Grows For Rural Americans With Disability, Rtc: Rural, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Employment

Employment rates have increased since the recession, but these gains haven’t reached all communities across the country, nor has everyone benefited from these gains. While overall employment rates have improved, employment for people with disabilities in rural areas has decreased. This fact sheet uses the recently released (December 2018) American Community Survey 5-year estimates to explore changes in employment rates for people with and without disabilities across the nine divisions of the United States, and for metropolitan, micropolitan, and non-core counties. This marks the first time longitudinal trends in ACS data can be explored across the rural-urban continuum using comparable …