Digital Commons Network^™

Increasing Access To Interventional Pain Management Therapies For Palliative Care Patients With Cancer Through Referral System Improvement, Ewelina Karolina Gibek

Yale School of Nursing Digital Theses

Introduction: The need for palliative care increases as the number of patients continues to grow due to the aging population and rising cancer rates. Pain management is one of the essential components of palliative care. Anesthesia providers are well-positioned to become active members of palliative care teams and to provide pain management services, including regional and interventional therapies to patients in the acute care setting. Due to lack of awareness of the need, there have been few referrals for these services. Consequently, despite anesthesia providers’ knowledge of pain management and anesthesia care delivery, they have not been consistently involved in …

Diabetes Education Revisited: Addressing Inpatient Diabetes Care Through An Interactive Educational Video Module For Registered Nurses, Abigail Tamru

Yale School of Nursing Digital Theses

Insulin is the most common medication used to treat patients with diabetes in the inpatient setting. Among injectable drugs, insulin has the highest risk for error, which may result in dire consequences for patients. Registered nurses are among the main groups of clinicians that work with insulin, yet they may sometimes lack the comprehensive knowledge associated with inpatient diabetes care and insulin. The purpose of this project is to educate registered nurses at a major academic medical center about inpatient diabetes management focused on insulin therapy. The educational content was based on a medical error analysis and a current inpatient …

Risk Communication Framework For Parental Control In The Digital World, Moneerah N Alotaibi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The Internet is growing rapidly and is becoming an essential part of children’s lives. Internet use has many benefits for learning, participation, creativity, entertainment and communication. Along with such benefits, however, Internet use might expose children to a wide range of online risks. Some of those risks, such as bullying, exposure to pornography, and sexual exploitation, are known in the offline world but there are also new ones, such as the invasion of personal data and privacy, geolocation tracking, sexual messaging and harassment. Unfortunately, the existing mechanisms for protecting children online are ineffective. The parental controls currently available focus on …

Learning What To Say And What To Do: A Model For Grounding Language And Actions, Alexandre Antunes

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Automation is becoming increasingly important in nowadays society, with robots performing a lot of repetitive tasks in industry and even entering our households in the form of vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers. When considering regular tasks outside of the controlled environments of industry, robots tend to perform poorly. In particular, in situations where robots have to interact with humans, a problem arises: how can a robot understand what the human means? While a lot of work has been made in the past towards visual perception and classification of objects, but understanding what action a verb translates into has still been …

Intentions And Creative Insights: A Reinforcement Learning Study Of Creative Exploration In Problem-Solving, Thomas R. Colin

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Insight is perhaps the cognitive phenomenon most closely associated with creativity. People engaged in problem-solving sometimes experience a sudden transformation: they see the problem in a radically different manner, and simultaneously feel with great certainty that they have found the right solution. The change of problem representation is called "restructuring", and the affective changes associated with sudden progress are called the "Aha!" experience. Together, restructuring and the "Aha!" experience characterize insight. Reinforcement Learning is both a theory of biological learning and a subfield of machine learning. In its psychological and neuroscientific guise, it is used to model habit formation, and, …

Detecting Energy Theft And Anomalous Power Usage In Smart Meter Data, Denis Hock

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The success of renewable energy usage is fuelling the power grids most significant transformation seen in decades, from a centrally controlled electricity supply towards an intelligent, decentralized infrastructure. However, as power grid components become more connected, they also become more vulnerable to cyber attacks, fraud, and software failures. Many recent developments focus on cyber-physical security, such as physical tampering detection, as well as traditional information security solutions, such as encryption, which cannot cover the entire challenge of cyber threats, as digital electricity meters can be vulnerable to software flaws and hardware malfunctions. With the digitalization of electricity meters, many previously …

A Physical And Numerical Study Of An Interconnected Wave Energy Array, Ben Howey

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Key to the progression of the wave energy extraction sector is reducing capital costs whilst maintaining or improving energy extraction efficiency. To achieve this, multiple devices in farm configurations, known as arrays, are likely to be developed. Mooring and anchorage systems of large scale arrays have been highlighted as notable contributors to high structural costs. To minimize the number of anchors required, and thus the cost, one option is to interconnect devices within the arrays. The implication on array performance and line tension of this mooring design needs to be understood to realize the true possibility for cost reduction. Large …

The Student Experience Of Final Year In An Undergraduate Degree Programme In Education Studies., Roisin Donnelly, Julie Ui Choistealbha, Marian Fitzmaurice

Journal Articles

This case study explores the student experience of the final year of a four-year undergraduate degree in ‘Education Studies’, with a focus on the perceived impact of curriculum design of the programme. The context is an Irish college of education, and the programme structure has been designed to allow for flexibility to accommodate varying student interests and professional pathways. As the first full iteration of the programme came to a close, it was considered an opportune time to ascertain if the programme was meeting its curriculum design objectives in terms of preparation for the chosen professional pathway post-graduation from both …

Milkweed And Me, Michael Wade

Wraparound South (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Pictures, Donna Isaac

Wraparound South (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Contributors

Wraparound South (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Estate Sale, Indian Hills Country Club, James Wyshynski

Wraparound South (Archived)

No abstract provided.

What Will Become Of My Celery And Other Pressing Questions, Sallie Hess

Wraparound South (Archived)

No abstract provided.

James Brubaker's The Taxidermist's Catalog - A Review, Brooke Turner

Wraparound South (Archived)

No abstract provided.

My Gay Farm, Paul Stephen Bryant

Wraparound South (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Dream Of The Good Mother, James Wyshynski

Wraparound South (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Tunable Multiphase Dynamics Of Arginine And Lysine Liquid Condensates, Rachel S. Fisher, Shana Elbaum-Garfinkle

Advanced Science Research Center

Liquid phase separation into two or more coexisting phases has emerged as a new paradigm for understanding subcellular organization, prebiotic life, and the origins of disease. The design principles underlying biomolecular phase separation have the potential to drive the development of novel liquid-based organelles and therapeutics, however, an understanding of how individual molecules contribute to emergent material properties, and approaches to directly manipulate phase dynamics are lacking. Here, using microrheology, we demonstrate that droplets of poly-arginine coassembled with mono/polynucleotides have approximately 100 fold greater viscosity than comparable lysine droplets, both of which can be finer tuned by polymer length. We …

Positivity-Preserving Segregate-Flux Method For Infiltration Dynamics In Tumor Growth Models, Gilbert Danso Acheampong

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

We study the positivity preserving property and an incompressibility condition in a recently proposed tumor growth model as well as its numerical simulations. In this model, the biological process is described by a free-boundary problem of hyperbolic equations that govern the in-tumor motion of cancer cells and the infiltration of immune cells. Particularly, due to an assumption that cells take constant volume (the incompressibility condition), the tumor growth/shrinkage is closely correlated to the magnitude of infiltration of immune cells into the tumor.

Despite the fact that previous simulation results largely reproduced experimental data, there remain unanswered questions that are crucial …

Tram System Automation For Environmental Spectroscopy And Vegetation Monitoring, Enrique Anguiano Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Spectroscopy is the science of studying the interactions of matter and electromagnetic radiation (EMR). In particular, field spectroscopy takes place in a natural environment with a natural source of EMR. The paper presents progress towards the development and automation of a tram cart system. The new system in development collects high resolution, hyperspectral images and data from a spectrometer. Alternatives for a sensor cover mechanism to provide cover for the sensors mounted while the system is not operating are discussed, analyzing and comparing the benefits and disadvantages. An implementation for a charging station in an environment isolated from the electric …

Robust Estimation And Inference For Multivariate Financial Data, Afua Kwakyewaa Amoako Dadey

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Predicting and forecasting are routine day-to-day activities that guide us in making the best possible choices. They play an integral role in financial analysis. A lot of work has been done on one dimensional geometric Brownian motion (GBM) in stock price prediction. In this line of work, we focus mainly on how to use the one dimensional geometric Brownian motion and the multidimensional geometric Brownian motion in predicting future stock prices. There are several stock prices in the financial market and the multidimensional geometric Brownian motion gives a more realistic prediction compared to the one dimensional GBM. The reason being …

Towards A New Cholx Consciousness: The Visual Rhetorics Of Cholx Artistas As A Method For Social Justice Movements, Elvira Carrizal-Dukes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

My dissertation study examines the Cholx subculture through the artwork of Chola artistas Paola Rascón and Vicko Alvarez Vega. Growing up, I interacted easily with Cholos and Cholas, but I also knew that in society there was an overall negative idea of Cholos and Cholas. My research advances Cholx consciousness as a method for social movements through the examination of the visual and written rhetorics by Chola artistas. For my dissertation study, I have drawn on theoretical frameworks from Chicana Feminism, Latino Critical Theory, and Social Justice Rhetorics as discussed by Dolores Delgado Bernal, Kendall Leon, Tara Yosso, Daniel Solórzano, …

High Pressure High Heat Flux Pool Boiling Test Facility Design To Investigate Nucleation Boiling Heat Transfer Enhancement Using Micro/Nano-Scale Engineered Structures, Omar Hernandez Hernandez Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Developing efficient heat dissipation technologies is of critical importance towards the development and the commercialization of next-generation compact and high-performance electronic devices, cooling systems, power generation systems and chemical processing units, as well as retrofitting the existing thermal management schemes. As such, phase change heat transfer systems, more specifically boiling heat transfer systems, have attracted significant attention due to their ability to extract a large amount of latent energy stored within the fluid. Pool boiling is an efficient mode of phase change heat transfer processes accompanied by nucleation of vapor bubbles from liquid on to the hot surfaces, bubble growth, …

Assessing Cervical Cancer Knowledge Among High-Risk Women Living In The Us-Mexico Border Region In El Paso, Tx, Crystal Costa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Despite major decreases in cervical cancer incidence rates in the U.S. over the past several decades, certain populations of women continue to be disproportionately affected by it. One of these groups includes US Latina/Hispanic women who have the highest cervical cancer incidence rates as compared to their racial/ethnic counterparts. To improve detection and prevention in US Latina/Hispanic women, it is important to first understand their current knowledge and health literacy with regard to cervical cancer.

This cross-sectional study examined perceived self-knowledge of cervical cancer and cervical cancer functional health literacy in high-risk Hispanic women living in the El Paso, Texas …

Race, Gender And Mediated Representations In The Farah Strike, Matthew Desiderio Minnich

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

May 1972, 4,000 garment workers at Farah Manufacturing Company in El Paso went out on strike for the right to be represented by a union. The strike against Farah was the first major social movement in the El Paso area in modern times. Over 80% of the striking workers were Latina. The female employees at Farah were at the forefront of the Chicana feminist movement. The labor battle at Farah proves the organic link between Chicana feminism and class struggle. The Farah strike caused a new family dynamic to rise from the ashes of the traditional Mexican household. Using Burke's …

Reconciling Carbon Flux Discrepancies In A Desert Environment: Characterizing Influences Of Soil Processes Using Automated Co2 Flux Chambers, Alejandro Lara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Dryland ecosystems play a fundamental role in controlling the balance of carbon on a global scale. These ecosystems dominate the inter-annual variability of carbon uptake by terrestrial ecosystems, and this is driven by temperature and precipitation patterns. Despite this global importance, there are some important discrepancies that have been reported between CO2 fluxes measured with differing techniques, particularly between eddy covariance tower measurements of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon (C) versus on-the-ground methods such as chambers and biomass surveys. The discrepancy is a consequence of instrumentation and measurement technique differences; yet, its biological origins remain unknown. The goal of …

Evaluating The Impact Of The In-Store Programming And Outreach Coalition (Ipoc) On Increasing Access To Healthy Food And Healthcare Services In Paso Del Norte Region: First-Person Account Of Stakeholders' Perspective, Dennis Nyachoti

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Grocery stores can provide a conducive environment for interventions targeting healthy eating and access to health services, particularly in low-income communities. Nationally, several organizations have implemented grocery store interventions and have shown impact on perceptions of purchasing nutritious food, especially by raising awareness of fruits and vegetables. However, most of those programs have not been implemented in a coordinated manner despite being delivered in the same location. Collaboration of local health promotion organizations with grocery stores could increase consumers' access to and selection of healthy foods, as well as access to and use of services.

This evaluation of the In-Store …

A High-Temperature Valve Design For A Solid Oxide Fuel Cell/Gas Turbine Hybrid System, Cynthia Morales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Systems containing high heat generation require thermal management, especially in a solid oxide fuel cell gas turbine (SOFC/GT) hybrid system. The startup of each system in a standalone configuration may be a trivial approach, but when coupled together, different dynamics are experienced. The SOFC/GT provide high theoretical efficiency due to the ability to recover the extra heat produced by the fuel cell (FC) to drive the gas turbine (GT). After recovering the energy recuperated in the GT, the exhaust gas heats the cathode inlet flow to the FC which is an advantage during nominal operation of the cycle but not …

Rhythm Manipulation Of Read Poetic English, Erika Moreno

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Finalcache: Eviction Based On Implicit Entry Reachability, Adrian Veliz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Software caches for garbage collected systems are unaware which cache entries are referenced by a client program. Lacking this key information, software caches cannot determine the cache’s contribution to the program’s memory footprint. Furthermore, their eviction heuristics must rely on access history as a proxy for usage. Divergence between usage and access history can undermine the intention of eviction thereby resulting in problematic cache behavior.

This dissertation proposes designs for a novel family of “usage-based” software cache informed of entry reachability by the automatic memory management system. Unlike extant software caches, usage-based caches can accurately determine their memory footprint because …

Qualification And Implementation Of A Liquid Oxygen/ Liquid Methane Data Acquisition System, Zachary Welsh Welsh

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

One of the primary goals of the MIRO Center for Space Exploration and Technology Research (cSETR) is the design and testing of liquid oxygen and liquid methane rocket engines. As of this thesis’ time of writing, two engines are currently undergoing testing at the center’s Technology Research and Innovation Acceleration Park (tRIAC), located in Fabens, Texas. The engines vary in scale starting with a 5 lbf Reaction Control Engine (RCE) to a 500 lbf engine dubbed the Centennial Restartable Oxygen Methane Engine (CROME). It was necessary to develop a control and data acquisition system to support these various test campaigns, …