Digital Commons Network^™

Neighborhood And Environmental Predictors Of At-Risk And Problem Gambling In Massachusetts, Kendra E. Pugh

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the widespread impact and negative effects of problem gambling (PG), limited attention has been paid to the environment where PG occurs. This study investigated the relationship between gambling on lottery and the zip code where gambling occurs, as well as the influence of individual-level characteristics that predict at-risk or problem gambling (AR/PG), among Massachusetts residents. A GIS analysis was conducted to identify vulnerable areas based on neighborhood characteristics, lottery sales, and AR/PG. Overall, residents of disadvantaged areas did not spend more money on lottery or have more lottery agents than residents of less disadvantaged areas. Some indicators of disadvantage …

Assessment Practices And Experiences Of Sex Trafficking In Caseloads Of Service Providers Working With High Risk Youth In Indiana, Lisa S. Elwood, Samantha Goodin, Christine Naydenov, Nicole Baldonado, Tamara Weaver, Abigail Kuzma

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

With increased recognition of sex trafficking, calls have been made for greater identification and screening. Lack of awareness and assessment likely contribute to low identification of sex trafficking victims. The present study examined assessment practices, confidence in detecting trafficking, and experiences with DMST survivors in the caseloads of service providers in the past year. Employees at high-risk settings were recruited, resulting in a sample of 76 providers representing 21 agencies. Data revealed that while general risk factors were typically assessed, sex trafficking-specific risk factors and experiences were assessed less often. Approximately 30% of participants indicated they worked with at least …

Construction Of Embedded Governance Model Of Food Safety Risk In China, Cai Shi-Qin

Food and Machinery

As an innovative research method, embedded governance not only pays attention to the impact of institutional factors on organizational change, but also pays more attention to the importance of economic, political, social and other factors in organizational development. The review summarized the practical problems of "decoupling" between the governance subject, governance mechanism, governance means and governance objectives in Chinese food safety risk, such as the unidirectional governance subject, the decoupling of governance means, and the hysteresis of governance mechanism. It is pointed out that the embedded management of food safety risks in China can be realized and the new model …

Effects Of Climate Change On The Probability Of Urban Tree Failures From Wind Gusts, Samuel J. Woolsey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Trees grown in urban environments provide environmental, economic and psychological benefits to their surrounding communities. However, urban trees also pose significant risks since damaged trees can cause serious harm to people, housing, and infrastructure by falling on sidewalks, roads, houses or power lines. To better understand the risk posed to trees by wind, models have been developed that estimates the required wind speed needed to damage a tree or group of trees, and the likelihood that such a wind speed is met or exceeded annually. The importance of such models is rising each year as the associated risk grows as …

The Risk Factors Of Long Covid In The Acute Covid And Solid Organ Transplant Retrospective Cohorts, Ahmed Nyandemoh

Capstone Experience

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in solid organ transplant (SOT) patients is associated with more severe outcomes than non-immunosuppressed hosts. The risk factors for developing the long COVID in acute COVID remain unknown, and the survival outcomes of long COVID in SOT patients remain understudied.

Methods: We developed several retrospective cohorts. This project included all patients identified with acute COVID in the National COVID Collaborative Cohort Registry from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022.

Patients with long COVID were compared to those without long COVID in the acute COVID cohorts. Similarly, we compared the patient demographic with long COVID …

Flood Hazard And Risk Analyses In The Republic Of Panama: A Case Study From The Juan Diaz River Watershed In Panama City, Virgilio De Jesus Quintero

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Flooding is the natural hazard with most occurrences in Panama. Its frequency and magnitude have increased over the years. This dissertation analyzes Panama’s flood activity in order to better understand flood hazards, the current evolution of Panamanian perceptions of flood risk, and the incorporation of indigenous knowledge used to mitigate flood hazards. The first chapter developed a baseline of past and current flood inventory in Panama, which required the use of flood historical data, thematic cartography, and Geographic Information Science (GIS). This chapter shows Panama has experienced floods in varying degrees. Through the spatial and temporal distribution of floods from …

Multi-Criteria Decision Matrix Method In The Risk Analysis Of Biodiesel Production Processes, Kaylee Alles

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Theses and Student Research

Renewable fuel technologies aim to mitigate the non-renewability of fossil fuels, challenges with increased energy demand, and the climate impact of fossil fuel emissions. However, before investing in renewable technologies, there need to be decision strategies that assess and identify the best alternatives according to stakeholder priorities. There is also a concern about whether the technologies that are the “most sustainable” effectively meet the acceptable risk requirements of stakeholders. In response to this question, a risk-adapted multi-criteria decision model was developed and compared to a sustainability study that evaluated five renewable diesel technologies, including Green Diesel I, II, and III; …

Leveraging Foundation Balance Sheets For Greater Impact: Piloting A Pooled Guarantee Program, Jane Reisman, Jim Baek, David Newsome, Christine Ryan

The Foundation Review

A guarantee instrument is a credit enhancement tool that can enable philanthropies to unlock millions or billions of dollars for societal impact. The Community Investment Guarantee Pool, created in 2019 by a collaboration of philanthropies and allied impact investors, or guarantors, is a novel initiative that uses guarantees to leverage the balance sheets of foundations and other institutional investors for enhancing the credit of intermediaries in the affordable housing, small-business, and climate markets. As the guarantees are unfunded, foundations continue to keep their endowment invested in the conventional market.

This article describes the Community Investment Guarantee Pool, details its theory …

Investigating The Prevalence Of Social Anxiety In Lgb College Students, Brianna Barnes-Harrington

Dissertations

This project examined the gap in the literature on LGB college students and social anxiety. The dearth of information around the prevalence and impact of social anxiety on the college population and the LGB population is important because social anxiety is known to be prevalent and chronic, affecting all areas of an individual’s life, but especially impacting the creation of social support networks and therefore access to social supports. Social support is one of the primary protective factors and promoters of resilience among all people, especially in marginalized communities like the LGBTQ community. Knowing that such a prevalent disorder is …

Enterprise Risk Management: Small And Medium Business, Vasili Krespis

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This culminating experience project examined common risk management trends and challenges that SMEs face and provided methods and tools that could limit threats and impact of unforeseeable events. This project demonstrates why business owners should use a risk management planning framework. The research questions were: (Q1) What are risk identification strategies which do not overstrain SMEs' limited resources? (Q2) How may risk analysis be performed effectively in SMEs? (Q3) How does the SMEs risk management system change over time? (Q4) What are the most effective risk analysis techniques and strategies for SMEs with limited resources?

A case study was examined …

A Review Of Risk Concepts And Models For Predicting The Risk Of Primary Stroke, Elizabeth Hunter, John D. Kelleher

Articles

Predicting an individual's risk of primary stroke is an important tool that can help to lower the burden of stroke for both the individual and society. There are a number of risk models and risk scores in existence but no review or classification designed to help the reader better understand how models differ and the reasoning behind these differences. In this paper we review the existing literature on primary stroke risk prediction models. From our literature review we identify key similarities and differences in the existing models. We find that models can differ in a number of ways, including the …

Resilience Against Banditry And Insurgency In Niger State, Nigeria (2015 To 2022), Kamar Hamza, Hauwa'u Evelyn Yusuf Professor, Abubakar Yabagi Akote, Bello Balarabe Abubakar

Journal of Terrorism Studies

The twin evil of banditry and insurgency are threatening the peace of law abiding citizens in rural communities in Niger State, Nigeria. These activities are being noticed from 2015 to 2022. These challenges have made rural dwellers to leave their ancestral home to search for places of abode for the main time. Notwithstanding the people of these communities are still fighting the bandits and insurgents through both government efforts and their own community initiatives. This article investigated the way the communities have suffered in the hands of bandits and insurgents and how they have been confronting them to take control …

A Study Of The Accounting System And Standards In Bulgaria, Stefania Vignini

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

This paper is focused on the analysis of Bulgarian accounting system and practices. More specifically, it is aimed at investigating the main environmental factors, which led to the development of such system. The approach is therefore both descriptive and causal. The findings suggest that the changes in the socio-economic and the cultural tradition mainly affect accounting systems and practices, as well as the status of the accounting profession.

Professional Considerations For Audit Risk In Creating Smart Governance In Indonesia, Made Sudarma, Lely Kumalawati

Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal

This study aims to determine how different audit considerations determine risk between certified auditors and non-certified auditors. This study uses an empirical study approach using an experimental method. Experiments without control (natural) are carried out through audit cases encountered in the field during the audit process. This study's participants were 52 auditors with two categories, namely 26 participants with certified auditors and 26 participants for non-certified auditors. Data collection using the deployment of instruments after the field audit process is carried out. Based on the one-way analysis of the Annova test data, it shows that there are significant differences in …

What Makes A Great Strategy? Gea Farm Technologies Road To Smart Farming, Jan-Philipp BüChler Prof. Dr.

Case Studies

GEA Farm Technologies is a mid-sized world market leader of mechanical equipment and service solutions for milk production and livestock farming. Senior management of the hidden champion gets approval for an accelerated acquisition strategy to boost growth and innovate the business model vis-á-vis strong competitors in order to lead and develop the market. However, the existing strategic management of internal technology development would be altered and a significant part of management attention would be shifted towards M&A as well as post-merger integration efforts. The case study invites students to explore the benefits and limits of this business model innovation and …

Occupational Therapists And Physiotherapists Weighing Up The Dignity Of Risk For People Living With A Brain Injury: Grounded Theory, Mandy Stanley, Gisela Van Kessel, Carolyn M. Murray, Deborah Forsythe, Shylie Mackintosh

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Purpose:

Following a brain injury survivors may have physical, or cognitive changes or behaviours which bring safety risks into play when engaging in activities. Therapists experience tensions in enabling the dignity of participation in the context of managing risk.

Materials and methods:

Ten occupational therapists and seven physiotherapists participated in a grounded theory study utilising semi-structured in-depth interviews to explore the tensions between dignity and management of safety risks. Data were analysed using constant comparative method and a process of moving from open coding to categories to theory development.

Results:

The process of weighing up was central to the therapists’ …

Personality, Risk, And Mortality Awareness 2021, Kathryn Lafreniere

Research Result Summaries

No abstract provided.

Cancer Incidence And Stage At Diagnosis Among People With Psychotic Disorders: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis., Jared C Wootten, Joshua C Wiener, Phillip S Blanchette, Kelly K. Anderson

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

Research regarding the incidence of cancer among people with psychotic disorders relative to the general population is equivocal, although the evidence suggests that they have more advanced stage cancer at diagnosis. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the incidence and stage at diagnosis of cancer among people with, relative to those without, psychotic disorders. We searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases. Articles were included if they reported the incidence and/or stage at diagnosis of cancer in people with psychotic disorders. Random effects meta-analyses were used to determine risk of cancer and odds of advanced stage …

The Environmental, Social, Governance (Esg) Debate Emerges From The Soil Of Climate Denial, Lawrence J. Trautman, Neal Newman

Faculty Scholarship

It has been almost six decades since Rachel Carson’s ominous warning of pending environmental disaster. During 2019 the United Nations requested urgent action from world leaders, given that “just over a decade is all that remains to stop irreversible damage from climate change.” With every passing year, damage resulting from destructive climate change causes increased pain, suffering, death and massive property loss. During 2020 and 2021 alone, severe weather events have included: destructive fires in California; record breaking freeze, power outage, and threat to the electrical grid in Texas; continuation of disruptive drought in U.S. Western states; and record-breaking high …

Ethics And Governance Of General Models: Challenges And Countermeasures, Yan Teng, Guoyu Wang, Yingchun Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In recent years, the general model is one of the most important development trends of artificial intelligence. With the rapidly increasing research and deployment of general models, the social and ethical effects of general models have received extensive attention. Grounded in the characteristics of general models, this article analyzes the potential ethical challenges of the models at three levels:algorithm, data, and computing power. The detailed challenges include uncertainty, truthfulness, reliability, bias, toxicity, fairness, privacy, and environmental issues. Also, through the lens of philosophy of technology, it elaborates the important reasons for the ethical challenges:the "mirroring" effect and transparency problem caused …

Determining The Reliability Of Critical Controls In Construction Projects, Roberta Selleck, Maureen Hassall, Marcus Cattani

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Across the global construction industry, fatalities continue to occur from high-risk activities, where the risk controls have been defined; however, these were unreliable. In the mining industry, Critical Control Risk Management has provided positive results in reducing major accidents, which raises the question, could the Critical Control approach reduce the fatality rate in the construction industry? This study analyzed 10 years of serious and fatal incident investigation reports from four international construction companies to (i) assess the reliability of their Critical Controls (CCs) and (ii) assess the factors that affect the reliability of CCs. The results show the reliability of …

Advanced Triage Protocol: The Role Of An Automated Lactate Order In Expediting Rapid Identification Of Patients At Risk Of Sepsis In The Emergency Department, Andrew Baum, Brendan G Carr, Sarah M Perman, Jennifer Barger, Munish Goyal, David F. Gaieski

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

We undertook a process improvement initiative to expedite rapid identification of potential sepsis patients based on triage chief complaint, vital signs, and initial lactate level.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Seven hundred-bed tertiary care hospital with ≅65,000 patient visits/yr.

Patients: Patients presenting to emergency department (ED) triage who met the following criteria: greater than or equal to two of the three systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria assessable in triage, a chief complaint suggestive of infection, emergency severity index 2 or 3, and ambulatory to ED.

Interventions: A computer-generated lactate order was created, staff education and resources increased, and point-of-care lactate …

Proteomic Profiling Platforms Head To Head: Leveraging Genetics And Clinical Traits To Compare Aptamer- And Antibody-Based Methods, Daniel H. Katz, Jeremy M. Robbins, Shuliang Deng, Usman A. Tahir, Alexander G. Bick, Akhil Pampana, Zhi Yu, Debby Ngo, Mark D. Benson, Zsu-Zsu Chen, Daniel E. Cruz, Dongxiao Shen, Yan Gao, Claude Bouchard, Mark A. Sarzynski Facsm, Adolfo Correa, Pradeep Natarajan, James G. Wilson, Robert E. Gerszten

Faculty Publications

High-throughput proteomic profiling using antibody or aptamer-based affinity reagents is used increasingly in human studies. However, direct analyses to address the relative strengths and weaknesses of these platforms are lacking. We assessed findings from the SomaScan1.3K (N = 1301 reagents), the SomaScan5K platform (N = 4979 reagents), and the Olink Explore (N = 1472 reagents) profiling techniques in 568 adults from the Jackson Heart Study and 219 participants in the HERITAGE Family Study across four performance domains: precision, accuracy, analytic breadth, and phenotypic associations leveraging detailed clinical phenotyping and genetic data. Across these studies, we show evidence …

Diabetes Mellitus Type 2, Jyoti Adhikari

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disorder that affects millions of people. The trend continues to be upward. Youth and children are not exempt from this. It is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by persistent hyperglycemia. Causes are impaired insulin secretion, resistance to the peripheral action of insulin, or both. There are three types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational. Type 2 DM accounts for around 90% of all cases of DM. In type 2 DM, the body's response to insulin diminishes causing insulin resistance. It is commonly seen in people older than 45 years old but increasingly seen …

How System Efficacy Affects Risk Perception: Comparison Of The United States, Iran, And China Throughout The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nazanin Bani Amerian

Dissertations

The current study fills a gap in the risk and health communication literature that deals with perception of risk. The extended parallel process model (EPPM) and associated Risk Behavior Diagnosis Scale lack consideration for attenuated perceptions of risk when people believe that some agent (e.g., government agencies or first responders) will protect them from a hazard. This project’s intention is to establish the validity of a new concept, system efficacy, as an addition to the EPPM model. System efficacy supplements current use of self and response efficacy. In addition, this study tries to investigate how culture affect risk perception by …

Exchange And Social Interaction In The Tennessee River Valley: A Geospatial Approach To The Analysis Of Late Archaic Archaeological Sites, Justin S. Bailey

Masters Theses

The cultural manifestation known as the Shell Mound Archaic persisted in the lower Midwest and Midsouth region of the Eastern United States for over four millennia beginning in the Middle Archaic ca. 8900 cal BP and terminating at the end of the Late Archaic ca 3200 cal BP. A geospatial approach is applied to the analysis of exotic material exchange of the Late Archaic (ca. 5800-3200 cal BP) to assess how foraging peoples in the Tennessee River Valley interacted and persisted during this time. Exotic material items manufactured from copper, marine shell, steatite, and other nonlocal materials demonstrate distinct spatial …

Analyzing The Impact Of Governance Strategies On Trust And Risk In The Salish Sea Transboundary Fishery Context, Evelyn Roozee

Theses and Dissertations

The Salish Sea is the site of a transboundary fishery whose coastal jurisdiction includes British Columbia, Washington State, the two federal governments, and many Indigenous tribes with sovereign rights. Fishery management becomes increasingly complex when transboundary cooperation is needed. Furthermore, while the Salish Sea region has attempted to facilitate better transboundary collaborative governance, these have generally failed to institutionalize the principles of adaptive management. This research seeks to assess current trust and risk perceptions and analyze the effects of control mechanisms used in the transboundary fishery management network. The data consists of a survey measuring collaborative precursors, barriers, and outcomes …

Assessment Of A Comparative Bayesian-Enhanced Population-Based Decision Model For Covid-19 Critical Care Prediction In The Dominican Republic Social Security Affiliates, Amado A. Baez, Oscar J. Lopez, Maria Martinez, Colyn White, Pedro Ramirez-Slaibe, Leticia Martinez, Pedro L. Castellanos

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Introduction: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a major health concern worldwide. This study aims to develop a Bayesian model to predict critical outcomes in patients with COVID-19.

Methods: Sensitivity and specificity were obtained from previous meta-analysis studies. The complex vulnerability index (IVC-COV2 index for its abbreviation in Spanish) was used to set the pretest probability. Likelihood ratios were integrated into a Fagan nomogram for posttest probabilities, and IVC-COV2 + National Early Warning Score (NEWS) values and CURB-65 scores were generated. Absolute and relative diagnostic gains (RDGs) were calculated based on pretest and posttest differences.

Results: The IVC-COV2 …

Decreased Risk Of Low Back Pain During Pregnancy Associated With The Use Of Orthopedic Manual Therapy: A Nested Case-Control Study, Wei-Chiao Chang, Hanoch Livneh, Chieh-Tsung Yen, Min-Chih Hsieh, Ming-Chi Lu, Wei-Jen Chen, Tzung-Yi Tsai

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Recent evidence suggests that the use of orthopedic manual therapy (OMT) may lessen the subsequent risk of low back pain (LBP), but this association has not been examined among pregnant women who are at higher risk of LBP. This study aims to determine whether the addition of OMT to conventional LBP treatment before pregnancy could decrease the subsequent risk of LBP during pregnancy.

Methods: From Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, we identified 68,960 women, 20–55 years of age, with first pregnancy between 2001 and 2012. We then performed a nested case-control study in which 3,846 women with newly …

Privacy In Online Communities: How Control And Assurances Influence Intention To Disclose Personal Information, Oscar E. Lopez Arizaga

Doctoral Dissertations

Online Health Communities provide a rich, context-specific scenario for the study of privacy, which promises to enhance our knowledge of this complex phenomena. Online communities are only successful to the extent that individuals join and participate in the communities, and privacy concerns are a barrier to this success. In this dissertation, the privacy calculus and the agentic perspective of social cognitive theory provide the theoretical foundation for studying privacy in online communities. The first study represents a comprehensive literature review of online privacy in IS. Several research opportunities are found in the literature including limited empirical work on the roles …