Digital Commons Network^™

Zoo Education Efficacy In The Context Of The Modern-Day Zoo: A Study Of Aza-Accredited Zoos And Education Models, Taylor L. Ruscitti

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

Zoos have become a built-in component of society and play many roles. One of the roles includes being facilitators of education. Education serves to increase the positive public perception of zoos and works to continue to gain funds and support for a zoo’s overall purpose. Through a literature review and analysis, this thesis explores the modern-day context of zoos and analyzes how education can drive the zoo’s mission. The focus will be on Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) accredited zoos. While many other facilities that house an array of animals, AZA …

Remote Crop Disease Detection Using Deep Learning With Iot, Ivy Chung, Anoushka Gupta

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Agriculture is such a vital part of our society, and according to the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), plant diseases are considered one of the two main causes of decreasing food availability. This paper explores not only the methods and findings of building a CNN-based disease detection model, but that of building a deployable remote crop disease detection system incorporating IoT technology. By using transfer learning with AlexNet, we were able to predict with 89.8% accuracy tomato plant images into one of the ten pre-defined disease classes. Our proposed system tracks plant health throughout the day by using …

Cell- And Extracellular Matrix-Based Approaches To Investigate Diabetic Fibroblasts And Improve Wound Healing, Hao Xing

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Chronic wounds are a major complication associated with diabetes. Often presented as foot ulcers, diabetic chronic wounds have a 5-7% prevalence among patients and can lead to serious consequences such as sepsis and amputation. Despite the devastating impact of such complications on patients’ health, current clinical interventions have limited efficacy, in part, due to 1) a limited understanding of the underlying cellular mechanism and 2) the lack of effective engineering solutions that can improve therapy. This thesis addresses these two issues by first investigating dysfunctions and altered molecular mechanisms in diabetic fibroblasts and then creating a novel, decellularized biomaterial enriched …

Physical Activity And Sedentary Behavior Of Chinese Immigrants In The United States With Prior Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Shuyuan Huang

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common complications during pregnancy with short- and long-term consequences for mothers and children. In the long term, women with prior GDM have a ten-fold risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared to those without prior GDM. Chinese immigrants in the US are disproportionately affected by GDM and T2D. Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) are two modifiable behaviors to prevent T2D. The aims of this dissertation study were: 1) to describe the patterns of objectively measured PA and SB among Chinese immigrants in the US with prior GDM, …

Extracellular Elastin Assembly And Vascular Hyperproliferation: Connections For Treatment And Tissue Engineering, Matthew Ellis

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Elastin is the load-bearing extracellular matrix protein complex that endows the aorta with the recoil necessary to propagate blood to the peripheral circulation following systolic ejection from the heart. The assembly of the elastin complex occurs early in perinatal development and degrades over the course of a human lifetime, leading to arterial stiffening and elevated blood pressure. Although this complex assembly process occurs seamlessly in vivo, it has been a large obstacle in the field to replicate this process in vitro, hampering efforts to engineer elastin-rich grafts for transplantation and to study and develop curative treatments for elastin-associated pathologies. Herein, …

Co-Option Of Alveolar Macrophage Homeostatic Metabolic Networks In Lung Adenocarcinoma, Alexandra Kuhlmann

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Cancer, fundamentally a disease of deregulated tissue homeostasis, substantially alters the composition of the surrounding tumor microenvironment (TME). The metabolic demands for rapid cellular growth and proliferation result in abnormally high rates of glucose and amino acid consumption in cancer cells. We propose a model in which nutrient competition creates a metabolic checkpoint engendering a suppressive TME. Failure to acquire adequate nutrients is compounded by the accumulation of nutritionally—and therefore immunologically—permissive immune cells. In Chapter 2, using a genetically induced mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma, we observed a striking expansion in resident alveolar macrophages (AM). AM accumulation was dependent upon …

Associations Between Adherence To Lifestyle Behaviors And Obesity-Related Cancer Risk And Outcomes Among Black/African American And Hispanic/Latino Adults, Margaret S. Pichardo

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

BackgroundObesity is a chronic disease that has been established in the etiology of at least 14 cancers. Rates of many of these obesity-related cancers (ORC) have been increasing among Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino populations. Following the American Cancer Association’s (ACS) nutrition and physical activity cancer prevention guidelines has been associated with a 10-61% reduction in overall cancer incidence and mortality. However, just 5 to 14% of the general population and cancer survivors follow these guidelines. Limited research suggests that adherence with the cancer prevention guidelines results in a greater reduction in cancer risk and mortality for Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino …

Healthy Living Club, Rachel Arens, Alex Curtis

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

No abstract provided.

Alleviating Human-Elephant Conflict Through Deterrent Fences And Environmental Monitoring In Southern Kenya, Sophia Carmen Corde

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Human-wildlife conflict is present across the world. In areas where human settlements overlap with elephant habitats, human-elephant conflict can result from crop raiding events, compromising farmers’ food and economic security, and putting humans and elephants in danger through farmer retaliation. Elephants raid crops primarily at night, when detection by humans is lowest, and during the dry season, as crops are developing towards harvest and natural forage quality drops. People living in these areas facing HEC have developed mitigation strategies to lessen the impacts and move towards coexistence. As a team member on the Elephants and Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya project, …

Caregiver Experiences Of Feeding Instruction For Infants Born With Cleft Lip And/Or Palate, Clare Huang

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to learn what feeding education was provided to caregivers of infants with cleft lip and/or palate and how they view the feeding experience. Method: Participants (n=5) were recruited from two Facebook support groups, Cleft Lip and Palate Support Group :*) and Cleft Mom Support. The data were collected using Qualtrics™ software. The questionnaire consisted of eight demographic questions and seven topic-specific questions. The demographic questions included the exclusion and inclusion criteria. The participants of this study were required to be an English-speaking parent or a caregiver of a child under one year of …

Investigating If Changes In Cannabis Expectancies Mediate Driving After Cannabis Use Intervention Outcomes, Sarah Nicole Elder

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Driving after cannabis use (DACU) has become an increasing public health concern specifically for the states that have legalized cannabis use. In a 2018 survey, 4.7% of U.S. residents reported driving while impaired by cannabis (Azofeifa et al., 2019). Previous research suggests that several skills are impaired following cannabis use, such as increased lane weaving, slowed reaction time, and distorted perceptions about external stimuli. This effect was seen to extend to frequent cannabis users who also demonstrated driving impairments despite heightened cannabis tolerance (Hartman & Huestis, 2013). With the increase in DACU it is crucial to understand the factors that …

The Validity & Reliability Of The Repetitions In Reserve Based Rating Of Perceived Exertion Scale In Single Joint Exercise, Grant Malone

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Introduction: Intentional regulation and individualization of resistance training schemes are imperative when structuring a resistance training program. Optimal adaptation cannot be expected without proper manipulation of training variables such as load and volume. Load is traditionally prescribed by testing a given exercise’s repetition maximum and basing intensity from that load. This method of intensity regulation may be limited, considering it fails to recognize the day-to-day undulation of individual performance which can be impacted by several variables. A flexible method of regulating load and volume would be of use for those undergoing a resistance training program. The repetitions in reserve-based rating …

Encouraging Healthier Habits In Children, Krysta Hughes

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

Childhood obesity rates in America are the highest they've ever been. In this research we are focused on encouraging healthier habits in children. The method used was an observational, cross-sectional online survey of 5 children and 4 parents. All of the children and parents wanted to pick healthier behaviors after reading my book. A Qualtrics survey was used to record each surveyor's response. Further research on this topic should include researching how many children have began to implement healthier habits and measure if the rate of obesity in children has been affected through yearly health visits.

A Low-Cost, Long-Range, And Solar-Based Iot Soil Quality Monitor, Salvador Garcia, Trina Nguyen, Julian Wong

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

The project objective is to create a low-cost, long-range, and solar-based IoT soil quality monitoring system. The system must transmit packages of data gathered from separate nodes, consisting of two dierent types of sensors, to a centralized gateway receiver to be displayed to the user in an elegant and readable manner. The end goal of the project is to supplement produce grown by large agricultural bodies around the United States without the misuse of water resources. This report presents the need for this system, details the components of the system, and the rationale behind design choices. It serves as a …

Fish & Wildlife News: Spring 2022, Matt Trott

Fish and Wildlife News

No abstract provided.

Impact Of A Family History Of Hypertension And Physical Activity On Left Ventricular Mass, Evan L. Matthews, Kerry N. Callaghan, Peter A. Hosick, Michael S. Brian

Research Data

A positive family history of hypertension (FHH) (+FHH) is associated with elevated left ventricular mass (LVM). Regular physical activity (PA) may eliminate differences in LVM between +FHH and negative family history of hypertension (-FHH) adults. PURPOSE: To determine if a +FHH is associated with a greater LVM compared to a -FHH group within a sample of young, mostly active healthy adults with and without statistically controlling for PA. METHODS: Healthy young (18-32yrs) participants self-reported FHH status and habitual moderate and vigorous PA frequency. Participants then underwent an echocardiogram. RESULTS: Of the 61 participants, 32 (M=11, W=21; non-active=8) reported -FHH and …

Improving The Health Trajectories Of Future Generations, Gabrielle Goytia

University Research Symposium Posters and Abstracts

Background: Clearly identified in the United States is the prevalence of obesity, not only in adults, but also in children. Obesity in adults is at an all-time high. These changes in obesity over the last 15 years have been dramatic. Thirty percent of adults are now classified as obese with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30; however, when a BMI of 25 is used, nearly 64% of the U.S. adults are classified as overweight or obese (CDC). The U.S. Healthy People 2030 Report, indicates 2 in 5 adults and 1 in 5 children in the U.S. are obese. …

Restrictive Dietary Patterns And Weight Regain In Adults Between 18-40, Isaac Casas

University Research Symposium Posters and Abstracts

Although multiple studies have examined the effects of carbohydrate-restrictive diets, their safety in the long term is still heavily debated. Moreover, the dietary restraint theory states that there is alteration in the way food is regulated, switching from physiological to cognitive control; this change makes individuals more susceptible to disinhibited eating. Furthermore, carbohydrates, such as fruits, grains, legumes, etc., are the primary sources of energy that our bodies require during moderate to intense exercise. That being said, their involvement in our diet in crucial, as they grant us the ability to perform and function more efficiently. This study will investigate …

Skin Phantom For Wearable Device Benchtop Testing, Laura Apolloni, Vindhya Mullapudi, Takumi Simon

Bioengineering Senior Theses

The biowerables constitute one of the fastests growing sectors of the medical device industry. Novel approaches for rapid prototyping have increased design and development speeds. However, in vivo testing that is currently used for many medical devices makes testing time-consuming, costly, and presents ethical issues. As an alternative, benchtop testing tools promise to alleviate these concerns. Artificial tissue phantoms that are capable of mimicking the characteristics of human tissues are required for demonstrating a medical device’s safety and efficacy in benchtop tests. While there are many hydrogels that are able to mimic these relevant properties of human tissue, creating a …

Healthy Hive: A Beehive Health Management Tool, Kwadwo Amoako

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Honeybees are important pollinators and are essential in the preservation of ecosystems as well as agricultural production. They are crucial to the pollination of 85% of the world’s food crops. However, honeybee populations have been in decline over the past decade, due to external environmental conditions such as diseases and pests (invasive varroa mite), pollution (insecticide), or inadequate forage/poor nutrition. These conditions can have a severe impact on the health of hives. This project will serve as a tool for the monitoring system of tracking the activities of honeybees entering and exiting their beehive. The health condition of the bee …

Gsl Researcher (Spring 2022)

GSL Researcher

GSL Researcher (Spring 2022)

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Nebraska ranch practicum

Recent publications

Medical Necessity Of Residential Treatment For Anorexia: Can Parity Be Achieved?, Abbey Derechin

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

This Note examines the statutory landscape of mental health parity in the United States. The lens of this Note is through the mental illness of anorexia. Parity laws mandate analogous limitations between mental and physical illness. Therefore, because anorexia has many physical manifestations, it serves as a nice juxtaposition to physical illnesses. This Note will argue for broad interpretation of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) through comparative analysis of counterpart statute, the California Mental Health Parity Act (CMHPA). It will explore how courts have interpreted the CMHPA broadly to suggest that the MHPAEA should be interpreted …

The Public Health Response To Covid-19 In The Southwest Region Of Missouri, Jennifer Trott Mph, K. Holly Mead Phd, Marie-Anais Benoit, Dora Hughes Md, Mph, Jeffrey Levi Phd, Jacqueline Baños Mph, Semret Seyoum Mph, Marsha Regenstein Phd

Reports on Missouri's Public Health Response to COVID-19

The Public Health Response to COVID-19 in the Southwest Region of Missouri documents efforts by Southwest Missouri’s local public health agencies along with other stakeholders to leverage their partnerships, resources, and expertise to respond to COVID-19. Along with professional stakeholder accounts, the report includes residents’ perspectives and experiences during the COVID-19 response. Professional and resident findings helped identify lessons that could strengthen the public health system’s ability to continue responding to COVID-19 and face future crisis with greater resources, coordination, equitable strategies, modernized infrastructure and public trust. The findings in this report center on the period of the pandemic from …

The Public Health Response To Covid-19 In The St. Louis Region Of Missouri, Marsha Regenstein Phd, K. Holly Mead Phd, Jennifer Trott Mph, Semret Seyoum Mph, Jacqueline Baños Mph, Hope Van Bronkhorst, Marie-Anais Benoit, Dora Hughes Md

Reports on Missouri's Public Health Response to COVID-19

The Public Health Response to COVID-19 in the St. Louis Region of Missouri documents efforts by St. Louis Missouri’s local public health agencies along with other stakeholders to leverage their partnerships, resources, and expertise to respond to COVID-19. Along with professional stakeholder accounts, the report includes residents’ perspectives and experiences during the COVID-19 response. Professional and resident findings helped identify lessons that could strengthen the public health system’s ability to continue responding to COVID-19 and face future crisis with greater resources, coordination, equitable strategies, modernized infrastructure and public trust. The findings in this report center on the period of the …

Preventing Occupational Imbalance With Seniors Living In The Community During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Carrieanne Allegri

MOT Student Capstones

When COVID-19 shut down the world in March of 2020, nobody knew what to expect. What we discovered was seniors no longer had the opportunities to engage in social events, attend classes, or participate in the community. Understanding that engagement in leisure and social activities are important in preventing depression and isolation amongst seniors, finding alternative activities via virtual delivery and socially distanced were identified as a need. 3 An in-service was provided to senior citizens at a community center to address areas identified as a need by community center staff and members. The main objective of the in-service included …

Perceived Physician Empathy In Pediatric Orthopedics: A Cross-Sectional Study., Ian M. Singleton, Rachel J. Garfinkel, Jason B. Malone, M'Hamed H. Temkit, Mohan V. Belthur

Orthopedics Articles

Empathy is the cornerstone of the patient-physician relationship and is consistently ranked by patients as one of the most important factors in the quality of their care. In this paper we examine the degree to which perceived physician empathy is associated with the characteristics of the caregiver (parent or legal guardian) and physician in pediatric orthopedic surgery. This was a cross-sectional survey study of 200 English-speaking caregivers of pediatric patients at a large children's hospital. The Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure was used to measure perceived physician empathy. Only if the caregiver felt carefully listened to by the physician …

Nursing News & Views - April 2022, Joanne Miller Rn

Nursing Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Psychosocial Outcomes Of Orthopedic Injuries: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between The Athlete And The Athletic Trainer, Hannah Barnett

Honors Projects

An analysis on the impact of the level of social support from athletic trainers on the outcomes of orthopedic injuries in athletes. The foundational model for this research is Wiese-Bjornstal’s Integrated Model (1998). This model examines the effect of athletes’ emotional responses on their recovery. Social support from the athletic trainer can help mediate negative emotional responses and encourage positive emotional responses, which is why social support is crucial to recovery. Athletes with higher levels of perceived social support from their athletic trainers had more success with rehabilitation. This report consists of a review of the existing literature on psychosocial …

Pandemics And Housing Insecurity: A Blueprint For Land Use Law Reform, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

COVID-19, racial inequity, housing insecurity, and climate change have come together to create widespread, large-scale crises. This Article introduces these four pandemics and describes in detail what local governments are doing to combat one of them: housing insecurity. It reviews recent progress with traditional inclusionary zoning requirements, discusses the move toward greater density in single-family zoning, lists strategies being used to remediate distressed housing, and notes the importance of affordable housing as a necessary strategy for preventing lower-income household displacement caused by gentrification. The reciprocal impacts of these four pandemics are clear; local land use leaders should examine how mitigating …

Contextualizing Menopause In The Law, Bridget J. Crawford, Emily Gold Waldman, Naomi R. Cahn

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

“It is horrendous, but then it’s magnificent,” says one character about menopause in an episode of the 2019 Netflix comedy Fleabag. Her younger interlocutor is incredulous at this proclamation. That younger character, and even the audience, may be somewhat taken aback by this frank discussion. After all, menopause is not a subject that is commonly discussed, let alone praised. Whether among friends, acquaintances, or colleagues (fictional or not), silence about menopause is more likely the norm. This is true in the law, too. The law mostly ignores menopause.

The law’s silence about menopause is linked to a broader cultural silence …