Digital Commons Network^™

A Named Inventor Of A Patent Should Be Expanded To Include Artificial Intelligence, Min Li

Touro Law Review

Why should patent inventors be limited to only natural persons under the current United States patent law? In fact, the present US patent law should be expanded to allow an Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) to be a named inventor of a patent. This would incentivize patent owners to use AI to produce more inventions that would benefit the public. There is no negative impact to expand the current US patent law. Many scholars, law professors, and practitioners believe that the patent law (or intellectual property law in general) is outdated due to the massive growth of modern technology. This Note argues …

New York Mental Hygiene Law Article 81 Proceedings: A Proposal To Better Protect The Best Interests Of An Alleged Incapacitated Person, Casey Marsh

Touro Law Review

Guardianship proceedings under New York Mental Hygiene Law Article 81 are intended to protect the personal needs and property management of an alleged incapacitated person. A guardian appointed for a person is responsible for making decisions in line with the best interests and wishes of his or her ward. While guardians serve a very important purpose, the current procedures of guardianship proceedings allow too much room for family members to bring a proceeding without the alleged incapacitated person’s best interests in mind. Often, people bring guardianship proceedings to fish for information on family members or to circumvent a future Surrogate’s …

Composers At War: A Study Of Composers Who Fought In World War I And World War Ii, Jason T. Hoffmann

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research document explores the connections between the war experiences of four composers and whether the possibility existed that any of the composers had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), moral injury, mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI), traumatic brain injury (TBI) or chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Scholars have not thoroughly examined the music of composers written before, during, and after war experiences and any potential changes to musical styles or compositional techniques. In my research I look at the effects that war can have on composers through autobiographical and biographical accounts of Ivor Gurney (WWI), Olivier Messiaen (WWII), Maurice Ravel (WWI), and …

Socio-Environmental Factors Related To Prevalence Of Childhood Uncontrolled Asthma In Marion County, Indiana, Haoua Chaoueye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractDespite the availability of effective asthma control, the prevalence of uncontrolled asthma continues to increase worldwide, particularly among children. Marion County children experience more uncontrolled asthma than the Indiana state averages. Exposure to socioenvironmental factors may play a pivotal role in childhood uncontrolled asthma; however, there is still limited recent research about this relationship. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between the specific socioenvironmental factors (income, tobacco smoke, indoor mold, household pets, and pests) and the prevalence of childhood uncontrolled asthma in Marion County, IN. This study used secondary data collected between 2018, …

Effects Of Oxycodone And Methylphenidate On Self-Control With Aversive Outcomes, Jeremy Saul Langford

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the context of choice, one is said to show self-control under numerous conditions in which consideration is given to the delayed outcomes of each option. This can be difficult: both reinforcing and aversive outcomes become less effective as they are increasingly delayed. Several socially significant issues arise from a failure of delayed, aversive outcomes to impact choice, especially when immediate, reinforcing outcomes are available. Identifying the conditions under which choice is sensitive to delayed outcomes is critical to shifting choices toward alternatives in which contact with delayed, aversive outcomes is minimized. Two experiments were conducted with the aim of …

Cue Reactivity In Non-Smoking Electronic Cigarette Users, Ashley E. Douglas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) are among the most popular nicotine products in the United States, particularly among youth and young adults. Many individuals who use ECIGs report an interest in quitting or unsuccessful quit attempts. In addition to nicotine dependence, one factor that may contribute to continued ECIG use is an individual’s response to ECIG-related environmental stimuli, or cues. Existing research demonstrates that exposure to ECIG cues increases craving for ECIGs among cigarette smokers, including those without previous ECIG experience. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of ECIG cue exposure in experienced ECIG users with minimal smoking history, …

Relationships Among Racism, Dental Care-Related Fear/Anxiety And Dental Care Utilization Among Black And African American Women In Appalachia, Kalo Sokoto

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation is a study of the implications of racism in oral health care settings for dental care-related fear/anxiety, and dental care utilization. One in five adults in the US have experienced discrimination while receiving health care. Even though racism is the most reported type of discrimination in health care, little is known about its impact on dental outcomes. There is a paucity of prior studies measuring experiences of racism in dental settings. The current study proposed the application of Krieger’s Ecosocial Theory of Health Equity to explore relationships among racism in oral health care settings, dental care-related fear/anxiety, and …

Lived Experiences Of American Adults Who Survive Covid-19: Implications For Physical Activity And Interpersonal Stress, Linda B. Piacentine, Hannah C. Barbosa, Kristin Haglund, Lauren Opielinski, Sandra K. Hunter, Paula E. Papanek, Marie K. Hoeger Bement, Norah L. Johnson

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction: The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 579 million globally. Symptoms during and after COVID-19 infection vary from mild cold symptoms to severe multisystem illness. Given the wide range of symptom presentations and complications post COVID-19, the purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of American adults surviving COVID-19.

Method: This study employed an exploratory qualitative description design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 35 individuals, [white (94%), female (71%), mean age = 43.7 years], with proximity to a university in an urban Midwest American city. Interviews occurred between May and …

2023-2024 Undergraduate Bulletin, Rochester Institute Of Technology

RIT Digital Archives

No abstract provided.

Cozie Apple: An Ios Mobile And Smartwatch Application For Environmental Quality Satisfaction And Physiological Data Collection, Federico Tartarini, Mario Frei, Stefano Schiavon, Xuan Yun Chua, Clayton Miller

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Collecting feedback from people in indoor and outdoor environments is traditionally challenging and complex to achieve in a reliable, longitudinal, and non-intrusive way. This paper introduces Cozie Apple, an open-source mobile and smartwatch application for iOS devices. This platform allows people to complete a watch-based micro-survey and provide real-time feedback about environmental conditions via their Apple Watch. It leverages the inbuilt sensors of the smartwatch to collect physiological (e.g., heart rate, activity) and environmental (sound level) data. This paper outlines data collected from 48 research participants who used the platform to report perceptions of urban-scale environmental comfort (noise and thermal) …

Relationship Between Reproductive And Bone Biomarkers And Osteoarthritis In Zoo Asian (Elephas Maximus) And African (Loxodonta Africana) Elephants, Daniella E Chusyd, Janine L Brown, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, Stephanie L Dickinson, Virginia B Kraus, Jessica Siegal-Willott, Timothy M Griffin, Janet L Huebner, Katie L Edwards, David B Allison, Steven N Austad

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Osteoarthritis (OA) is common in zoo Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) elephants. This study investigated the relationship between confirmed or suspected OA with ovarian cyclicity, gonadotropins, progestagens, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), and collagen type I (CTX-I) in zoo elephants. In Asian elephants, odds of having confirmed or suspected OA decreased with cycling (OR = 0.22, P = 0.016; OR = 0.29, P = 0.020, respectively), however, not when adjusted for age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.31, P = 0.112; OR = 0.58, P = 0.369, respectively). In African elephants, none of …

Discharge Education Protocol To Improve Patient Satisfaction, Courtney Banzon

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Practice Innovation Projects

Background: Discharge education that is patient-centered and started in a timely manner provides patients with the knowledge to care for themselves in the home setting and prevent adverse outcomes from occurring.
Methods: A discharge education protocol was implemented on a cardiology inpatient unit. The registered nurses were given a discharge checklist that focused on education and discharge planning with the patient within 24 hours of admission. Patients completed a survey that measured satisfaction of staff education. Surveys were collected for 10 weeks pre-intervention and compared with surveys 10 weeks post-intervention. Data was collected on the time of discharge with the …

The Effects Of Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports On Emotional Regulation In Preschool Children, Alyssa Richardson

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Practice Innovation Projects

Purpose: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) is an evidence-based three-tiered framework that supports children and their behavioral needs including emotional behaviors. Emotional behavioral problems (EBP) seen at an early age have a major connection to their preschool setting and a significant effect on future long-term mental and physical health outcomes. 11
Methods: Preintervention, teachers completed PBIS and Teacher Observations of Classroom Adaptation-Checklist (TOCA-C) training. The teachers evaluated and assigned each student to a PBIS tier group using TOCA-C. Tier appropriate interventions were then implemented. TOCA-C was used 3 months post intervention to reevaluate each months post intervention to …

Implementation Of A Suicide Prevention Program In A Rural School, Mackenzie Wieser

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Practice Innovation Projects

Introduction: Suicide is a leading cause of death among today's youth. One in six youth have seriously considered attempting suicide, and one in 13 have attempted suicide at least once. Timely identification of those at risk and connection with appropriate help are critical. Elementary, middle, and high school teachers are ideally positioned to act as gatekeepers through early recognition of students in psychological distress and timely response and referral when appropriate.
Evidence Summary: Teachers report a sense of responsibility for providing indirect mental health services to youth but have a lack of sufficient training and preparedness. Kognito online simulations have …

Implementing A Walking Program For Sedentary Patients In A Weight Management Clinic, Bailey Tetrault

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Practice Innovation Projects

Background: Promoting physical activity in weight management patients promotes better patient outcomes.
Methods: Weight management clinic patients were enrolled in the 6-week Walk with Ease (WWE) program. At the first session, each participant’s walking distance was measured over a 20-minute timeframe using pedometers. WWE group met 3 times weekly for six weeks for walking activities and with education on movement, mobility, and strength. At each session, the walking distance of participants was measured over 20 minutes. Race, gender and age descriptive were also collected.
Results: Statistical tests included the Friedman Test, ANOVA, and linear regression were calculated at the 5% …

Implementation Of A Venous Thromboembolism Protocol And Its Impact On Nurses’ Attitudes And Knowledge, Mikelle Eliason

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Practice Innovation Projects

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of preventable death following a surgical procedure in the United States. To reduce this risk, it is crucial that nurses are able to recognize VTE risks, perform a VTE risk assessment, and follow appropriate prophylactic recommendations.
Methods: Nurses received VTE education and the Caprini risk assessment model (RAM) was initiated at a rural outpatient surgery center. A pre- and postquestionnaire approach was utilized to evaluate nurses’ attitudes and knowledge on VTE risk assessment. Utilization of the Caprini RAM was tracked. Results: There were 8 nurse participants. At a 5% level of significance, …

Development Of An Evidence Based Surgical Site Infection Bundle In Patients Undergoing Colorectal Surgery: A Quality Improvement Initiative, Jessica Mcbee

DNP Scholarly Projects

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSI) are among the leading healthcare-acquired infections that negatively impact patient outcomes and increase total cost of healthcare and the patient’s length of stay. At a community hospital in West Virginia, trends in SSI rates and the standardized infection ratio (SIR) increased for patients undergoing colorectal surgery. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to identify and implement permanent evidence-based practice changes to reduce SSI rates in colon surgery patients.

METHODS: Baseline rates of SSI and the SIR for the facility was calculated from October 2021 to September 2022. Colon surgery SSI reduction …

A Quality Improvement Initiative: Addressing Workplace Violence Toward Nurses To Promote A Culture Of Safety In An Inpatient Psychiatric Facility, Ernestina Danso

DNP Scholarly Projects

This quality improvement initiative aimed to address workplace violence against nurses in inpatient psychiatric facilities and promote a culture of safety. The QI project involved 27 participants, including inpatient psychiatric nurses and mental health counselors from Cahill 4 and 7 West units at the Cambridge Campus. The primary objective was to identify challenges that hindered the effective utilization of the Broset Violence Checklist (BVC) tool for referring patients to sensory modulation rooms.

Pre- and post-intervention surveys were conducted to assess participants' self-reported knowledge and barriers to BVC and sensory room utilization. Educational sessions covering workplace violence, debriefing techniques, and the …

Improving Mental Health Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners’ Knowledge And Confidence To Assess Decision-Making Capacity In Geriatric Psychiatric Patients In Acute Settings, Lolita Brown

DNP Scholarly Projects

Abstract

In this quality improvement project, I aim to enhance the knowledge and confidence of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs) in completing Decisional Capacity Mental Assessments (DMCAs). I use qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the intervention’s success, emphasizing PMHNPs’ role in ensuring ethical DMCAs while maintaining patient autonomy. The education-based intervention significantly improves PMHNPs’ knowledge and confidence levels following the pre-education survey. These findings highlight the significance of DMCA training for health-care professionals, underscoring the necessity of standardized assessments alongside improved dialogue during capacity evaluations. Limitations include limited sample sizes and dependence on self-reported measures, which may introduce …

Exploring & Mitigating Workplace Incivility At A Rural Community Hospital, Jacquelyn Ethier

DNP Scholarly Projects

Workplace Incivility (WI) is a well-known challenge in healthcare, with decades of mounting evidence showing the effects on workplace culture, healthcare worker retention and patient safety. The nursing workforce has become increasingly vulnerable to all stressful elements of the work environment. Organizational leadership must develop and deploy mitigation strategies to minimize the negative consequences of these behaviors for nurses, and the entire healthcare team. The purpose of this quality improvement project is to assess the current state of nurse perceptions of WI at a rural community hospital and deploy evidence-based education on strategies to address and mitigate WI. The method …

Improving Social Bot Detection Through Aid And Training, Ryan Kenny, Baruch Fischhoff, Alex Davis, Casey I. Canfield

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Objective: We test the effects of three aids on individuals' ability to detect social bots among Twitter personas: a bot indicator score, a training video, and a warning. Background: Detecting social bots can prevent online deception. We use a simulated social media task to evaluate three aids. Method: Lay participants judged whether each of 60 Twitter personas was a human or social bot in a simulated online environment, using agreement between three machine learning algorithms to estimate the probability of each persona being a bot. Experiment 1 compared a control group and two intervention groups, one provided a bot indicator …

Beliefs About False Allegations Of Sexual Violence: Intergroup Contact Theory And Rape Myth Acceptance At A Rocky Mountain University, Alexandra Marie Buscaglia

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

False allegations of sexual assault represent approximately 2% to 10% of all sexual assault allegations reported to law enforcement (Lisak et al., 2010). Despite this low prevalence rate, people tend to overestimate the occurrence of false allegations, and give false allegations excessive weight in arguments about rape myths and policy-making decisions. This excessive weight is given despite a lack of research evidence that false reports of sexual violence occur more frequently than those of any other crime (Ask, 2010; McMillan, 2018; Stabile et al., 2019). This overestimation is likely influenced by the overrepresentation and sensationalization of false allegations in the …

Beyond The Business Case: Moving From Transactional To Transformational Inclusion, Jamillah Bowman Williams

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

While workplace diversity is a hot topic, the extent to which the diversity management movement has effectively improved intergroup relations and reduced racial inequality remains unclear. Despite large investments in diversity and inclusion training and other company wide initiatives, historically excluded groups remain vastly underrepresented in leadership and the most lucrative careers, such as finance, law, and technology. This calls the efficacy of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts into question, particularly with respect to reducing racial inequality in the workplace.

This Article explains why it is time for organizational leaders to move beyond the transactional case for diversity and …

Advancing Racial Justice Through Civil And Criminal Academic Medical-Legal Partnerships, Yael Cannon, Vida Johnson

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The medical-legal partnership (MLP) model, which brings attorneys and healthcare partners together to remove legal barriers to health, is a growing approach to addressing unmet civil legal needs. But MLPs are less prevalent in criminal defense settings, where they also have the potential to advance both health and legal justice. In fact, grave racial health inequities are deeply intertwined with both civil and criminal injustice. In both spheres, health justice is racial justice. Building on the experiences of the authors in their respective civil and criminal law school clinics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., this Article argues that academic …

Abila Keynote Address: Beyond International Law? A Dangerous Time, Gregory Shaffer

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this keynote address for the 2023 International Law Weekend conference of the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), I first address the dangers of the conference theme “beyond international law” at a time when challenges to international law and institutions increase and aim to constrain international law’s normative force. We have been here before. The world today recalls that of the interwar period, a time of growing economic insecurity and inequality that helped to catalyze the rise of authoritarian movements. During that period, Carl Schmitt was a leading legal theorist who eventually became a member of the …

Problems With Authority, Amy J. Griffin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Judicial decisionmaking rests on a foundation of unwritten rules—those that govern the weight of authority. Such rules, including the cornerstone principle of stare decisis, are created informally through the internal social practices of the judiciary. Despite the central role of such rules in judicial decisionmaking, we lack a good account of how they are created, revised, and enforced. There is something paradoxical and troubling about the notion that the rules of the game are determined by the players as they play the game according to those rules. Because weight-of-authority rules are largely informal and almost entirely unwritten, we don’t even …

"We Give Them The Most Important Thing Possible. We Give Their Dreary Lives Excitement”: Toward A Theoretical Model Of Narrative Parasocial Engagement, Dominic Delbert Meyers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video game narratives and characters are some of the most enjoyable and persuasive components of the video game industry. While narratives and character relationships within video games have been examined separately, there is no working model and little research attempting to bridge the connection between narratives and character relationships. This research combines Narrative Paradigm Theory and Parasocial Relationships to understand how narratives and character relationships influence each other in video game environments. This was done through rhetorical field methods, utilizing a focus group and narrative rhetorical analysis on the transcript of the focus group. Results provide a working model coined …

Theoretical Motivations For Posting In #Metoo, Shannon Pappas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2017, actress Alyssa Milano shared a tweet encouraging survivors of gendered violence to write “me too.” A media storm ensued as survivors answered her call in the millions. Anyone can look back at what survivors posted during the height of #MeToo, but we still don’t know why they felt the need to post in the first place. To answer this question, the social identity model of deindividuation effects and spiral of silence were utilized. The social identification, perceived anonymity affordances, and willingness to self-censor scales were used for this research, along with a perceived deindividuation scale that was created …

Exploring Disparities In Prenatal Smoking And The Role Of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Patricia Da Rosa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of premature death, killing half of its users. During pregnancy, smoking continues to be the leading cause of premature death for both mothers and newborns. Research has consistently demonstrated smoking is not randomly distributed across populations; it is, instead, socially patterned. Women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, those experiencing mental health issues, and rural area residents are disproportionately affected. The life course framework emphasizes the impact of exposures in early life on shaping health inequities. Eliminating health inequities, including risky behaviors such as smoking, requires an understanding of the pathways that generate these inequities. …

Language And Culture In Context: A Primer On Intercultural Communication, Robert Godwin-Jones

Open Textbooks and Course Materials

For the classroom-friendly version of this book, please view the website version of this text of this text. This version is intended to serve as a preservation copy of the website.

This textbook on intercultural communication takes a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach: incorporating views and experiences from scholars and sources of diverse global backgrounds, integrating research findings from other disciplines, and developing a multicultural and multi-linguistic approach.