Digital Commons Network^™

Reconstructing Visual Narratives: Mary Colter, Fred Kabotie, And The Myth Of The West At Desert View Watchtower, Allison M. Foster

Theses and Dissertations

Desert View Watchtower opened in 1933 on the Grand Canyon South Rim, under the management of the Fred Harvey Company. The structure contains many self-contradictions, in terms of style and use. In this thesis, I argue that these contradictions come from the dichotomous motives of Desert View Watchtower's architect, Mary Colter, and her employers, the Fred Harvey Company and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. New western history theory of the Mythical West is used to explain Harvey/Santa Fe marketing, which created a narrative suggesting that Native American lifeways were going to disappear from the Southwest. I argue that …

Human-Human Vs Human-Ai Therapy: An Empirical Study, Mohammad Amin Kuhail, Nazik Alturki, Justin Thomas, Amal K. Alkhalifa, Amal Alshardan

All Works

In many nations, demand for mental health services currently outstrips supply, especially in the area of talk-based psychological interventions. Within this context, chatbots (software applications designed to simulate conversations with human users) are increasingly explored as potential adjuncts to traditional mental healthcare service delivery with a view to improving accessibility and reducing waiting times. However, the effectiveness and acceptability of such chatbots remains under-researched. This study evaluates mental health professionals’ perceptions of Pi, a relational Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot, in the early stages of the psychotherapeutic process (problem exploration). We asked 63 therapists to assess therapy transcripts between a human …

Debra Jean Ream, Appellant V. Jacob Ream, Appellee : Brief Of Appellee, Utah Court Of Appeals

Utah Court of Appeals Briefs (2020 –)

Appeal taken from two orders entered by the Honorable Judge Derek P. Pullan in the Fourth Judicial District Court of Utah County, Case Number 230400484 on August 24, 2023 and March 29, 2024.

Asa E. Kelley, Vanessa A. Vietz, Attorneys for Appellee

Taking The Road Less Traveled: My Journey Toward Healing, Megan Herman

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

The following portfolio is a compilation of work spanning the entirety of my time in the Master of Social Work program. The portfolio speaks to my growth as an advanced integrated practitioner and social worker and exemplifies the process of self-reflection and evaluation. I discuss several areas of improvement and introduce completed works that provide evidence of learning and knowledge acquisition. This portfolio is a reflection of my work toward mastering the social work competencies and the core processes of the Just Practice Framework. I present specific examples from the MSW program that highlight my learning experience concerning the elements …

Newborn Screening For Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Variations In Practice And Early Management Of Infants With Spinal Muscular Atrophy In The United States, Craig M Zaidman, Cameron D Crockett, Ethan Wedge, Grace Tabatabai, Natalie Goedeker

2020-Current year OA Pubs

In the United States (U.S.), newborn screening (NBS) for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is implemented by individual states. There is likely variation in the practice patterns of state NBS programs and among the providers caring for newborns with SMA. This is a prospective, descriptive, observational study that seeks to quantify and describe practice patterns and heterogeneities in state NBS programs and provider practices in the U.S. We surveyed U.S. state NBS programs and care providers of newborns with SMA. Thirty states and 41 practitioners responded. NBS program practices vary by state. Most (74%) state programs provide results to both primary …

The Control And Operation Of Optical Sensors For Environmental Monitoring With Microcontrollers As Data Acquisition And Processing Systems, Zechariah Kitzhaber

Theses and Dissertations

Phytoplankton are microscopic unicellular organisms, and they are ubiquitous in marine and freshwater environments across the globe. They play a critical role in primary production, carbon fixation, and O2 production through photosynthesis. Phytoplankton comprise an abundant variety of genera and species, and the taxonomic makeup of a community can be an important indicator of environmental health. Phytoplankton are spatially and taxonomically diverse; they change in size and cellular content throughout their lifetime, and they can also alter their pigmentation in response to environmental factors, so it is important to understand the variability in size and pigmentation between individuals of the …

Perception Of Alzheimer’S Actionability Among End Users Of Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Tests, Emily Mason

Theses and Dissertations

The APOE ε4 allele is the best-known genetic risk factor for developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Although new evidence is emerging, the extent to which lifestyle improvements can reduce Alzheimer’s risk needs further investigation. Research suggests that individuals with a higher genetic risk may be more likely to engage in risk-reducing health behavior changes following results disclosure. This study aimed to better understand these findings by assessing the health behavior and perceptions of Alzheimer’s actionability among consumers of DTC genetic tests. Our study revealed that individuals with 2 copies of the APOE ε4 allele were less likely to make lifestyle modifications …

Medieval To Modern: Morgan Le Fay As Folk Icon Of Women In Power In Modern King Arthur Stories, Colleen Victoria Etman

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation interrogates the ways that society views women with/in power through Arthurian adaptation. The body of work that makes up the Arthurian story is a sort of folk legend, a myth being told and retold by various authors in their own way. By using folk studies to analyze both medieval and modern texts, we can dissect what is important enough to remain over time. This signifies cultural values; things that have remained over time are reflective of the values of the writers producing these works, as well as the audiences consuming them. By interrogating these stories, we can make …

Maternal-Child Cortisol Attunement Differs In Preschoolers With Autism, Fragile X Syndrome, And Neurotypical Development, Rachel Hantman

Theses and Dissertations

Early maternal-child attunement sets a critical foundation for later social development. While maternal and child cortisol attunement in neurotypical (NT) development has been clearly established, little research has examined these relations in neurodevelopmental populations, such as those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). Given their elevated-risk for disrupted maternal-child attunement and given elevated stress and dysregulated cortisol patterns in both children with ASD and FXS and their parents independently, this is a critical gap. This study addressed this gap in the literature by examining early maternal-child cortisol attunement in 97 mother-child dyads (_nNT = …

Detection And Analysis Of Solid-Phase Nutrients In Complex Benthic Cyanobacterium Communities, Cassidy Ann Crandell

Theses and Dissertations

Eutrophication is one of the most serious water quality issues affecting aquatic systems in the United States. Densely populated urban areas as well as mining and agriculture are major sources of anthropogenic nutrient loading into lakes and rivers. Excess loading of nutrients like phosphorus (P) into these ecosystems can cause native algal species to be outcompeted by harmful algal bloom (HAB) species. Increases in these HAB events are a growing public health concern as contact with excreted toxins can be harmful for human, aquatic, and land species. Remediation techniques like total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) have been implemented to reduce …

Liz Witter Msw Portfolio, Liz Witter

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Msw Portfolio, Rylie Shade

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

MSW portfolio, practicing Social work in Missoula, San Francisco, and Oakland.

Thigh Perforator Exchange: Intraflap Perforator Augmentation Of Anterolateral Thigh Free Flaps, Patrick A. Palines, Matthew E. Nungesser, Morgan E. Baudoin, Devin M. Melancon, Mark W. Stalder

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Peripheral perfusion in large anterolateral thigh flaps may be inadequate if perforator zones are not properly planned during flap design and harvest, and variations in vascular anatomy can contribute to operative difficulty and morbidity. Intraflap anastomosis of extrinsic perforators may allow for augmentation of perfusion while avoiding significant intramuscular dissection. Adaptation of the perforator exchange technique, previously described in autologous breast reconstruction, optimizes vascular flow in anterolateral thigh flaps. Here, we present a technique for intraflap perforator anastomosis (the thigh perforator exchange) and illustrate its use in a subset of patients. This technique is relatively simple and rapid to perform …

An Interpreted Journey Of Professional Growth Among Female Baccalaureate Nursing Students: A Hermeneutic Study Of Mindfulness Practices, Lorraine Santangelo

Dissertations

Nursing literature reveals that stress is a leading factor contributing to nursing student attrition, new nurses leaving the profession, and the reduction of positive formation of professional identity during prelicensure education and transition into professional practice, which jeopardizes the growth and replacement needs of the future nursing workforce. Despite extensive quantitative research suggesting mindfulness practices decreases stress and anxiety among college students, nursing students, and nurses, a paucity of qualitative studies exist to inform on the meaning of this experience from the nursing student perspective. Nursing literature also suggests that stress management techniques, cultivating awareness of personal values, and a …

Development Of An Examiner-Examinee Rapport Scale For Neuropsychological Testing: The Barnett Rapport Questionnaire – 2, Jenna Moore

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Rapport in the context of neuropsychological testing refers to the interpersonal interaction between the examinee and examiner. The purpose of this study was to improve upon the original Barnett Rapport Questionnaire. Participants consisted of college students (n = 55), middle-aged adults (n = 30), and older adults (n = 99) at a university-affiliated neuropsychology clinic, who were administered a brief neuropsychological battery. After testing, both examinees (n = 184) and examiners (n = 24) completed items regarding the nature of the interpersonal interaction. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a two-factor model consisting of 13 items found on both the examinee and …

Concussions And Their Relationship With Cheerleading, Jazmin Hampton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Concussions are a major public health issue that impacts a variety of persons. Cheerleading is an emerging popular sport that has seen increased participation. Minimal information about cheerleading and concussions is known. This study aimed to investigate sustaining a concussion as a cheerleader while accounting for demographics (age, race, and gender), mechanism of injury, and injury setting. The precaution adoption process model was the theoretical framework for this study. Chi-square analysis and binary logistic regression were applied to address research questions. Data from 3,536 patients were obtained from the 2018-2022 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Findings indicated there were associations …

Systemic Moves, Individual Impacts: Narratives Of Best Practices In Supporting Immigrant Women In Rural Community Colleges In The Canadian Prairies, Katherine Jean Stevenson

Theses and Dissertations

Rural Canada is in decline, and as such has begun recruiting immigrants to rural areas to fill crucial labour gaps. This study explores the ways in which rural community colleges can best support immigrant women in Canada. Using narrative inquiry, it captures the voices of women who successfully completed programs in a rural community college in the prairies. The study reveals best practices in supporting immigrant women and highlights the importance of creating programming that is tailored to student needs to ensure success.

Exploring The Immune System’S And Silybin’S Impact On Cancer Cachexia, Patrice Cunningham

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer cachexia is a complex syndrome that is characterized by the unintentional loss of body weight with or without fat loss. During cancer cachexia, there is an increase in inflammation consistent with various inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β ), and interleukin-6 (IL-6); all of which are known to increase proteolysis and aid in the progression of muscle loss and weakness. Immune cells such as macrophages are increased during cachexia and are known to have varying effects on muscle inflammation, regeneration, and the progression of fibrosis in a disease state. However, therapies aimed solely at …

The Effect Of Covid-19 Restrictions On The Social Support Experiences Of Black Women Giving Birth In South Carolina Hospitals During The First Year Of The Covid-19 Pandemic (2020) As Compared To A Previous Birth, Tiffany Eva Byrd

Theses and Dissertations

The United States is experiencing a maternal health crisis, which disproportionately affects Black women. Black women die from pregnancy-related causes two to three times as often as their White counter parts, and the majority of maternal death are preventable. In recent years, public health and national governing authorities have devoted resources to monitoring the health crisis and raising the public’s knowledge of warning signs; however, maternal mortality rates continue to rise. Noted contributors to Black maternal mortality include, but are not limited to, racism, delayed treatment and response to health emergencies, and lack of social and emotional support during childbirth, …

Assessing Obgyn Residents’ Knowledge, Attitudes, And Current Practices For Carrier Screening, Aubrey Morgan Surian

Theses and Dissertations

Obstetricians and gynecologists (OBGYNs) are the main providers that order carrier screening on a regular basis, so it is important to understand their knowledge, attitudes, and current practices regarding this screening. There are two primary professional organizations that have established practice guidelines for carrier screening, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG). With the growth of pan-ethnic carrier screening, these guidelines have become remarkably different. This study aimed to assess resident OBGYN’s utilization of pan-ethnic carrier screening, discern any discrepancies between knowledge, attitudes, and current practices, identify possible practice resources that may …

School Counselors’ Perceptions Of And Recommendations For Increased Parent Involvement In Student Assistance Program Referrals, Joanna Harrington-Diorio

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Parent refusal of Student Assistance Program (SAP) referrals limits their child’s access to critical behavioral and mental support services offered by the school district, which may put the child at risk academically, socially, and emotionally. In a county in an eastern state, the problem that was addressed in this study was that students were not receiving the recommended professional services through the SAP. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore school counselors’ perspectives about practices being used to educate and encourage parent involvement in SAP referrals. Using Epstein’s school–family–community partnership model as the conceptual framework, the perspectives …

“I’M Speaking”: Black Women Leading School Public Relations, Managing Communications And Personal Challenges, Keisa Gunby

Theses and Dissertations

Operationalizing feminist communication theory with a critical lens, this research analyzes virtual, semi-structured interviews with 13 Black women who are integral to impacting organizational culture through the brand management and narratives to the stakeholder groups of employees, parents and community members for a public school district. This study aims to describe the oppression and invisibility of Black women in school public relations and amplify their voices as they lead the communication, marketing, and promotional efforts in public school districts across the United States. The interview transcripts were analyzed utilizing NVivo software through the first round of coding initial and the …

Reading Ecogothic Memory In Contemporary Southern Swamp Novels, Megan Caroline Brockhard Knight

Theses and Dissertations

The ecogothic is a lens through which to engage memory, southern constructivism and identity, environmental intervention, and the literature of the American Southeast. This project establishes a framework of literary criticism that defines the ecogothic, interprets memory as truth imagined, and identifies the position of memory in the environment as a construction with which it is necessary to grapple to understand identity. This framework, compiled of existing and original scholarship, is then applied to three contemporary swamp narratives written by three different southern women writers. The swamp setting creates a unique microcosm of gothic liminality, neither fully land nor water, …

Estuarine Microbial Community Composition And Efficiency Changes In Response To Vibrio Parahaemolyticus Exposure, Sarah Mulligan

Theses and Dissertations

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a pathogenic bacterium whose full impact on natural estuarine phytoplankton communities has not been fully resolved. The primary goal of this research was to test how the addition of V. parahaemolyticus to a natural estuarine microbial community would impact the other microbes present. We hypothesized V. parahaemolyticus exposure would reduce phytoplankton biomass and alter the composition of phytoplankton and bacterial communities. Experimental bioassays (60h) were used to assess the effects of the presence of V. parahaemolyticus . Samples for measurements of chemotaxonomic photopigment concentrations, 16S sequencing-based community composition, photosynthetic efficiency, cell density, and V. parahaemolyticus abundance were …

Cancer Screening For Patients With Intellectual Disability: Exploring Parent And Caregiver Perspectives, Jennifer Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

Intellectual disability (ID) is defined as a combination of deficits in cognitive and adaptive function, both of which must be present early in life. Adults with ID frequently have unique healthcare needs; however, they also require care that is routine for all adults. This includes cancer screening. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether or not adults with ID are undergoing cancer screening, understand the barriers they have faced in obtaining screening, and collect recommendations from parents and caregivers on ways to improve access to and facilitate screening for this population. We surveyed parents and caregivers of adults …

Four Essays On Banking, Bank Management, And Bank Lending, Jiarui Guo

Theses and Dissertations

This abstract synthesizes findings from four studies examining the liquidity creation, bank-borrower relationships, corporate capital structure, and managerial impact on firm performance, particularly within the context of banking and financial crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research first identifies the dual shocks of the pandemic—disease and policy-driven (government shutdowns)—on bank liquidity creation. I find that these shocks prompted banks to reallocate liquidity creation from assets (decreasing loans) to liabilities (increasing liquid deposits), which reduced profits and heightened risks.

In exploring bank-borrower relationships, the study highlights the role of banks in utilizing soft private information, such as the moral character of …

Histories Of Stress: A Life Course Approach To Population Health In Late Medieval And Early Modern Berlin, Emily Brennan

Theses and Dissertations

Given our current climate crisis and urban population increases, researchers are increasingly interested in the health outcomes at the intersection of climate change and urbanization. Since climate change and urbanization affects human health in a variety of ways, more work is needed in diverse cultural contexts to understand temporal and geographic variations of such phenomena more fully. Using skeletal individuals from 13^th – 18^th century Berlin (n = 387), this project analyses demographic and health trends from the founding of the city in the late medieval period (c. 1200 – 1500) to the early modern period, when the …

Impaired Waters: New Treatments And Improved Methods For Pfas And Algae Toxins, Alexandria Forster

Theses and Dissertations

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are high-profile environmental contaminants, many having long persistence in the environment and widespread presence in humans and wildlife. Following phase-out of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in North America and restrictions in Europe, PFAS replacements are now widely found in the environment. While liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS) is typically used for measurement, much of the PFAS is missed. To more comprehensively capture organic fluorine, we developed sensitive and robust methods using activated carbon adsorption, solid phase extraction, and combustion ion chromatography (CIC) to measure total organic fluorine (TOF) in industrial wastewaters, river …

Dysregulation Of Dopamine Dynamics Through Monoamine Transporters By The Hiv-1 Protein Transactivator Of Transcription, Sarah Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Prevalence of HIV-1 Associated Cognitive Disorders (HAND) persists in the era of combined antiretroviral therapies, causing impaired memory, motor function, and decreased quality of life. Evidence from clinical samples of persons with HAND has implicated dopamine, as well as the HIV-1 viral protein transactivator of transcription (Tat) as key molecules associated with disease progression. Through molecular modeling, in vitro and in vivo mutagenesis our lab has characterized Tat as a negative allosteric modulator for monoamine transporters, including the dopamine transporter (DAT), vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT-2), and norepinephrine transporter. While this work has shed light on how Tat impacts the function …

State Estimation And Prediction Based On Simplified First Principle Model Of Lithium-Ion Batteries In Lebesgue Sampling Framework, Enhui Liu

Theses and Dissertations

State-of-charge (SOC) and remaining-dischargeable-time (RDT) are critical states of Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). SOC indicates the available charge stored in LIBs compared to the total charge capacity of LIBs, while RDT refers to the remaining dischargeable time that LIBs can support under given loading profiles. Accurate SOC estimation and RDT prediction play important roles in guaranteeing the safe and efficient operation of batteries in real applications.

Taking advantage of high fidelity of simplified first principle (SFP) model of LIBs, this research aims to accurately estimate SOC and predict RDT. Firstly, this research establishes an SFP model to describe the battery internal …