Digital Commons Network^™

Interventional Orthopedics: The Future Of Musculoskeletal Injury Treatment, Shannon Jordan

Academic Festival

As a result of a largely aging population and continuously increasing life expectancy, the prevalence of orthopedic injury in the United States continues to rise and harps a significant burden on both the health care system and the millions of patients suffering each day. The current treatment options, most notably surgical procedures, and opioid narcotics, are fraught with subpar results and can cause adverse or worsening effects, warranting a consideration into what can and should be done differently in the treatment of these injuries. Interventional orthopedics is a non-surgical approach that falls under the umbrella of regenerative medicine, the type …

Workplace Performance Is Affected By Employees' Perception Of Stress, Matthew Bellinger

Academic Festival

This paper looked to determine the relationship between employees’ perception of stress and workplace performance. Stress was categorized into two categories: threat and challenge. A threat response was triggered when there were not sufficient resources to address demands and a challenge response was triggered when there were sufficient resources to meet the demands of the stressor. It was hypothesized that stress when perceived as threat would result in lower work productivity and stress when perceived as challenge would result in higher work productivity in employees. A meta-analysis was conducted in order to determine whether perceptions of stress affected workplace performance …

Does Self-Compassion Minimize The Link Between Minority Stress And Well-Being On Sexual Minorities?, Samantha Cavalea

Academic Festival

Previous studies have reported on the negative correlation between self-compassion and stress; however, little attention has been given to the relationship between self-compassion and minority stress. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the link between self-compassion and minimizing the relationship between minority stress and well-being in sexual minorities.

An Investigation Into The Effects Of Social Support And Well-Being On The Burnout Rate Of Female Collegiate Athletes, Alyssa M. Leva

Academic Festival

For female collegiate athletes there is added stress to what is normally placed on students to perform well, by their teammates, coaches, and themselves. There are many studies that focus on the relationship of burnout with factors such as well-being, social support, coaching style, etc. individually. However, there are few that examine them all together and in relation to athlete and coaching gender and class level. Coaches are such a vital role in the life of a student-athlete and many aspects of their coaching style, personality, and even gender could have an impact on the burnout rate and well-being. Additionally, …

Stress And Coping Among College Students During A Covid-19 Red Alert Status On Campus, Julia Leone, Emma Higley

Academic Festival

A number of studies have found that college students have experienced high rates of stress during the pandemic. Despite the high rates of stress among college students, research on students’ use of coping strategies has been mixed. In light of the need to further understand college students’ stress and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic, the current study examined stress and coping strategies during a campus red alert at a mid-sized U.S. university. Data previously collected from an online survey sent out to all undergraduate students 30 days after the COVID-19 red alert status was instituted in the Fall of 2020 …

The Development Of Scenarios To Induce Defensiveness, Maria Pandolfo, Sandra Lezcano

Academic Festival

Self-affirmation theory refers to the idea that when people are reminded of their good qualities, they are less likely to react defensively to negative situations. This poster indicates five scenarios that are supposed to induce defensiveness in participants. The scenarios are within the domains of academia, health, romance, alcohol use, and friendship. We will instruct participants to read these scenarios and answer several follow-up questions in hopes to understand how they would respond. We also included individual difference measures that we believe will affect the responses to each scenario.

Delphinapterus Leucas' Spatial Use And Social Behavior: The Study Of A Managed Care Environment, Hailey King, Teresina Berni, Melissa V. Deamico, Kailey L. Marottolo

Academic Festival

Little is known about belugas in managed care. Previous studies evaluated socio-sexual behavior in belugas across multiple facilities, but little data has been collected on their spatial use within a habitat (i.e., Hill, et al., 2015).

The Benefits Of Cochlear Implants In Children, Kaylee Sostilio

Academic Festival

Being born with congenital hearing loss can have detrimental impacts on a child's ability to acquire language and therefore minimize their opportunities to interact with others in the way that most of us communicate. Hearing loss in both children and adults are often associated with adverse effects like depression and anxiety, and can lead to learning disabilities if the proper interventions are not put in place. Cochlear implants are a surgical insertion placed behind the ear and provide individuals with auditory input that allows them to acquire expressive language and therefore reverse the adverse effects commonly associated with hearing loss.

Cross-Situational Word Learning In Toddlers With Varying Language Proficiency, Julia Linhares, Olivia Cayward, Allison Roberge

Academic Festival

On way in which typically developing infants and toddlers acquire a vocabulary is through cross-situational word learning (Yu & Smith, 2007). This describes the tracking of co-occurrences between spoken words and their referents across many learning opportunities. Late talkers (LTs) are toddlers with small expressive vocabularies in absence of neurodevelopmental disorders or sensory impairments (Collison et al., 2016). There is a dearth of literature on how LTs acquire a vocabulary and if they employ cross-situational word learning to do so. This study evaluated cross-situational word learning in a sample of typically developing (TD; n=16) toddlers and late talkers (LTs; …

Why Low Socioeconomic Status Negatively Affects Language Development, Emily Marquis

Academic Festival

It is common for human beings to communicate their needs, wants, ideas, and thoughts through the use of language, so it is crucial that language is developed properly. However, there are many factors that may influence the typical process of language development. Low socioeconomic status has a negative impact on language development because certain qualities of living in low socioeconomic status create an adverse environment for developing critical language skills. Some factors of low socioeconomic status that impact the development of language include poor housing conditions, lower and lesser quality interactions with caregivers, and a lack of access to resources. …

An Examination Of The Correlation Between Math Anxiety And Mathematic Performance, Grace Major

Academic Festival

Does math anxiety inhibit the performance of students during math tests and assessments? Some believe that there is an obvious answer to this question, but the topic has been debated and math anxiety is often dismissed as being "made up." Although some can argue that using math anxiety as reasoning for a poor math test score is an invalid excuse, there may be measures to prove correlation or potential causation for hindrance of math skills during times of high stress. As a student who has struggled in the past with experiencing anxiety and self-doubt during math assessments, I was highly …

Pecs For Success: The Telehealth Pivot, Grace Sullivan, Jonah Snapper

Academic Festival

Our presentation,"PECS for Success: The Telehealth Pivot" examines the Photo Exchange Communication System (PECS) protocol. PECS is an augmentive and alternative communication method that is often used with young children with ASD who have very limited spoken language. During the Academic Festival, we will be examining the success rates of PECS both in person and via telehealth.

The Relationship Between Language Development And Electronics In Children, Amanda Tiso

Academic Festival

In today’s world, electronics are an instrumental part of day-to-day living. Electronics are impacting the whole life span as the world is becoming more digital, meaning the world must adapt to this change. The topic chosen is how do electronics affect language development in children. At younger and younger ages, children are being exposed to electronics to either learn, grab their attention, or preoccupy them. Does this positively or negatively impact how they learn language during their critical years of word learning? The paper aims to show that electronics do negatively affect language development in children, as it inhibits them …

Universal Healthcare, Roisin Mcguirk

Academic Festival

Universal healthcare is something that has been in existence since the early 20^th Century and it has expanded to other countries but there is still debate about if it is what is best for countries and their citizens, many countries have made the move to adapt it to help their citizens living conditions and other countries have chosen not to go forward with the idea because it takes up much of the government’s funds among other things.

The Debate Of Physician-Assisted Suicide, Kennedy Spiering

Academic Festival

Advancement in technology has drastically changed the healthcare system, ultimately giving rise to a greater life expectancy compared to older generations. However, the improvements in drugs and medications have also led to quickening death with the help from a physician. This idea has influenced a debate between the duty of a physician to heal rather than harm an individual. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate if there is enough evidence to justify the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. Through an evaluation of journal articles within the Sacred Heart University library database as well as Google Scholar, the role of …

Mental Health In Firefighters, Melissa Raymond

Academic Festival

Firefighters are a subgroup of medical and non-medical first responders that are exposed to consistent trauma. Firefighter culture is also unique. Due to the mental health stigma, and fear of reputation loss, they may not obtain the necessary support they need for their mental health. When firefighters need mental health support, they should utilize specific websites, hotlines, other than the fire association websites that are already provided. This study focuses on the mental health issues of firefighters and analyzes the resources they need for improvement.

Keywords: first responder, firefighter, culture, family, PTSD, suicide, depression, mental health, resources.

Investigating Canine Cognition Using An Infant Violation Of Expectation Task, Larissa Brito, Sydney Duval, Angelina Failla, Nicole Gregory, Kendall Holland, Hailey King, Lauren Maiolo, Jordan Manning, Elizabeth Potter, Erin Sheehan

Academic Festival

Infants have demonstrated object permanence understanding during violation of expectation tasks. During these tasks, infants are shown expected (e.g., ball stops at wall) or unexpected events (e.g., ball rolling through a solid wall). Infants look longer at the unexpected event versus the expected tasks (Stahl et al., 2015). Studies have shown that dogs also looked longer at an unexpected events during object permanence tasks (Pattison et al., 2010). In the current study, dogs were presented with a violation of expectation task commonly used with infants to investigate their object permanence abilities. It was hypothesized that dogs participating in the experiment …

Behavior, Environment, And Genetics As Causes Of Obesity As An Epidemic, And How America Can Prevent The Negative Stigma Associated With The Obese, Talia Nieto

Academic Festival

This poster goes over Obesity as an epidemic. Obesity has become a huge health problem in America and around the world causing the disease to be deemed an epidemic (James et al. 2001). The key topics discussed in the poster address what obesity is, why obesity is an important health issue, what the weight stigma is and how it effects the obese, and what makes a person obese. Obesity is a disorder involving excessive body fat that increases the risk of health problems (Daundasekara et al. 2019). The Weight Stigma surrounding obesity is characterized as the discriminatory acts and ideologies …

The Effects Of Gender Inequality On Women In Stem Fields, Melanie Walenda

Academic Festival

The prominent social phenomenon of sexism in U.S. society has embedded itself into society’s ideologies, oppressing the opportunities available to women across the board, especially in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The disparities in gender in these fields can be seen starting at a young age in school and before even entering the workforce. As the inequality continues in the workplace, it has detrimental effects on both the longevity and success of women’s careers. Women struggle to gain respect and authority in the workplace, which is reflected in the gender pay gap that is evident across all …

Can Running Make You Smarter? -- Effects Of Running On Adult Neurogenesis In The Hippocampus, Amanda Fasolino

Academic Festival

Running can be an intense and strenuous form of exercise on the body but it greatly benefits overall health. Current research shows that running can not only improve physical health, but it can also improve mental health. The body’s biological response to consistent long-term running causes an increase in neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus. This increase results in higher cognitive function and can be used in combination with traditional therapies to treat mental health disorders including depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Running induced hippocampal neurogenesis may be the key potential mechanism targeted for developing pharmaceutical treatment for neurodegenerative diseases …

An Empirical Analysis Of Life Satisfaction In Adolescent Development In High- And Middle-Income Countries, Amirreza Kazemikhasragh

Journal of International Women's Studies

The income discrepancies in high- and middle-income countries increases stress, limitations in access to social resources, and aggravates health situations. The empirical analysis of this experimental study studies the relationship between parental income inequality in early life and health and life satisfaction of adolescents. This study uses empirical data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) to study school-age children health behaviour symptoms in high- and middle-income countries in the years 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. The research uses macro variables and the income inequality index from the World Bank. The analysis of the Gini coefficient was carried out …

Tobacco Farming, Addiction, Promotion Of Gender Equality, Well-Being And Monopoly Of The Indian Market, Ranjit Singha, Yogesh Kanna S

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women's land rights are still suppressed in India because men hold most of the land, and men decide what crops to grow. Tobacco use and farming are both detriments to one’s health. It causes cancer, and cancer treatment is unavailable in the majority of India's remote areas. On the other hand, tobacco is grown in remote regions of India, and cancer hospitals are concentrated in major cities. There are eight states in India's north-eastern region, but only one cancer treatment facility in Guwahati, Assam. There is a need for new cancer hospitals in the north-eastern part of the country, where …

Diverging Women On The Mommy Track To The Career Track, Sunaina Arora, Neeraj Kumari

Journal of International Women's Studies

The review paper discusses the Mommy Track phenomenon and interventions required to bring women back on the career track. It collates the literature to understand the Mommy Track phenomenon from organisations and economic perspectives. The Mommy Track is a path which is taken by high performing women to take a career break in order to rear children. The idea is to switch back to career tracks when childcare duties require less time. Gender parity initiatives have tried to bridge male and female labour gaps to bring back women to career tracks. Changes in government interventions, organisation policies, and individual attitudes …

Are Unpaid Women Willing To Work In The Labour Market? Evidence From India, Krishna M.

Journal of International Women's Studies

India has set an ambitious target of achieving a US$5 trillion economy by 2025. However, a steady increase, perhaps even more rapid in recent years, in women’s participation in unpaid domestic work poses a grave threat to India’s economic development. Significantly, the extent of women’s participation in unpaid domestic work ballooned in India, recording a quantum leap from 200 million in 2004–05 to 287 million in 2017–18. The main aim of this paper is to examine the role of socio-economic factors in explaining the willingness of unpaid women to undertake work in the labour market, using data from unit-level records …

Does Entrepreneur Gender Matter For Entrepreneurial Motivation: Answers From Micro Small And Medium Enterprises (Msmes) Of Assam, Ankita Sarmah, Bedabrat Saikia, Dhananjay Tripathi

Journal of International Women's Studies

With regard to SGD-5, this study attempts to examine the association between entrepreneur’s gender and their entrepreneurial motivation and to discover if entrepreneur’s gender influences the motivation. The study further tries to see if entrepreneurial motivation varies on the grounds of entrepreneur’s gender. Based on a qualitative approach, the study uses interview data of 320 MSME entrepreneurs from Assam, India. Two hypotheses—there is no association between entrepreneur’s gender and the entrepreneurial motivation (H01) and there is no significant difference between the mean rank of male and female entrepreneurs with respect to their motivational factors (H02)—are postulated and tested using Chi-Square …

Women And Entrepreneurship In Nigeria: What Role Does Social Inclusion Play?, Ezebuilo R. Ukwueze

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women’s participation in business enterprises has attracted much attention from policy makers, researchers, NGOs, politicians, the government sector, and international agencies. This is because it has been identified that women’s involvement in income generation tends to boost family income, support children’s education, improve health of family members, provide food, build assets for the family, and contribute to general development of economies. However, women have not been performing these roles due to constraints placed consciously or inadvertently on women by society, limiting them from engaging in income-earning ventures, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Even those who wish to venture into …

Introduction To The Bilingual Special Issue In English And Spanish: Gender, Social Inclusion, And Entrepreneurship: Women’S Struggles In The Private And Public Sectors Meeting Sustainable Development Goal (Sdg) #5, Amirreza Kazemikhasragh

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Increasing The Supply Of Organs: What Method Is Most Ethical And Practical For The United States, Rachel Wolf

Academic Festival

Organ donation is a massive problem in the United States and everyday people die due to lack of organs/ organ donors. There must be a way in which there can be an increase in organ donation without causing any negative ethical implications. Although the U.S. should not force people into giving their organs to those who need them, our society should do more to promote organ donation through public policy “nudges”and increased education on the benefits of organ donation. People have a right to make their own choices about their organs, but society has an obligation to inform people and …

Academic Pressure: The Negative Impact On Adolescents Mental Health, Kristen Bruno

Academic Festival

This paper talks about the roots of where academic pressure stems from and the effect it has on the mental health of adolescents.

Physician Assisted Suicide Legalization In The United States, Nicole Cona

Academic Festival

In a growing society of medicine there are countless people with terminal illnesses that cannot be cured. These people can suffer a long time with anything from physical pain or even a declining mental view of life. In some cases, in certain states, patients can choose to peacefully end their life through the process of physician assisted suicide (PAS). From past Supreme Court rulings from Vacco v. Quill and Washington v. Glucksberg which challenge the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause respectively. After both rulings were decided, the Supreme Court left the decision of physician assisted suicide up to …