Digital Commons Network^™

A Study Of Best Practices To Address Food Deserts In The United States, Hannya M. Moritz

City and Regional Planning

Urban and rural food deserts have become increasingly prevalent throughout the United States. Food deserts impact disadvantaged individuals the most, with larger populations of minorities, higher rates of poverty and unemployment, and lower rates of secondary and higher education seen within their populace. Food desert populations face many barriers with regards to the affordability and accessibility of fresh, healthy foods. This results in a multitude of long-term negative health outcomes within these populations. For these reasons it is important for planners to address the needs of food desert populations, working towards more equitable neighborhoods and improving overall quality of life …

Citric Or Acetic Acid Effects On The Crosslinking Of Pvoh, Samuel Carr, Erika Szaldobagyi

Materials Engineering

Transportation and shipping processes are the most dangerous times for food due to harsh handling and frequent temperature changes. Plain corrugated boxes cannot withstand the damp environment caused by melting ice that is used to keep foods cold and fresh. To minimize damage, a protective polymer film coating can be applied. These coatings can be unsafe when used with food and will lead to excess waste by limiting the recyclability of the boxes. The purpose of this project was to produce nontoxic crosslinked PVOH films to determine suitability for a cost effective, biodegradable, and repulpable corrugated box coating. Polyvinyl alcohol …

Soil Degradation Of A Plastic Blend Of Opuntia Ficusindica Juice, Animal Protein And Beeswax, Isabel A. Gamez, Daniel R. Kava

Materials Engineering

Since the introduction of single use plastics in the early 1900s, their usage has increased exponentially. Unfortunately, due to this exponential increase there are negative environmental implications of their production, which requires further consideration. Currently, there are various waste disposal practices for SUPs, including landfilling, incineration, and recycling. Recent data revealed that only 14 % of plastic waste was recycled, with 40% of plastic waste being landfilled, while the rest of the plastic waste was incinerated or released to the environment at 14 % and 32 %, respectively. A potential solution to the plastic waste issue is developing a polymer …

Aging In Lynn: A Community Needs Assessment, Caitlin Coyle, Mary Krebs, Setarreh Massihzadegan

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the City of Lynn and the Lynn Department of Elder Services. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of residents of the City of Lynn age 60 or older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the planning and operation of the Lynn Senior Center, and organizations that work with and on behalf of older residents of the City of Lynn. The report …

Asas–Nanp Symposium: Mathematical Modeling In Animal Nutrition: Opportunities And Challenges Of Confned And Extensive Precision Livestock Production, Hector M. Menendez Iii, Jameson R. Brennan, Charlotte Gaillard, Krista Ehlert, Jaelyn Quintana, Suresh Neethirajan, Aline Remus, Marc Jacobs, Izabelle A.M.A. Teixerira, Benjamin L. Turner, Luis O. Tedeschi

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Modern animal scientists, industry, and managers have never faced a more complex world. Precision livestock technologies have altered management in confned operations to meet production, environmental, and consumer goals. Applications of precision technologies have been limited in extensive systems such as rangelands due to lack of infrastructure, electrical power, communication, and durability. However, advancements in technology have helped to overcome many of these challenges. Investment in precision technologies is growing within the livestock sector, requiring the need to assess opportunities and challenges associated with implementation to enhance livestock production systems. In this review, precision livestock farming and digital livestock farming …

A Multi-Task Gaussian Process Self-Attention Neural Network For Real-Time Prediction Of The Need For Mechanical Ventilators In Covid-19 Patients, Kai Zhang, Siddharth Karanth, Bela Patel, Robert Murphy, Xiaoqian Jiang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has overwhelmed the capacity of healthcare resources and posed a challenge for worldwide hospitals. The ability to distinguish potentially deteriorating patients from the rest helps facilitate reasonable allocation of medical resources, such as ventilators, hospital beds, and human resources. The real-time accurate prediction of a patient's risk scores could also help physicians to provide earlier respiratory support for the patient and reduce the risk of mortality.

METHODS: We propose a robust real-time prediction model for the in-hospital COVID-19 patients' probability of requiring mechanical ventilation (MV). The end-to-end neural network model incorporates the Multi-task …

A Call To Action From The Purdue University Center For Health Equity And Innovation, Jasmine D. Gonzalvo, Ashley H. Meredith, Omolola A. Adeoye-Olatunde, Carlyn Kimiecik, Sonak Pastakia, Natalia Rodriguez, Yumary Ruiz, Carol Ott, Ellen Schellhase, Elizabeth Crawford, Susie Crowe, Jeffrey Samuel, Megan Conklin, Jerome Adams, Rakhi Karwa

Department of Pharmacy Practice Faculty Publications

The Purdue University College of Pharmacy established the Center for Health Equity and Innovation (CHEqI) to provide students, faculty, and internal and external partners with a coordinating center whose primary purpose is to address inequities in the social determinants of health. Through this article the development of the center, the interdisciplinary activities the center is currently engaged in, ongoing educational efforts to provide instruction related to equity, and research endeavors designed to better understand the impact of our efforts are described. Pharmacists and colleges/schools of pharmacy must optimize health equity efforts with interdisciplinary partners by: (1) providing student opportunities to …

Oxidative Stress Protection By Canary Seed (Phalaris Canariensis L.) Peptides In Caco-2 Cells And Caenorhabditis Elegans, Uriel Urbizo-Reyes, Kee-Hong Kim, Lavanya Reddivari, Joseph M. Anderson

Department of Food Science Faculty Publications

During oxidative stress, degenerative diseases such as atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's, and certain cancers are likely to develop. Recent research on canary seed (Phalaris canariensis) peptides has demonstrated the high in vitro antioxidant potential. Thus, this study aimed to assess the cellular and in vivo antioxidant capacity of a low-molecular-weight (<3 kDa) canary seed peptide fraction (CSPF) using Caco-2 cells and the Caenorhabditis elegans model. The results show that the CSPF had no cytotoxicity effect on Caco-2 cells at any tested concentration (0.3-2.5 mg/mL). Additionally, the cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) of the CSPF was concentration-dependent, and the highest activity achieved was 80% by the CSPF at 2.5 mg/mL. Similarly, incubation with …

Impact Of Incorporating Intuitive Eating Principles Into A College Nutrition Course On Eating Behaviors, Kira L. Minot

Master's Theses

Objective: This study aimed to assess the impact of an online introductory college nutrition course that implements evidence-based intuitive eating (IE) concepts and principles on students’ application of IE behaviors. A secondary outcome explored the relationship between student grades and changes in IE behavior implementation. Researchers hypothesized an increase in the average use of IE practices post-intervention.

Methods: This study was a non-randomized pilot intervention using pre- and post-test surveys. Enrolled students completed the intuitive eating scale-2 (IES-2) survey on the first and last days of the 16-week course. Students participated in typical nutrition coursework throughout the semester with the …

Career Literacy: Developing, Validating, And Establishing The Reliability Of The Career Literacy Continuum Scale, Kesha S. Valentine

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid, reliable measure of career literacy skills called the Career Literacy Continuum Scale (CLCS). Career literacy is a person’s ability to read, understand, evaluate, and make decisions based on career-related information. The study participants were adolescents in grades 6 - 12 who attended public school in the southeastern United States. This study used an instrumentation research design and was conducted in two phases, item generation followed by test analysis and optimization.

Validity was established throughout the process by using content experts and establishing the item and scale validity indices. Item response …

Is Active Voice Enough? Community Discussions On Passive Voice, Mmiwg2s, And Violence Against Urban Indigenous Women In San José, California, Soma De Bourbon, Ketzal Gomez, Beatriz San Juan

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Men commit violence against Native American women at higher rates than other racial or ethnic groups. When violence against Indigenous women is discussed and written about, it is often in passive voice. Several scholars note the problem of using passive voice to talk about violence against women, but there is little research on how women themselves understand passive voice as connected to the violence perpetrated against them, and we found no literature on how Native women understand passive voice. This research asks how urban Native and Indigenous women understand passive language in relationship to violence. The authors, who are all …

Updating The Cal Poly Construction Management Community Partners List, Braden Hotra

Construction Management

The Cal Poly Construction Management Department currently has a list of community partners that students use to find organizations to contact for classes that involve construction service learning and senior project project-based ideas. There are many project-based class projects that are designed and built every year for organizations in the community. The current list needs to be updated to help construction service learning and project-based topics become more successful in the future. This project was created with the goal of updating the Cal Poly Construction Management Community Partners List with new community partners and an updated sheet layout that includes …

Risk For Post-Colonoscopy Irritable Bowel Syndrome In Patients With And Without Antibiotic Exposure: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Ravy K Vajravelu, Jordan M Shapiro, Josephine Ni, Shivani U Thanawala, James D Lewis, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Laboratory studies have demonstrated that antibiotic use in conjunction with bowel purgatives causes alterations to the gut microbiota. Because gut microbiota changes may be a trigger for the development of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), we sought to assess whether individuals who undergo bowel cleansing for colonoscopy and have concurrent antibiotic exposure develop IBS at higher rates than individuals who undergo colonoscopy without antibiotic exposure.

METHODS: We used data from Optum's de-identified Clinformatics Data Mart Database in the United States to study a cohort of 50- to 55-year-olds who underwent screening colonoscopy. Individuals exposed to antibiotics within 14 …

The Use Of Actinobacteria To Improve The Efficacy Of Phytoremediation Of Heavy Metal-Polluted Soils In The United Arab Emirates, Fatima Abdulmoneim Hussain

Theses

In an effort to gain the advantages provided by actinobacterial enzyme (1- aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid) (ACC) deaminase (ACCD) in the phytoremediation of heavy metals from the environment, the ability of native actinobacteria with ACC deaminase activity to promote the growth of Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon L.) in soils contaminated with nickel nitrate was evaluated under greenhouse conditions. This enzyme hydrolyzes (ACC), the immediate biosynthetic precursors of the hormone ethylene (ET) in plant tissues to ammonia and α keto-butyrate. The main objectives of this study were: (1) Isolating beneficial native heavy metal-tolerant actinobacteria from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contaminated soil capable …

The Life Story Analysis Of Those Suffering From Autoimmune Thyroiditis, Azalea Di Nardi

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the pervasive impacts of autoimmune thyroiditis, specifically Hashimoto’s and Graves’ disease. To accomplish this, the life story methodology was utilized to gather individual experiences from 11 participants diagnosed with Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease. The participants completed a background and general health questionnaire and 45- to-100-minute virtual interview disclosing their journey from the onset of symptoms, through diagnosis, to their most recent state. Themes were compiled from the interviews, which allowed identification of the largest areas of impact, needs, and future implications for practitioners and providers. Major themes identified were decreased quality of …

Child Neglect In Saudi Arabia: The Neglected Form Of Child Maltreatment, Maha Alfarhan, Jana Almelhem, Abeer Elmahadi, Haneen Alturki, Saleheen Hassan, Maha Almuneef

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To shed light on types, family profiles, risk factors, and outcomes of child neglect in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A retrospective chart review was carried out at King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Cases of child neglect diagnosed by the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) team were reviewed. Data were extracted from patients’ electronic charts and SCAN team records. Results: A total of 309 cases of child neglect were diagnosed between 2015-2019. Mean age of victims was 4.4±4.1 years, and 51.8% were male gender. Supervisory neglect was the most common form …

Providing Multiple Means Of Action And Expression In The Early Childhood Classroom Through A Universal Design For Learning Framework, Katrina A. Hovey, Ariane N. Gauvreau, Marla J. Lohmann

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

In order to ensure the success of all children in an inclusive preschool classroom, teachers must utilize evidence-based practices as outlined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Developmentally Appropriate Practices and the Council for Exceptional Children’sDivision of Early Childhood Recommended Practices. This can be achieved through the implementation of theUniversal Design for Learning (UDL) framework. UDL is a proactive approach to classroom instruction that provides multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression. This article provides a brief overview of UDL, with a specific focus on multiple means of action and expression in the early …

Correlation Between Serum And Tissue Markers In Breast Cancer Iraqi Patients, Abeer M. Hussain, Alia Hussein Ali, Haider Latif Mohammed

Baghdad Science Journal

Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy among women worldwide, in Iraq it ranks the first among the population and the leading cause of cancer related female mortality. This study is designed to investigate the correlations between serum and tissue markers in order to clarify their role in progression or regression breast cancer. Tumor Markers are groups of substances, mainly proteins, produced from cancer cell or from other cells in the body in response to tumor. The study was carried out from April 2018 to April 2019 with total number of 60 breast cancer women. The blood samples were collected …

Inflammatory Diseases And Resections Of The Digestive Tract Influence The Risk Of Circulating Food-Specific-Igg, Jacques Izard, Walker Carson, Joseph Baumert, Jennifer Clarke

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Individuals affected with inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract or have had surgical removal of sections of the digestive tract are often in need to adjust their diet. The symptomatology associated with food intake issues is often informally reported as food sensitivity. We investigated the circulating food-specific-IgG among ten conditions.

Conclusion: The risk of the having circulating food-specific IgG differed widely among the conditions investigated. The maintenance of a colonic environment might influence the risk of food sensitivity in ostomates.

Interventions For Prevention Of Non-Communicable Diseases Among Adolescents Living With Hiv: A Systematic Review, Eunice Ndirangu, Constance Shumba, Peter Gatiti, Bernard Mutwiri, Amina Abubakar

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

While the uptake of antiretroviral drugs has rapidly expanded among adolescents and adults living with HIV, research evidence suggests that people living with HIV have a higher risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). With more than 35% of the global burden of NCDs stemming from adolescence, there is a need to comprehend the existing evidence on early prevention, detection, and disease management, especially among the at-risk population. In line with the WHO Global Action Plan, 2013–2020 and “Best Buys”, recommendations on practical interventions for NCDs prevention, this systematic review seeks to synthesise evidence on the current interventions for preventing NCDs among …

Three Essays On Development Economics And Human Capital, Arpita Khanna

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In the first chapter, we estimate the impact of exposure to the 2015 Nepal Earthquake on intimate partner violence with two rounds of Demographic and Health Surveys data. Using differences-in-differences estimation, we find that exposure to the earthquake lead to a statistically and economically significant increase in intimate partner violence in the urban areas but not in the rural areas. This is possibly due to an increase in the stress felt by the victims. We also offer some evidence that the impact heterogeneity between the urban and rural areas is attributable to the differences in the reconstruction processes and assistance …

Two Studies Exploring The Effects Of Ageing Cohorts And Channel Usage On The Antecedents And Consequence Of Customer Satisfaction, Yongchang Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

A rapidly ageing customer base, and an acceleration in the adoption of self-service technologies (SST) are two major trends which are set to have an increasing impact on how companies manage and satisfy customers. While there has been a rich body of work studying the effects of ageing and SST usage on customers, research on how they might affect cumulative satisfaction appears to be limited. The ageing literature tends to focus on cognition and decision-making processes, while SST research tends to be narrowly focused on SST evaluation and adoption. Our understanding on how ageing affects how satisfied customers are with …

Design And Preconstruction Services For The Construction Of A Visitor Deck At City Farm Slo, Lane Lagomarsino

Construction Management

This paper will outline the process of designing and planning the construction of a visitor deck at City Farm of San Luis Obispo, which is a local non-profit. The deck was built for the purpose of providing an area for visitors to observe the agricultural land where City Farm educates the community on ecology, nutrition, and sustainable farming. The construction of the deck was completed by three fourth-year Construction Management majors: Lane Lagomarsino, Eric Cederstrom, and Brett Jones. Each project team member was responsible for their own aspect of the project planning and all members collaborated throughout the entire building …

Estimating And Project Management For The Construction Of A Visitor Deck At City Farm Slo, Eric Cederstrom

Construction Management

This paper will outline the process of estimating and the project management of a visitor deck that was built at City Farm of San Luis Obispo, a local non-profit. The deck was built for the purpose of providing an area for visitors to observe the agricultural land where City Farm educates the community on ecology, nutrition, and sustainable farming. The construction of the deck was completed by three fourth-year Construction Management majors: Eric Cederstrom, Lane Lagomarsino, and Brett Jones. Each project team member was responsible for their own aspect of the project planning and all members collaborated throughout the entire …

Co-Transmitting Neurons In The Lateral Septal Nucleus Exhibit Features Of Neurotransmitter Switching, Patrick J Hunt, Mikhail Kochukov, Brandon T Pekarek, Benjamin D W Belfort, Juan M Romero, Jessica L Swanson, Benjamin R Arenkiel

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The lateral septal nucleus (LSN) is a highly interconnected region of the central brain whose activity regulates widespread circuitry. As such, the mechanisms that govern neuronal activity within the LSN have far-reaching implications on numerous brain-wide nuclei, circuits, and behaviors. We found that GABAergic neurons within the LSN express markers that mediate the release of acetylcholine (ACh). Moreover, we show that these vGATLSN neurons release both GABA and ACh onto local glutamatergic LSN neurons. Using both short-term and long-term neuronal labeling techniques we observed expression of the cholinergic neuron marker Choline Acetyltransferase (ChAT) in vGATLSN neurons. These findings provide evidence …

Maternal Socioeconomic Status And Infant Low Birth Weight: Interactions Across Generations, Kira M. Anderson

University Honors Theses

This article examines the interplay between low birth weight (LBW) and socioeconomic status (SES) across generations. Transgenerational research of LBW and SES is limited and poses certain challenges and nuances. A literature review was conducted which gathered studies that analyze both LBW and SES for two or more generations. Results of these studies are mixed, but the body of research is suggestive of patterns in which LBW and low SES may mutually exacerbate each other across generations. Furthermore, the research suggests that these patterns may be more severe among Black women. This paper calls into question the consequences that these …

The Impact Of Maternal Nutrition On The Development And Severity Of Generalized Anxiety Disorders In Rodent And Non-Human Primate Studies, Esmeralda H. Cardoso

University Honors Theses

Generalized anxiety has become more prevalent among children and adolescents in the United States which impacts their health and livelihood. Maternal nutrition during pregnancy is purported to play a role in cognitive development and mental health during childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease theory suggests maternal nutrition before and during pregnancy influences transgenerational susceptibility, onset, and severity of disease through epigenetic mechanisms that then impact the child’s overall health, including cognitive development and mental health later in life. A literature review of rodents and non-human primate studies was conducted to explore the association between …

Associations Between Adherence To The Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension (Dash) Diet And Six Glucose Homeostasis Traits In The Microbiome And Insulin Longitudinal Evaluation Study (Miles), Gautam Ramesh, Alexis C Wood, Matthew A Allison, Stephen S Rich, Elizabeth T Jensen, Yii-Der I Chen, Jerome I Rotter, Alain G Bertoni, Mark O Goodarzi

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background and aims: The DASH diet conveys protection against type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) Via plant-based and non-plant-based recommendations. Research has not identified which glucose homeostasis pathways are improved. We examined associations between adherence to a DASH diet and six glucose homeostasis traits, probing whether associations could be attributed to the plant-based (DASH-P) and/or non-plant based (DASH-NP) components.

Methods and results: We included data from 295 adults without T2D (age 59.3 ± 9.00 years; 63.46% non-Hispanic White and 36.54% African American, self-reported race ancestry) participating in the Microbiome and Insulin Longitudinal Evaluation Study (MILES). An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) …

Circadian Disruption Of Hippocampus In An Early Senescence Male Mouse Model, Jennifer A Davis, Jodi R Paul, Mugdha V Mokashi, Stefani A Yates, Daniel J Mount, Hira A Munir, Lacy K Goode, Martin E Young, David B Allison, Karen L Gamble

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Age-related cognitive decline and disruptions in circadian rhythms are growing problems as the average human life span increases. Multiple strains of the senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM) show reduced life span, and the SAMP8 strain in particular has been well documented to show cognitive deficits in behavior as well as a bimodal pattern of circadian locomotor activity. However, little is known about circadian regulation within the hippocampus of these strains of mice. Here we test the hypothesis that in this early senescence model, disruption of the molecular circadian clock in SAMP8 animals drives disrupted behavior and physiology. We found normal rhythms in …

The Effect Of Reduced Cp, Synthetic Amino Acid Supplemented Diets On Growth Performance And Nutrient Excretion In Wean To Finish Swine, Caitlin E Vonderohe, Kayla M Mills, Shule Liu, Matthew D Asmus, Emily R Otto-Tice, Brian T Richert, Ji-Qin Ni, John Scott Radcliffe

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Mixed sex pigs (n = 720) were placed in 12 rooms (Purdue Swine Environmental Research Building) to measure the effect of reduced crude protein (CP), amino acid (AA)-supplemented diets on growth and the carcass. Pigs were blocked by body weight (BW) and gender and allotted to room and pen (10 mixed-sex pigs/pen). Pigs were fed a nine-phase, wean-finish program. Control pigs consumed corn-soybean meal-distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) diets containing no to minimal (Met) synthetic AA. The 2X diet was formulated to meet the seventh most-limiting AA, and balanced using synthetic AAs to meet all AA needs. The …