Digital Commons Network^™

Safe Lift System: In-Bed Repositioning Assistive Device, Mariah Sparkman, Cassandra Nelson, Lee Ann Hoffman

Spring 2025 OTD Capstone Symposium

Bedridden patients require frequent repositioning toward the head of the bed. The current Safe Lift System prototype was revised and surveyed to address the gap in effective methods for in-bed repositioning of this patient population and to improve its efficacy in meeting the needs of bedridden patients, caregivers, and healthcare staff members.

An Ot Program For Amputation Individuals And Their Caregiver, Ashley Hradecky, Cassandra Nelson

Spring 2025 OTD Capstone Symposium

Amputation individuals and their caregivers currently lack sufficient education regarding residual limb management, limb positioning, mental health, and phantom limb pain. These gaps in health management skills ultimately result in relationship strains, technology abandonment, and decreased independence. The goal was to develop and implement an educational program for new amputation individuals and their caregivers targeting these topics. Six pairs successfully completed this four-week program, with each pair responding to pre and post surveys. Interventions included lower extremity positioning, prosthetic care management, residual limb management, mirror therapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, and tactile point discrimination. When comparing the pre and post …

Poderosas: A Program To Meet The Occupational Needs Of Latina Women, Alana Govea, Mary Jan Greer, Cassandra Nelson

Spring 2025 OTD Capstone Symposium

Many women who have immigrated from Mexico and other Latin American countries and who have experienced some form of sexual trauma, sexual violence, sexual abuse, or sex trafficking have unmet occupational needs as they adjust to their lives in the United States. Limited research and resources are available to address these needs. A culturally sensitive program was curated to identify and meet the occupational needs of these women. Three themes that encompassed their primary occupational needs included the need for social participation and connection, the need for emotional and mental health promotion and maintenance, and the need for security and …

Heredity, Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Heredity is the sum of biological processes that result in the transmission of genetic traits from parents to their offspring, making each individual unique. Through the transmission of genetic traits, heredity is responsible for each individual’s genotype, as well as his or her phenotype. The genes that are passed down from generation to generation have a considerable influence on psychological characteristics including intelligence, personality, mental health, and patterns of behavior. However, when considering psychological characteristics passed down through heredity, it is vital that environmental aspects are also considered.

Life Review, Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

In traditional societies, storytelling was an art used to help understand the meaning of life. Storytellers typically included older adults who had experienced challenges in their lives and were aiming to help the young learn from them. This tradition of storytelling not only facilitated the transmission of valuable information between generations, but it also improved the elderly’s social status. One of the many changes associated with modernized society has been placing a larger focus on youth, allowing the elderly to be marginalized within society. As a byproduct of the focus on youth in modern society, older adults have collectively experienced …

Providing A Solution For Active-Duty Servicewomen Facing Chronic Musculoskeletal Injuries Due To Improper Gear Fit, Celia Watson, Denver Tidwell, Hadi Obaji

Honors Theses

As senior biomedical engineering students at the University of Mississippi, we began our academic year brainstorming unmet clinical needs in healthcare intending to provide an innovative solution. After conducting personal inventories, determining a mission, and evaluating internal and external factors, we established acceptance criteria for our strategic focus and clarified our needs statement: develop a prophylactic device for chronic musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs) in active-duty servicewomen (ADSW). The average female soldier is at a disadvantage compared to her male counterpart due to anthropometric and physiological differences between men and women in most aspects of physical performance (Epstein et al. 2673). These …

Fort Hays State University Tiger Weekly, April 25, 2025, University Relations

Tiger Weekly Newsletters

No abstract provided.

A Case For Change: Flood Risk Management And Green Infrastructure, Heejun Chang, Arun Pallathadka

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

With climate change, changing demographics, and the historical legacy of aging infrastructure, many cities are facing challenges in urban flood risk management. We propose potential opportunities and synergies of collaborative urban flood risk management using green infrastructure to achieve social, ecological, and technological benefits.

Doc 2025-04 Emeritus Promotion For Professional Faculty, University Of Dayton. Office Of The Provost

Senate Documents

Section 8 Faculty Titles and Ranks, Sub-section F Professor Emeritus/Emerita (p. 29 of handbook/p. 38 of pdf) limits the Professor Emeritus/Emerita title to tenured faculty (see also DOC 2012-02 Revision to Select Faculty and Instructional Staff Titles in Faculty Handbook). In recent years some exceptions have been made to award the title to several full-time, non-tenure track faculty, hereafter referred to as professional faculty.

Stabiliknee: A Novel Emg And Pneumatic Compression Knee Sleeve, Gabrielle Showronski, Joshua Kiefer, Saif Power, Jack Schule

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Student Publications

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a crucial stabilizer of the knee. Approximately 150,000 ACL tears occur each year in the US, creating a $17.7 billion rehabilitation industry. Injuries to the ACL leave significant strain on muscles located in the hamstrings and quadriceps. Compression aids in reducing the fatigue of these muscles while expediting the healing process.

Integrated Seaweed Hatchery And Selective Breeding Technologies For Scalable Offshore Seaweed Farming. Final Scientific/Technical Report, Scott Lindell

Department of Marine Sciences

Seaweed aquaculture is a rapidly growing component of the blue economy, with sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) emerging as a promising bio-energy crop in the United States. This chapter summarizes five years (2018–2024) of ARPA-E’s Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources (MARINER) Sugar Kelp Breeding Project, a multi-institutional effort to develop genomic selection (GS) strategies to improve sugar kelp harvest yield and other commercially important traits. The project established a genetically diverse base population of over 1,000 uni-clonal gametophytes from the Gulf of Maine and Southern New England, built high-throughput phenotyping and genotyping pipelines, and applied GS models to accelerate breeding …

Ontogeny Of Microbial Community Structure In Different Seagrass Growing Substrates, Ranamae Malubay, Carmen Braun, Jack Denvir, Nicole Katz, Jenisse Louis, Sajeda Shloub

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Student Publications

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is a diverse ecosystem, with a wide range of habitats including seagrass and mangrove trees that house economically important fish. It contributes more than $55.4 billion annually to Florida’s economy. Unfortunately, at least 52% of these grass meadows disappeared from IRL since 2010, resulting in a massive decline of economically and ecologically important species. Biochar, a carbon-rich byproduct derived from the pyrolysis of organic materials, has shown promise in terrestrial agriculture for improving soil fertility and microbial activity (Lehmann et al.,2017). Our study aims to accelerate the restoration of seagrass communities in the IRL, ultimately, …

The Effect Of Oyster-Shell Orientation On Biomass Accumulation, Robert Bossert

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Student Publications

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) contains heavy nutrient pollution due to stormwater runoff. Oysters, Crassostrea virginica, are used to filter the resulting phytoplankton blooms. These oysters attach to and grow on oyster mats placed in the IRL by different conservation organizations.

The Effects Of Artificial Light On Irl Chlorophyll Content, Julia Lonks

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Student Publications

Marine phytoplankton are responsible for over 50% of Earth's global photosynthesis, and are vital for carbon drawdown, and form the base of the aquatic food webs. During the daytime, less than ten percent of the sun's energy is converted and available to primary consumers. In the past 150 years, the invention and proliferation of the light bulb have led to abundant artificial light at night (ALAN). All organisms, from humans to phytoplankton, rely on light to control internal biological functions; the most important for this study is the effect of ALAN on photosynthetic activity. As ALAN intensity's extent increases at …

Identifying The Presence Of Quorum Sensing-Like Behavior In The Single Celled Alga Chlamydomonas Nivalis, Joshua Ahrens

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Student Publications

Quorum sensing (QS) links phenotypic switching to cell density. While it is common in bacteria, it is less common among eukaryotes.

AQS system increases swimming speeds as cell density increases in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Chlamydomonas moewusii. This raises the question of whether this process is conserved in this cosmopolitan genus.

Another member of the genus, the alpine snow alga Chlamydomonas nivalis, was selected to test for conservation of this QS system.

Analyzing The Cause Of Catastrophic Storm Surge During Hurricane Michael (2018) In The Florida Panhandle, Emma J. Keegan

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Student Publications

This study explores the relationship between meteorological variables & storm surge dynamics in the Florida Panhandle, focusing on the impact of Hurricane Michael in 2018. By analyzing correlations between reanalysis meteorological data & water level measurements, the study identifies wind speed as the primary driver of storm surge. Notably, wind speed exhibits stronger correlations during Hurricane Michael’s Impact Period, underscoring its influence on storm surge dynamics. These findings enhance our understanding of storm surge mechanisms & contribute to improved predictive capabilities for coastal hazard management. Future research aims to refine storm surge forecasting models and additional factors influencing localized surge …

Assessing The Correlation Between Chlorophyll A Levels In Biofilm And The Water Column, Madison Tate

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Student Publications

Biofilm accumulation on ships increases drag and fuel consumption. Despite continuing advancements in anti-fouling coatings, there is limited research on how environmental parameters influence biofilm development. Understanding how in situ variables can influence biofilm development can lead to better management strategies for preventing and removing growth on ships.

The 1998 Central Florida Tornado Outbreak: A Comprehensive Case Study In Tampa, Fl, Brandan Keen

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Student Publications

The 1998 Central Florida Tornado Outbreak was Florida’s most destructive tornado event, spawning three significant F3 tornadoes during the overnight hours of February 22–23. This study investigates the mesoscale and storm-scale processes associated with the outbreak, specifically analyzing the supercell responsible for the Kissimmee tornado. The analysis utilizes NEXRAD WSR-88D Level 2 radar data (KMLB, KTBW) processed in Gibson Ridge Analyst software, atmospheric soundings from the Storm Prediction Center, and topographic relief maps generated in QGIS. Results highlight moderate atmospheric instability, significant vertical wind shear, and potential interactions between severe convection and local terrain. Findings emphasize the potential role of …

All Stressed Out: An Investigation On The Effects Of Environmental Stressors On The Northern Leopard Frog (Rana Pipiens), Ella C. Wittmuss

Honors Thesis

Corticosterone (CORT) is the primary glucocorticoid in many vertebrates, including mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. When an organism is exposed to external or internal stressors, CORT levels often increase (Rich & Romero, 2005; Titon et al., 2021). An increase in CORT can cause adverse physiological effects such as slower growth, malformations in different parts of the body, and specific blood sugar diseases such as diabetes (Glennemeier & Denver, 2002; Tarlow &Blumstein, 2007). CORT levels are indicators of survival, growth, and reproduction in larval amphibians. Many species, including our model organism, the Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens), are often subjected to …

Lateral Flow Immunoassay Test Strips And Vibrational Spectroscopy For Mobile Detection Of Fentanyl, Sophia Rau

D.U.Quark

There is an increasing number of opioid-related crime scenes, resulting in more evidence that must be tested in a forensic laboratory. New fentanyl analogs are constantly being created, posing significant challenges for drug identification. This increase in drug-related crime and new substances cannot be effectively managed using current forensic technologies. There is a need for on-scene substance testing of unknown substances to improve the speed of testing of collected evidence and for the safety of responders. This review evaluates the impacts of fentanyl test strips, infrared absorption spectrometers, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectrometers as portable forensic instruments. The development and …

Fine Motor Skills, Ashley R. Strong, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Fine motor skills are defined as the ability to control and coordinate muscles of the hand for precise movements. These skills play an enormous role in daily activities of independent living, including dressing, feeding yourself, and self-care. Examples of fine motor skills include cutting with scissors, tying shoelaces, and writing. Gross motor skills, on the other hand, are defined as larger movements of the arms and legs. Additionally, fine motor skills typically depend on coordination between the hands and the eyes. The development of fine motor skills is dependent on the development of gross motor skills, cognitive skills, and visual …

Binge Drinking, Kayla Theberge, Eric A. Goedereis

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Binge drinking occurs when a person consumes a large amount of alcohol in a short amount of time. Because men and women metabolize alcohol at different rates, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking specifically as having five or more drinks in two hours or less for men and four or more drinks in two hours or less for women. Per these guidelines, one standard drink of alcohol is defined as containing 0.6 ounces of “pure” alcohol. By this definition, each of the following is considered one standard drink: 1.5 ounces of 80-proof hard liquor, 5 …

Adolescent Sexuality, Casey T. Tobin

Essays in Developmental Psychology

During adolescence, significant physical changes of a person’s life occur as they transition from childhood bodies into fertile, adult bodies via the process of puberty, the beginning of adolescence. Puberty leads to both reproductive and sexual maturation occurring over the course of several years. The ages of the stages of puberty vary between the sexes and from person to person depending on genetics, body mass index, environmental influences and hormone levels.

Sexual Harassment In Middle And High Schools, Casey T. Tobin

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Sexual harassment includes any sort of unwanted 1) physical contact such as hugging, touching clothing, flashing sexual body parts, stroking hair or body parts, and sexual assault; 2) verbal or written communications including suggestive comments, inappropriate jokes, requests for sexual favors, comments about someone’s body, rumor spreading, or threats of sexual contact; and 3) non-verbal actions such as staring, sharing naked photographs, or making suggestive gestures or expressions. Sexual harassment also includes nonsexual aggressions directed at a student because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. For example, if a teacher makes a comment about females being less intelligent than …

Emotions – The Basics, Brizel Trinidad, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Charles Darwin theorized that emotions were universally experienced. This idea acknowledged that emotions can be experienced similarly and communicated via many different cultures and backgrounds. Evidence supports the concept that emotions are also biologically based therefore, they must in some sense be universal (Ortony, 1990). Emotions are recognized universally in the bases of social and biological interactions. Darwin also recognized emotions as a trait that is continuously evolving. The basic emotions become more complex and build upon each other via experiences and exposure. In the 1960’s Paul Ekman was able to combine several studies and identify six basic human emotions. …

Friendship – Adulthood, Brizel Trinidad, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Friendship in adulthood is difficult to precisely define. Adulthood brings many life experiences that require different levels of support and needs from friends. Experiences such as marriage, child-bearing, and divorce can attract different types of friendships. Adults who do not marry or are of differing sexual orientations face different experiences making friendships unique. Adulthood can also look very different for both males and females deepening the differences in types of friendships.

Infancy And Childhood Sexuality, Casey T. Tobin

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Sex differentiation occurs while a baby is still in the womb. Before week six of the pregnancy, all fetuses have the same basic structures resembling those of a female. Between 6 and 8 weeks, gonadal differentiation occurs, starting with the SRY gene, which is located on the Y chromosome of a male, therefore is absent in females. The SRY gene stimulates the fetus to begin transitioning from its current female-like anatomy to that of a male. Because the SRY gene is absent in the XX chromosomes of a female, no signal occurs and the anatomy remains female.  By week 20 …

Édouard Claparède, Christopher N. Tirado, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Édouard Claparède was born on March 24, 1873, in Geneva, Switzerland. Claparède studied science and medicine while attending universities in Germany, and France. He later returned home and graduated from the University of Geneva with an M.D. in 1897. After completion of his medical degree, Claparède went to work at Salpetriere Hospital in Paris (“Claparède, Édouard,” 2018). There, Claparède spent a year doing research in neurology with Joseph Dejerine.

Developmental Disabilities, Christopher N. Tirado, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “developmental disabilities are a group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas.” The CDC estimates that approximately one in six children aged 3 through 17 in the United States have one or more developmental disabilities, as well as, other developmental delays (Boyle, et al., 2011). The term developmental disability is associated with the conditions of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, intellectual disability, learning disabilities, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, vision impairment, and other associated developmental delays.

Psychological Development In Adulthood: Cognitions, Emotions, And Personality, Grace Sumabat Estrada, Margarita Azmitia

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Since the beginning of time, people have searched for the secrets of living long, meaningful, and prosperous lives. Sometimes, this search involves looking younger; in the 16th century, Juan Ponce de León, for example, went to Florida to search for the fountain of youth.  Other times, the quest is for healthy longevity—living to very old age without significant disease. Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical scientist who specializes in aging and divides his time between Cambridge University in the United Kingdom and a non-profit organization for fighting aging in Mountain View, California, has proposed that research shows that aging is a …