Digital Commons Network^™

Incorporating Occupation-Based Activities Into Treatment For Adolescents With Substance Use Disorders To Increase Self-Efficacy, Brea E. Westberg

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

In 2022, over 48.7 million people aged 12 and older reported having a substance use disorder in the past year. Adolescents are increasingly becoming involved in substance use behaviors that impact their lives daily. There is limited evidence for providing mental health interventions, including those provided by occupational therapy practitioners, to adolescents with SUDs within the substance use treatment setting. Self-efficacy is an important part of the substance use recovery process. Therefore, the purpose of the capstone project was to determine the effects on self-efficacy after incorporating occupation-based activities into programming for adolescents in treatment for SUDs. The Model of …

A Program Based On Meaningful Occupations To Improve Perceived Health And Well-Being For People Experiencing Homelessness, Annika Overgaard

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

Individuals experiencing homelessness face a variety of barriers to occupational performance and participation, thereby negatively impacting their quality of life, health, and well-being. Occupational therapists are uniquely qualified to address the health and well-being needs of individuals experiencing homelessness due to their holistic client-centered approach, their efforts in promoting occupational participation, and providing opportunities for occupational empowerment. Occupational therapy with this population is a growing area of practice, and there is a lack of literature focusing on interventions related to meaningful occupations. My capstone project aimed to create a meaningful occupation-based program for individuals experiencing homelessness at a drop-in day …

Mems Optical Cavities For Low Power Communication., Jacob Schopp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses the use of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) optical cavities for use in low power communication. MEMS optical cavities are thin air gaps between an actuated MEMS mirror and a fixed glass encapsulation. By moving the MEMS mirror the reflectivity of the MEMS optical cavity can be changed. This change in reflectivity can be used to transmit information passively by modulating reflected light intensity instead of generating new light using a light source. These MEMS optical cavities are demonstrated using optical fibers for illumination delivery and reflected light collection. In addition to being reflected for communication, the illuminating light …

Mechanical Property Simulations Of Ploybenzimidazole Membranes., Blake Alexander Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work explores mechanical properties of membranes made of polybenzimidazole utilizing molecular simulations. These simulations researchers to narrow down polybenzimidazole membrane compositions to viable candidates. These simulations are quicker than current purely experimental methods. The increase in throughput would be achieved by eliminating compositions that have unfavorable mechanical properties through preliminary simulation work before moving onto experimental methods. Determining polybenzimidazole membranes’ mechanical properties experimentally would, therefore, allow for researchers to speed up research in areas such as fuel cells and electrolyzers that make use of polybenzimidazole membranes. This study uses Materials Studio and the COMPASS III forcefield to perform these …

Acoustofluidic Delivery Of Biomolecules To Cells: A Novel Approach For Preparing Car-T Cells., Madison C. Colebank

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The continuous pursuit of effective methods for gene transfection in primary human T cells is crucial for advancing cell-based therapies. Viral vectors, currently used in cell-based therapies, involve a lengthy and costly process. This thesis explores the efficacy of coupling acoustofluidic and sonoporation techniques as an alternative non-viral gene transfection approach with primary T cells. Sonoporation, in conjunction with microbubbles, has been demonstrated to induce cavitation, resulting in the formation of pores in the cell membrane through which molecules can enter. Using flow cytometry, we compared the loading efficiency of primary T cells with that of Jurkat T cells to …

Development, 3d Printing, And Sintering Of Aluminum-Magnesium Alloy Pastes For In-Space Manufacturing Applications, Fatou Ndiaye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the additive manufacturing process of paste printing, sintering, and de-binding for fabricating aluminum-magnesium alloy components. The paste formulation involved combining aluminum powder with varying magnesium concentrations, utilizing acrylic polyol, solvent, and plasticizer to create a homogeneous mixture. Printing parameters were optimized to ensure continuous pressure for improved extrusion. Sintering conditions involved incremental temperature increases with nitrogen flow to remove solvents. Density measurements, tensile tests, and shrinkage calculations were conducted to assess part quality post-sintering. The study revealed significant improvements in part quality with 5 wt.% magnesium incorporation within aluminum, although density and tensile strength fell short of …

The Evaluation Of Compound X In A Mouse Model In Chikv Disease, Kaitlyn Blotter

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an infectious alphavirus spread by Aedes aegypti and Aedes alpopictus mosquitoes. Recently, there have been various outbreaks in the Americas, the Caribbean, and across Asia and Africa (Bettis et al., 2022). Although mortality rates of Chikungunya disease are relatively low, the disease has been shown to have high morbidity and chronic effects. Currently, there are no approved antivirals for treatment of CHIKV infection. The goal of this study was to identify whether Compound X is an effective treatment in a mouse model of CHIKV infection. Compound X was active in cell culture models of CHIKV infection, …

An Investigation Of Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 1 Substrate Recognition Through Ribonucleoprotein Modifications, Isabella Beverly Lonardo

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Just as humans need to communicate with each other, our cells have a series of processes that allows them to communicate from one to another. Protein Arginine Methyltransferase I is an enzyme that helps mediate cellular communication by selectively binding to target proteins and performing chemistry that has broad-reaching downstream effects. However, the mechanisms that underly PRMT1 selectivity have yet to be elucidated. This study uses alterations to a series of known targets, called ribonucleoproteins, to identify some of the characteristics that govern recognition by the PRMT1 enzyme. I have made significant progress in the creation, expression, and purification of …

Usu Student Association Elections Public Relations Plan, Carter Ottley

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This Honors capstone project is the creation and execution of a public relations plan for the USU Student Association elections for student government positions. The public relations plan includes an analysis of previous elections, strategies of leveraging university communication channels, social media plans, print graphics, events, a schedule of elections week, evaluation of the plan, and creative materials. The public relations plan reached over 260,000 social media users, overall turnout increased 6%, and increased 20% during Executive Leadership Board Elections. This plan serves as a potential outline for future election plans and highlights potential changes for future years.

What Drives A Firm To Implement Environmental Sustainability Practices?, Julia Elisabeth Suess

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This literature review investigates the motivations that leads firms to implement environmental sustainability practices (EMPs). The research focuses on understanding how business strategy emphasizes sustainable firms and successfully managing their responsibility to employees, the natural environment, and shareholders to protect natural resources. The review answered questions in regard to the motivations to adopt EMPs, differences in proactive and reactive approaches, and environmental sustainability from an industry and country perspective. In addition, the business case demonstrates the cost and the benefits of environmental sustainability practices. The results stem from the motivations to adopt EMPs included external (consumers, competitors, regulators) and internal …

Building Community Through Athletic Activities, Alyssa D. Taylor

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Utah has a significant population of immigrants and refugees, which is constantly increasing. With the Cache Refugee and Immigrant Center recently recognized as an official resettlement agency, the refugee and immigrant populations are projected to grow, especially from Somalia and Syria. These families have a variety of physical, mental, emotional, and social needs. In Europe, formal athletic groups help migrant background families integrate into their communities through sport. Although research has been completed in the United States on informal soccer pickup games, no research has been done on formal groups and their ability to build community in the U.S. like …

An Analysis Of Targeted Physical Therapy Against Medial Epicondylitis, Rylie Howe

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Medial epicondylitis, more commonly known as "golfer's elbow", is a musculoskeletal condition involving the common flexor tendon in the forearm at the attachment point of the medial epicondyle of the humerus bone. The repeated use of this tendon causes inflammation, swelling, as well as other types of straining that results in minute damage that accumulates to the overall strain and complications that come with medial epicondylitis. Targeted physical therapy is the overall recommended treatment for this condition. However, there is limited consensus to the most effective interventions. Mixed methods were used to investigate the possibility of the success of certain …

An Analysis Of Lyrical Repetition And Popularity In Popular Music Genres, Josh White

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This paper examines the correlation between repetitiveness and popularity in the genres of Christian, Country, EDM, Hip-Hop, Latin, Pop, R&B, and Rock. Repetitiveness is defined by the frequency of repeated words in lyrics, and the average number of streams per day defines popularity. This analysis also acknowledges the "popularity" metric provided by Spotify in calculating the correlation. To calculate this correlation, I wrote a program that accesses the Spotify and Genius APIs to gather metadata related to 76,069 songs from 1,246 artists, including data on repetitiveness, tempo, duration, and Spotify's audio metrics of "danceability," "energy," "speechiness," "acousticness," and "instrumentalness." I …

Trends In Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Postpartum Hospital Readmissions In California From 1997 To 2018, Curisa M. Tucker Phd, Rn, Chen Ma, Mahasin S. Mujahid, Alexander J. Butwick, Anna I. Girsen, Ronald S. Gibbs, Suzan L. Carmichael

Publications

BACKGROUND: Postpartum readmission is an important indicator of postpartum morbidity. The likelihood of postpartum readmission is highest for Black individuals. However, it is unclear whether the likelihood of postpartum readmission has changed over time according to race/ethnicity. Little is also known about the factors that contribute to these trends. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to: (1) examine trends in postpartum readmission by race/ethnicity, (2) examine if prenatal or clinical factors explain the trends, and (3) investigate if racial/ethnic disparities changed over time. STUDY DESIGN: We examined trends in postpartum readmission, defined as hospitalization within 42 days after birth hospitalization discharge, using …

A 5-Year Longitudinal Structural Equation Model Of Social Isolation And Probable Major Depression Among Participants With Spinal Cord Injury, Chao Li, Susan Newman Phd, Rn, Crrn, Faan, Jillian M. Clark, James S. Krause

Publications

OBJECTIVE: To develop longitudinal structural models of social isolation and probable major depression (PMD) over a 5-year interval among participants with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Longitudinal structural equation modeling of self-report assessments collected during two follow-ups (2013 as Time 1, 2018 as Time 2) of a 45-year multicohort longitudinal study. Participants (n = 557) were identified from a specialty hospital in the Southeastern United States and two Midwestern hospitals and were initially enrolled in 1973-1974, 1984-1985, 1993-1994, or 2003-2004. PMD symptomology was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and was defined by PHQ-9 scores ≥ 10. Social isolation …

Perceptions Of Secondary Trauma And Memory Accuracy In Criminal Justice Professionals, Kimberley D. Williams

Student Theses

Previous research has examined the association between memory and frequent and accumulated exposure to traumatic events with conflicting results (Artwohl, 2002; Conway, 2012; Honig & Sultan, 2004; Oulton et al., 2018; Strange & Takarangi, 2015). The present study aims to build on previous research by examining public perceptions of memory accuracy and secondary trauma in off-duty criminal justice professionals (CJP) and laypeople. Survey data from n = 208 participants was examined. Participants read two mock trial testimonies describing a fatal hit and run bicycle accident, one from an off-duty CJP witness and one from an off-duty non-CJP witness. Participants completed …

An Exploratory Research On The Sexualization Of Young Women On Tiktok, Grace Schmerz

Student Theses

This study adopts a mixed-method approach, utilizing both qualitative content analysis and quantitative metadata assessments to evaluate 1000 TikTok videos tagged under specific hashtags suggestive of youthful and sexualized themes. Qualitative findings highlighted the characteristics of sexualization through thematic content analysis, sorting behaviors, attire, and the context of music and speech within the videos. Themes such as sexualized postures, sexualized attire, sexualized dancing, sexualized speech, and sexualized gestures were categorized and quantified with the support of descriptive statistics. The study found a significant presence of sexualization in the sample, most prominently in post-pubescent women. Quantitatively, engagement metrics provided insight into …

Stability Of Dna In Saliva Evidence Collected With Two Different Swabbing Solutions, Kuanwei Lu

Student Theses

As the significance of trace DNA has increased over time, it has become more important to optimize each process to avoid any loss of genetic material. Factors that could negatively affect the quality and quantity of DNA during transport or storage include environmental temperature, the DNA collection devices, the packaging, and possible contamination. This study compared the DNA stability of saliva stain swabs collected by moistening the swab with deionized water or Sample Keeper and stored at room temperature. Sample Keeper (Microread Genetics, Beijing) is a proprietary buffer marketed as a DNA stabilizing agent. We swabbed 110 saliva stains from …

Determination Of Common Drugs Of Abuse And Metabolites In Oral Fluid: Comparison Of Different Extraction Procedures, Melissa Koffer

Student Theses

Oral fluid has been gaining importance in forensic and clinical toxicology for many different drug testing scenarios. Oral fluid is composed of saliva, along with gingival fluid, bacteria, and food residues. Drug testing using oral fluid has many advantages over other matrices (blood, urine) such as the non-invasive collection, reduced risk of tampering, and shorter detection windows which show recent drug use. The purpose of this study was to develop an analytical method for the determination of 19 drugs of abuse and metabolites in oral fluid by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and compare three different extraction methods: liquid-liquid …

The Role Of Transit Countries In Global Wildlife Trafficking, Joseph Gangi

Student Theses

This thesis explores the role of transit countries in the global trade of illegal wildlife. While much research has been conducted on source and destination countries, transit countries remain an under-researched link in this chain, even though they play an integral role in facilitating this trade. This study utilizes the Rational Choice and Institutional Theory theoretical frameworks to examine the factors associated with transit countries' roles in wildlife trafficking. The findings indicate that transit countries play an active role in wildlife trafficking, and there is a need for policy to address this issue. Considering the findings of this study, this …

Voices Of Emerging Leaders: Communication In The 21st Century, Alaina Carlson, Brock Voigt, Flora Njodzeka, Jack Krueger, John Schmidt, Jordan Haddad, Leah Mach, Natalie Dicke, Sarah Bobrowski, Katie Wilson, Barbara Holmes

Leadership Education Books

Voices of Emerging Leaders: Communication in the 21st Century provides an in-depth exploration of leadership communication in the 21st century. This anthology is a compilation of diverse papers written by graduate students, each delving into various aspects of leadership communication in today's world. These papers use thorough research and analysis to uncover the complexities of effective leadership communication strategies.

As you read these scholarly works, you will gain valuable insights crucial for navigating the complexities of leadership in our rapidly changing global landscape. Whether you are an experienced leader or aspiring to become one, this collection serves as a scholarly …

Bending Moral Philosophy And Philosophy Of History Toward Each Other, Bennett B. Gilbert

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

In lieu of an abstract, here is an excerpt from the introduction:

In his journal of intimate thoughts (called The Inward Morning) written while journeying through the wildernesses of Montana, the American existentialist philosopher Henry Bugbee (1915–1999)—who had fled there from the Harvard Philosophy Department and who remains little known even in the U.S.—wrote: “Reflection, it seems, must earn the gift of the essential meaning of things past.” I think this is true, that the past is both exemplar of moral reflection and part of the substance of it. I have written a book to argue for the how and …

Christian Hospitality For Interfaith Relations In Myanmar : A Historical And Theological Consideration, Stanley

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Discovering Best Practices Of Leadership Development Across Generations In The Local Church : Effectively Passing The Leadership Baton To The Next Generation, Laura A. Saffell

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Market Town Resource Churches : Obstacles And Opportunities For Church Revitalization, Martyn Taylor

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

How To Entertain Angels : Hospitality In Multicultural Churches In Urban London, Jason O'Neale Roach

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Leading The Way : Faithful And Effective Pastoral Development Of Local Church Staff In Three Key Domains Of Sound Theology, Spiritual Health, And Practical Church Leadership, Christopher J. Kelsey

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Missional Movement Through The Local Church : Applying Movemental Principles In A British Context, Nicholas Ralph Allan

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Mentoring : An Essential Tool For Developing Committed Disciples And Leaders In The Liberia Baptist Missionary And Educational Convention Churches, Frederick Nyah Gbatu Sr.

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Holiness And Leadership : An Integration Of Pastoral Vocation, Charles M. Elliott

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.