Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Classroom Amplification: The Necessity Of Sound-Amplification In The Classroom, Kalley Ellis

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

In a classroom, the optimal signal-to-noise ratio, as is recommended by the American Nation Standards Institute (ANSI), is 35 dBA, with the reverberation reaching a maximum of 0.6s (Lewis, 2008); yet, in classrooms today, the typical signal-to-noise ratio ranges from 40-73 dBA (Lewis, 2008). With at least 75% of the school day being spent in listening activities (e.g. reading, instructions, lecture, etc.), this noise level in the classroom has great impact on what a child hears and, thus, learns (Blazer, 2008). Unfortunately, with each new year, classroom sizes are increasing and creating an even more detrimental noise level and signal-to-noise …

Assessment Of Morphosyntactic Development Of Preschool Children With Hearing Loss Using The Clinical Evaluation Of Language Fundamentals-Preschool Second Edition, Angela Anderson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

It is recommended that children with HL are assessed using standardized assessments normed on hearing peers (Houston & Caraway, 2009; Joint Commission on Infant Hearing (JCIH), 2007). However, as these assessments are more commonly administered to children with HL there is reason to further investigate the sensitivity of these assessments particularly in their ability to identify weaknesses specific to HL. The CELF-Preschool 2 (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Preschool (Wiig, Secord & Semel, 2004)) has been found to be a valid tool for diagnosing language impairment in normal hearing children (Spaulding, Plante, & Farinella, 2006). However, this assessment has …

Effect Of Water Immersion And Jet Perturbation On Balance In Older And Younger Adults, Matthew Baldwin

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Background: Although balance exercises are often performed in shallow pools, the efficacy of this practice is not well understood. Purpose: To quantify the effect of water depth and jet intensity on measures of balance in older and younger adults. Subjects: Sixteen older (age = 62.8 °” 9.56 yrs) and fifteen younger (age = 22.5 °” 1.85 yrs) adults. Methods: Posturography data were collected as participants stood quietly for 90 seconds on land and at various water depths and jet intensities. Results: Main effects < 0.001) and pairwise comparisons revealed that all measurements increased with increasing water depth and jet intensity,with older adults increasing statistically less than younger adults at higher jet intensities. Conclusions: Water immersion to the xiphoid process and water jet intensities at or above 40% seem to be environmental conditions that produce the greatest postural sway.

Evaluation Of The Long Term Effectiveness Of The Nutrition Component Of The Fit Kids Of Arizona Program, Megann Dastrup

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The Fit Kids of Arizona program was created in 2009 to combat the childhood obesity epidemic in Northern Arizona. Fit Kids has been providing health education to overweight children and their families for the past five years. Research to validate the programs efforts has been lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the nutrition component of the Fit Kids of Arizona program. The study also aimed to analyze the changes in BMI percentile after program participation and to obtain program satisfaction comments from past participants. Through the research process it was realized that the data collection and …

Inter- And Intra-Rater Reliabililty Of A Modified Approach To Scoring The Balance Error Scoring System Bess In Undistracted And Distracted Conditions, Jacob Ryan Pierce

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Context: We have developed a modified approach to scoring balance errors with the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) by eliminating two of the six original error criteria.

Objective: To measure the inter- and intra-rater reliability of this modified BESS approach. Because of the potential auditory distractions that may be present in a clinical setting, we also measured reliability for distracted rating conditions.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: University sports medicine clinic.

Patients or Other Participants: Board of Certification (BOC) certified athletic trainers as raters (n=6).

Intervention: Raters used a modified approach to scoring the BESS to score 32 different …

Differences In Strike Index Between Treadmill And Aquatic Treadmill Running In Experienced Distance Runners, James Paul Hoover Jr.

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Strike index (SI) quantifies how one’s foot contacts the ground at the beginning of the stance phase of gait. SI is reported as a percentage of the total foot length, with lower percentages indicating a more posterior point of contact, while greater percentages indicate a more anterior point of contact along the foot. Differences in SI may be related to running-related injuries, such that experienced distance runners who are rearfoot (posterior) strikers may have approximately twice the rate of repetitive stress injuries than forefoot (anterior) strikers. Previous research has shown that forefoot strikers, as opposed to rearfoot strikers, produce lower …

Does Motor Learning Generalize Between Distinct Functional Upper Extremity Tasks In Older Adults?, Bergen Elyse Lindauer

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Background: The process of motor learning can decline with age, such that older adults tend to learn new motor skills at a slower rate and to a lesser degree than younger adults. The degree to which aging affects the generalization of motor learning, however, is unclear.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test whether task-specific training on one functional motor task would 1) result in motor learning, and 2) generalize to two untrained tasks in older adults.

Methods: Twenty-one adults age 65 years and older participated in this study and were assigned to either a training group or …

Test-Retest Reliability Of The Neurocom® Vsr™ Sport In Division I Collegiate Female Soccer Players, Crystal Davisson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The NeuroCom® VSR Sport stability evaluation test (SET) protocol was designed to identify postural control deficits in athletes who have sustained a concussion. The purpose of this study was to determine the test-retest reliability of the NeuroCom® VSR Sport SET protocol in non-concussed Division I collegiate female soccer players. A secondary purpose of this study was to determine whether participants displayed a learning effect when tested using the SET protocol across three days. A repeated measures design was used, testing participants on days 1, 7, and 8. Nineteen participants (20.05 ± 1.26 years old) from Utah State University’s women’s soccer …

Association Between Pelvic Motion And Hand Velocity In College-Aged Baseball Pitchers, William Temlin Horlbeck

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Previous research suggests that pelvic motion is closely related to pitching performance over the course of a season. Few studies have examined pelvic motion and its relationship to an acute pitching variable. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between pelvic motion and hand velocity in college-aged pitchers. Nine healthy club baseball team pitchers performed two tests: A pelvic motion test, and a hand velocity test during a pitch. The pelvic motion test required participants to lift their kicking leg 10 cm off the ground, then hold that position for two seconds before returning to a …

The Role Of Masculinity, Masculine Capital, And Spousal Social Control On Men's Health Behaviors, Melinda Gean Arnell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Previous research has noted that married men tend to be healthier than single men. And that wives may exert influence on men’s health behaviors, both positively and negatively, through social control methods. However, little research has examined how men maintain masculine status when faced with spousal social control efforts. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the study sought to gain a greater understanding of how wives exert social control over spousal health behaviors. Second, the study sought to examine how men maintain masculinity, specifically masculine capital, when their wives desire to change the health behaviors of their husband’s. …

The Triad Trial: Online Education For Coaches On The Prevention Of The Female Athlete Triad, Megan Jane Ostler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

High school coaches play a huge role in establishing a healthy environment for their athletes and often students. The coach‐athlete relationship has proven to be a strong and useful bond in prevention of adverse behaviors of athletes or in prevention of health problems such as concussions. The female athlete triad (triad) is a common health problem among female athletes. Many high school coaches are unaware of the triad or the serious health and performance consequences for their athletes. The triad is a syndrome marked by 3 interrelated adverse effects: decreased energy availability, menstrual dysfunction, and decreased bone mineral density.

The …

Antiviral Activity Of Favipiravir (T-705) Against Lethal Rift Valley Fever Virus Infection In Hamsters, Dionna Scharton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a severe disease affecting both humans and a number of agriculturally important livestock species. The causative agent, RVF virus (RVFV), is primarily transmitted through mosquito bites, with transmission also occurring by exposure to infectious aerosols and direct contact with infected body fluids such as blood. Presently, there are no licensed vaccines or medicines to prevent or treat severe RVFV infection in humans. Favipiravir (T-705) is a novel compound licensed for the treatment of influenza in Japan and presently in Phase III clinical trials in the US, which has demonstrated favorable activity against an attenuated strain …

The Mental Health Disparity Among Nonheterosexuals: Risk, Resiliency, And New Perspectives To Consider In The Context Of Mormonism, Katherine Ann Crowell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nonheterosexuals disproportionately experience mental illness when compared with heterosexuals. Although it has been well established that the apparent mental health disparity among sexually diverse populations is almost exclusively derived from minority stress (i.e., the excess stress associated with culturally maintained sexual stigma), our understanding of how specific aspects of minority stress lead to specific psychological syndromes (e.g., depression) remains limited. On the other hand, in attempts to destigmatize individuals who do not identify as heterosexual, researchers have increasingly begun to shift the focus of their work towards understanding the specific characteristics or experiences that facilitate individuals’ capacity to adapt and …

Predictors Of Persistence And Resurgence: Evaluation Of A Behavioral Momentum-Based Approach, Mary M. Sweeney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mary M. Sweeney, graduate student in the Experimental and Applied Psychological Sciences program at Utah State University, will complete this dissertation as part of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology.

One approach to reducing a behavior with a history of reward is to remove the reward for the target behavior to be reduced and introduce reward for an alternative behavior. When alternative reward is removed, though, relapse termed resurgence can occur. The broad purpose of this dissertation is to examine the variables that contribute to the persistence and resurgence of a behavior. The results of …

Age-Related Changes In Attention During Motor Learning, James E. Gardner

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Theories of motor learning predict that humans require high levels of attention to perform new motor tasks, but little to no attention for those that are well-learned. Thus, practicing a task may decrease the amount of attention required to perform it. To test this theoretical relationship between attention and task practice, we used a physiological proxy for attention known as electrodermal activity (EDA). We hypothesized that 1) EDA (proxy for attention) would decrease over the course of training and that 2) attention would be higher overall in older adults than in younger adults when performing the same task. This second …

Clinical Assessment Of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Pre- And Post-Surgical Intervention In A Division I Female College Gymnast: A Case Study, Emily R. Silva

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is defined as a lateral and rotational curvature of the spine with an unknown origin. Scoliosis is diagnosed based on age of onset and clinical presentation. Physicians measure curve severity by Cobb’s angle, which is marked on an x-ray. Participation is sports, which require compressive and tensile forces on the spine increase risk of back-related injury, including scoliosis or the progression of scoliosis. Sports such as gymnastics have been shown to increase back pain; although, studies have found some participation in gymnastic activities helps in strengthening skeletal musculature and respiratory musculature, which benefits patients diagnosed with scoliosis. …