Associations among Shopping Methods, Diet Adherence, and Nutrition Knowledge of Employed Primary Grocery Shoppers in Households with Children

Obesity is a prominent risk factor for chronic disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States. Obesity and chronic disease rates continue to rise, requiring a need for prevention and intervention efforts. The future role of dietetics is to provide treatment and prevention through holistic approaches, by understanding individuals’ habits that contribute to the onset of disease, specifically their food choices, grocery shopping methods, and influences that waver these selections. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between grocery shopping methods (online or in-store), Mediterranean diet adherence, nutrition knowledge, and food purchase patterns in employed primary food shoppers in households with children. Mediterranean diet adherence and nutrition knowledge have both been found to improve health outcomes. This study specifically aims to evaluate the association of grocery shopping methods against these variables as online grocery shopping use has dramatically increased since the onset of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic, and as convenience and workcentric lifestyles have become more prominent in the United States. The study utilized a cross-sectional, exploratory online survey design. Participants were recruited as a convenience sample via snowball sampling. The questionnaire was designed and distributed using Qualtrics Survey Software and included only those who resided in the United States, were employed with children aged \u3c 18 years in the home, and were the primary shopper for the household. Statistical analyses were calculated using frequencies and central tendencies, correlations, T-tests, and analysis of variance. The sample (n = 241) was primarily female (93.4%), White, non-Hispanic (66.4%), and resided in the state of Louisiana (59.8%). The sample had an average age of 38.22 years, worked 39.94 hours/week, and had approximately 2 adults and 2 children \u3c 18 years in the household. Most of the sample had low adherence to the Mediterranean diet principles (47.9%), and the average General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire- Revised (GNKQ-R) score was 41.25. Primarily online shoppers shopped for groceries less frequently than in-store shoppers (M = 1.53, SD = 0.86; M =2.01, SD = 1.27, respectively). Nutrition knowledge increased as age increased (r =0.36, p \u3c 0.001), but decreased as prepared meal item purchases increased (r =-0.18, p = 0.02). As hours worked per week increased, grocery cost/month increased (r =-0.21, p = 0.02). Diet adherence, prepared meal purchases, and grocery cost per household member did not significantly differ between in-store shoppers (M = 6.26, SD = 2.25, M = 1.42, SD = 1.37, M = 193.61, SD = 81.63) and online shoppers (M = 6.22, SD = 2.38, M = 1.63, SD = 1.40, M = 169.31, SD = 63.14), t (213) = 0.12, p = 0.26, t (239) = -1.13, p = 0.74), t (95) = 1.57, p = 0.36, respectively. There was a nonsignificant correlation of .11 (p = 0.15), 0.04 (p = 0.70), -0.06 (p = 0.37) between diet adherence and nutrition knowledge, grocery cost per household member, and prepared meals purchased, respectively. Nutrition knowledge scores were significantly higher among those not enrolled in nutrition assistance programs compared to those enrolled (M = 42.48, SD = 8.55; M = 31.70, SD = 16.64, respectively), non-rural residents compared to rural residents (M = 43.15, SD = 8.00; M = 36.27, SD = 14.30, respectively), and online shoppers compared to in-store shoppers (M = 42.39, SD = 8.93; M = 40.42, SD = 11.37, respectively). The study found no difference in grocery shopping method among households based on the presence and number of children and adults. However, primarily in-store shoppers worked more hours worked per week compared to online. In-store shoppers scored significantly lower nutrition knowledge scores than online shoppers, but there was no difference between grocery shopping method and prepared meal item purchases, adherence to Mediterranean diet principles, and grocery cost per household member. Though there was no significant finding, on average in-store shoppers spent roughly $25 more per person each month. There was no association between adherence to Mediterranean diet principles and nutrition knowledge, prepared meal item purchases, or food cost per household member. Further research is required to determine the relationship between grocery shopping method, diet adherence, nutrition knowledge, and patterns of purchases

A Human-in-the-Loop Framework for Scalable and Interpretable Event Triaging in Large-Scale Systems

This dissertation presents a comprehensive and scalable framework for real-time fault detection and event triage in industrial systems, addressing critical challenges such as class imbalance, ambiguous feature boundaries, and the prioritization of complex, high-dimensional event data. The proposed framework integrates advanced methodologies, including micro-batch processing, retrospective divergence-based event detection (DB-RED), association rule mining (ARM), clustering, and Dempster-Shafer Theory (DST) for conflict resolution. Together, these components enable the systematic stratification of events into actionable priority levels, ensuring robust and interpretable decision-making in real-time environments. DB-RED forms the cornerstone of the framework, leveraging KL-divergence and PE-divergence metrics to detect subtle and transient faults within high-frequency data streams. ARM techniques, including Apriori and FP-Growth, translate these detected events into structured relationships, providing the contextual basis for effective event triage. Clustering methods, such as K-Means and Hierarchical Clustering, further organize events into priority-based groups, while the integration of DST enhances classification precision by resolving ambiguities in boundary and transitional cases. Extensive experiments validated the framework’s efficacy across multiple test-tofailure datasets. Classifiers such as Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) consistently achieved high accuracy, precision, and F1-scores, demonstrating the framework\u27s adaptability to diverse fault scenarios. The inclusion of DST-based belief scores dynamically adjusted clustering behaviors, reducing false positive and false negative rates while preserving critical-event hierarchies. Results highlighted the framework’s ability to capture rare but impactful faults, enabling timely interventions and minimizing operational downtime. This research bridges gaps in real-time event monitoring by offering a novel combination of scalable algorithms and interpretable methodologies. Designed for industrial applications, the framework supports systems such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) by ensuring reliable event detection and actionable prioritization with human-in-the-loop oversight. Future work will explore the extension of these methodologies to broader industrial contexts, emphasizing scalability, automation, and integration with emerging predictive maintenance technologies. This dissertation contributes a significant step forward in advancing operational reliability and efficiency in high-stakes industrial environments

Using Stable Isotope Analysis to Investigate the Trophic Ecology of Aquatic Insects

Despite their abundance on the landscape, ponds and associated macroinvertebrate assemblages have largely been underrepresented in scientific studies, which usually focus on lakes or streams. Similar to other waterbodies, ponds can harbor high levels of invertebrate biodiversity, which is important as aquatic insects are experiencing declines due to habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, and invasive species introductions. To evaluate how these threats impact pond insects and the ecosystem services they may provide, a thorough understanding of their ecology is essential. However, significant knowledge gaps remain, especially regarding trophic levels and species-specific diets. To address these knowledge gaps, I used carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes to estimate the trophic level and diet of common pond macroinvertebrates. I predicted that most of the taxa would be predators and that the backswimmer (Notonecta irrorata) would be the top predator. Results from three ponds estimated that most species ranged from trophic level 2-2.6 (primary consumer to omnivore), while one species of predaceous diving beetle (Thermonectus basillaris basillaris) had the highest trophic position at 4.03 (tertiary predator), surpassing the predicted top predator, the backswimmer (Notonecta irrorata), at 2.61. The diet of the analyzed taxa did not meet predictions and was widely varied. These results provide novel estimates of trophic level and diet for macroinvertebrates at the species level and contribute to our understanding of trophic dynamics in ponds

Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Training Environments

As technology has evolved so has training methodology in many applied fields. Training of aviation professionals is adapting by including technology features that allow for safer and less costly training methods. Pilot training is expensive given the number of flight hours and all that is included in the cost of flying an airplane. The main goal of this project is to assess the efficacy of the use of virtual reality environments as a valid training tool. Based on our literature review, we hypothesized that trainees perform simulated flight tasks more efficiently, with fewer errors, when trained using VR technology. The research was conducted using a four-phased experimental framework. Historical data of B-52 pilots trained by conventional methods (non-VR) was assessed and analyzed against VR-trained B-52 pilot trainees who were trained on in-air refueling using VR. Each subject\u27s time to proficiency and the number of sorties were collected for a comparative analysis between VR and non-VR trainees. NASA-TLX was incorporated to develop a comparative analysis across the training cycle measuring the cognitive load of the trainees. VR was monitored independently using eye-tracking technology incorporated in the VR headset while using a computer-based flight simulation program. Pre and post-training questionnaires were utilized to determine the background and subjective thoughts of the trainees. The data supports the hypothesis, indicating there is statistical significance in terms of both minutes and number of sorties it took the pilots to reach proficiency with VR trained pilots vs legacy pilots who were not, validating the benefit of this technology that will be implemented across the aviation industry. The final takeaway from this research is developing a training transfer model built specifically to meld the VR and conventional aviation training environments

Evaluating a Common Book Program\u27s Effect on Gains in Knowledge and Position toward Sustainability in the Nutrition Professions

A Common Reader Program, also called a common book, summer reading, or a one-book program, has been reported to enhance the college educational experience yet appears to have been underutilized by colleges and universities. In the case of health sciences, there can be great benefits in having students learn from the literature not typically found in textbooks used in the curricula. Common reader programs allow for different teaching methods to be implemented and using multiple teaching methods in a single program can be beneficial. In nutrition and dietetics (ND) programs there is a need for additional education regarding sustainability in our food systems and healthcare processes, and this could be done using common reader programs. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations states that a sustainable food system can provide food security and nutrition for all, while keeping the economic, social, and environmental bases uncompromised for future generations (FAO, 2018). Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) should proactively transform food systems by facilitating population-wide shifts to have individuals partake in more healthy and sustainable diets (Barbour et al., 2022). The ND programs at Louisiana Tech University have initiated an annual focused common book program that began one academic year before this study. More research is needed to determine if this program is beneficial to the students to help aid in any future decisions regarding program participation. The purpose of this quantitative, exploratory intervention research design was to evaluate the benefits of using a common book program for ND students focusing on sustainability in food systems and health care delivery. Specifically, gains in knowledge, confidence, and positions toward sustainability in the nutrition profession. This study utilized a retrospective post-then-pre-study design and a purposive, convenience sampling strategy for participants of ND majors currently enrolled at Louisiana Tech University at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Focused recruitment was on ND majors enrolled in FNU 480 (Senior Seminar), FNU 592 (Intern in Nutrition-Dietetics), and FNU 299 (Research for Nutrition Professionals). The online questionnaire included 33 items. Participants were given the chosen common book “There is No Planet B” by Mike Berners-Lee, made available through an Entergy Micro Grant, and encouraged to attend the nine planned campus events and activities around the topic of sustainability. Approximately 65 students were eligible to participate, and there were a total of 35 respondents. The majority of respondents were female (82.90%), white, non-Hispanic (80.00%), and had an upperclassman, junior or senior, academic standing (62.86%). Seventeen respondents received academic credit for program participation. Almost half of the respondents (45.70%) considered themselves “moderately familiar” with the topic of sustainability before participating in the program. The media was the highest contributor to prior familiarity (60.00%). There were 16 respondents (45.70%) who only read the sections required for their course from the common book, four respondents (11.40%) read the entire book, and five respondents (14.30%) did not read the book. On average, all five mandatory events for academic credit had a 38.86% participation rate, while the four voluntary events had 20.00%. The correlation between the program participation (events and book), total gains, and total position scores were more neutral with no statistical significance. An average of 41.43% of the respondents reported a good to great gain in the items regarding their knowledge of sustainability after completing the program. The mean total position score of 1.19 + 0.15 indicates an agreeable position toward all statements regarding sustainability. A total of 65.71% of the respondents would encourage ND students to engage in the common book program. Of the 30 responses to the question of whether participation developed a new understanding of sustainability in food systems, 26 responses (86.7%) were positive and four responses (13.3%) were negative. Prior research on common book programs was focused on students of different declared majors than ND, or students with a freshman academic standing in post-secondary, degree-granting institutions. The ND Common Book Program at Louisiana Tech University can be assumed as one of the few programs that gear their focus towards ND majors and upperclassmen academic standing based on the lack of literature. It was found that the ND Common Book Program was beneficial and provided a gain in knowledge, confidence, and position toward sustainability in food systems for students attending Louisiana Tech University

Terrestrial Salinization Impacts on Growth and Behavior of a Common Detritivore Armadillidium vulgare (Isopoda)

Climate change and human activities are changing the nutritional landscape by increasing the availability of some essential elements and decreasing others. Sodium (Na) is an essential element in heterotrophs, which is required for water regulation, nerve function, and muscle function. Heterotrophs can acquire Na through diet and environment, often experiencing limited availability of Na due to plants concentrating Na 10-100 times less than heterotrophs need. The Sodium Subsidy-Stress (SSS) hypothesis posits that organismal performance follows a hump-shaped curve of a physiological response, where Na acts as a subsidy, increasing organismal performance such as growth until an optimal threshold is reached, after which Na becomes stressful to organisms and performance decreases. The SSS hypothesis can apply to heterotrophs and salt taken in though diet or environment. This refers not only to herbivores consuming living plant life but also to detritivores consuming the detritus that plants produce. This means that decomposers can also experience a salt subsidy or stress. The physiological and ecological consequences of both dietary and environmental Na availability on detritivores, specifically the terrestrial isopod, Armadillidium vulgare, can indirectly affect decomposition rates. I tested the predictions that isopods (Armadillidium vulgare), which are nearly ubiquitous detritivores, follows a subsidy stress response to a gradient of Na availability. Additionally, I tested how dietary NaCl and environmental NaCl pathways impacted growth, survival, assimilation efficiency, mass-specific consumption, water body content, behavior, and tissue concentration. Isopods were exposed to a 3x3 factorial design of dietary NaCl (low, medium, and high) and environmental NaCl (low, medium, and high). In the first experiment, dietary Na availability was manipulated using an artificial diet, and a natural diet with single isopods in laboratory microcosms. In a second experiment, isopod dietary Na availability was manipulated using a natural diet of senesced oak leaves with single isopods in a laboratory microcosm. In these two experiments, environmental Na treatments were the same. Lastly, in a third experiment, environmental Na was manipulated as only low and medium NaCl on isopods raised in groups of 10 per microcosm, and dietary Na was not manipulated. In this way, we were able to explore different diets\u27 effects on salt intake and look at group effects on salt intake via environmental NaCl. A behavioral trial with four quadrant petri dishes of varying environmental NaCl (low, medium, high, and a higher option) was used to look for lasting effects of dietary Na and environmental Na treatments on isopod salt selection. A Na tissue analysis was used to look at internal Na content after treatments. Isopod growth in the artificial diet experiment was minimal but followed a subsidy-stress curve (a quadratic relationship) driven primarily by the environment. In contrast, growth was minimal or negative in the natural diet experiment and showed a positive linear relationship between growth and sodium. The artificial diet also found a slight quadratic relationship driven by environment isopod percent body water content and isopod tissue concentration. The artificial diet also showed a difference in assimilation efficiency in the first week with low environmental treatments showing higher efficiency. The natural diet showed an environmentally driven quadratic relationship in Na tissue content and an interaction between diet and the environment for mass-specific consumption. The group\u27s trials showed no effect sodium treatments had on growth, isopod body water content, and isopod tissue. In addition, in behavioral trials, isopods consistently choose to be in higher salt levels compared to lower levels. These results add to evidence that Na acts as a constraint on decomposition and that ecosystem responses follow a subsidy-stress curve

Robotic Odor Source Localization Using Vision and Olfaction Sensing

Robotic Odor Source Localization (ROSL) technology allows autonomous agents like robots to find an odor source in unknown environments. A successful odor source location depends crucially on an effective navigation algorithm that directs the robot towards the odor source. This thesis is a combination of three projects. First, we detail development of a versatile multi-modal robotic platform for ROSL real-world ROSL experimentation and discussed real-world validation of a traditional olfactionbased ROSL algorithm. Secondly, we introduced vision in ROSL by proposing a fusion navigation algorithm that integrates deep-learning enabled vision and olfaction-based navigation. This hybrid approach tackles challenges such as turbulent airflow, which can disrupt olfaction sensing, and physical obstacles within the search area, which may hinder vision detection. Thirdly, we introduce multi-modal reasoning-based navigation algorithm. This approach utilizes zero-shot reasoning capabilities of multi-modal Large Language Model (LLM) in novel situations. To evaluate the effectiveness of the three implemented algorithms, we conducted real-world ROSL navigation experiments. Experimental results demonstrated that 1) the developed real-world robot platform can be utilized to validate ROSL algorithms, 2) the proposed incorporation of vision sensing outperforms olfaction-only methods, and 3) zero-shot LLM reasoning-based method is effective in ROSL

The Impact of Institutional Support on African American Male College Students: A Phenomenological Analysis

This study is a powerful call to action for higher education institutions to recognize and address the unique challenges of African American male college students. Through a qualitative phenomenological approach grounded in Swail\u27s (2004) Framework for Student Success, the study sheds light on the institutional factors that impact the lives of these students. The research design utilized semi-structured interviews with seven African American male participants, and the analysis reveals codes, clusters, and themes that emerged from their narratives, providing valuable insights into the impact of institutional support on their lives. The study highlights the importance of peer support, the challenges faced by the participants, and their maturation process. The research findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding student success and serve as a foundation for further research in this critical area. In conclusion, this study serves as a wake-up call for higher education institutions to take action and address the systemic barriers that prevent African American male students from accessing and completing higher education. By fostering a development philosophy and providing enhanced institutional support, institutions can ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed and reach their full potential

Sleeping Through the Fright: Examining the Role of Posttraumatic Symptoms on the Relationship Between Sleep Quality, Well-Being, and Health

About one-third of our lives is spent sleeping. While sleep can be delayed to accommodate one’s lifestyle, the effects of inadequate sleep can be significant. Insufficient sleep has been linked to chronic health conditions, such as heart attacks, coronary heart disease, strokes, asthma, COPD, cancer, arthritis, depression, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Sleep disturbances, such as insomnia and nightmares, are prevalent after a traumatic event (B. Caldwell & Redeker, 2005; Spoormaker & Montgomery, 2008) and are often seen as one of the defining characteristics of posttraumatic stress disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Maker et al., 2012). Well-being is another component that may be associated with sleep and trauma. When factors such as a healthy diet and exercise are explored, sleep quality has emerged as a significant predictor of overall well-being (Wickham et al., 2020). Trauma exposure can significantly hinder one’s well-being. However, aspects of well-being, such as social support and positive interpersonal relationships, can provide a protective factor (Kaniasty, 2012; Shakespeare-Finch et al., 2014; Weinberg, 2016). The present study examined the mediating role of posttraumatic symptoms on the relationship between sleep quality, well-being, and health. This study consisted of 276 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online crowdsourcing platform. The results of this study indicated that posttraumatic symptoms do not significantly mediate the relationship between sleep quality and well-being. However, concerning health, the results showed that posttraumatic symptoms fully mediate the relationship between sleep quality and health. Relevant implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed

Simulations, Modeling and Data Analysis of Parity Violating Electron Scattering Experiments

In the Standard Model (SM) of nuclear and particle physics, parity violation is incorporated through the representation of the weak interaction as a chiral gauge interaction. Only the left-handed components of particles and right-handed components of antiparticles participate in weak interactions in the Standard Model. This implies that parity is asymmetric for the weak interaction. Parity violating electron scattering (PVES) experiments are designed to probe the physics parameters related to the SM, with the possibility to discover physics beyond the SM (BSM) by measuring the parity violating asymmetry of longitudinally polarized electrons scattered off unpolarized targets with high precision. This dissertation will be focused on two PVES experiments, the next 208Pb Lead Radius Experiment (PREX-II), and the Measurement of a Lepton-Lepton Electroweak Reaction (MOLLER) experiment, as well as in some small sections, the Calcium Radius Experiment (CREX) and P2 experiment which are also PVES experiments). PREX-II and CREX experiments, performed in Hall A at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), measured in the elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from 208Pb and 48Ca targets to provide a precise model independent determination of the neutron skin thickness of 208Pb and 48Ca nuclei, respectively. The MOLLER experiment, proposed to start in 2027 and also to be performed in Hall A at Jefferson Lab, is to measure of longitudinally polarized electrons scattered off unpolarized electrons (Møller scattering) to determine the weak charge of electrons and the weak mixing angle with high precision. As for the P2 experiment, which will be performed at the upcoming MESA accelerator in Mainz Germany, it is to measure the weak charge of proton using in the elastic electron-proton scattering of polarized electrons off unpolarized protons. The final results from the PREX-II experiment are presented as =550±16 ()±8 () parts-per-billion (ppb). Combining the PREX-I and PREX-II results, the neutron skin thickness from PREX experiments is determined as −=0.283±0.071 in 208Pb. This thesis lists the software and computational contribution of the author to these PVES experiments, including writing scripts and software to help with the PREX-II/CREX experiments, analyzing data to provide useful information and systematic uncertainty for the PREX-II experiment, modeling and simulations for the MOLLER, and providing an alternative design of an electronic equipment for the P2 experiment