Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationWater availability is one of the most pressing scientific and societal issues facing the western United States. By 2060, population within the Colorado River Basin is expected to grow 19-48% relative to the 2010 population, significantly increasing the demand for water. Simultaneously, streamflow in the Colorado River is projected to decrease between 5-20%, putting further strain on an already over-allocated system. The highelevation snowpack of the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) contributes the majority of runoff to the Colorado River through winter snow accumulation and springtime snowmelt. Recent studies have shown however, that dust from the Colorado Plateau shortens snowcover duration in the southeastern portion of the UCRB by 25-51 days. By accelerating snowmelt and extending the snow-free season, this impact appears to have shifted peak normalized runoff at Lee's Ferry, AZ 3-6 weeks earlier and reduced the total annual runoff of the Colorado River by 5-6% relative to the cleaner-snow conditions that existed prior to the western expansion of the United States in the mid-1800s. The agency charged with monitoring and forecasting streamflow in the UCRB is the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC). The CBRFC predicts snowmelt runoff using the temperature-index based SNOW-17 model that assumes an empirical relationship between temperature and snowmelt. The melt factor used in SNOW-17 is effectively a calibrated index of the relative proportions of snow surface energy balance components over the model's calibration period. If energy balance components deviate from the calibration-period mean, however, the fraction of radiation absorbed by the snowpack can also shift, influencing snowmelt timing and runoff and rendering the melt index less representative. Based on observations and in situ measurements, we know that dust deposition varies annually and spatially throughout the UCRB. The work described herein is directed at improving our understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of dust radiative forcing in snow and ultimately how that variability impacts streamflow forecasting in the UCRB

Where\u27s the beef labeling?: a policy proposal concerning red meat

The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) 1990, required all foods regulated by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to have nutritional information labels directly on the product. Red meat is regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is not subject to the NLEA. Red meat nutrition labeling was voluntarily until 2009, and even with the changes in the regulations most red meat still does not have to have a nutrition label directly on the package. Red meat has been linked to obesity, which is a serious health problem in the United States. This thesis argues that red meat should be have nutrition labels directly on the packaging just like the foods regulated by the FDA. Four policy proposals are proposed to accomplish this, including the best solution, which is to give all the regulatory authority for nutrition labeling to the FDA

\u3cem\u3eCommentary\u3c/em\u3e Distance-Dependent Effectiveness of Diversionary Bear Bait Sites

We (Stringham and Bryant 2015) previously reported on Bryant’s experiment in diversionary baiting of black bears (Ursus americanus). This occurred during the historically severe drought of 2007, in the Lake Tahoe Basin at the border of California and Nevada, USA. Effectiveness of baiting was inversely related to each community’s distance from the bait site. That has provoked the question whether conflict rates during the period of baiting would have fallen anyway even without baiting. We show here that the general trend during both pre and post-baiting years (2005–2006 and 2008–2009) was for an increase in conflicts during the same months that conflict rate declined during 2007. We also previously reported that, when data were pooled from all 20 communities, total conflicts in the year after baiting were lower than in the year before baiting; there was no backlash after baiting ended. The question has since arisen about whether pooling data across all communities hid backlash in those communities closest to a 2007 bait site – that post-baiting conflict rate was also inversely related to each community’s distance from the nearest bait station. However, our regressions reveal no such relationship between distance versus total annual conflicts in each community during either or both of the 2 years post-baiting (2008–2009)

Building Social Justice Awareness Through the Curriculum: Teaching a Crash Course in Disability Studies

This session will highlight my experience teaching a sophomore seminar course about the rhetoric of disability. Each seminar had to have a focus in multiculturalism in the United States, and many of the established courses focused on issues of race, gender, ethnic, and religious identity. Mine was the first course in the offerings that treated ability level as a component of multiculturalism or diversity. I will discuss the structure of the course, explain course readings and student activities and assignments. I will also provide some feedback that I received from students. After the presentation about the details of the course, I would enjoy hearing feedback and questions from disability services professionals of all levels

A Process Improvement Project to Increase Referral and Documentation Rates for Diabetic Retinopathy Screening

Abstract Background: Approximately 5.3 million Americans, aged 18 and over, carry a diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy (DR). By the year 2050 this number is expected to triple without effective healthcare intervention. Approximately 4.8% of the global blindness is attributable to DR, a silent, progressive, microvascular complication of diabetes. Best practice dictates immediate screening at time of diagnosis of Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and biennial screenings thereafter, yet this need is often unmet. Purpose: This study is a continuation of a process put into place by Dr. Michelle Campbell in October 2017 at the Norton Community Medical Associates Mount Washington practice and was to determine effectiveness of this intervention. This intervention involved formal referral with a specific form documenting the results of the ophthalmological screening being faxed back to the primary care office and scanned into the patient’s electronic health record (EHR). Methods: This study used a retrospective chart review for the period 1 January 2017 to 1 May 2017 and 1 January 2018 to 1 May 2018 to determine the number of formal referrals to ophthalmology pre- and post-implementation as well as the number of formal documentation forms received during both time periods. Inclusion criteria included T2DM, ICD-10 codes E11.0-E11.9, and ages between 18 years and 70 years. One hundred charts were selected by the Information Technology Department for both pre- and post-implementation review. Results: SPSS Software was used to analyze the data. A chi square test was used to measure these results. Pre- and post-implementation referrals yielded a p-value of 0.321 which was not statistically significant; however, pre- and post-implementation documentation yielded a p-value of .016 which was significant, unfortunately in the opposite direction than was hoped. Keywords: Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), Electronic Health Record (EHR), Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM

The Effects Of Improved Mathematical Instruction On A Group Of Talented Fourth Grade Pupils

Arithmetic is one of man\u27s greatest tools, in every phase of life. It is used Without arithmetic, man would not have been able to advance as fast or as far as he has. It is one of the most important tools that every capable person should learn to operate. Never before in history have so many people used so much arithmetic in their daily lives, Arithmetic is the cornerstone of mathematics; therefore, it is one of the major responsibilities of the elementary teacher to supply the children with a proper foundation in arithmetic. Arithmetic is a system of thought, the ability to reason and think Mueller has stated that Its concepts have been originated, shaped and improved upon by man to aid him in his struggle with quantitative problems posed by his environment. Statement of the problem. The purpose of this study was (1) to evaluate the progress of an academically talented group of twenty-eight fourth-grade pupils in arithmetic computation and reasoning from April of 1963, to March of 1964, and (2) to determine the extent to which recent teaching methods may be used to increase the progress of these pupils. Importance of the study. This study was of importance in that the twenty-eight academically talented children of the fourth grade at Lamar Elementary School, Port Arthur, Texas, were progressing at approximately the same achievement level as other children who were not members of a talented. group. This study is also of importance in that the proper development of arithmetic skills will enhance the child\u27s ability in sound mathematics which is the backbone of our national economy. This development of skill in mathematics will enable the child to take his place as a leader in our economic world in the future

Immigrant Entrepreneurs Creating Jobs and Strengthening the U.S. Economy in Growing Industries

The focus of this report evolved from a 2010 conference at Babson College on "Immigrant Entrepreneurship in Massachusetts" sponsored by The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC) from which two key ideas emerged. One is that there is an "immigrant entrepreneurship ecology" that includes immigrant neighborhood storefront businesses; immigrant high-tech and health science entrepreneurs; immigrant non-tech growth businesses; and immigrant transnational businesses. A second idea was that these growing, non-tech industries (including transportation, food and building services) have not attracted much attention. Interestingly, these sectors can be crucial to the expansion of the green economy. Within this context, The ILC decided to look at these three sectors in Massachusetts as well as in New York and Pennsylvania.Moreover, the report dramatically illustrates how immigrant entrepreneurs look for niches in underserved markets. For example, vans and other alternatives to mass transit serve unmet transportation needs in urban areas. Food intended to be a "taste of home" for compatriots in local restaurants and grocery stores becomes popular and influences the eating habits of other Americans. Workers who enter industries like landscaping or cleaning because they don't require much English gain experience and see opportunities to start their own companies. Businesses like these add value to American life by expanding the economy rather than taking away from native businesses

Occlusion Models for Natural Images: A Statistical Study of a Scale-Invariant Dead Leaves Model

We develop a scale-invariant version of Matheron's “dead leaves model” for the statistics of natural images. The model takes occlusions into account and resembles the image formation process by randomly adding independent elementary shapes, such as disks, in layers. We compare the empirical statistics of two large databases of natural images with the statistics of the occlusion model, and find an excellent qualitative, and good quantitative agreement. At this point, this is the only image model which comes close to duplicating the simplest, elementary statistics of natural images—such as, the scale invariance property of marginal distributions of filter responses, the full co-occurrence statistics of two pixels, and the joint statistics of pairs of Haar wavelet responses.Mathematic