Rainfall Accumulation in Clarksville, Tennessee 2015093 to 2015121

The purpose of this project was to collect rainfall samples and record the data in such a way that tested a hypothesis. My hypothesis is that the area in Clarksville, Tennessee where the samples are collected will collect up to eight inches of rain for the thirteen week time span

Development of Nation's First Indigenous Healing Clinical Space

Background: Indigenous people suffer disproportionately from poor health outcomes including lower life expectancy, higher mortality from preventable illnesses, and reduced access to healthcare more than any other minority group in the United States. Providers and health systems often perpetuate health disparities amongst racial and ethnic minorities due to implicit biases and systemic racism Exacerbating these issues, Western medicine and health education have historically diminished and excluded Indigenous voices and cultural perspectives of health and healing. Thus, this study aims to highlight the influence of community centered Indigenous Healing Clinical Simulation Center (IHCSC) and instruction on educating future healers. Methods: This ongoing study utilizes decolonizing methods of inquiry such as talking circles, storytelling, and note capturing of Indigenous cultural events, simulation design meetings, and cohort development. These challenge westernized methodology that has not been historically compatible, and which has often diminished, or misrepresented the experiences and voices of Indigenous culture and peoples. Informed consent was obtained from 29/45 Indigenous health and education community members to take notes on shared dialogue and experiences of their collective development of nation’s first IHCSC. Information obtained was relayed back to the healer’s cohort to ensure feedback, honor their voices, and allow transparency of research. Outcomes: This study revealed that the Indigenous Healer’s cohort envision the IHCSC as a place of spiritual, psychological, and physical safety to address implicit biases, and patient-centered care that incorporates cultural ceremonies and Traditional Healing. The space needs to be crafted intentionally with nature, light, warmth, and community. Proper protocols to create a safe dialogue are also crucial. Future healers that utilize the space will have the opportunity to learn about and practice cultural humility and holistic healing. Feasibility: This project captures the voice of tribal community members dedicated to positively changing their health outcomes. As part of future research, standardized patients will be assessed on their experiences with future healers who utilize the space. A limitation of this study is it reflects only a subset of tribal culture and experiences. However, this process may empower other tribal healers to gather and develop an Indigenous healing simulation center at their academic facilities to better educate future healers and improve Indigenous health outcomes within their region

Factors Affecting Pregnancy in Free-ranging Elk, Cervus elaphus nelsoni, in Michigan

Uncertainty exists as to which factors are most closely related to probability of pregnancy in Elk (Cervus elaphus), which thresholds are key for managers who want to assess the potential productivity of free-ranging Elk herds, and whether these thresholds vary among populations. We examined relationships among pregnancy, age, and mass for 513 harvested free-ranging Elk in Michigan, and compared relationships with other published models and with thresholds derived from other free-ranging and penned populations to see if relationships were consistent among populations. Pregnancy rates varied (chi22 = 136.3; P < 0.0001) among yearling (0.30), prime-aged (2.5-11.5-year-olds; 0.88), and old (> 12.5-year-olds; 0.60) cows. Probability of pregnancy in adult cows was related to mass (chi2 = 7.4; P = 0.006), age (chi2 = 12.6; P = 0.0004) and age class (chi2 = 16.4; P < 0.0001), but not to lactation status (chi2 = 0.4; P = 0.515); pregnancy was also positively related (chi2 = 15.8; P < 0.0001) to mass in yearlings. Probability of pregnancy increased 1.02× and 1.04× for each 1 kg increase in body mass of adult and yearling cows, respectively, and prime-aged cows were 4.9× more likely to conceive than old cows. Compared to thresholds derived primarily from penned or farmed Elk, both adult and yearling free-ranging Elk in Michigan and elsewhere were able to achieve higher levels of pregnancy at lower body mass. Thresholds also varied among free-ranging Elk populations. Given variation among populations, managers should calibrate mass-pregnancy relationships for their respective populations to determine whether condition is potentially limiting pregnancy in their populations

Cervus elaphus

We evaluated Cervus elaphus herbivory and trampling impacts on plants and soils on Chaco Culture National Historical Park (Chaco), a desert grass/shrubland in northwestern New Mexico, USA, most (63%) of which has been protected from grazing by domestic livestock since 1948. We conducted grazing, browse, and water infiltration surveys in areas which received different amounts of C. elaphus use (use and control), 2004–2007. Browse utilization was <32% on monitored species and Odocoileus hemionus use accounted for the majority of browsing. Live plant cover was greater on areas receiving more C. elaphus use, and no grass species were used above recommended levels. Stubble heights of Bouteloua spp. were positively related to relative C. elaphus use on some areas, suggesting possible stimulation of grassland productivity by C. elaphus grazing. Water infiltration rates either did not differ among use or control sites or were faster in use sites, indicating no impacts of C. elaphus use on soil compaction. At current C. elaphus densities (0.2–0.4/km2), negative impacts to plants and soils were not seen on Chaco, and some evidence suggests that light grazing is optimizing desert grasslands of Chaco

Short Assessment of Health Literacy-Spanish and English: A Comparable Test of Health Literacy for Spanish and English Speakers: Short Assessment of Health Literacy

The intent of the study was to develop and validate a comparable health literacy test for Spanish-speaking and English-speaking populations

Volume 01

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross Three Decades of Digging: Undergraduate Archeology at Longwood by Jessica Fields and Stephanie Neeley Interactions of Allelopathy and Heat Stress in Plants by Derek W. Hambright and Mary E. Lehman Inertial Electrostatic Confinement D-D Fusion Device: Construction and Simulation by Andrew R. Grzankowski Shackled Nim by Zachary Johnson Development of GC-MS and Chemometric Methods for the Analysis of Accelerants in Arson Cases by Boone M. Prentice A Comparison of Image Analysis Methods in cDNA Microarrays by Ashley M. Swandby Perceived Sexual Activity of Short and Long-Term Relationships by Victoria Morgan and Katie Williamson Elderly Male Communication by Kristine G. Bender Three Poems: “Adam and Eve and an Orange Tree”, “The Name of Everything Before Dying”, and “The ‘Poet Voice’” by Katelyn N. Romaine There\u27s Nothing Like Dancing, After All : Marriage and Gender in the Dance Scenes of Jane Austen\u27s Novels by D. Nicole Swann Two Poems: “Age Nine with Mother” and “The Apple That Crawls Away From the Tree” by Jessica Fox Untitled by Mike McAteer Room 9 by Alex Grabiec Two Photographs: “Gracie” and “Emily” by Laura Nodtvedt Bowling Lanes Night by Nick Costa Two Paintings: “Can and Kettle” and “Scarecrow” by Rachel Wolfe Exploring Henrik Ibsen\u27s “Perr Gynt” by Zack Dalton Creative Writing Scholarship at Longwood University Music Scholarship at Longwood – Senior Recital Arianne K. Burrus Longwood University Theater – Peer Gyn

Early Sexual Trauma Exposure and Neural Response Inhibition in Adolescence and Young Adults: Trajectories of Frontal Theta Oscillations During a Go/No-Go Task

Objective Trauma, particularly when experienced early in life, can alter neurophysiologic and behavioral development, thereby increasing risk for substance use disorders and related psychopathology. However, few studies have empirically examined trauma using well-characterized developmental samples that are followed longitudinally. Method The association of assaultive, non-assaultive, and sexual assaultive experiences before 10 years of age with developmental trajectories of brain function during response inhibition was examined by measuring electrophysiologic theta and delta oscillations during no-go and go conditions in an equal probability go/no-go task. Data were drawn from the Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) prospective cohort, composed of offspring from high-risk and comparison families who were 12 to 22 years old at enrollment, with follow-ups at 2-year intervals since 2004. In addition, other important predictors of neurophysiologic functioning (eg, substance use, impulsivity, and parental alcohol use disorders) were investigated. Moreover, associations of neurophysiologic functioning with alcohol and cannabis use disorder symptom counts and externalizing and internalizing psychopathology were examined. Results Individuals exposed to sexual assaultive trauma before 10 years of age had slower rates of change in developmental trajectories of no-go frontal theta during response inhibition. Importantly, effects remained significant after accounting for exposure to other traumatic exposures, such as parental history of alcohol use disorder and participants’ substance use, but not measures of impulsivity. Further, slower rates of change in no-go frontal theta adolescent and young adult development were associated with increased risk for alcohol use disorder symptoms and internalizing psychopathology, but not for cannabis use disorder symptoms or externalizing psychopathology. Conclusion Childhood sexual assault is associated with atypical frontal neurophysiologic development during response inhibition. This could reflect alterations in frontal lobe development, synaptic pruning, and/or cortical maturation involving neural circuits for inhibitory control. These same areas could be associated with increased risk for young adult alcohol use disorder symptoms and internalizing psychopathology. These findings support the hypothesis that changes in neurocognitive development related to early sexual trauma exposure could increase the risk for mental health and substance use problems in young adulthood

Developing a preference-based utility scoring algorithm for the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI)

Introduction It is challenging to identify health state utilities associated with psoriasis because generic preference-based measures may not capture the impact of dermatological symptoms. The Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) is one of the most commonly used psoriasis rating scales in clinical trials. The purpose of this study was to develop a utility scoring algorithm for the PASI. Methods Forty health states were developed based on PASI scores of 40 clinical trial patients. Health states were valued in time trade-off interviews with UK general population participants. Regression models were conducted to crosswalk from PASI scores to utilities (e.g., OLS linear, random effects, mean, robust, spline, quadratic). Results A total of 245 participants completed utility interviews (51.4% female; mean age =45.3y). Models predicting utility based on the four PASI location scores (head, upper limbs, trunk, lower limbs) had better fit/accuracy (e.g., R2, mean absolute error [MAE]) than models using the PASI total score. Head/upper limb scores were more strongly associated with utility than trunk/lower limb. The recommended model is the OLS linear model based on the four PASI location scores (R2 = 0.13; MAE =0.03). An alternative is recommended for situations when it is necessary to estimate utility based on the PASI total score. Conclusions The recommended scoring algorithm may be used to estimate utilities based on PASI scores of any treatment group with psoriasis. Because the PASI is commonly used in psoriasis clinical trials, this scoring algorithm greatly expands options for quantifying treatment outcomes in cost-effectiveness analyses of psoriasis therapies. Results indicate that psoriasis of the head/upper limbs could be more important than trunk/lower limbs, suggesting reconsideration of the standard PASI scoring approach

TOI-5375 B: A Very Low Mass Star at the Hydrogen-Burning Limit Orbiting an Early M-type Star

The TESS mission detected a companion orbiting TIC 71268730, categorized it as a planet candidate, and designated the system TOI-5375. Our follow-up analysis using radial velocity data from the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF), photometric data from Red Buttes Observatory (RBO), and speckle imaging with NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Stellar Speckle Imager (NESSI) determined that the companion is a very low mass star (VLMS) near the hydrogen-burning mass limit with a mass of 0.080\pm{0.002} M_{\Sun} ($83.81\pm{2.10} M_{J}$), a radius of 0.1114^{+0.0048}_{-0.0050} R_{\Sun} (1.0841$^{0.0467}_{0.0487} R_{J}$), and brightness temperature of $2600\pm{70}$ K. This object orbits with a period of 1.721553$\pm{0.000001}$ days around an early M dwarf star (0.62\pm{0.016}M_{\Sun}). TESS photometry shows regular variations in the host star's TESS light curve, which we interpreted as activity-induced variation of $\sim$2\%, and used this variability to measure the host star's stellar rotation period of 1.9716$^{+0.0080}_{-0.0083}$ days. The TOI-5375 system provides tight constraints on stellar models of low-mass stars at the hydrogen-burning limit and adds to the population in this important region.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, Accepted to the Astronomical Journa