Analysis Of Land Use In Rockbridge County, VA From Pre-Colonial Times To Current Day And Consequences For Riparian Ecosystems

Virginia implemented one of the earliest programs of internal improvements to the US, called The Fund for Internal Improvement, after the American Revolution in 1816. This was due to a sense of urgency within the state to share in the wealth of the newly developed country. To put the program into action, Virginia depended on its extensive river system to facilitate its commercial needs. Emplacement of dams causes a decrease in stream velocity which allows suspended sediments to settle out behind the structure. These legacy sediments can archive changes in land use activities such as agriculture, timbering, and development replaced indigneous stewardship. The goal of this study is to learn about the land use history of the region and determine risks, hazards, and effects associated with the remobilization of these sediments by analyzing these legacy sediments. Maps and other historical data will be used to construct GIS visualizations of past and present land use, and create estimates of floodplain and water level during the various intervals of history in the watershed. Assessing the geochemistry of the sediments and water can help us interpret the possible hazards associated with sediment remobilization and drinking water access. This study will provide a better understanding of how river channels, banks, and waters were impacted by the emplacement and (when applicable) removal of dams, hydrologic impacts of dams, impacts land use has had on rivers/creeks, and how the channel has been altered due to dams and land use.https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/collaborative_presentations/1071/thumbnail.jp

Welcoming the Stranger: Anti-Muslim Sentiment Among Ann Arbor Christians

Honors (Bachelor's)SociologyUniversity of Michiganhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147370/1/kallanml.pd

Repairable Precast Bridge Bents for Seismic Events

Concrete bridge columns are designed to withstand earthquakes by undergoing large displacements. Current seismic bridge codes guarantee collapse prevention, but damage to concrete and longitudinal reinforcement often requires demolition of the structure. Repairable detailing and advanced bridge construction connections may be utilized in concrete bridge columns to allow for quick construction as well as replacement of damaged reinforcement after an earthquake. This detailing may be an attractive alternative to bridge owners to reduce construction and replacement costs as well as ensure the functionality of critical routes after an earthquake. Three repairable precast bridge columns with exposed longitudinal reinforcement were tested under slow cyclic loading to failure. The columns incorporated different connection details as well as differing types of fuse reinforcement, either restrained against buckling or in the form of tension only members. Novel materials such as ultrahigh performance concrete and advanced detailing mechanisms such as post-tensioning were also used to reduce damage and eliminate residual displacements. All three columns were successfully repaired after initial testing and displayed displacement capacities higher than the demand for the reference cast-in-place column. Analytical modeling was accurately able to predict the overall behavior of the three repairable columns with minor differences in overall stiffness. A tension only fuse type was also developed and allowed for sufficient column displacement while also reducing the column residual displacements

The Effects of Online Course Pedagogies on Learning and Cognitive Workload

The use of recorded lecture video is a common online practice, although the implementation of this pedagogy varies and may have differential impacts on learning depending on the extent to which it increases cognitive workload. This study compared two different online statistics lecture formats: interactive and non-interactive. The interactive lecture video stopped approximately every minute and the participant had to answer a question regarding the material before moving on to the next section of the video. The non-interactive lecture video was the exact same video edited to remove all interactive breaks in the video. Cognitive workload was measured using the NASA Task Load Index and learning was assessed using performance on a quiz. Seventy participants from the San Jose State research pool were included in the analysis. The researcher predicted that cognitive workload would be a mediating variable in the relationship between online pedagogy and learning, such that an interactive pedagogy would be associated with lower cognitive workload and result in larger learning gains compared to a non-interactive pedagogy. The researcher concluded that cognitive workload was not a mediating variable for online pedagogy and learning. Online pedagogy did not predict learning. However, the type of pedagogy had an effect on cognitive workload, such that the non-interactive group had lower cognitive workload scores. Developers of online pedagogy should recognize that cognitive workload differs across pedagogies and the impact on learning should remain the final assessment of any given approach

The Influence of Living Situation on Help-Seeking Behaviors of Undergraduate Students.

Mental health issues, psychological distress, and suicidal ideation in college students have been on the rise in recent years. As a result, student intention and utilization of mental health services has dramatically increased, and many college and university campuses are unable to keep up with the growing demand. There are many variables that may influence the help-seeking intentions and behaviors of undergraduate college students, and pervious literature on the subject has primarily examined the role of attitude, stigma, mental health literacy, and perceived need. Very few studies have specifically examined the role of living situation, campus culture, and connectedness to campus on help-seeking intentions and behaviors. The goal of the present study was to examine the relationship between living on or off campus and help-seeking behaviors among undergraduate college students. Help-seeking is often indicative of underlying psychological distress, so the secondary goals of this study aimed to examine various relationships between demographic variables (like sexual orientation and age), perceived stress, perception of coping mechanisms, help-seeking, and perception of barriers to psychological resources. Findings suggest that living on or off campus has no effect on help-seeking; however, the results indicate relationships between help-seeking, barriers to resources, and coping mechanisms

Influence of SNAP Participation and Food Environment on Nutritional Quality of Food at Home Purchases

A growing body of research describes how individuals make food shopping decisions in both time and space. The FoodAPS dataset provides a unique opportunity for understanding these patterns among a large sample across income, SNAP status, and settings. We addressed three questions in our research: (1) Where do participants shop for food at home (FAH) and how do individual characteristics interact with store characteristics and distance? (2) How does the nutritional content of foods purchased change as time from SNAP distribution increases? and (3) How does store choice influence the nutritional quality of FAH purchases? We used a conditional logit model to answer the first question, determining that overall, participants choose full-service supermarkets, larger stores, and stores closer to home but that store choice is influences by SNAP status, ethnicity, race, sex, car ownership and the level of urbanization of the county of residence. For the second question, we used general linear modeling to determine changes over time in dietary quality of FAH purchases, as measured by composite Health Eating Index (HEI) score. We found an increase in HEI-2010 score in the days immediately following SNAP distribution followed by a decrease until 20 days after distribution and then a moderate increase to the end of the SNAP-cycle. For the final question, we used a generalized estimating equation (GEE) model for repeated-measures to analyze the impact of store type on composite HEI score of FAH events. We found that purchases made at limited assortment stores had significantly higher HEI scores while dollar stores had significantly lower HEI scores than purchases at conventional supermarkets. Participating in SNAP had significant positive impact on composite HEI scores, relative to households income-eligible for SNAP but not participating. These results require closer consideration but have important implications for policies relating to what types of foods stores should be subsidized, through healthy food financing initiatives and SNAP and WIC authorization, and the way SNAP benefits are distributed over the course of the month

Racial Disparities in Intravenous Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator Use Persist at Primary Stroke Centers.

BACKGROUND: Primary stroke centers (PSCs) utilize more recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) than non-PSCs. The impact of PSCs on racial disparities in rt-PA use is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: We used data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2004 to 2010, limited to states that publicly reported hospital identity and race. Hospitals certified as PSCs by The Joint Commission were identified. Adults with a diagnosis of ischemic stroke were analyzed. Rt-PA use was defined by the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision procedure code 99.10. Discharges (304 152 patients) from 26 states met eligibility criteria, and of these 71.5% were white, 15.0% black, 7.9% Hispanic, and 5.6% other. Overall, 24.7% of white, 27.4% of black, 16.2% of Hispanic, and 29.8% of other patients presented to PSCs. A higher proportion received rt-PA at PSCs than non-PSCs in all race/ethnic groups (white 7.6% versus 2.6%, black 4.8% versus 2.0%, Hispanic 7.1% versus 2.4%, other 7.2% versus 2.5%, all P CONCLUSIONS: Racial disparities in intravenous rt-PA use were not reduced by presentation to PSCs. Black patients were less likely to receive thrombolytic treatment than white patients at both non-PSCs and PSCs. Hispanic patients were less likely to be seen at PSCs relative to white patients and were less likely to receive intravenous rt-PA in the fully adjusted model

Efficiency of spinal anesthesia versus general anesthesia for lumbar spinal surgery: a retrospective analysis of 544 patients.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown varying results in selected outcomes when directly comparing spinal anesthesia to general in lumbar surgery. Some studies have shown reduced surgical time, postoperative pain, time in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), incidence of urinary retention, postoperative nausea, and more favorable cost-effectiveness with spinal anesthesia. Despite these results, the current literature has also shown contradictory results in between-group comparisons. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed by querying the electronic medical record database for surgeries performed by a single surgeon between 2007 and 2011 using procedural codes 63030 for diskectomy and 63047 for laminectomy: 544 lumbar laminectomy and diskectomy surgeries were identified, with 183 undergoing general anesthesia and 361 undergoing spinal anesthesia (SA). Linear and multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify differences in blood loss, operative time, time from entering the operating room (OR) until incision, time from bandage placement to exiting the OR, total anesthesia time, PACU time, and total hospital stay. Secondary outcomes of interest included incidence of postoperative spinal hematoma and death, incidence of paraparesis, plegia, post-dural puncture headache, and paresthesia, among the SA patients. RESULTS: SA was associated with significantly lower operative time, blood loss, total anesthesia time, time from entering the OR until incision, time from bandage placement until exiting the OR, and total duration of hospital stay, but a longer stay in the PACU. The SA group experienced one spinal hematoma, which was evacuated without any long-term neurological deficits, and neither group experienced a death. The SA group had no episodes of paraparesis or plegia, post-dural puncture headaches, or episodes of persistent postoperative paresthesia or weakness. CONCLUSION: SA is effective for use in patients undergoing elective lumbar laminectomy and/or diskectomy spinal surgery, and was shown to be the more expedient anesthetic choice in the perioperative setting