Use of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Veterans with Combat-related PTSD

The purpose of this paper was to determine whether animal-assisted therapy is effective in treating combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. While the intent was to discover the efficacy of animal-assisted therapy, articles which discussed only the use of psychiatric service dogs were found in the final search. This review highlighted an area for further clarification in future research to ensure that the distinction is made clear between psychiatric service dogs and animal-assisted therapy. The findings illustrated that, when the veterans began to feel benefits of the human-animal bond with their dogs, their psychiatric symptoms became more manageable. A reduction in symptoms enabled the veterans in the studies to feel more comfortable engaging with their communities and participate in outreach efforts. Finally, the combination of a strong bond, manageable symptoms, and community participation lead the veterans to express the hope that they would continue to improve through the partnership with their psychiatric service dog

Hybrid solvers for the Boolean Satisfiability problem: an exploration

The Boolean Satisfiability problem (SAT) is one of the most extensively researched NP-complete problems in Computer Science. This thesis focuses on the design of feasible solvers for this problem. A SAT problem instance is a formula in propositional logic. A SAT solver attempts to find a solution for the formula. Our research focuses on a newer solver paradigm, hybrid solvers, where two solvers are combined in order to gain the benefits from both solvers in the search for a solution. Our hybrid solver, AmbSAT, combines two well-known solvers: the systematic Davis-Putnam-Logemann-Loveland solver (DPLL) and the stochastic WalkSAT solver. AmbSAT\u27s design is original and differs from the hybrid solver designs in the research literature. AmbSAT utilizes a DPLL algorithm to lead the search and WalkSAT at appropriate points to aid in the search process. Central to AmbSAT\u27s design is the notion of ambivalence. Essentially, ambivalence attempts to formally identify the points in time when the DPLL solver might be well served by further guidance from WalkSAT. In this thesis, we present three different ambivalence notions and analyze their performance against a pure DPLL solver. Our results are promising, and indicate that AmbSAT performs better than a pure DPLL solver on a diverse collection of SAT problem instances

Pine trees may shed light on global warming

VCU graduate student Constance Bolte has been conducting research at “the intersection of ecology and evolution,” focusing on three species of pine trees: the loblolly, the pitch pine and the table mountain pine. Using temperature and precipitation data, Bolte has been forecasting and “hindcasting” the species’ distribution across North America

Stable Money: An Evaluation of Political Stability and U.S. Bilateral Aid in Latin America

This study examined the potential relationship between U. S. bilateral aid and political stability for the Latin American world region. Two objectives were addressed by the analysis, first, what is the statistical relationship between U.S. bilateral aid and political stability and second, how does the spatial pattern of political stability equate to the spatial distribution of foreign bilateral aid in Latin America. Highly significant statistical relationships were discovered between bilateral aid and political stability. Distinct patterns in both political stability and bilateral aid indicated that politically fragile nations consistently received larger amounts of bilateral aid

Predicting Sexual Satisfaction from Self-Objectification and Alcohol Consumption

This study was conducted to examine if gender, self-objectification and alcohol consumption were predictors of sexual satisfaction. It was expected that females would self-objectify more than males and self-objectification would negatively relate to satisfaction. It was expected that drinking alcohol would also negatively relate to satisfaction. Undergraduate participants (n=235) who reported a heterosexual sexual encounter within the past three months completed an online survey. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted separately for males and females. It was found that gender was not a predictor of satisfaction; self-objectification did however negatively relate to sexual satisfaction for males and females, and alcohol consumption at most recent sexual encounter also negatively related to sexual satisfaction. Alcohol consumption over the last month did not negatively relate to satisfaction. Control variables included gender, BMI, year in school, and relationship status

Harriet Martineau's political economy

Following the success of her Illustrations of Political Economy (1832-4) series, in which she popularized the political economies of Thomas R. Malthus, Adam Smith, and Jeremy Bentham, Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) was commissioned by Henry, Lord Brougham, to develop a series of similar pamphlets discussing their shared desire for poor law reform. These pamphlets served to explain the proposed amendments Brougham and other parliamentary Radicals and Whigs hoped to pass through Parliament. Using the personal legislative drafts of Lord Brougham, Martineau published Poor Laws and Paupers Illustrated throughout 1833 and 1834 under condition of anonymity. In these pamphlets, Martineau not only popularized Malthusian political economy, like in her earlier series, but in fact reformulated it by delineating the crucial components of a moral and progressive society. Indeed, with Poor Laws and Paupers Illustrated, Martineau was no longer simply a popularizer of science, but in fact stood at the forefront of the science of wealth known as political economy

Distribution and Diversity of Archaeal and Bacterial Ammonia Oxidizers in Salt Marsh Sediments

Diversity and abundance of ammonia-oxidizing Betaproteobacteria (β-AOB) and archaea (AOA) were investigated in a New England salt marsh at sites dominated by short or tall Spartina alterniflora (SAS and SAT sites, respectively) or Spartina patens (SP site). AOA amoA gene richness was higher than β-AOB amoA richness at SAT and SP, but AOA and β-AOB richness were similar at SAS. β-AOB amoA clone libraries were composed exclusively of Nitrosospira-like amoA genes. AOA amoA genes at SAT and SP were equally distributed between the water column/sediment and soil/sediment clades, while AOA amoA sequences at SAS were primarily affiliated with the water column/sediment clade. At all three site types, AOA were always more abundant than β-AOB based on quantitative PCR of amoA genes. At some sites, we detected 109 AOA amoA gene copies g of sediment−1. Ratios of AOA to β-AOB varied over 2 orders of magnitude among sites and sampling dates. Nevertheless, abundances of AOA and β-AOB amoA genes were highly correlated. Abundance of 16S rRNA genes affiliated with Nitrosopumilus maritimus, Crenarchaeota group I.1b, and pSL12 were positively correlated with AOA amoA abundance, but ratios of amoA to 16S rRNA genes varied among sites. We also observed a significant effect of pH on AOA abundance and a significant salinity effect on both AOA and β-ΑΟΒ abundance. Our results expand the distribution of AOA to salt marshes, and the high numbers of AOA at some sites suggest that salt marsh sediments serve as an important habitat for AOA

Implementing the Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment Model in Occupational Therapy

The purpose of this project was to develop a resource manual for occupational therapists to guide treatment planning for persons with a co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder, according to the stages and components of the Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) Model. A comprehensive literature review of the issues facing persons with co-occurring disorders, the IDDT model, and the role of occupational therapy for persons with co-occurring disorders was conducted. The literature supported the effectiveness of the IDDT model, and indicated justification for occupational therapy’s implementation of the IDDT model. A resource manual was developed to support occupational therapists’ the development of effective treatment planning for persons with co-occurring disorders through the implementation of the IDDT Model. The Person-Environment-Occupation Model was selected as the guiding occupational therapy model to utilize in conjunction with the IDDT Model. The IDDT Model is widely recognized as an evidence-based approach to service delivery to persons with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder. Occupational therapists, as members of the interdisciplinary IDDT team, have the unique ability to improve persons’ participation in meaningful occupations, as well as developing a sense of wellness and improved quality of life

Estimating the Impact of Ride-Hailing App Company Entry on Public Transportation Use in Major US Urban Areas

Since 2011, the private ride-hailing (RH) app companies Uber and Lyft have expanded into more and more US urban areas. We use a dynamic entry event study to examine the impact of Uber and Lyft\u27s entry on public transportation (PT) use in the United States\u27 largest urban areas. In most cases, entry into urban areas was staggered: Uber entered first, followed several months later by Lyft. We generally find that PT use increased in the representative urban area, all else equal, immediately following first RH app company entry. However, this spike in PT use largely disappeared following the entry of the second RH app company. Slightly different RH app company-PT use relationships emerge when we estimate the PT use model over various subsets of urban areas and PT modes