Understanding benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and comparing its common treatment methods

Includes bibliographical references.The following honors capstone research project considers the neurological disorder referred to as Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). BPPV is the most common cause of vertigo and typically effects individuals in the elderly population. BPPV usually results from free floating debris located in one of the semicircular canals within the inner ear. The symptoms of BPPV typically consist of episodes of dizziness or spinning (vertigo) accompanied by nystagmus (rapid involuntary eye movement). Even something as simple as looking to back a car out of a garage can cause the symptoms of BPPV to ignite. As a result, BPPV can have a significant toll on an individual's quality of life. As the older adult population continues to grow as a result of the aging baby boomer generation, the incidence and prevalence of BPPV will correspondingly increase. Several very successful treatment methods have been developed to properly identify and combat the symptoms of BPPV. Each of these treatment methods are very similar, but result with different outcomes. This project looks to uncover the best possible treatment method for BPPV based on previously completed research. In addition, this project examines BPPV at a physiological and anatomical level while also describing the symptoms, vocational implications, and examination techniques consistent with current research on vestibular disorders.B.S. (Bachelor of Science

From King to Villain: Herod the Great\u27s Transition from Historical Figure to Dramatic Antagonist

King Herod the Great’s reputation in 17th-century England was so vile that several theologians and writers took it upon themselves to write biographies of him, styling him as one of the worst men who ever lived. He had become a monolithic example of evil, tyranny, and unrighteous wrath divorced from the historical reality. Modern historical consensus on Herod is that he was a troubled ruler with paranoia and a temper, but little more. Meanwhile, followers of the Christian faith know him for orchestrating the Massacre of the Innocents—an event wherein an untold number of baby boys in Bethlehem were murdered in an attempt to kill the newborn Jesus Christ. This reception study asserts that Herod the Great’s historical image was manipulated by Christian authors from Matthew to the 16th century Catholic church to reinforce ideas about good, evil, and Jesus Christ’s status as the messiah. This case demonstrates a potential pitfall for historians, where bias and misinformation originates not from a figure’s contemporaries or predictable enemies, but from later authors with little investment in the figure beyond their convenience in making a point

Understanding Early 20th Century Tenant Farming in Bartow County, Georgia

Tenant farming is an agricultural system in which farmers cultivate crops or raise livestock on rented land. Tenant farming became prominent directly following the American Civil war due to the bad economy former slaves and poor whites faced. Tenant farmers oftentimes owned equipment and supplies and were provided with food and other necessities from the landowners. The Adams family house is a historic building situated in Cartersville, Georgia located only a few miles northwest of the Etowah Indian Mounds. The house was constructed on the Walnut Grove Plantation, owned by the Young family since the early 1830s. Abandoned for a century or more, my research focuses on rediscovering what we know about the daily life of the Adams family through archaeological investigation, archival study, and oral history. Archaeological investigation was centered on clearing the vegetation as well as mapping the extant building to reveal architectural and construction information. Artifacts excavated from in and around the house help to round out what we know about their socioeconomic status. Archival study and oral history were more limited in scope and scale, but the information retrieved complemented the archaeological field and lab work. Combined, the research presents a picture of an early 20th century tenet farming family, hidden from view until now. Exposing this lifestyle adds to our understanding of the mode of production of this specific family in relation to the typical tenant farmer standard at the time

The Effect of Nutrition Labelling on Fast-Food Nutritional Content

The United States has implemented many policies to target obesity. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has mandated that restaurants must label the calorie content of the food they provide on menus and menu boards. Previous literature suggests that this policy will cause a small subset of consumers to improve the nutritional quality of the food they consume. Restaurants’ responses to the policy are not as well studied but existing literature suggests that menu items become slightly healthier after the introduction of various local policies. This paper seeks to assess the impact of a nationally-instituted nutrition labeling policy on fast-food nutritional content. We find evidence that restaurants both improve the healthfulness of pre-existing food items and introduce new food items of substantially lower nutritional quality

Ideological Infection in Dostoevsky\u27s Demons

This project is an exploration of ideology in Dostoevsky\u27s 1871 novel Demons. In this work, Dostoevsky portrays the connection between utopianism and extremism. This project explores how romantic and political idealism becomes the foundation for violence and terrorism, through the relationship of the 1840\u27s liberal Stepan Trofimovich Verhovensky and his nihilistic sons

The Paleontological Stratigraphic Interval Construction and Analysis Tool

Core description diagrams are the primary record of the cylindrical rock samples that result from the scientific drilling process. Typically, these diagrams are drawn by hand in field books and then drafted up in a graphics program for publication. Very rarely are the actual data encoded in the diagrams, e.g., depth in core, grain size, and lithology, captured in a format that can be manipulated and analyzed. This thesis introduces the Paleontological Stratigraphic Interval Construction and Analysis Tool (PSICAT), an interactive, cross-platform environment for creating, viewing, and editing core description diagrams, and discusses the design and implementation of its extensible software architecture and data model which allows it to seamlessly capture and visualize core description data. PSICAT was used to log nearly 1300 meters of sediment core drilled during ANtarctic DRILLing (ANDRILL) project\u27s McMurdo Ice Shelf expedition

Investigating Game-Based Instruction as a Tool for Engineering Ethics Education in a First-Year Engineering Program

Behaving ethically is a core foundation within engineering and is a necessity according to the National Society of Professional Engineers. Therefore, engineering ethics education has been increasingly encouraged within engineering curriculums in higher education. Many instructors have found it difficult to teach engineering ethics effectively using traditional strategies such as lectures. This has caused a trend toward more active learning strategies being researched and utilized within the engineering ethics space. One strategy that has been growing in popularity in instruction both inside and outside of engineering is game-based learning or using educational games with instruction to accomplish learning goals. To this end, three games have been created by researchers at Rowan University, University of Connecticut, University of Pittsburgh, and New Jersey Institute of Technology that are designed to aid in the instruction of first-year engineering students around ethical decision making, reasoning, and awareness. This thesis study explores how first-year engineering students conceptualize engineering ethics prior to formal education and investigates how game-based instruction can be used as an effective, situated and playful learning strategy. Students were assessed on their ethical knowledge and reasoning through concept map analysis as well as with the moral reasoning instruments, the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT-2) and the Engineering Ethical Reasoning Instrument (EERI). Student attitudes towards the three games were assessed through responses to a survey. While there was little to no change in the learning outcomes of the students, it was found that the students were engaged and enjoyed the games. This study adds to the field of engineering ethics education and spreads the use of different active learning strategies that can be used to improve the quality of instruction

Navigational Heads-Up Display

One problem drivers face is distraction from looking at their mobile device while navigating rather than watching the road. This problem can be solved with a heads-up display placed directly on the driver’s windshield. By using a mobile device with a custom GPS application, the following design will be able to send GPS data to a device that will display navigational information on a car windshield. The design includes two primary components, a mobile device and a System Unit, where the System Unit is composed of a portable power supply, a single board computer, and a display. For the design, the mobile device is an android device, the portable power supply is a battery, and the display is a small projector. The design has a very strong software focus, and the main intention of the design is to produce a fully functional Android mobile application that pairs along with prototype hardware elements. In final implementation, the mobile application sends data in the JSON format over a Bluetooth connection. The key features of the project are as follows: • A custom GPS Android Application that can generate routes from the user’s current location to destinations entered by the user. • A System Unit, which is a device that has the capability to be mounted on a vehicle’s dashboard, connect to the user’s mobile device, and generate a display that contains navigation information. • A projected display that is shown on the vehicle’s windshield