A new perspective: Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) as a case study for time series analysis and historical data

This thesis endeavors to develop methods for the historical analysis of a specific species and location to begin understanding fishery patterns and change over time. The main goal was to develop statistical methods to address historical data and provide long-term information on fishery trends and potential relationships between the fishery and outside influences. The Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) fishery was investigated for underlying patterns and the possible impact of outside variables and events from 1870 to 2007. In the Gulf of Maine, Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) provide critical forage for many economically valuable species, while supporting a major New England fishery. Extensive research and stock assessments conducted on herring since the 1960s have focused on recent patterns of distribution, abundance, and other fishery characteristics. This work has often neglected longer-term patterns or changes and the long history of anthropogenic influence and exploitation. Further, the current management strategy for herring may be insufficient and herring ecology is not fully understood. Specific questions remain on stock structure and the viability of inshore populations, in addition to the possibly major changes in herring abundance and distribution suggested by historical documents. Due to these questions and their ecological and economic importance, herring are an interesting case study for the investigation of historical data and the application of time series analysis (TSA). Here, TSA was used to explore long-term herring fishery data and the possible influence of anthropogenic events and natural drivers from 1871 to the present (2007). Historical information on Atlantic herring and oceanographic features was compiled from many sources across New England and in St. Andrews Bay, Canada. For herring, the information was aggregated into a time series by total pounds per year for Maine and the Canadian Bay of Fundy. In addition, a time series was built for sea surface temperature (SST) and surface salinity at St. Andrews Biological Station (SABS) in Canada. Finally, a timeline constructed from the qualitative historical text summarized potentially influential socioeconomic and industry events by year. An initial visual comparison explored possible correlation between fluctuations in the herring time series and events in the time line. Viable events were found to explain many of the visually identified fluctuations. Once time series were constructed, TSA was used to model the underlying patterns of the herring fishery and oceanographic data. More specifically, auto-regressive-integrated-moving-average (ARIMA) models were applied. These models were then used to interpolate the missing years for complete time series, and ARIMA models were run again on these complete data sets. The final model for the Maine herring fishery was an ARIMA(1,1,0), meaning that the pounds in one year was explained, at least in part, by pounds the year before. For Canada, the model was an ARIMA(0,1,1), indicating that the pounds were more explained by the conservation of noise, or error, from the year previously. The models developed were then used to begin examining the impact of the events from the qualitative timeline and oceanographic features (SST and salinity) on the fishery time series. Intervention analysis detected outliers, called interventions, representing years of unexpected change in the herring time series. These years were compared to the qualitative time line to determine a possible explanatory event. Such events were speculated for the majority of interventions found. Finally, cross-correlation analysis compared the herring time series with the SABS SST and salinity time series for possible cause-and-effect relationships. The analysis found no significant relationships between the series. This study demonstrated the potential of TSA and historical data, including the qualitative literature, to better understand fisheries over the long term. TSA is a useful tool for applying historical data to study ecosystems in their entirety, from historical fisheries to today, rather than isolated in time or context. Results can broaden the temporal and ecosystem perspective in which fishery statistics are examined, and methodologies can be refined and expanded in the future. However, as used here, TSA addresses only catch statistics, not abundance or other population parameters. These methods should be used in conjunction with traditional statistical approaches and to inform stock assessment

MS Early Childhood System Asset Map Part II - Strengths and Opportunities

The Asset Map includes information about program funding, children served, and providers through data requests to state agency leaders and review of state and federal reports. We also gathered data about the well-being of children and families in Mississippi. Along the way, we shared the data and drafts of the Asset Map with the SECAC, relevant state agency leaders, and the public, ensuring their suggested revisions were included

Healthy Homes Neighbor to Neighbor Model

Ensuring the over health and well-being of a community is dependent not only on the healthcare professionals and resources in that community, but also the accessibility and reach of healthcare knowledge. Healthy Androscoggin established The Neighbor to Neighbor Healthy Homes Program in 2018 in order to spread awareness about environmental health risks in the homes of New Mainers by promoting community-held healthcare knowledge. The New Mainers working with Healthy Androscoggin are community members who have recently resettled in Maine from different African origin countries. The aim of the Neighbor to Neighbor Program, which is a branch of the Healthy Homes Initiative, is to identify and mitigate the most prevalent environmental health risks in the homes of New Mainers in Lewiston, Maine. Healthy Androscoggin collaborated with ambassadors from different African origin countries to educate their friends, families, and neighbors in order to share the Healthy Homes Education and behaviors that are affordable, attainable, and long-lasting. Healthy Androscoggin created and administered two surveys over the course of three weeks in order to evaluate the initial transfer and retention of healthcare knowledge among participating neighbors. Through a partnership between Bates College Environmental Studies Program and Healthy Androscoggin, we developed a third survey that was conducted eight months after the initial Healthy Homes Education session. The third survey aimed to identify what Healthy Homes behaviors were difficult to maintain, if the neighbors remembered all of the information from the initial education session, and if participants noticed changes in their personal health. The surveys consisted of both ‘yes/no’ and narrative questions in which ambassadors followed-up with neighbors about their experience in the program. The results from all three surveys were analyzed in order to recognize the current environmental health concerns among New Mainers, determine the overall success of the health education model, and inform future directions for the program. One major finding from the third survey was that 100 percent of the participants noticed changes in their overall health over the eight-month program period. In addition, 80 percent of the participating neighbors shared their Healthy Homes education with friends, family, and peers not formally enrolled in the program. This demonstrates that the program will continue to function even without the initial education provided by Healthy Androscoggin. Furthermore, this suggests that Healthy Androscoggin successfully promoted community-held healthcare knowledge about environmental health risks in Lewiston was established. Survey 3 also identified a new health concern among New Mainers that had not been explicitly addressed by the program. Some participating neighbors were concerned that their homes were not equipped with carbon monoxide detectors or that the existing detectors were not 3 functioning properly. Perhaps the most noteworthy findings from the third survey was that the Healthy Homes information assisted participants as they searched for new homes, thus encouraging tenants to advocate for their health. One third of participants from Survey 3 moved to new homes over the course of the eight months and explained that their decision to move and criteria for a new home was informed by the Healthy Homes Education. Lastly, multiple neighbors expressed a need for additional support when communicating with landlords about hazards such as lead and radon exposure. This alludes to the broader, systematic barriers that prevent those who are disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards from gaining true autonomy and control over their health. It is clear from the survey results that individual and community actions were successful in promoting community held healthcare knowledge. However, these actions can only go so far without structural, social, and political support

PicShare

PicShare is an app that allows companies to easily manage their social media presence without having to dedicate large amounts of time to the process. Your social media department can now extend their reach with the help of all of your other employees. Our platform allows users to upload images/text from a mobile application or directly from the web. Administrators have the ability to take their own or user\u27s image/text uploads and prepare for a social media post. Employees attending events can get content to your social media staff much faster and with more variety. Our application is a great way to get your staff involved in spreading the word about your company. At the same time, you can maintain the security of your social media accounts by only entrusting credentials to administrators. We have created a one stop shop for social media staff to work from because we allow for connection of multiple accounts. Customers working as administrators within our application can post to multiple social media accounts and multiple accounts within each of our connected platforms.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1167/thumbnail.jp

MS Early Childhood System Asset Map Part I - Program Profiles

The Asset Map includes information about program funding, children served, and providers through data requests to state agency leaders and review of state and federal reports. We also gathered data about the well-being of children and families in Mississippi. Along the way, we shared the data and drafts of the Asset Map with the SECAC, relevant state agency leaders, and the public, ensuring their suggested revisions were included

Designing Adherence Interventions

While many have identified medication adherence as a critical part of therapy success and recognize that most therapies have adherence rates that are too low, few successful solutions to improve adherence have emerged. The palette of potential adherence interventions continues to grow, but the literature does not provide a general understanding of what works and what doesn’t. Instead, many papers describe adherence problems within a single condition, therapy, or patient population or assess traditional interventions: support phone calls, informational literature, reminder text messages. Furthermore, the specifics of adherence approaches tested are not typically discussed in the literature.  One can imagine multiple telephonic “support” experiences, some of which motivate and truly support patients, and others which may annoy them. The missing piece is an approach to adherence that considers design. A more careful consideration of the details of the design will open new possibilities for effective adherence intervention systems. Understanding the broader context of design: the particular condition, therapy, and patient population, will help ensure that those details are most appropriate. The combined focus on details with sensitivity to context creates a foundation for innovation that can be both customized to the particular problem and generalizable for other researchers and designers.

Perceptions of Medical Students of the Role of the Speech-language Pathologist in HIV/AIDS Intervention

Survey research was utilized to explore Medical students’ perceptions of Speech-Language Pathologists’(SLP) and Medical Practitioner’s roles in meeting the healthcare needs of people living with HIV/AIDS(PLWHA). Results identified participants’ knowledge and perceptions. Recommendations suggest interprofessional education and training for both professions, at the pre-professional and professional levels