TTU Published Journals @ Volpe Library
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The Effects of Dog Ownership on Coping Skills in Children with Chronic Illness
Get PDFCan pet ownership have effects on coping skills in a child who has a chronic illness? Pet therapy in a children’s hospital is one aspect of the services provided to help children who have chronic illness increase their coping skills. The Stress and Coping Theory explains how humans cope with the stress and sets the foundation for a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS). CCLS enhance children’s psychosocial development and coping ability when hospitalized, including transitioning back home, and to the new normal. When children leave the hospital, they are left without their pet that has helped them cope with the trauma of their critical illness while being hospitalized. The aim of this literature synthesis is to find effects of pet ownership on coping skills once they return home from the hospital. The key terms used include, coping abilities in children, chronic illness, and pet ownership. Results showed that there are significant positive, and negative effects that owning pets can have on coping skills in chronically ill children. Owning a pet can help coping skills in children with chronic illness, but the negative effects of dog ownership, such as asthma, can cause negative coping abilities by stressing the child out. Trends observed were positive effects such as increase in positivity, companionship, and joy, while negative effects were mostly allergies and asthma related conditions. In conclusion, pet ownership can have positive and negative effects on coping skills in children who have chronic illness
Correlation between school gardens and nutrition education for middle school students
Get PDFIs there a correlation between school gardens and nutrition education for middle school students? Many students rely on school lunches to avoid going hungry throughout the day. There are specific standards that schools must meet when providing lunch to students, but are these students actually benefitting from these regulations? By implementing a school garden, students would learn how to grow their own foods and vegetables, be introduced to new foods, and learn the benefits of different foods on their body and health in an interactive way. The schools could then incorporate the foods grown in the garden into the lunches that are prepared for the students in the cafeteria. Evidence shows that having more access to fruits and vegetables increases the amount consumed. It may also improve better eating habits and may change the way students feel about healthy foods. Research also shows that there is a lot of waste from school lunches. This waste could be from students not liking the food provided but are required to get, depending on the program they are enrolled in. The different programs, free or reduced price lunch, require students to get certain foods and students may not normally eat those foods at home or may have never been introduced to those foods before, thus creating a lot of wasted food. This waste could possibly be reduced by providing students with proper nutrition education and by interacting with new foods through a school garden
*WINNER* Would Annual A1C Testing Decrease Mortality in Undiagnosed Type 1 Diabetic Children?
No full textChildren across the globe are experiencing a life-threatening illness known as diabetic ketoacidosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA, is a serious complication of type 1 diabetes that consists of high blood glucose levels (300+ mg/dL), the presence of ketones in the urine, and a low blood pH (metabolic acidosis). According to the MMWR, the rate of hospitalizations due to DKA increased 54.9% between the years of 2009 and 2014; furthermore, the Diabetes Cares Journal states that 22,225 children 17 years old and younger were hospitalized with DKA in 2017. Oftentimes, children experience DKA as the first symptom of type 1 diabetes. This is especially important because if these children do not yet know that they have diabetes, they will not know if their blood glucose levels are high or how to get it down. Consequently, they will go into DKA and may face serious illness unless treated appropriately. The good news is that DKA is preventable. Through our question, we propose that testing a child’s A1C at annual physicals could prevent DKA and death in undiagnosed type 1 diabetics. A1C is a blood test that tests the average amount of glucose that adheres itself to red blood cells over 3-4 months. With this test, we would be able to see if a child has diabetes, and we could correct their blood glucose before they fell into DKA- which could save lives
*WINNER* Examination of a Bottle Bill in Tennessee
No full textPollution is a major component to the degradation of our planet’s biosphere, and effective recycling policies may be needed to halt the process. Some areas in the United States, such as California and New York, have implemented a “bottle bill”, or a piece of legislation that incentivizes the recycling of certain beverage containers by providing monetary resources to consumers who participate. In the state of Tennessee, a similar bill has attempted ratification in recent years, but to no avail. The effects of such legislation in states that have adopted “bottle bill” regulations have been investigated when questioning whether to implement such laws in Tennessee. California, a state with active bottle bill programs, Delaware, a state with a recently decommissioned bottle bill program, and Tennessee, a state with no bottle bill, will be studied to determine the effects such legislation has on the amount of waste collected. The results were clear; in areas that incentivized recycling through monetary gain, more physical waste was collected. However, it is important to recognize that such legislation is not the final solution; it must be supplemented by further recycling initiatives
Marrying for Autonomy: A Feminist Analysis of Romeo and Juliet
Get PDFSeveral Shakespeare scholars focus on the oppression of women in Shakespeare’s time, and maintain that stance when analyzing Romeo and Juliet. Some scholars argue that both Romeo and Juliet, but especially Juliet, are oppressed and passive in the events of the play. This paper argues that not only do both characters actively participate in their lives, but Juliet in particular determines her own fate. Juliet chooses not to abide by her parents’ wish that she marry Paris, and instead chases Romeo, despite knowing her parents’ expectations of her to marry the man they chose for her. This paper claims that, with the help of her nurse, Juliet makes rational decisions, showing that she does not have a history of impulsive actions. While Romeo may make impulsive decisions, those are a result of a lack of mature guidance, not a result of his own immaturity. The difference in their support systems shows how Juliet has the capability to make well-informed, reasonable decisions, and therefore chooses to commit suicide on her own accord. She determines her own fate, knows she would not live the life she wants if she lives, and chooses death over living an unhappy life. The paper uses feminist criticism and close reading to arrive at this conclusion. I wrote this paper for my English 6000 Intro to Graduate Studies course in the Fall 2020 semester
*WINNER* Sharing Stories: Recording Stories that Change in Tracks
No full textNative American cultures thrives in the cyclical nature and continual existence of change in the world. However, with white culture oppressing and destroying their natural world, Native culture had to adapt to survive. One of the adaptations included the recording of Native stories and later the publication of said stories. Many Native Americans resent this new tradition, as it preserves a single version of the story instead of allowing for the adaptations that comes with storytelling. My paper focuses on Louise Erdrich’s novel Tracks, a single book in a collection of novels focusing on the same characters experiencing Native life in a more modern world. Erdrich uses Tracks to tell the story of the character Fleur; however, much like Native storytelling, many narrators tell her tale in different, sometimes contradictory ways, providing a customizable story that changes depending on the narrator. I argue that Erdrich’s novel proves that the recording of Native American tales can reflect the original intent—to share ever-changing and growing stories. Contradicting the issue that recording stories is only preserving a corpse of the original intent provides an opportunity for Native Americans to share their stories without the threat of losing them entirely as their culture continues to assimilate into modern American culture. Additionally, novels create an avenue by which the stories can be spread and told to multiple people, including people of different cultures, therein allowing more people to both understand and accurately participate in Native American traditions
White-tailed deer site use affects vegetation structure, composition, and biodiversity in Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee
No full textHerbivores have been known to exert powerful forces on vegetation structures in many plant communities. In particular, selective herbivores, those who choose specific plants to forage on, can greatly impact community structure by inhibiting the growth of species that contribute to the diversity within plant communities. Primarily, studies in the northeastern United States have shown the cascading effects white-tailed deer have in regions that have slow growing climatic conditions. The question remains of how white-tailed deer herbivory might affect vegetation structure and diversity in the southeastern United States, where the climate allows for faster growth of vegetation. Therefore, our research focused on delineating how white-tailed deer affect the plant community and diversity at Chestnut Mountain in Sparta, Tennessee. We measured vegetation abundance, visual obstruction, and diversity at six 50-meter plots throughout Chestnut Mountain and correlated daily numbers of deer photographed in the area by remote cameras. Deer herbivory did not inhibit vegetation growth of unpreferred grass or fern species, but preferred shrubs and vining species had decreased in relation to deer presence. Our study demonstrates that white-tailed deer might not have as powerful as an effect in the southeast as they do in the northeast except when in relation with shrub and vining species. Our results are preliminary but suggest that more extensive examination of deer herbivory and its affect on vegetation communities in warmer climates may be warranted
Genetic Variation in Captive Populations of Barrens Topminnow
Get PDFThe Barrens topminnow (Fundulus julisia), a freshwater killifish native to the Barrens Plateau in Tennessee, has suffered continual population declines since the 1980’s. These declines can be attributed to multiple factors including droughts, habitat loss, and harassment by the invasive Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) which have been widely introduced across the Southeastern United States. As of 2019, this species was federally listed under the Endangered Species Act. In an effort to mitigate further population declines, a number of captive refuge populations were established in the early 2000s as a source for future introductions. These captive populations were initiated from brood stocks from three natural populations (Pond Spring in the Elk River drainage, and Hickory and McMahan Creek in the Caney Fork Drainage) and have been used as a source for establishing new population in the wild. There is concern about the adaptive potential and genetic health of these newly established populations as loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding can accumulate rapidly in captivity. Here we used genotype data from 14 microsatellite loci to investigate genetic variation in captive stock populations of the Barrens Topminnow and compare measures of genetic variation to estimates from native source populations. Results from these genetic surveys will be used to inform captive breeding strategies that will best preserve the long-term persistence and adaptive potential of this species
*WINNER* Car Crash: The effect of COVID-19 on Supply and Demand in the Automotive Industry
No full textThe global response to the Covid-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on supply in the auto manufacturing sector as governmental responses caused rolling halts in automotive production. At the same time, the surge to 14% unemployment coupled with the economic uncertainty changed consumer spending habits impacting demand. We analyzed the quarterly financial statements of five companies from three different stops on the supply chain: Tier 1 automotive suppliers, automotive retailers, and automotive aftermarket retailers from Q2, 2017 to Q4, 2020. We hypothesized that (1) disruptions in the supply chain would impact Tier 1 automotive suppliers as their production and revenue are directly tied to the automotive OEMs and (2) automotive retailers and the aftermarket industry would be affected by the inconsistent demand caused by the pandemic. We found that revenue and profit margin decreased for Tier 1 Suppliers in the quarters following governmental regulations on COVID-19, as Tier 1 and OEM plants began to slow production. In the same period, automotive retailers saw a significant decline in revenue and profit margin, while the aftermarket industry saw unprecedented demand for their products. Unemployment and economic uncertainty may reveal why consumers decided to stray away from new vehicle purchases, and instead spent money in the aftermarket industry to repair vehicles they already own. As the country began to open and consumers became more secure, the data suggests that supply and demand increased for both Tier 1 Suppliers and Automotive Retailers, while the Aftermarket industry slowed to pre-pandemic levels
Upper Cumberland Health Education
No full textThe Upper Cumberland Community Host Group has shown the need for rural health innovation through gathering data from Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinics. Seeing the needs in dental and medical health continue to go unmet, there must be another way to treat the patient. This research shows how focused Health Education in the rural areas of the Upper Cumberland may provide a hope for patients and a relief for the healthcare system