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FARGO, THE EARLY YEARS IN DAKOTA
Full text linkThe listing is representative of the residents, business ventures, political issues, education, cultural activities, ethnic groups, fraternal organizations, religious denominations, and historical incidents in the city of Fargo in pre-statehood Fargo
Cross-Cultural Carpentry
Full text linkThis thesis analyzes the proficiencies of light-frame wood construction and compares it to the craftsmanship of traditional Japanese carpentry. The goal of this research was to bridge the gap between these two construction styles and create an adaptation in search of a new solution to light-frame wood construction. That adaptation is then applied to a single-family residential project to refine its process and analyze its strengths and weaknesses
Solar Harbor: Nurturing Nature in Industrial Design
Full text linkWarehouses are places where productivity and cost reduction meet to create highly
profitable, efficient structures. At this intersection, however, there also lies a concrete box with
little regard for the employees that toil within. These boxes, in addition to their disregard for
human needs, interrupt nature in a massive way, destroying ecosystems for various lifeforms
and leaving a large carbon footprint. These large, intrusive structures pose many problems
regarding modern design, and contain outdated and unsustainable building practices that lead
to many natural and societal problems.
A thorough investigation of current warehouse design indicates all the afore-mentioned
issues. This thesis strives to address some of these issues and provide solutions to
problematic design practices. Specifically, this thesis focuses on a warehouse residing in the
Fargo/Moorhead area, designing a warehouse that provides an update to the current
structure, integrating natural lighting, sustainable design practices, and improvements on
the building?s current program and layout
Anthropogenic stressors on freshwater wetlands: a microbial perspective
Full text linkBenthic microbial communities play fundamental roles in wetland ecosystems including nutrient and energy cycling, and the degradation and assimilation of pollutants. Because of these crucial roles, along with their short-life cycles and high diversity, microorganisms can also play an important role as indicators of environmental change, which is particularly relevant in the current climate of increasing anthropogenic stressors, including factors such as emerging pollutants and climate change. Consequently, understanding the responses of microbes to environmental change is critical. To assess the effects of anthropogenic stressors on microbial communities in wetland ecosystems, I examined the response of sediment microorganisms from North Dakota wetlands in both microcosm and field-scale studies. First, I used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to analyze wetland microbial community responses to glyphosate treatments using an experimental microcosm approach. I found no significant differences in microbial communities among concentrations or treatments compared to controls, suggesting microorganisms in this region may have evolved glyphosate tolerance. Second, also taking an experimental approach, I measured methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide flux and porewater concentrations in microcosms to analyze net microbial production and consumption of greenhouse gases following glyphosate and/or 2,4-D treatment. I found high glyphosate concentrations significantly increased carbon dioxide emissions potentially due to increased microbial activity from the use of glyphosate as a substrate, or due to increased respiration as a stress response. Lastly, I used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to compare microbial communities in natural and restored wetlands across the North Dakota Prairie Pothole Region to assess the effects of a physical stressor, hydrologic restoration. I found no significant differences in microbial communities across wetlands, which may be due to the lack of direct sediment disturbance from restoration, or due to the ability of microorganisms to rapidly recover, thus showing no assemblage differences 25 years after restoration. Overall, I demonstrated that integrating microbial ecology with ecotoxicology and restoration ecology can be a beneficial and applicable research approach to understanding the impact of anthropogenic-induced environmental change on wetlands and show that the use of microbial metrics and mechanisms can provide valuable insight on pertinent issues of global concern
Improving care of pregnant women through provider education of group prenatal care
Full text linkPrenatal care has been associated with improved pregnancy outcomes for both a mother and her unborn child. However, there are still many disparities that exist in healthcare today, resulting in inadequate access to prenatal care for many groups of women. Women face many barriers to prenatal care that can lead to poor maternal and neonatal outcomes such as lack of transportation, scheduling difficulties, inability to pay for services, and other social factors (Abshire et al. 2019; Akamune, 2018; Crocket et al., 2019). Since the early 1900?s, the focus has been on individualized care models, but the benefits of group prenatal care (GPC) have become a pertinent topic of discussion. Both the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have discussed the potential benefits of GPC including improvements in the quality of care, as well as enhanced maternal and neonatal outcomes among diverse populations of women.
The focus of this practice improvement project (PIP) was to increase obstetrics providers' knowledge of barriers to prenatal care and educate on the importance of GPC, more specifically the CP? model of care. To better improve prenatal care of women in a central North Dakota OBGYN clinic, obstetrics providers were invited to watch a 25-minute evidence-based PowerPoint presentation with key topics including barriers to prenatal care, ways to reduce barriers to prenatal care, and the benefits of GPC in clinical practice. Providers completed pre- and post-surveys to assess their change in perceived knowledge following the educational module. Four providers responded to the pre-survey and two responded to the post-survey.
Results of the project indicated an overall increase in providers? perceived knowledge regarding barriers to prenatal care, ways to reduce barriers to prenatal care, and benefits of GPC and CP?. In addition, provider intent to implement GPC services into their practice also assessed increased following review of the educational module. Key barriers to implementation of GPC identified by the participants included lack of facility support, staffing, space, and scheduling. The educational module was beneficial in promoting the use of evidence-based research to increase providers? knowledge of ways to reduce barriers to care through the utilization of GPC
Applying theoretical frameworks from cognitive psychology to assess faculty professional development and student reasoning in physics
Full text linkUnderstanding human behavior and reasoning is essential for developing successful instruction. Discipline-based education researchers have examined how students learn, informing the development of successful instructional strategies. Researchers have also identified barriers to the successful implementation of such strategies. This work utilizes two theoretical frameworks from psychology to further examine: 1) efforts to enact instructional change and 2) the effectiveness of instructional approaches to improve students' reasoning in physics. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is used to assess professional development supporting the successful implementation of evidence-based instructional strategies. The Dual Process Theories of Reasoning and Decision-making (DPToR) are used to model human reasoning and explain persistent inconsistencies in student responses. Guided by the TPB, an assessment instrument was created, validated, and implemented to evaluate instructor?s beliefs and intentions about active-learning methodologies. A semi-novel research methodology was also applied to address response-shift bias, a phenomenon common in professional development self-reported assessments. The validation of the instrument and the utility of the retrospective pretest methodology are reported, together with initial assessment results, demonstrating the value of both the TPB and the retrospective pretest in the context of professional development.
The second half of this work discusses inconsistent student reasoning, where students correctly apply conceptual understanding in one context but fail to do so in similar situations. This phenomenon is examined using the Dual Process Theories of Reasoning, which describes reasoning in terms of two processes: a fast, automatic process 1 and a slow, resource-intensive process 2. Process 1 is quick but frequently inaccurate. Process 2 is analytical but time-consuming and effortful. Four reasoning hazards are identified and examined through the lens of DPToR. Three different types of interventions are implemented to help students develop skills to navigate reasoning hazards: 1) Collaborative exams are used to trigger socially-mediated-metacognition in a high-stakes environment, modeling process 2 activation through group reasoning, 2) a multi-stage guided individual intervention followed by a classroom discussion, and 3) explicit discussion of human reasoning modeled by DPToR. The impacts of these interventions are assessed by comparing results from the treatment (intervention) and controlled (alternative intervention) groups
Relationships between electronic handgrip dynamometer derived muscle function and Purdue Pegboard performance
Full text linkPurpose: To examine the relationships of electronic handgrip dynamometer and accelerometer derived maximal handgrip strength (HGS), sub-maximal control, and neuromuscular steadiness on Purdue Pegboard Test (PPT) performance in older adults.
Methods: The analytic sample included 30 generally healthy community-dwelling older adults (age 72.4?5.3). Participants squeezed the handgrip dynamometer with maximal effort on each hand to determine strength capacity. A 25% sub-maximal target was calculated from maximal HGS, and participants were asked to maintain this target for 10-seconds for sub-maximal control. The accelerometer, which was placed on top of the handgrip dynamometer, quantified neuromuscular steadiness. Standard protocols were used for PPT. A series of Pearson correlations were used for the analyses.
Results: Right HGS was weakly, negatively, and insignificantly correlated with PPT performance (r=-0.20; p=0.28), while left HGS was negligibly correlated with PPT performance (r=0.02; p=0.28). Sub-maximal control showed a downward, but insignificant weak trend with PPT performance on the right (r=-0.22; p=0.09) and left hands (r=-0.30; p=0.09). Further, neuromuscular steadiness was negligibly correlated with PPT performance on the right (r=-0.01; p=0.94) and left hands (r=0.14; p=0.43).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a signal may exist between sub-maximal control and PPT performance. Sub-maximal control may serve as a screening tool for examining neuromuscular functioning and fine motor skills. Such a tool may help in occupational therapy (OT) testing and appropriate referral to intervention, which in turn, may help our rapidly growing older adult population extend quality of life and independent living
Advance care planning: implementing online education for rural primary care providers
Full text linkAdvance care planning (ACP) can assist patients and their families in navigating personal and medical choices at the end-of-life; however, these conversations often transpire too late. Primary care providers (PCPs) frequently develop extended relationships with their patients, especially those with chronic disease, and possess opportunities throughout a patient?s lifespan to assess when ACP conversations could be initiated. Unfortunately, many PCPs lack confidence in leading ACP conversations, although they are willing to facilitate them. Despite the alarming number of people living with chronic disease and documented benefits of ACP, advance directive completion remains low. According to previous research, online ACP education for PCPs can bridge gaps in end-of-life care by increasing overall perceived knowledge, confidence, and understanding of ACP and advance directives.
The purpose of the practice improvement project was to improve rural PCPs perceived knowledge and confidence in facilitating ACP discussions and to increase the completion rate of advance directives among adults living with chronic disease(s) seen within the rural primary care setting. The theoretical underpinning for this DNP project was Lewin?s Theory of Behavior Change. Project implementation occurred within a federally qualified health center comprised of eight clinics throughout rural North Dakota. The project?s design methodology was a quantitative, quasi-experimental study using a convenience sample of eight PCPs employed within the federally qualified health center. Participants could access the ACP educational webinar, surveys, and posttest for four weeks. Four participants (50%) participated in the practice improvement project and acquired continuing education credit from the North Dakota Board of Nursing. The surveys aided in assessing participants? reported ACP knowledge, confidence, perceived benefits of ACP, and prior experiences in initiating advance directives and ACP conversations before and after viewing the webinar. The outcomes of the practice improvement project objectives were evaluated and demonstrated an increase in participants? perceived knowledge and confidence of ACP, an increase in PCPs' reported knowledge of the Serious Illness Conversation Guide, and an improved understanding of the role of ACP facilitators
Developing micropropagation protocol for euonymus species and evaluating oryzalin treatments for polyploid development
Full text linkEuonymus has invasive traits such as high seed production and good seed viability. Development of sterile, polyploid cultivars could prevent euonymus from invading native ecosystems. Oryzalin is a commonly used mutagen for chromosome doubling. The aims of this research were to develop a micropropagation protocol and to establish a protocol for inducing polyploids (tetraploids) for two euonymus species, E. bungeanus and E. turkestanicus. Micropropagation was successful. MS with 1 ?M BA performed better for E. turkestanicus. MS with 1 or 2 ?M BA outperformed the other treatments for propagation number for both species. IBA addition was successful, but root initiation was not consistent with the treatments. Polyploid induction was successful. The presence of tetraploids in E. turkestanicus using 50 ?M and 100 ?M of oryzalin was confirmed using flow cytometry. No tetraploids were detected with E. bungeanus suggesting that the oryzalin concentrations were not effective and may require increased concentrations
In Touch with Prairie Living, September 2024
Full text linkSeptember 2024 column for North Dakota and South Dakota newspapers