Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute
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Entrepreneurship in the context of crowdfunding: systematic literature review, power law perspective, and technology focus
No full textThis dissertation provides an in-depth examination of entrepreneurial activities within the context of crowdfunding based on three essays. The first essay is a systematic review of 108 articles on crowdfunding, identifying major themes, theories, and gaps in the existing body of literature. The second study utilizes the power-law perspective and employs the Generalized Linear Modeling (GLM) approach to analyze data from 20,643 Kickstarter projects over an eight-year period. It investigates the varying impacts of human and social capital on normal and outlier crowdfunding campaigns, highlighting the distinct, nonlinear relationships for outliers. The third study uses the Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) on data from 42,524 technology-focused campaigns, determining the critical configurations that lead to successful outlier outcomes in technology entrepreneurship. Together, these studies yield a thorough insight into the elements that influence success in crowdfunding, especially in the context of outlier emergence for both general and technology-focused ventures.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Case study of a university sexual violence informal resolution program
No full textApproximately twenty percent of undergraduate women experience some form of unwelcome sexual behavior during their time at college. Acknowledging this high rate of on-campus sexual violence and the impact that it can have on victims, universities have created varied sexual assault prevention efforts and response programs. These include a growing use of alternative sanctions, or non-punitive disciplinary processes. This qualitative case study used theories of justice and Foucault’s notion of power to understand how a university Alternative Resolutions (AR) Program operates and how its policies and practices align to restorative justice principles. The study also sought to explore how the different stakeholders understand and enact restorative justice within the program. Data was collected through student survey, student interviews, staff interviews and document analysis.
The AR Program provides students an alternative to traditional, punitive responses to on-campus sexual violence. However, this study found that the compliance obligations of the Title IX processes create an incongruity between the staff commitment to the AR Program and students’ experience of it. Due to these compliance obligations, the AR Program is complex, and students find it hard to navigate. Additionally, the AR Program staff may be overly enthusiastic about the level of healing that students may experience as students indicated that the program might be insufficient to enable healing.
There are several implications of this study, including creating a hybrid disciplinary model that includes traditional, punitive components and components of the AR Program, restructuring on-campus sexual violence resources for ease of use and limiting the use of the AR Program to certain types of sexual violence.Ed.D.Includes bibliographical reference
The efficacy of diabetes self-management program on adults
No full textPurpose of Project: The purpose of this project is to evaluate the efficiency of a diabetes self–management education program and determine if the education provided will improve participants’ health behaviors and outcomes by increasing their knowledge of how to manage their chronic disease. The project took place at a community church in suburban Monmouth County. Methodology: This project is a quality improvement study. The diabetes self-management education classes occurred once a week for 6 weeks. Inclusion criteria were adults over the age of 18, who must read and speak English, are diagnosed with type II diabetes, and have a working glucometer at home. During the project, participants were given a pre-and post-24-item diabetes knowledge questionnaire designed by Starr County Diabetes Education. The questionnaire assisted in gathering participants’ knowledge of diabetes. The questionnaire answer choices consisted of yes, no, and don’t know. Participants were asked to check their blood glucose levels at home daily and to bring their glucose level results to class once a week.
Results: A total of 6 diabetic patients participated in the study and completed the pre and post diabetes knowledge questionnaire test, as well as monitored their blood glucose levels. There was a 13.2% change in the participants pre and posttest questionnaire scores. Additionally, there was a decrease in participants’ median blood glucose levels by day 23, during the implementation phase.
Implications for Practice: The findings from this project support current literature and the need for diabetic patients to attend DSME programs. The project identified that DSME programs have an impact on diabetics’ knowledge, self-efficacy, and blood glucose levels. Keywords: diabetes self-management education, self-efficacy, diabetes economic impactD.N.P.Includes bibliographical reference
Implementing: the impact of gratitude journals on mental health in psychiatric patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder
No full textPurpose of Project: Inpatient psychiatric facilities use group therapy and medication management as forms of treatment. Although these methods are beneficial, there are individualized activities patients can utilize to serve as an alternative or adjunct to treatment while inpatient. Group therapy has many downsides such as groups not being appropriate for all group members or triggering to some. The purpose of the project is to identify whether gratitude journals positively affect patient’s anxiety and depressive symptoms based on standardized scales (GQ-6, PHQ-9, and GAD-7) in patients diagnosed with MDD and/or GAD. Methods: Pre and post implementation assessments measured anxiety, depression, and gratitude using standardized tools (GAD-7,PHQ-9, and GQ-6 respectively). 25 adult inpatient psychiatric patients participated in a pre/post implementation assessments and post survey. The primary outcome measures focused on age, gender, and diagnosis. Results: The pre and post implementation data (n=25) showed that the pre-implementation mean ± SD for anxiety (M=14.56 ± SD 4.54) had improvement in scores at post implementation (M=8.08 ± SD 4.66). The total pre and post GAD-7 showed statistical significant (Z= -4.204, p< .001). The pre-implementation mean ± SD for depression (M=16.84 ± SD 5.11) had improvement in scores at post implementation (M=8.16 ± SD 4.33). The total pre and post PHQ-9 showed statistical significance (Z= -4.355, p< .001). The post implementation gratitude scores (M=33.64 ± SD 4.93) had improvement from the pre implementation gratitude scores (M=29.80 ± SD 7.0). The total pre and post GQ-6 also showed statistical significance (Z= -2.911, p=.004). Implications: The intervention showed favorable results to support implementing gratitude journals to improve patient’s gratitude, anxiety, and depressive related symptoms. Keywords: gratitude journal, mental health, anxiety, depressionD.N.P.Includes bibliographical reference
Assessing the effect of the changing levels of restrictions placed by the COVID-19 pandemic on children and their behaviors
No full textPurpose of Project: Depression and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents have doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic with 1 in 4 children globally experiencing increased depression and 1 in 5 children experiencing anxiety (Racine et al., 2021). The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health within the pediatric population is significant. Early identification of these concerning behaviors may prevent both long and short-term adverse effects associated with mental illness. Interventions to adequately help these children need to be implemented.Methodology: A prospective cohort study was implemented with an initial survey given between December 2020 to April 2021 and a follow-up survey being done July 2022 to December 2022. In Middlesex County, 104 families with children ages 5-12 from three pediatric primary care clinics participated in the initial survey. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to assess how COVID-19 affected the children’s mental health. The questionnaire also compared stressors and resources that helped or hindered the families.
Results: Of 104 families, 50 (48%) participated in the follow-up survey. A total of 39 children participated in the SDQ, 26 males and 13 females. During phase two, a total of 46% of the children reported emotional difficulties. Of these children, 50% reported that these difficulties have affected their family life. Among all difficulty subscales, males scored higher than females.
Implications for Practice: Universal screening of mental health disorders should be standardized for ages younger than 11. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) or Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17) should be utilized during all well visits starting at age 4. Early identification is key to help avoid long-term adverse effects of childhood mental health disorders. Keywords: Pediatrics, Mental Health, Covid-19, SDQ, Strengths and Difficulties QuestionnaireD.N.P.Includes bibliographical reference
Implementation of an evidence-based algorithm to increase cephalosporin administration
No full textPurpose of project: This quality improvement project aimed to enhance antibiotic stewardship in adult surgical patients with documented penicillin allergies. Historically, beta-lactams are considered cross-reactive, yet current literature has shown cephalosporins can be administered to patients with non-IgE-mediated reactions. The project proposed the implementation of an evidence-based algorithm to guide intraoperative antibiotic administration. The objective was to increase Cefazolin utilization, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes.
Methodology: A retrospective chart review of 110 adult patients was performed. The collected data included documented penicillin allergies, PENFAST scores, and antibiotics administered. Exclusion criteria included pediatric patients, obstetrical patients, and patients with a history of beta-lactam anaphylaxis.
Results: A sample size of 110 patients with self-reported penicillin allergies were collected via convenience sampling. To compare the pre-intervention and post-intervention groups, a Chi square test was performed to see which intraoperative antibiotic was administered. The p-value was set to <0.05. The chi-square test showed statistical insignificance, with a p-value of 0.163.
Implications for practice: The PENFAST Tool is a validated risk stratification algorithm, designed to guide perioperative teams in safely and appropriately administering cephalosporins to patients with documented, non-IgE-mediated beta-lactam allergies. The PENFAST tool has been shown to improve patient outcomes, decrease healthcare costs, reduce surgical site infections, and improve antimicrobial stewardship.
Keywords: PENFAST, penicillin, cephalosporin, beta-lactam, antibiotic, surgical, allergyD.N.P.Includes bibliographical reference
Alcoholism treatment digest: List of contents
No full textA copy of the compiled list of Contents from the The Alcoholism Treatment Digest, which was a subscription-based publication prepared for special clients by the editorial department of the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol / Journal of Studies on Alcohol from 1950 to 1973 with Mark Keller as editor. Available issues are 5-115
Effects of polymer and solvent composition on the morphology of electrosprayed polymer
No full textPolymer composite coatings lend themselves to a multitude of advanced engineeringapplications. From catalysis and biosensors to battery separation membranes and nanofiltration
devices for wastewater treatment, polymer films offer numerous benefits for these types of
application. The ability to generate porous high surface area-to-volume, light weight, yet
mechanically robust films has traditionally been limited to phase inversion for free standing films
and roll-to-roll techniques for supported films. These methods are often reproducible and low cost
but are mostly limited to 2D planar surfaces. In this work, electrospray deposition (ESD) is used
to fabricate porous polymer composite films with tunable microstructures and mechanical
properties across a broad range of deformation regimes and strain rates. The structure of this review
is as follows: (1) A review of ESD and self-limiting electrospray deposition (SLED) is provided.
(2) Experimental parameters and materials used in each chapter are defined. (3) Self-limiting
ability of co-polymer compositions are evaluated and characterized mechanically, and limitations
are discussed. (4) Various mechanical models are explored, and the structure-property
relationships across various strain rates are analyzed using quartz crystal microbalance with
dissipation (QCM-D). (5) ESD of polyimide (PI) is conducted to fabricate Li-ion battery (LIB)
separators in coin-cell batteries, and their electrochemical performance are evaluated (6)
Enhancements to the tunability of SLED films are explored including (a) addition of ionic charge
carriers to obtain nanoparticles and (b) co-solvent blending to control film thickness and porosity.
(7) Finally, this work concludes with the assessment of relevant applications to solid state batteries
(SSBs) and an outlook for future research.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
The educated body: classics and disability in enlightenment education
No full text“The Educated body” argues that eighteenth-century writers on education often compare the process of a successful education to the correction of a disabled body in order to mitigate their anxieties about the limitations of change during the Enlightenment. As England navigated war, political realignments, religious schisms, and scientific discovery, anxiety about change dominated. Representations of disability in educational texts, I argue, act as speculative spaces for authors to express their concerns about the limits of both systemic and individual change. The disabled body, for the eighteenth century, was seen as permanently disfigured, and it became a powerful symbol of irreducible individuality, while at the same time operating as a signifier of collective social ills. Because of disability’s dual position, its presence in educational texts, I argue, allows authors to speculate about both individual and systemic issues. By placing a seemingly unalterable body at the heart of a description of an educational system, one designed to fundamentally form and change an individual, authors give voice to their fears, hopes, and concerns about what kind of change is possible. These representations of disability, I show, are often paired with references to classical antiquity, the very curriculum materials themselves. The authors I examine, including John Locke, William Cowper, and Frances Burney, each turn to Greek and Roman antiquity in their descriptions of disability within educational spaces. Whether it is using a maxim from a Juvenalian satire or comparing a back brace to Homer’s Mentor figure, disability is explicitly tied to classical antecedents. This too, I argue, reflects the authors’ anxieties about the limitations of change. Exploring the classical source texts reveals that the authors I examine, by turning to antiquity, were wrestling with locating a philosophical answer for their anxieties. I trace their classical referents to their sources, including Juvenal, Horace, and Homer, in order to explore the kinds of philosophical possibilities classical antiquity offered to my authors. In particular, I note the presence of a Stoic philosophy in their ancient sources. The Stoicism I locate in these referents acts an undercurrent present in these educational depictions of disability. Stoicism, an ancient school of philosophy made popular in the eighteenth century by Lord Shaftesbury and which stressed the acceptance of one’s natural limitations, offered a ready answer for the kinds of anxieties my project maps. Taking a closer look at the classical referents shows that the implicit Stoicisim in these texts stood as an answer, though one not always satisfactory, for the kinds of anxieties associated with the representations of disability in the world of education.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Eve and the virgin at the limits of god and nature: women in discussions about God’s omnipotence and the scope of the natural laws during the long twelfth century
No full textDuring the long twelfth century, a momentous period of great transformations in medieval Europe, scholars discussed significant philosophical issues regarding the nature of their reality through examples of women. They defined and redefined the reach of God’s power and the restrictions that natural laws and logic imposed on it through female symbols, principles, and examples of women thought to have existed. In this dissertation, I place these female examples front and center of known events in the history of ideas, such as Peter Damian and Desiderius’s debate over God's omnipotence, the natural theology of the school of Chartres, the emergence of the character Natura in medieval literature, and contemporary interpretations over God’s creation of Eve. I argue that scholars considered women as apt examples for revealing truths about these topics due to the generative function of their bodies, which made them representative of the work of nature and God’s more mysterious operations. I also argue that contemporary women influenced medieval scholars’ perceptions of the female examples they employed and, consequently, the positions these scholars adopted on the philosophical issues they discussed. Finally, I show that medieval conceptions of God and nature accompanied contemporary shifts in power dynamics within the French and Anglo-Norman kingdoms that affected the role of the queen.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference