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Laurel Dace (Chrosomus saylori) reproductive behaviors
Get PDFThis thesis focuses on observations of the reproductive behaviors of the Laurel Dace (Chrosomus saylori), an endangered fish species in which reproductive behaviors have not been previously documented in a scientific publication. I worked with the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI) to determine the reproductive behaviors for the Laurel Dace. The results from this study will be used to inform the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) on the likely reproductive behaviors of Laurel Dace and to help these agencies determine the best protocols for a future propagation program to facilitate captive breeding by this species. These results will potentially be used to better inform the USFWS and the TWRA on how to best manage this federally endangered species. Along with this study, this thesis includes a literature review on the Laurel Dace
Examining parents\u27 perceptions of and preferences toward the use of comics in the classroom
Get PDFWhile many researchers openly acknowledge the educational benefits of comics, the academic use of the medium has been met with much fear and apprehension from parents, teachers, and scholars, who have been reluctant to support the inclusion of such texts in the classroom. The literature on the topic of resistance to comics, however, is mostly limited to historical perspectives from the mid-20th century and is largely silent on contemporary parental perspectives. The purpose of this study was to collect data concerning parental perceptions of the academic potential of comics, parental preferences concerning how frequently the medium should be incorporated into academic lessons, and generalized parental feelings concerning the use of comics in first through twelfth grade education. Additionally, this study attempted to discover if relationships existed between the quantified parental perceptions and preferences and demographic data such as the grade and gender of the respondents’ children, the respondent’s gender, and personal readership habits of the respondent in reference to both comics and non-comics material. The instrument for this study was a survey designed to collect information about parents’ perceptions and preferences concerning the academic potential and use of comics and other information related to the study’s independent attribute variables. Results of the survey and statistical measures revealed that (A) parent gender was significantly related to parents’ perception of the comics medium to be an effective tool in helping their children achieve successful learning outcomes, (B) the readership habits of parents in regards to comics was significantly related to parental preferences concerning the frequency of comics incorporation into the curriculum, and (C) the readership habits of parents in regards to non-comics material was significantly related to both parents’ perceptions of comics as an effective learning tool and parents’ preferences concerning the frequency of comics incorporation into the curriculum. Several statistically significant relationships were discovered between the study’s core dependent variables and other independent attribute variables as well. The insight gained into these relationships may help teachers and others to better understand how these external educational stakeholders regard a medium that has experienced a varied social and educational reception throughout American history
An examination of the relationship between the organizational communication process, employee work engagement, and job performance in a high-speed, high-volume manufacturing operation
Get PDFThis study looked for significant relationships between employee communication satisfaction and employee work engagement, employee work engagement and job performance, and employee communication satisfaction and job performance at a manufacturing facility in the southeast United States. The question of significant differences in the levels of employee communication satisfaction, employee work engagement, and job performance was also explored. Surveys were used to establish measures of communication satisfaction and work engagement at both the individual and team levels of five similar work teams. Job performance was measured at the team level using three-week average first-pass yield scores from the product testing areas. The data was analyzed using Pearson’s r correlation coefficient testing, simple linear regression, multiple linear regression, and multivariate analysis of variance. The analyses found strong evidence of predictive relationships between levels of communication satisfaction and work engagement. However, the sample size of only five work teams appears to have affected the reliability of any conclusions regarding the possibility of significant relationships between engagement and job performance or communication satisfaction and job performance. The job performance sample size of only five work teams appears to have similarly affected analyses of any differences in the levels of employee communication satisfaction, employee work engagement, and job performance. Further research, using a larger sample size for three-week average first-pass yield scores, or some other measure of job performance, is recommended
A guide to the Multiple Errands Test
Get PDFExecutive function plays an important role in everyday life skills such as planning, organizing, controlling and sustaining attention, and socializing. Until recently, executive function was measured almost exclusively using laboratory-based assessments. However, many participants would score satisfactorily on those laboratory assessments, while having significant difficulty with activities of daily living. A potential solution to this issue is the Multiple Errands Test (MET), which is an ecologically valid assessment that can help predict performance of everyday life skills. The MET is a flexible assessment that can be modified in order to fit the needs of the setting and patient. Indeed, many versions have been examined such as the MET-Hospital Version, the Baycrest MET and Baycrest MET Revised, as well as a Virtual MET. This thesis describes how the MET is used in various ways: as a baseline assessment to determine the degree of executive dysfunction, as a tool to teach patients strategies to use to improve their performance, and as an indicator of executive function improvement following interventions. Future research could focus on improving some of the limitations of the MET, specifically how to best simplify scoring while still capturing inefficient behaviors
Improving no-show rates in a community health center
Get PDFCommunity health clinics have surfaced to provide primary care to low-income individuals, but they are currently hurting due to an overwhelmingly high no-show rate. (Population Reference Bureau, 2016; Nowacki, 2013). While there is extensive research on how to overcome no-show appointments in private medical clinics, clinics that serve a low-income clientele cannot succumb to the same methods of intervention due to the financial and physical barriers community health centers face (Nowacki, 2013). The purpose of this project was to extend upon previous studies on strategies to improve the no-show rate at a local community health center by doing a mixed-method, cross sectional study of low-income adults in a primary care setting. This study explored the patients’ perceptions of barriers and needed resources and also attempted to find correlations between patient demographics and no-show rates. This study found a higher no-show rate in younger patients and also in African American/Black patients. A large number of patients missed appointments due to personal issues and societal barriers. This study also found high patient satisfaction in the overall clinic. Since the purpose of the study was to uncover reasons behind the no-show phenomenon, it was appropriate to discuss interventions that may improve the high no-show rates and overall clinic functionality. Recommendations include implementing a program that provides transportation, increasing exposure of social services provided by the clinic, educating patients on the importance of preventative health care, and completing minimal facility improvements
Social media and the political behavior of young adults in the 2016 election
Get PDFThe most recent presidential election saw a great divide in Americans\u27 political ideologies (Enli 2017) as well as an increase in social media use in relation to obtaining political news (Gottfried and Shearer 2016). Social media is a growing platform to obtain political news, and this study found that 86% of young adults surveyed saw election news on social media multiple times a day. This study examined how young adults used social media in relation to the 2016 election, including whether or not they used social media\u27s unfriend/unfollow feature to selectively expose themselves to outlets to which they had partisan affinity. The results of the study showed that young liberals were statistically more likely than young conservatives to selectively expose themselves during the election
Changes in ant biodiversity across an urban gradient
Get PDFThere are two aims to this study: compare diversity across an urban gradient and across seasons. We deployed traps and identified the collected 12 ant species at nine different sites centered at Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the purpose of relating levels of urbanization to the diversity of ant species at each site. We successfully sampled in the summer (June 27, 2017) and spring (March 31, 2018), and unsuccessfully sampled in winter (Feb. 16, 2018) when we collected zero ants, likely due to cold soil temperatures. To quantify “urbanization” we divided the sites into “Urban” core verses surrounding “Suburban” area using a city development model, and by a direct measure of the percent impervious surface within a 25m radius of each collection site. We predict that as urbanization increases, ant diversity will decrease. We found that the “Suburban” versus “Urban” sites showed a decline in species diversity for the summer sampling (averages of 4.6 and 2.2, respectively), but no difference for the Spring sampling (averages of 2.0 and 2.0). Impervious surface percentage was strongly related (r2 = 0.63) to a decline in ant species over the combined summer and spring samplings. Our linear least-squares regression line slope indicates a decline of 0.34 species for every 10% increase in impervious surface area, with a modeled 6.4 species for pavement-free land cover and 2.9 species for 100% impervious surface. Overall, our ant samplings support this hypothesis for our measures of urbanization. Characteristics of urbanization include impervious surface coverage, fragmentation of habitats, warmer micro-climates, and human food wastes. In general, it is believed that urbanization favors the “opportunistic” or “generalistic” ant species that can thrive on a variety of food and water sources in dense human populations. These species displace the more numerous “specialist” species, resulting in less ant diversity with increasing levels of urbanization
Framing effects in a competitive environment: Black Lives Matter versus President Trump
Get PDFHow is public opinion in the United States affected by the president and the Black Lives Matter social movement’s competing frames on racial inequality? Political elites have used frames to shape public opinion on a multitude of issues, showing success in select and specific conditions. However, it seems that competition, a moderator of framing effects, is always present in politics, especially between a social movement and president. I expand upon the theory that, in competitive environments, repetition or recent exposure increases a frame’s accessibility in memory, therefore the “loudest” of the two frames is the one that influences opinion. To examine this claim, I conducted a content analysis to discern the frames presented frequently by the elite actors and I conducted a survey experiment measuring the influence of each frame on public opinion compared to a control group. I found that when presented with either the Black Lives Matter\u27s racism frame or President Trump’s law and order frame, opinion shifted favorably towards the existence of racial inequality and less hostility toward black Americans. This adds to the limited literature on the impact of social movements’ frames on public opinion as well as the consequences of unpopular presidents on public opinion
Energy sustainability analysis of a Baja test facility
Get PDFThe objective of this paper is to study the viability of building a Baja SAE competition site so that UTC could host events in the future. Part of this includes defining a building size in square feet and estimating the construction cost. Once that is accomplished it is necessary to determine what equipment may be used at the site, how much power each piece of equipment would use, and how many hours each would be used for within the year. With this information it is then possible to estimate the annual power consumption for a competition year and a regular year. These results are 106,630.02 kWh and 54,501.35 kWh respectively. After determining the cost of excess demand, the power costs for those years was found to be 14,831.58 respectively. After finding the amount of the power cost, the amount of power needing to be generated can then be determined. By consulting weather studies and looking at the amount of money needing to be recouped, it is determined that the appropriate program is TVA’s Distributed Solar Solutions program. TVA requires that they buy 100% of the power produced in any system contracted with them. Knowing this, then the only way to measure how well the system meets the power needs of the facility is a dollar to dollar comparison. The solar panels selected for the analysis are 190 Watt panels. The inverter selected for the analysis has an efficiency of 98.5%. Utilizing this information and the program guidelines for power buy-back, calculations yield that a generation system with a nameplate capacity of 1 Megawatt would be the ideal size. For the selected apparatus, this constitutes 5,500 panels and would cost $1.5 million; however, the system would not generate any money in addition to covering costs over the 20 year contract
Socialization and problem-solving in domestic cats (Felis catus)
Get PDFThere is evidence that an animal’s socialization towards humans and rearing environment can enhance their problem-solving ability. According to the social intelligence hypothesis, which states that intelligence evolved due to complex social environments, an animal’s social life should result in higher cognitive abilities. Domestic cats are capable of leading both solitary and social lives in their natural habitat, as well as in captive environments. I assessed both general problem-solving ability and the relationship between socialization and problem-solving ability, problem-solving speed, and latency to approach a novel apparatus in domestic cats. Twenty-four out of eighty-six cats solved the problem-solving task. There was also a significant relationship between the cats’ socialization with their problem-solving abilities, latency to solve, and latency to approach the apparatus. These results provide evidence that domestic cats are not only capable of problem-solving, but that their socialization towards humans influences their abilities