Summit Institutional Repository @ PSU (Plymouth State University)
Not a member yet
411 research outputs found
Sort by
Sustainable development goal #3 good health and well-being: maternal and child health
Get PDFThe United Nations General Assembly has created 17 global goals labeled Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to create a more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable planet. The 2030 agenda calls for action of all countries in a global partnership to end poverty, create economic growth, reduce inequalities, and address climate change by preserving life on land and in water. Sustainable Goal #3, focuses on ensuring healthy lifestyles and sustaining well-being. This poster concentrates on maternal and child health by identifying the targets of SDG #3, indicators of how we measure progress and actors involved. The goal of this poster was to create awareness of this Sustainable Development Goal and what individuals, states, and organizations are working towards to achieve the 2030 targets. Progress has been made, although there needs to be continuous effort throughout all countries in order to accomplish the standards set in the SDGs.Student Showcase of Research & Engagement Fall 201
The fish community of Mirror Lake, NH: population demographics, resource use, and implications for management
Get PDFThrough state-sanctioned stocking and illegal fish dumping, Mirror Lake (North Woodstock, NH) has been subjected to many species introductions. In the early 1900s the lake was home to three fish species native to New Hampshire; currently there are nine different fish species found in the lake. It was previously unknown how this increase in diversity affected the health and recreational value of the fish populations present. This study investigated the current population sizes and condition of fish species within Mirror Lake during 2018. Fyke nets were used to conduct a mark-recapture survey in addition to collecting length, weight, and age data on the fish. Population estimates and size distributions revealed large populations of yellow perch and pumpkinseed sunfish, with very few fish reaching quality sizes. There appear to be very few smallmouth bass in the lake; this popular gamefish species has had a healthy and sustainable population in historical studies of the lake. Decreasing numbers of bass and stunting in panfish populations negatively impact the overall recreational value of Mirror Lake. The data collected in this study are used to suggest future fisheries management strategies aimed at sustainable management while increasing angler satisfaction.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
Redistricting New Hampshire
Get PDFHow does one decide how to divide states into congressional districts? Currently the state of New Hampshire is broken up into two congressional districts. These districts can be considered not "simple" shapes. Given the opportunity to redistrict the state, how would one make the districts "simpler" while maintaining equal population sizes in each district? We will start by looking at demographics and work our way up from there without the use of gerrymandering.Student Showcase of Research & Engagement Fall 201
King Arthur Flour social media audit
Get PDFKing Arthur Flour shares more than just their flour with their followers on social media; they educate, intrigue, and excite people who want to learn about baking. The brand's friendly face is more than merely a facade - it is authentic and backed by an enthusiastic employee run company. The company is personal in every post, bringing life to a basic substance that helps so many people live. They make their product exciting by incorporating many aspects of the baking community with passion for food and learning. King Arthur Flour's social media goals are to grow their audience, to identify and catch on to trends, to gain insight regarding what they should be doing to best engage their audience, and, finally, to target the right audience. This paper analyzes each social media platform they use for strengths and weaknesses. Their strengths include their responsiveness, incorporation of community, and focus on learning about working with flour. Their areas of potential improvement consist of using more of their followers' creative content, emphasizing the company's environmental initiatives, and their ecological and ethical business practices. Overall, this paper synthesizes what makes King Arthur Flour stand out from other comparable companies.Student Showcase of Research & Engagement Spring 201
Caring Scoops ice cream
No full textThe Small Business Ice Cream II class is a special topics course that focuses on starting and running a small ice cream business. The class, alongside the Enactus student organization, have identified what resources are needed to start a small business and have evaluated the start-up considerations needed to bring this business to market. Our goal is to create brand recognition through the sales of our ice cream both on campus and through wholesale accounts in the greater Plymouth area. In order to do this, we are actively conducting market research, aligning distribution channels with our brand, and developing market strategies to promote the brand and cause. We plan to donate a percentage of the proceeds to the Bridge House, a homeless shelter serving veterans and their families in Plymouth and the Lakes Region. We intend to seek funding and support for the purchase of a mobile bike cart that will sell 8 oz cups of ice cream on campus and market the Caring Scoops brand. In addition, we are working on creating long-term vendor relationships alongside The Common Man chain of restaurants to distribute and sell pint-size containers.Student Showcase of Research & Engagement Fall 201
Exploring the effectiveness of social media activism
No full textThe last ten years have seen the rise and fall of numerous activism campaigns started on social networks, ranging in focus from politics to poverty and receiving varied levels of success. Consequently, many have questioned whether or not social media activism is a truly viable vehicle for social action. By examining the campaigns KONY 2012 and Save Darfur, I consider whether online engagement equates to long-term success. In the case of KONY 2012, excitement about the issue was quick to rise but was not sustained as the campaign's single goal of capturing Joseph Kony remained unreached. Save Darfur gained wide popularity online while raising a large sum of donations, but its success is questionable as research now proves all funds were raised by less than one percent of those following online. This might appear to support the opinion that online activism is not an effective tool for social action. However, these campaigns provide important information about the affordances of these platforms. The research describes a few areas of social activism in which social networks prove incredibly effective. More research is needed to explore how the strengths of social networks can be used strategically in developing successful campaigns in the future.Student Showcase of Research & Engagement Fall 201
The portrayal and representation of Ed Kemper in Mind Hunter
Get PDFThe research conducted within this textual analysis study examined the portrayal and representation of Edmund Kemper in the Netflix show, Mind Hunter. Serial killers and their crimes have become a popular genre of media. This is a crucial topic to study because as the genre grows, misconceptions among serial killers may become more popular. Consumers who often consume this type of media end up bolstering a specific stereotype concerning serial killers. This research study analyzes the portrayal of this one specific individual. The researchers watched multiple viewings of the show and analyzed the representation of Kemper, specifically his physical appearance and characteristics, nonverbal and verbal communication. Kemper's representation and portrayal in the show is aligned with multiple theories including, cultivation theory, feminist theories, masculinity theories and other previous literature conducted. We encourage further research to be conducted in regard to this show and other shows and films that focus on serial killers.Student Showcase of Research & Engagement Spring 201
Expanding the UCONN-Eversource outage prediction model to New Hampshire
Get PDFWeather conditions are often a major determinant of the severity of power outage events. The ability to accurately forecast weather-related outages would allow power companies to reduce outage times for their customers and thereby improve electrical grid reliability. In recent years, the Eversource Energy Center at the University of Connecticut has developed an outage prediction model (OPM) for Eversource service territories in Connecticut. The purpose of this project is to improve outage modelling capabilities for winter events and expand the existing OPM to New Hampshire. The first of three research objectives was to establish a statistical relationship between Eversource’s two outage reporting methods. A comparison between the current Outage Management System (OMS) and the older Trouble Report and Unsatisfactory Performance of Equipment Reports (TRUPERs) was conducted during the overlap period of the two datasets (2016-2017). With the exception of a few outlier events, results of the comparison show a high correlation (R2 = 0.9983) between the two datasets. Identifying major power outages from previous years will expand the OPM event catalog and improve model performance. The second objective was to complete a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model analysis for all New Hampshire METAR locations by comparing WRF xvi forecasted values of 18 model variables with observed values. WRF simulations were run for a sample of 12 rain/wind and 13 winter outage events that occurred from 2016-2017. The results of this analysis allowed the performance of the Plymouth State WRF model to be assessed and ultimately determined that this configuration of the WRF is compatible with the current OPM. Lastly, a case study analysis was performed to identify winter weather events where both wet snow and wind created widespread power outages. It is hypothesized that wet snow will have a different impact on outages compared to winter weather conditions involving drier, lighter snow or high winds. The two events chosen as case studies were 9–11 December 2009 and 31 March–2 April 2017. Similar winter events will be considered in the future for inclusion in the OPM catalog, which will allow for improved model performance across a spectrum of winter conditions.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
Large-scale regime transitions and atmospheric river events along the west coast of North America
Get PDFWeather conditions are often a major determinant of the severity of power outage events. The ability to accurately forecast weather-related outages would allow power companies to reduce outage times for their customers and thereby improve electrical grid reliability. In recent years, the Eversource Energy Center at the University of Connecticut has developed an outage prediction model (OPM) for Eversource service territories in Connecticut. The purpose of this project is to improve outage modelling capabilities for winter events and expand the existing OPM to New Hampshire. The first of three research objectives was to establish a statistical relationship between Eversource’s two outage reporting methods. A comparison between the current Outage Management System (OMS) and the older Trouble Report and Unsatisfactory Performance of Equipment Reports (TRUPERs) was conducted during the overlap period of the two datasets (2016-2017). With the exception of a few outlier events, results of the comparison show a high correlation (R2 = 0.9983) between the two datasets. Identifying major power outages from previous years will expand the OPM event catalog and improve model performance. The second objective was to complete a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model analysis for all New Hampshire METAR locations by comparing WRF xvi forecasted values of 18 model variables with observed values. WRF simulations were run for a sample of 12 rain/wind and 13 winter outage events that occurred from 2016-2017. The results of this analysis allowed the performance of the Plymouth State WRF model to be assessed and ultimately determined that this configuration of the WRF is compatible with the current OPM. Lastly, a case study analysis was performed to identify winter weather events where both wet snow and wind created widespread power outages. It is hypothesized that wet snow will have a different impact on outages compared to winter weather conditions involving drier, lighter snow or high winds. The two events chosen as case studies were 9–11 December 2009 and 31 March–2 April 2017. Similar winter events will be considered in the future for inclusion in the OPM catalog, which will allow for improved model performance across a spectrum of winter conditions.The Pacific-North American pattern (PNA) is a teleconnection pattern that characterizes mid-tropospheric flow configurations over North America that can impact regional weather and climate extremes. Multiple studies have investigated how different phases of the PNA and associated large-scale flow configurations can influence the frequency of atmospheric river (AR) events over western North America, however, the relationship between regime transitions and AR events has not yet been explored. In this study, transitions in the PNA are cross-referenced with a catalog of ARs along the North America West Coast (NAWC) in order to identify the likelihood of landfalling ARs relative to climatology during the winter (December, January, and February) prior to, during, and after regime transitions over the North Pacific. Analysis of transitions in the PNA illustrate time-lagged increases in the likelihoods of AR days along the Pacific Northwest (California and Oregon) coast during positive-to-negative (negative-to-positive) pre- and midtransition phases as well as negative-to-positive (positive-to-negative) post-transition phases. Concomitant increases in precipitation and streamflow are confined to the Pacific Northwest during positive-to-negative (P2N) transitions, whereas the concomitant increases are more pronounced and shifted southward over California during negative-topositive (N2P) transitions. Two main features are identified with N2P and P2N transitions that occur in association with landfalling ARs over central California at transition start: a positively tilted 500-hPa trough proximate to the PNW with an associated cyclone offshore of Washington (N2P) and a less pronounced 500-hPa ridge over NAWC with a broad cyclone over the Gulf of Alaska (P2N). The latter is a far less likely scenario as compared to the former, however, ridge building over the eastern North Pacific and along the NAWC has been linked to significant forecast error. The results suggested in this study may serve as a first step approach to providing situation awareness of the favored locations of ARs and the associated precipitation and streamflow response along the U.S. West Coast during winter-time transitioning PNA regimes.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
FDI 101: an overview of foreign direct investment
Get PDFFDI 101 is intended to serve as a primer on foreign direct investment for professionals working in the investments and development fields; a brief explanation of FDI, the value created by foreign subsidiaries as well as the impact such firms have on state economies, workforces, and communities. Fundamental concepts relating to identifying, capturing, and growing FDI are explored. Approaches for integrating FDI into one's business development strategies are also proposed. The overview focuses on and speaks to the practitioner: professionals working to advance economic development at the state and local levels.Article