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Promoting health across the lifespan: postpartum topics
No full textThis document contains five lesson plans. The first lesson plan is designed to address post pregnancy parenting concerns. The second lesson plan is designed to introduce the importance of sleep scheduling, postpartum depression, warning signs, and self-care for new parents. The third lesson plan is designed to assist new parents in understanding their rights to maternity and paternity leave as a means of handling postpartum stress. The fourth lesson plans is designed to address challenges of parenting and to provide steps required to make baby food at home. The fifth lesson plan is designed to introduce the principle of mindfulness for stress management and the building of healthy relationships for new parents in dealing with postpartum stress.
The content is intended for new parents and health care professionals.
Each lesson plan has a topic overview, time and format information, Healthy People 2020 Objectives, National Health Education Standards information, learning objectives, key concepts and terms, materials needed, and teaching steps.
This material was developed by Plymouth State University students as a part of their coursework for Promoting Health Across the Lifespan, in fall 2016 with Dr. Barbara McCahan.Contents
1. FREEDOM FROM SHOULD: Felicia Muse (CC BY-NC)
Lesson Plan p. 1
2. BANISH BABY BLUES: Nima Tamang (CC BY)
Lesson Plan p. 8
3. KNOWING YOUR RIGHTS TO MATERNITY AND PATERNITY LEAVE: Julie Berglund (CC BY-SA)
Lesson Plan p. 15
4. MAKING HOMEMADE BABY FOOD: Stacey Oliveira (CC BY-NC)
Lesson Plan p. 21
5. MINDFUL LOVE AND CARE: A TIME FOR YOU AND YOUR PARTNERING PARENT TO DEVELOP DEEPER LOVE THROUGH MINDFULNESS: Allison Lemay (CC BY)
Lesson Plan p. 3
The synoptic-scale evolution during the extratropical transition of Irene (2011), Sandy (2012), and Andrea (2013)
Get PDFTropical cyclones (TCs) of varying shapes, sizes, and intensities form in nearly every ocean basin and can potentially impact heavily populated areas, threatening human life and property. As a TC moves poleward, it can interact with a variety of synoptic-scale features, which results in either the dissipation of the TC or a transition into an extratropical cyclone (EXTC) through the process of extratropical transition (ET). Given an ideal synoptic-scale setup, a TC can transition into a fast-moving and rapidly developing EXTC, which could extend TC-like conditions such as strong surface winds and intense rainfall over a broad area at high latitudes. In recent years, three TCs, Irene (2011), Sandy (2012),and Andrea(2013), transitioned to EXTCs while approaching the middle latitudes and subsequently impacted the Northeast as EXTCs. In order to analyze the ET of these TCs, the cyclone phase space, developed by Hart (2003), was utilized. This product aids in determining the structural evolution associated with ET in which a symmetric, warm-core TC transitions to an asymmetric, cold-core EXTC. Changes in the structure, motion, and intensity of TCs during ET are highly dependent on the midlatitude environment into which the TC moves. A variety of factors contribute to the intensity of the resultant EXTC, including the overall large-scale pattern, track of the TC, time of year, as well as the intensity of the TC and the frontal system with which the TC interacts. Synoptic-scale features were analyzed for three phases of evolution throughout the ET process: tropical phase, transition period, and post-tropical phase. The TCs were not influenced by the upper-level flow until shortly after the onset of transition. It was not until the mid-waypoint of the transition period when the TC circulation was incorporated into the flow and began to exhibit baroclinic features. Due to differing tracks and TC intensities, the synoptic-scale features analyzed in each phase vary among each case in the tropical phase and beginning of the transition period. There are generally more similarities in synoptic-scale features between the cases toward the end of the transition period and in the post-tropical phase. As these EXTCs impacted the Northeast, reports of heavy rainfall and strong surface winds spanned across vast areas of the region.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
The lived experiences of Iraqi refugee high school students in two New Hampshire public schools
No full textThis phenomenological study examines the lived experiences of eight male and four female Iraqi refugee students in two New Hampshire high schools. While the literature addresses the experiences and perceptions of immigrants in general, a hermeneutic examination of refugee students in American public schools has yet to be conducted. In this study, data was collected through interviews, field notes, and notes from a meeting with co-researchers. Three major themes evolved: relationships, trauma, and acculturation. Co-researchers explain the difficulties of navigation a new environment with little or no English language skills. They explain the importance of supportive teachers and the biases they encounter. With strong voices and some tears, they tell of their past journeys and their future goals.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
Exploring the capacity of rural Pakistanis to identify the unmet educational needs and to plan educational initiatives to address those needs
Get PDFPakistan has failed to provide education to the majority of its children. Educational reforms undertaken by the government and other organizations (both domestic and international) have failed to raise literacy in Pakistan, especially in rural areas. Learning in rural communities takes place for basic survival only. As a result, illiterate children are unintentionally suffering, and as they grow up to be adults, they are unable to participate actively as citizens. Even though all of Pakistan is in desperate need of educational reform, the focus of this research was on the educational needs of people living in rural areas. Furthermore, the intent of this research was to approach educational improvement in the community-based, problem-solving manner articulated and utilized by Wheatley, Frieze, and members of the Berkana Institute. An instrumental case study approach was used to answer the following questions: What do the children and adults in rural Pakistan perceive as their unmet educational needs? What educational developments (initiatives) can emerge from the grass-root efforts of rural Pakistani citizens? The results of this research demonstrate that rural Pakistanis have a desire to become educated, a sense of responsibility for educating themselves and others, and a capacity for local change. Participants identified local learning needs and proposed a number of local solutions. The multi-layered issues in education can be mediated by focusing on technical and practical education, not just for children but also adults.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
Why the glove of mathematics fits the hand of the natural sciences so well: how far down the (Fibonacci) rabbit hole goes
Get PDFWhy does the glove of mathematics fit the hand of the natural sciences so well? Is there a good reason for the good fit? Does it have anything to do with the mystery number of physics or the Fibonacci sequence and the golden proportion? Is there a connection between this mystery (golden) number and Leibniz's general question, why is there something (one) rather than nothing (zero)? The acclaimed mathematician G.H. Hardy (1877-1947) once observed: "In great mathematics there is a very high degree of unexpectedness, combined with inevitability and economy." Is this also true of great physics? If so, is there a simple "preestablished harmony" or linchpin between their respective ultimate foundations? The philosopher-mathematician, Gottfried Leibniz, who coined this phrase, believed that he had found that common foundation in calculus, a methodology he independently discovered along with Isaac Newton. But what is the source of the harmonic series of the natural log that is the basis of calculus and also Bernhard Riemann's harmonic zeta function for prime numbers? On the occasion of the three-hundredth anniversary of Leibniz's death and the one hundredth-fiftieth anniversary of the death of Bernhard Riemann, this essay is a tribute to Leibniz's quest and questions in view of subsequent discoveries in mathematics and physics. (In the Journal of Interdisciplinary Mathematics, Dec. 2008 and Oct. 2010, I have already sympathetically discussed in detail Riemann's hypothesis and the zeta function in relation to primes and the zeta zeros. Both papers were republished online in 2013 by Taylor and Francis Scientific Publishers Group.)Article
Temporal scales driving streamwater in organic monomeric aluminum variability in the White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire
Get PDFInorganic monomeric aluminum (Ali) is toxic to aquatic organisms and while many samples are taken at weekly or monthly intervals, that frequency is likely not high enough to understand temporal variation in certain water quality parameters, like Ali. Land managers often face the difficult task of protecting aquatic organisms from toxic streamwater environments that are nearly impossible to monitor continuously. This study investigated the temporal scales of variability in dissolved Ali at four streams in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire to provide managers and scientists with a better understanding of Ali dynamics. We used data from intensively sampled hydrologic events during 2015 in addition to five to six years of weekly to monthly data. We quantified the proportion of variability attributed to each of three temporal components: multi-year trends, seasonality, and event scale. To do this, we extracted a trend or pattern from each temporal scale, a linear concentration-discharge relationship in the case of hydrologic events, and compared the results quantitatively and objectively. This analysis revealed that seasonality or hydrologic events explain the most variability in Ali, depending on site, while multi-year trends explain only 11% or less of the variability at each site. The amount of Ali variability that remains unexplained after the three temporal scales were accounted for is greater than 50% at each site. We then examined time series of events and hysteresis effects as a method of exploring the remaining variability. This exploratory analysis showed that removing multi-year, seasonal, and concentration-discharge trends minimally reduced variability at the event scale. While the overall concentration-discharge relationship at each site appeared to be linear, the relationships are often non-linear at the event scale. Residual variability may stem from lower frequency sampling being unable to account for more complicated, cyclical patterns seen at finer temporal scales. Results from this study are informative for managers who want to create efficient sampling regimes that will effectively capture a stream's Ali conditions, but who may not have the time and resources for continuous high-frequency monitoring. If lacking the resources for such intensive monitoring, characterizing a stream's Ali, based on our results, may be best done with samples across different hydrologic conditions, as well as across during different seasons.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
OpenSem: a student-generated handbook for the first year of college
Get PDFThis book was created entirely by students in a Fall 2016 section of First-Year Seminar at Plymouth State University. We called the course “OpenSem” because it was organized around a core set of open pedagogical practices. The theme for the course was “Whose Course Is This, Anyway?” Students created all learning outcomes, assignments, course policies, and grading processes. Students curated content and built the syllabus as the course unfolded. Students published all work to their own public ePorts, licensed that work openly, and then leant a sampling of that work to this collection for easy sharing. You can check out our hashtag on Twitter at #opensem, and view the syllabus at http://robinderosa.net/opensem/. This collection is licensed CCBY, and we hope other courses will take this as a starting point, improve and add to this work, and help students to grow a truly learner-developed first-year college curricula!
A version of this work is also available at https://press.rebus.community/opensem
Exposure to metacognitive skills improves academic performance: an experimental study of college students' academic performance and self-efficacy
Get PDFThis study examined undergraduate students in four randomly assigned groups, Generative Reading, SQ3R (Robinson, (1946, 1970), and no intervention, and general examinations as the control, to identify which strategy was most beneficial for improving exam scores and academic self-efficacy. Findings suggest students participating in reading interventions generally perform better, although not significantly improved. Additionally, performance is better with any intervention, than no intervention. Further studies should examine format and exposure-periods to determine if Generative Reading can improve academic performance greater than other intervention.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
Northeast weather variability and atmospheric teleconnections
Get PDFThis research examined the effects of simultaneous occurrences of different phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Pacific North American (PNA) teleconnection patterns on daily variations in Northeast climate variables. 30-day normalized Temperature, MSLP, and IPW anomalies gathered from Northeast data locations were compared to daily indices of the NAO and PNA. The computed anomalies from each location were sorted into 25 potential NAO/PNA phase combinations which were based off of the standard deviations of the NAO/PNA daily indices in an 11-year data set from 2004-2014. These anomalies and their relationships to daily NAO/PNA index values were analyzed using regression, correlation, and chi-square analysis. Additionally, each of the 25 combinations and their associated average anomalies were analyzed using composite analysis. This process was done for a full time series and a cool season time series using the months from October-March in the same 11-year data set. Regression analysis revealed that no variation in the analyzed variables can be explained by either the NAO or the PNA daily indices individually or together (using multi-regression). Chi-square analysis revealed that the distribution of the average anomalies associated with the 25 possible combinations was most likely random. Cross correlation tests suggested little to no relationship between daily anomalies in the analyzed variables and the NAO/PNA daily indices. The greatest observed average anomalies in the 25 combinations were consistent at 4/5 data locations and in some cases could be explained by composite analysis. The majority of these significant anomalies occurred when either the NAO or PNA was in an extreme phase (Very Positive/Very Negative). The ability to explain some of these average anomalies with composite analyses of the geopotential height field suggests that NAO/PNA daily indices could prove useful for long term forecasting.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
Forecasting New Hampshire power outages through the analysis of weather station observations
Get PDFEversource Energy, formerly Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH),has worked closely with Plymouth State University (PSU) in the past, and present, to better predict weather-related power outage events and maximize the efficiency with which Eversource responds to them. This research paired weather data from thirteen stations throughout New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts with Eversource Trouble Report and Unsatisfactory Performance of Equipment Report (TRUPER) data in an effort to quantify weather situations that lead to power outages. The ultimate goal involved developing a predictive model that uses weather data to forecast the magnitude of power outages. The study focused on the Eversource Western/Central service territory and utilized data from 2006-2010. The first four years, 2006-2009, were analyzed using Classification and Regression Tree (CART) statistical analysis. The results of this CART analysis trained a predictive model, while the fifth year, 2010, served as the testing set for the predictive model. To conduct the statistical analysis, a database was created pairing TRUPER reports with the closest available hourly weather observations. The database included nine weather variables matched with three variables from the TRUPER data: 1) customers, 2) customer minutes, and 3) outage duration. While the entire Eversource service territory saw 91,286 TRUPERs from 2006-2010, the Western/Central service territory, the focus of this study, accounted for 29,430. Before conducting the CART analysis, correlations between single weather variables and TRUPER data were calculated and, in general, proved weak. In addition to analyzing the complete four-year training data set, many portions/variations of the data set were analyzed. The analyses included a yearly analysis, time lag analysis, cold/warm-season analysis, and a single-station analysis. Although individual years and smaller data sets showed moderately higher correlations between weather and outage data, consistent relationships throughout the data set were fairly weak. CARTs were then created to examine the joint effect of the entire set of weather variables, such as interactions and nonlinear relationships, to improve the overall predictability of power outages. After creating the trees from the four-year training data set, their predictive ability was tested using the final year of data. The CART predictive models showed that among Eversource TRUPER variables, the hardest to predict was customers per TRUPER. The best performing model predicted customers per TRUPER to an average error of 96 customers, or a percent mean average error (PMAER) of131% of 2010 customers per TRUPER. This result could deal with the high variability seen in customer outages per TRUPER, across a single weather event, driven by widely-varying population and customer density. The most accurately predicted TRUPER variable, outage duration, saw average PMAER values of 60% of the mean (e.g., if mean duration per TRUPER for the year was 100 minutes, the model would miss on average by 60 minutes). Overall, the model results show surface weather data has a weak correlation to the TRUPER variables analyzed. The model can predict situations when one would expect longer duration outages but is unable to accurately predict the magnitude of these variables. When adapting the predictive models to smaller portions of the data set, warm-season data showed the greatest predictability, considerably outperforming the other data sets (cold-season, 2006-2009, and single station). Cold-season showed the greatest volatility and, not surprisingly, proved the most difficult to predict.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio