The conservation biology field seeks to preserve biodiversity and the processes shaping that variation. Conservation biology is intimately tied to evolutionary research, in order to identify evolutionary distinct lineages that may be in danger of disappearing. Interestingly, patterns and processes of lineage divergence and persistence change with respect to spatial and temporal scale. I seek to evaluate biodiversity, the factors that have shaped this heterogeneity, and how this variability persists. To accomplish this I used a phylogeographic approach as well as niche and population modeling on the Peromyscus maniculatus species group found widely distributed in North America. My emphasis was on the southeastern U.S. species P. polionotus and its distinct beach forms. At a continental scale, I found that environmental niches are likely involved in generating and/or maintaining genetic lineages within the P. maniculatus species group. These findings add to a growing number of studies that have identified lineages occupying different environmental spaces. At a regional scale, I supported the hypothesis that barrier islands on the Atlantic coast of Florida were colonized by an ancestral form of P. polionotus by a single colonization, from the central Florida area. Subsequently, at least two distinct lineages diverged (P. p. phasma and P. p. niveiventris). I also found evidence that suggests that the extinct form of beach mouse (P. p. decoloratus) is part of the P. p. phasma lineage. At the population level, I evaluated changes in genetic diversity in historical samples compared to those that experienced recent human encroachment on natural habitat I used tissue preserved in natural history collections to compare with live-trapped specimens, and found that P. p. niveiventris has maintained historical genetic diversity levels. I suggest that the continuation of historical levels of genetic diversity is due to the presence of a single large area iv of continuous habitat in the central portion of the species’ current distribution. Finally, I evaluated the importance of scrub and beach habitat to the population dynamics of beach mice. Beach mice have traditionally have been associated with beach dunes rather than with the scrub habitat found more inland on barrier islands. Using almost three years of capture-recapture data from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), I created a stochastic matrix model to assess the relative contribution of populations from the two different habitats to a variety of demographic measures. Both field data and model results provided evidence that the population dynamics of beach mice may rely much more on scrub habitat than formerly documented. Overall, my research emphasized a hierarchical approach to evaluate biodiversity and the processes shaping differentiation at different spatial and temporal scales. The methods and findings give insight into speciation at different scales, and can be applied to a wide range of taxa for questions related to evolutionary and conservation biology.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the oral health, caregivers’ perception of oral health, and dental services utilization among children with learning disabilities (LD). METHODS: We used the National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004 data to investigate the oral health and caregivers’ perception of oral health among children with LD alone, ADHD alone, and LD with ADHD. We used the National Survey of Children’s Health 2011-2012 data to examine dental services utilization and unmet dental needs among children with LD alone, non-LD CSHCN, and LD CSHCN. RESULTS: Children with LD alone have greater likelihood of having dental caries in permanent dentition compared to non-LD, non-ADHD children (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1-2.2), while the likelihood of dental caries in permanent dentition among children with combined LD and ADHD is much greater (OR: 1.9, 95%CI: 1.3-2.7). Caregivers of children with LD, ADHD, and LD with ADHD perceived their oral health to be poorer when compared to non-LD, non-ADHD (OR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.2-2.8, OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.1-3.0, OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.3-3.1, respectively). The accuracy of caregivers’ assessments of their children’s oral health was lower among those with LD, ADHD, and LD with ADHD children. Children with ADHD alone had the least accurate caregivers’ perception (OR: 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3-0.8). Children with LD alone were less likely to have a dental visit within the past year, whether for preventive visit (OR: 0.6, 95% CI: 0.5- 0.9) or any other dental visits (OR: 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5- 0.9). While LD severity did not impact dental visit receipt, children with moderate to severe LD have higher unmet dental needs than non-LD and mild-LD (OR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.3- 2.5). CONCLUSION: Children with learning disabilities have significant oral health needs and are at a greater risk for dental disease. Despite that, children with LD are less likely to utilize preventive and other dental services. Future interventions need to target this vulnerable population to improve their oral health and reduce these disparities.

The US criminal justice system holds more than 2.3 million people, with approximately 641,000 being released back into the community each year (Carson & Anderson, 2016). One in five of those incarcerated in 2015 were convicted of a drug related offense (Carson & Anderson, 2016). With a specific focus on how the formerly incarcerated with substance use disorders reenter the community from prison, this dissertation examines the role of postincarceration policy, as well as other factors, that impact the use of physical, mental, and substance use services in the community post release. Study 1 is a critical policy analysis, arguing that in addition to postincarceration policies being punitive, they result in significant social, financial, educational, housing, and health care barriers to reentry and reintegration of prisoners into their communities as productive citizens. This article describes the types of postincarceration policies in place in the US currently and provides implications for future postincarceration policy development, program implementation, and research. Study 2 is a qualitative pilot study, presenting descriptive results from in-person semi-structured interviews with reentry clients (n=10) and reentry staff (n=10). Both clients and reentry staff view client’s mental health needs as priority at reentry. For clients, enabling factors included remaining abstinent from drugs or alcohol, informal support from family and friends, as well as professional support from agencies and barriers included long wait times for services, issues with their insurance coverage, stigma related to their drug use and time spent incarcerated. Staff, meanwhile, described systems level factors as facilitating or enabling, such as postincarceration policies limiting those with incarceration histories in accessing basic necessities and health services. Study 3 aims to expand on the Study 2 pilot with a larger, in-person interview study featuring 100 clients. Results also show high levels of chronic medical problems, clinical PTSD diagnoses, experiences of both physical and sexual abuse, and injection drug use. Additionally, signaling need for mental health service, less substance use related issues in the past 30 days, and being male all predicted service need.

Better utilization of the airport system capacities can significantly decrease delays, as well as number of cancelled flights. An efficient Air Traffic Control system equipped with advanced technology installations in the terminal area can help reduce flight delays and cancellations. The same technology could also help reduce accidents in the terminal area, thereby increasing the safety of the system. Due to the expense of fielding advanced technology in the terminal area, it is important to conduct realistic cost-benefit analysis to predict the life-cycle cost of the system. A computer simulation and optimization model to estimate the costs and benefits of fielding advanced technologies at airport terminal areas is introduced in this paper. The model developed is called the Cost-Benefit Analysis Terminal Investment Model (COTIM). This model considers costs and benefits to both service providers (Federal Aviation Administration and airport authorities) and users (Airlines). The model combines a simulation-optimization based approach to predict benefits and costs accrued in one day or throughout the life-cycle of the facility. We present an example to demonstrate the functionality of the model using Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) equipped with the Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS). The Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) is a relatively new technology that forecasts convective weather movements thus allowing Air Traffic Control (ATC) personnel to re-direct flights inside the terminal area efficiently. COTIM estimates flight delays and cancellations at an airport, when the airport is equipped with advanced technologies such as ITWS. The model performs cost-benefit analysis by comparing a baseline scenario without terminal area technologies against a scenario with technology. The difference between the two scenarios help decision makers justify whether technology investments are warranted of not. / Master of Science

Insurance is a vital factor in the billed cost to the patient, but to what degree does insurance explain the amount a patient is left to pay? Also, does obesity further influence patient’s billed cost? This thesis assesses the type of thoracic trauma patient, insurance status, and their billed cost. Database variables were analyzed in IBM SPSS 25. Table 1 characteristics were evaluated based on demographics and systematic hospital factors. Linear regressions used Private0_Government1 and BMI Obese n_y_ as independent variables while Total Patient Cost was the dependent variable. Private0_Government1 insurance explained .03% of Total Patient Charges. Private0_Government1 and BMI Obese n_y_ explained 1.4% of Total Patient Charges. Private0_Government1 and BMI Obese n_y_ explained a low percentage of Total Patient Charges. This shows that there are factors other than insurance type and obesity that are influential upon patient charges.

The distribution of male and female plants was examined in five dioecious, wind pollinated species representing five plant families and two classes (gymnosperms and angiosperms). The arid to semiarid habitats occupied by these species in northern Utah were stratified for sampling into two categories: chronically xeric and seasonally moist. Results show that for all species, males prevail on xeric microsites, while females dominate the more moist parts of each local environment. Habitat partitioning between the sexes is a strategy that maximizes seedset of females and pollen dispersal of males; it also tends to minimize intraspecific competition between the sexes.

There is a significant rise in digital transformation, where all data types are easily available. Businesses seek to measure their processes to have better control over their operations as a result of the growth of digital information and technologies. By implementing a digital tool, industries are attempting to boost efficiency and productivity to survive in the fiercely competitive worldwide market. One of the most popular techniques of Industry 4.0 which enables a virtual depiction of a real system is simulation. Since improvements can be created and tested virtually before being implemented into the real system, simulation has become increasingly popular in the industrial sector. Particularly in Make to Order (MTO) and Engineer to Order (ETO) contexts, in which the manufacturing processes are complicated, non-standardized, and heavily reliant on manual labor, data capture has been an essential part that has gone unfocused, creating a long-lasting obstacle to digitalization. Companies must recognize the value of data and devise effective methods of data collecting as the economy shifts toward a more data-driven state. This study is based on an electrical transformer manufacturing company which is taking its initial steps towards using digitalization to better manage its manufacturing processes. However, the lack of data and the poor data quality resulting from manual data gathering methods are the main obstacles to this transformation. To look into the missing data, several organizational documents and production time documents were.

Home and community participation is measured by a multitude of determinant factors based within the context of a health system. Three studies were completed to understand relationships between environment and personal factors with service utilization and outcomes of participation among children with disabilities. In the first study, a scoping review was completed to identify factors that influenced rehabilitation service utilization among Canadian children with disabilities. Key findings of this review indicated higher rates of service utilization are associated to younger age, males and those with lower cognitive or motor functioning. Occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech-language pathologists were the most commonly utilized disciplines. Higher perceptions of service satisfaction related to increased presence of family-centered practices. Areas requiring further research include family needs, barriers, personal health practices and participation outcomes. Based on the findings of this review, a survey was created to administer to parents using a large children’s rehabilitation treatment centre in Ontario. Findings from the survey conducted with 279 parents are reported in the second study by providing a descriptive profile of families and children using geographically-based rehabilitation services. Families using the centre typically have younger aged children, with more boys than girls, and a large proportion use the centre for speech services. Complexity scores correlated significantly and positively with service need and service utilization, indicating children with lower functioning desired and received more rehabilitation services. Age, sex, and diagnosis did not predict total time in therapy, but complexity was a significant predictor of total time in therapy. Participation frequency scores showed weaker relationships to complexity in comparison to participation involvement scores. The final study explored the relationship between environmental and personal factors of service utilization and participation using structural equation modeling. Predictors of participation include child’s age, environmental barriers, complexity, and mother’s participation. Findings support that exploring children’s complexity and promoting mother’s participation by removing environmental barriers and modifying inaccessible structures are important to examine from a young age. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This study examines the relationship between factors of service utilization and participation outcomes for children with disabilities. Currently, there is little knowledge pertaining to the characteristics of children receiving rehabilitation services and the influence of these services on health outcomes. Such information is vital to understand how health conditions, service utilization, service planning, and service satisfaction differ across children with disabilities. Use of health services (type and number of rehabilitation services used, duration of services), environmental barriers, maternal leisure practices, and socioeconomic factors are examined with consideration to the child’s diagnosis and complexity in relation to scores of participation. This is the only study in Canada so far to comprehensively explore relationships between rehabilitation utilization and participation. The study informs health care providers and researchers about patterns and variations in children’s needs that can be utilized to improve service quality and plan services, as well as to understand participation patterns.

There is a common belief that children compared with adults are at a greater risk for exercise-induced heat illness. However, a limitation of previous studies involves different exercise intensities used in the comparison between children and adults. Dehydration impairs aerobic performance, but its effects on strength are not well understood. Sports drinks are often used as ergogenic aids. There is some evidence to suggest children have a greater reliance on exogenous carbohydrate compared to adults, which could require special considerations when children exercise in the heat. The overall purpose of this thesis was to compare physiological and metabolic responses during exercise in the heat between boys and men. Three studies were conducted to 1) compare the thermoregulatory responses of boys and men exercising in the heat at a fixed absolute metabolic heat production or a fixed metabolic heat production per unit of body mass; 2) compare the effects of 2% hypohydration or, euhydration with and without carbohydrate ingestion during exercise in the heat on subsequent strength in boys and men; and 3) examine the effects of exogenous carbohydrate on endogenous metabolism in boys and men exercising in the heat. Age and body size differences between boys and men did not influence thermoregulatory responses at a fixed metabolic heat production per unit of body mass. No differences in strength were observed among trials. When exercising in the heat, the relative contribution of ingested carbohydrate and endogenous substrate to total energy yield were not different between groups. These findings together have practical implications for boys and men who exercise in the heat. Specifically, moderate exercise in the heat is equally safe for boys and men. The effects of hypohydration and a carbohydrate drink compared to water on muscle strength performance following exercise in the heat are minimal. An important practical application is that carbohydrate intake spared endogenous fuels during exercise in the heat in both groups. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Children may not adapt to temperature extremes as effectively as adults. Thermoregulatory differences may be due to variable exercise intensities prescribed in available child-adult comparisons. Dehydration affects aerobic performance, but its effects on strength are not well understood. Sports drinks are often used to offset dehydration and improve performance; however, the body may have a harder time using sugar drinks when exercising in the heat. The purpose of this thesis was to compare bodily responses of boys and men during exercise in the heat. Our findings have important practical implications for boys and men who exercise and play sports in hot temperatures. Specifically, exercise in the heat is equally safe for boys and men. The effects of hypohydration and a sports drink on muscle strength performance following exercise in the heat are minimal. Finally, although exercise in the heat may affect the use of a sugar drink, boys and men may use this drink to improve aerobic performance, while maintaining hydration levels.

Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) in confined saline aquifers in sedimentary formations has the potential to reduce the impact of fossil fuel combustion on climate change by storing CO2 in geologic formations in perpetuity. At PT conditions relevant to CCUS, CO2 is less dense than the pre-existing brine in the formation, and the more buoyant CO2 will migrate to the top of the formation where it will be in contact with cap rock. A typical cap rock is clay-rich shale, and interactions between shales and CO2 are poorly understood at PT conditions appropriate for CCUS in saline formations. In this study, the interaction of CO2 with clay minerals in the cap rock overlying a saline formation has been examined, using Na-rich montmorillonite as an analog for clay-rich shale. Attenuated Total Reflectance -- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR -FTIR) was used to identify potential crystallographic sites (AlAlOH, AlMgOH and interlayer space) where CO2 could interact with montmorillonite at 35"C and 50"C and from 0-1200 psi.  Analysis of the data indicates that CO2 that is preferentially incorporated into the interlayer space, with dehydrated montmorillonite capable of incorporating more CO2 than hydrated montmorillonite. No evidence of chemical interactions between CO2 and montmorillonite were identified, and no spectroscopic evidence for carbonate mineral formation was observed.  Further work is needed to determine if reservoir seal quality is more likely to be degraded or enhanced by CO2 - montmorillonite interactions. / Master of Science