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Description
Many manmade chemicals used in consumer products are ultimately washed down the drain and are collected in municipal sewers. Efficient chemical monitoring at wastewater treatment (WWT) plants thus may provide up-to-date information on chemical usage rates for epidemiological assessments. The objective of the present study was to extrapolate this concept, termed 'sewage epidemiology', to include municipal sewage sludge (MSS) in identifying and prioritizing contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). To test this the following specific aims were defined: i) to screen and identify CECs in nationally representative samples of MSS and to provide nationwide inventories of CECs in U.S. MSS; ii) to investigate the fate and persistence in MSS-amended soils, of sludge-borne hydrophobic CECs; and iii) to develop an analytical tool relying on contaminant levels in MSS as an indicator for identifying and prioritizing hydrophobic CECs. Chemicals that are primarily discharged to the sewage systems (alkylphenol surfactants) and widespread persistent organohalogen pollutants (perfluorochemicals and brominated flame retardants) were analyzed in nationally representative MSS samples. A meta-analysis showed that CECs contribute about 0.04-0.15% to the total dry mass of MSS, a mass equivalent of 2,700-7,900 metric tonnes of chemicals annually. An analysis of archived mesocoms from a sludge weathering study showed that 64 CECs persisted in MSS/soil mixtures over the course of the experiment, with half-lives ranging between 224 and >990 days; these results suggest an inherent persistence of CECs that accumulate in MSS. A comparison of the spectrum of chemicals (n=52) analyzed in nationally representative biological specimens from humans and MSS revealed 70% overlap. This observed co-occurrence of contaminants in both matrices suggests that MSS may serve as an indicator for ongoing human exposures and body burdens of pollutants in humans. In conclusion, I posit that this novel approach in sewage epidemiology may serve to pre-screen and prioritize the several thousands of known or suspected CECs to identify those that are most prone to pose a risk to human health and the environment.
ContributorsVenkatesan, Arjunkrishna (Author) / Halden, Rolf U. (Thesis advisor) / Westerhoff, Paul (Committee member) / Fox, Peter (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Over the last few decades, specialized courts have received an increasing amount of research attention. The existing literature mostly supports drug courts and demonstrates their effectiveness in reducing recidivism and substance abuse, more generally (Belenko, 1998; Bouffard & Richardson, 2007; Gottfredson, Najaka, & Kearley, 2003). Whether the drug court model “works” across offender subgroups remains an open empirical question. The current study uses data originally collected by Rossman and colleagues (2003-2009) for the Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation (MADCE) to examine the effect of drug court participation on recidivism among unique offender subgroups. First, a context-specific risk score is used to examine recidivism outcomes. Second, offender subgroups are statistically created using latent class analysis (LCA). Recidivism outcomes are then assessed by subgroup, with these results compared to the initial measure of risk. Both analyses are performed using the full sample of drug court participants and the comparison groups. Finally, the third model uses a split sample analysis by court participation to explore the full effects of drug court. The findings of the present study contribute to the theoretical literature and help inform future policy regarding risk assessment and the treatment of offenders in drug courts.
ContributorsFordyce, Shayla (Author) / Holtfreter, Kristy (Thesis advisor) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Yan, Shi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Child abuse and neglect is a devastating yet preventable social problem. Currently, early childhood home visitation services are the primary approach to preventing maltreatment and improving child well-being in the United States. However, existing literature suggests that improvement is needed regarding how home visitation professionals identify and respond to risk factors for child abuse and neglect. Although there is substantial multidisciplinary literature that investigates the utility of standardized measures to determine future risk for maltreatment, there has been minimal inquiry into the validity of early childhood home visitation assessment instruments to accurately identify and classify children and their families by their risk for future maltreatment. In response to the dearth in the literature, the purpose of this dissertation was to examine the utility of the Healthy Families Parenting Inventory (HFPI) to predict a family’s risk for future maltreatment. Families enrolled in Healthy Families Arizona, a child abuse and neglect prevention program, were followed for 12 months after the completion of the baseline HFPI to measure if the family had received an investigation of maltreatment from the public child welfare system. Bivariate results indicated that the generated risk classifications of the HFPI and the overall total composite score were related to the occurrence of a future maltreatment investigation. Specifically, the results from the binary logistic regression models provided evidence that as a family’s score increased on the inventory, the likelihood of receiving an investigation of maltreatment decreased. Further, significant relationships were found between a family’s score on several individual items of the HFPI and the occurrence of a maltreatment investigation. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of potential avenues of research on the topic of risk assessment in prevention programs serving at-risk families.
ContributorsKelly, Cara (Author) / Lecroy, Craig (Thesis advisor) / Anthony, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Krysik, Judy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The purpose of this project is to develop a risk assessment tool for the University of California, Riverside (UCR). UCR is health enterprise that manages operations under an environment of innate and uncontrollable risks. Therefore, a risk assessment tool is highly advisable under California State Laws and federal laws. In the case of overlapping laws, federal law will always prevail unless State law explicitly states otherwise. California Health Information Privacy Manual states that California must follow numerous state guidelines and a federal set of guidelines called HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996). HIPAA is put in place to protect and serve as an organizational tool to develop a stronger and more secure infrastructure of security measures within healthcare enterprises. Under HIPAA is a Security and Privacy Rule that was implemented by The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and will serve as the basis for the risk assessment tool I developed. The Security and Privacy Rule's main goal is to set a national standard of how electronic protected health information (ePHI) will be appropriately used and disclosed by organizations subject to this rule, also known covered entities. Covered entities include health plans, health care providers and health care clearinghouses unless specifically stated otherwise. Permitted uses and disclosures of PHI or ePHI are outlined in detail and covered entities are expected to follow all aspects of it that pertain to their role within a healthcare system. Under HHS, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) strictly enforces the Security and Privacy Rules and can issue civil money penalties and/or other major consequences making this a sizable and critical issue in healthcare environments. Each risk and impact must be assessed to determine an overall risk score. This score will then determine what risks need to be immediately addressed and which risks are most critical to UCR. To do this, potential impacts were determined for each section. The impact score can be decided by using a chart that will be discussed in the development section. The likeliness of the risk can be determined by a UCR professional via the provided chart and an overall risk score can be assigned. From here, an action plan can be set and carried out to eliminate possible hazards and imminent risks. Once a Risk Assessment tool is developed, potential risks can be indentified and dealt with appropriately in regard to level of impact and the likelihood of the risk occurring. By reducing risk, a healthcare enterprise can gain greater financial stability, decrease loss and protect vital information that is critical to the success organization.
ContributorsAustin, Hannah N. (Author) / Riley, William (Thesis director) / Hackman, Paul (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
ContributorsEvans, Bartlett R. (Conductor) / Schildkret, David (Conductor) / Glenn, Erica (Conductor) / Concert Choir (Performer) / Chamber Singers (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-16
Description
Despite the evidence that suicide risk assessment training is necessary only 40-50% of psychology programs offer risk assessment training (Granello & Juhnke, 2010). In the present study an online suicide risk assessment and safety plan training workshop for graduate students in the field of psychology was investigated. Participants were randomly assigned to the control condition (lecture) or the treatment condition (lecture + demonstration). Measures of declarative knowledge of suicide risk and protective factors, application to clinical scenarios, and risk assessment and management self-efficacy scales were administered before and after completion of the workshop. Two way repeated measures ANOVA's were conducted with repeated time measures to evaluate the Time X Condition interaction. While there was a significant main effect of time on all three dependent variables, there was no significant time X condition interaction. In contrast to predictions, the added component of a demonstration did not result in greater improvements in application to clinical scenario multiple choice questions or risk assessment and management self-efficacy. Post hoc moderation analysis revealed demonstration enhanced the effects of knowledge acquisition and assessment of clinical scenarios for individuals who reported the training was less relevant to their current work. Implications of findings and directions of further research are discussed.
ContributorsKrieg, Christina (Author) / Tracey, Terence (Thesis advisor) / Horan, John (Committee member) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Water resource systems have provided vital support to transformative growth in the Southwest United States; and for more than a century the Salt River Project (SRP) has served as a model of success among multipurpose federal reclamation projects, currently delivering approximately 40% of water demand in the metropolitan Phoenix area. Drought concerns have sensitized water management to risks posed by natural variability and forthcoming climate change.
Full simulations originating in climate modeling have been the conventional approach to impacts assessment. But, once debatable climate projections are applied to hydrologic models challenged to accurately represent the region’s arid hydrology, the range of possible scenarios enlarges as uncertainties propagate through sequential levels of modeling complexity. Numerous issues render future projections frustratingly uncertain, leading many researchers to conclude it will be some decades before hydroclimatic modeling can provide specific and useful information to water management.
Alternatively, this research investigation inverts the standard approach to vulnerability assessment and begins with characterization of the threatened system, proceeding backwards to the uncertain climate future. Thorough statistical analysis of historical watershed climate and runoff enabled development of (a) a stochastic simulation methodology for net basin supply (NBS) that renders the entire range of droughts, and (b) hydrologic sensitivities to temperature and precipitation changes. An operations simulation model was developed for assessing the SRP reservoir system’s cumulative response to inflow variability and change. After analysis of the current system’s drought response, a set of climate change forecasts for the balance of this century were developed and translated through hydrologic sensitivities to drive alternative NBS time series assessed by reservoir operations modeling.
Statistically significant changes in key metrics were found for climate change forecasts, but the risk of reservoir depletion was found to remain zero. System outcomes fall within ranges to which water management is capable of responding. Actions taken to address natural variability are likely to be the same considered for climate change adaptation. This research approach provides specific risk assessments per unambiguous methods grounded in observational evidence in contrast to the uncertain projections thus far prepared for the region.
Full simulations originating in climate modeling have been the conventional approach to impacts assessment. But, once debatable climate projections are applied to hydrologic models challenged to accurately represent the region’s arid hydrology, the range of possible scenarios enlarges as uncertainties propagate through sequential levels of modeling complexity. Numerous issues render future projections frustratingly uncertain, leading many researchers to conclude it will be some decades before hydroclimatic modeling can provide specific and useful information to water management.
Alternatively, this research investigation inverts the standard approach to vulnerability assessment and begins with characterization of the threatened system, proceeding backwards to the uncertain climate future. Thorough statistical analysis of historical watershed climate and runoff enabled development of (a) a stochastic simulation methodology for net basin supply (NBS) that renders the entire range of droughts, and (b) hydrologic sensitivities to temperature and precipitation changes. An operations simulation model was developed for assessing the SRP reservoir system’s cumulative response to inflow variability and change. After analysis of the current system’s drought response, a set of climate change forecasts for the balance of this century were developed and translated through hydrologic sensitivities to drive alternative NBS time series assessed by reservoir operations modeling.
Statistically significant changes in key metrics were found for climate change forecasts, but the risk of reservoir depletion was found to remain zero. System outcomes fall within ranges to which water management is capable of responding. Actions taken to address natural variability are likely to be the same considered for climate change adaptation. This research approach provides specific risk assessments per unambiguous methods grounded in observational evidence in contrast to the uncertain projections thus far prepared for the region.
ContributorsMurphy, Kevin W (Author) / Cerveny, Randall S. (Thesis advisor) / Balling, Jr., Robert C. (Committee member) / Ellis, Andrew W. (Committee member) / Skindlov, Jon A. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Risk assessment instruments play a significant role in correctional intervention and guide decisions about supervision and treatment. Although advances have been made in risk assessment over the past 50 years, limited attention has been given to risk assessment for domestic violence offenders. This study investigates the use of the Domestic Violence Screening Inventory (DVSI) and the Offender Screening Tool (OST) with a sample of 573 offenders convicted of domestic violence offenses and sentenced to supervised probation in Maricopa County, Arizona. The study has two purposes. The first is to assess the predictive validity of the existing assessment tools with a sample of domestic violence offenders, using a number of probation outcomes. The second is to identify the most significant predictors of probation outcomes. Predictive validity is assessed using crosstabulations, bivariate correlations, and the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. Logistic regression is used to identify the most significant predictors of probation outcomes. The DVSI and the OST were found to be predictive of probation outcomes and were most predictive of the outcomes petition to revoke filed, petition to revoke filed for a violation of specialized domestic violence conditions, and unsuccessful probation status. Significant predictors include demographics, criminal history, current offense, victim characteristics, static factors, supervision variables and dynamic variables. The most consistent predictors were supervision variables and dynamic risk factors. The supervision variables include being supervised on a specialized domestic violence caseload and changes in supervision, either an increase or decrease, during the probation grant. The dynamic variables include employment and substance abuse. The overall findings provide support for the continued use of the DVSI and the OST and are consistent with the literature on evidence-based practices for correctional interventions. However, the predictive validity of the assessments varied across sub-groups and the instruments were less predictive for females and offenders with non-intimate partner victims. In addition, study variables only explained a small portion of the variation in the probation outcomes. Additional research is needed, expanding beyond the psychology of criminal conduct, to continue to improve existing risk assessment tools and identify more salient predictors of probation outcomes for domestic violence offenders.
ContributorsFerguson, Jennifer (Author) / Hepburn, John R. (Thesis advisor) / Ashford, José B. (Committee member) / Johnson, John M. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
ContributorsOwen, Ken (Conductor) / McDevitt, Mandy L. M. (Performer) / Larson, Brook (Conductor) / Wang, Lin-Yu (Performer) / Jacobs, Todd (Performer) / Morehouse, Daniel (Performer) / Magers, Kristen (Performer) / DeGrow, Gary (Performer) / DeGrow, Richard (Performer) / Women's Chorus (Performer) / Sun Devil Singers (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2004-03-24
ContributorsMetz, John (Performer) / Sowers, Richard (Performer) / Collegium Musicum (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created1983-01-29