Digital Commons Network^™

Creating A Social Communication Module For Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Erin Walton

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Research (Hales, Carroll, Fryar, & Ogden, 2017) shows that those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience poorer physical health and fewer opportunities for social interactions than typically developing peers. As the prevalence of ASD increases, it is essential to consider effective interventions that target multiple skill areas for individuals seeking therapy. Youth ages 9 to 17 with ASD may experience physical health and social communication benefits from the implementation of a social communication curriculum module that could potentially be incorporated with Bingocize®, an online application that incorporates bingo with physical exercise, as well as educational content. Social communication educational …

Disclosure, Privacy And Workplace Accommodation Of Episodic Disabilities: Organizational Perspectives On Disability Communication-Support Processes To Sustain Employment, Monique A.M. Gignac, Julie Bowring, Arif Jetha, Dorcas E. Beaton, F. Curtis Breslin, Renee Louise Franche, Emma Irvin, Joy C. Macdermid, William S. Shaw, Peter M. Smith, Aaron Thompson, Emile Tompa, Dwayne Van Eerd, Ron Saunders

Bone and Joint Institute

© 2020, The Author(s). Purpose Employers increasingly are asked to accommodate workers living with physical and mental health conditions that cause episodic disability, where periods of wellness are punctuated by intermittent and often unpredictable activity limitations (e.g., depression, anxiety, arthritis, colitis). Episodic disabilities may be challenging for workplaces which must comply with legislation protecting the privacy of health information while believing they would benefit from personal health details to meet a worker’s accommodation needs. This research aimed to understand organizational perspectives on disability communication-support processes. Methods Twenty-seven participants from diverse employment sectors and who had responsibilities for supporting workers living …

Communication Strategies For Connecting Onevcu, The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute At Virginia Commonwealth University, Jason Jacobus, Amy Lutero, Mary Peace Mcrae, Shravan Renapurkar, Kristin Richardson, Christian Wernz, Tonka Williams

The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Publications

This project analyzes and makes improvement suggestions for communication to VCU faculty and staff. The COVID-19 crisis has brought to light a variety of communication needs. Faculty and staff are feeling overwhelmed by a flood of emails, while at the same time are missing key information. We have assessed the current communication infrastructure, and together with the key VCU communicators have identified improved processes and policies.

“Rape Is A Four-Letter Word”: Psychosis, Sexual Assault, And Abortion In The 2012 Election, Sarah Stone Watt

All Faculty Open Access Publications

Republican candidates made headlines during the 2012 election for their offensive statements regarding rape when defending a comprehensive ban on abortion. Using Lacan’s theory of psychosis, this article exposes unconscious rhetorical structures that may have contributed to the repetition of those gaffes even after the Party advised all comments, during and after candidates’ attempts to retract their inaccurate statements, was the result of a foreclosure in the minds of some candidates. The discursive structure of their comments provides evidence that some candidates were unable to reconcile white patriarchal subjectivity with the inability to protect against rape.

Eb4cast Approach Improves Science Communication With Stakeholders In A College-Based Health Program, Melissa D. Olfert, Makenzie L. Barr, Rebecca L. Hagedorn, Rachel A. Wattick, Wenjun Zhou, Tanya M. Horacek, Anne E. Mathews, Kendra K. Kattelmann, Tandalayo Kidd, Adrienne A. White, Onikia N. Brown, Jesse Stabile Morrell, Lisa Franzen-Castle, Karla P. Shelnutt, Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Terezie Tolar-Peterson, Geoffrey W. Greene, Sarah E. Colby

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Communicating scientific results with community partners is often lacking in intervention programs, thus eB4CAST was developed to facilitate impact sharing. This article investigated using the eB4CAST dissemination tool to communicate impact from a campus-based obesity prevention program. Data from Get Fruved RCT university sites collected at baseline were used to generate eB4CAST reports. Experts (n = 13) and RCT sites (n = 15) were asked to provide feedback on eB4CAST reports based on appeal, understanding, and clarity. On all Likert items, participants rated above 7 on each (out of 10). Positive responses from open-ended questions included eB4CAST reports being clear, …

Eb4cast Approach Improves Science Communication With Stakeholders In A College-Based Health Program, Melissa D. Olfert, Makenzie L. Barr, Rebecca L. Hagedorn, Rahel A. Wattick, Wenjun Zhou, Tanya M. Horacek, Anne E. Mathews, Kendra K. Kattlemann, Tandalayo Kidd, Adrienne A. White, Onikia N. Brown, Jesse Stabile Morrell, Lisa Franzen-Castle, Karla P. Shelnutt, Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Terezie Tolar-Peterson, Geoffrey W. Greene, Sarah E. Colby

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Communicating scientific results with community partners is often lacking in intervention programs, thus eB4CAST was developed to facilitate impact sharing. This article investigated using the eB4CAST dissemination tool to communicate impact from a campus-based obesity prevention program. Data from Get Fruved RCT university sites collected at baseline were used to generate eB4CAST reports. Experts (n = 13) and RCT sites (n = 15) were asked to provide feedback on eB4CAST reports based on appeal, understanding, and clarity. On all Likert items, participants rated above 7 on each (out of 10). Positive responses from open-ended questions included eB4CAST reports being clear, …

A Mobile Learning Community In A Living Learning Community: Perceived Impact On Digital Fluency And Communication, Devshikha Bose, Krishna Pakala, Lana Grover

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Though mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, and tablet computers have an immense potential for improving student learning, there is little empirical research which reports ways in which students actually use these technologies for learning, especially in fields like Engineering. Based on a social-constructivist approach to learning, the purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate student perceptions regarding changes in mobile device based digital fluency and communication, after participation in a Living Learning Community (LLC) based Mobile Learning Community. This study contributes to existing literature in the field in that it reports student perceptions of how mobile devices can …

Incorporating Research Design In Public Diplomacy: The Role Of Listening To Foreign Publics, Juve J. Cortés, Thomas Jamieson

Public Administration Faculty Publications

Research design involves a set of decisions regarding what or who will be studied and the procedures in acquiring and analyzing information. In this article, we apply lessons from research design to public diplomacy, a field focused on engaging with foreign publics. Much prior scholarship sheds light on what PD is and its programs, but less attention has been given to the role of listening to understand what foreign publics think and believe. We propose three interrelated recommendations to improve the quality of implementing PD programs. First, before any program is implemented, we need to correctly identify a perceived issue …

Recommendations For Clinical Laboratory Testing For Antithrombin Deficiency; Communication From The Ssc Of The Isth, Elizabeth M. Van Cott, Christelle Orlando, Gary W. Moore, Peter C. Cooper, Piet Meijer, Richard Marlar, Subcommittee On Plasma Coagulation Inhibitors

Pathology Research and Scholarship

Hereditary deficiency of antithrombin, a natural anticoagulant, causes a thrombophilia with a high risk for venous thromboembolism. Guidance for laboratory testing to diagnose antithrombin deficiency include the use of an activity assay for initial testing, performing an antigen test and activity-to-antigen ratio when the activity level is low, using pediatric reference ranges until the age of 6 months, excluding acquired causes of low antithrombin (e.g. liver dysfunction, proteinuria, heparin, disseminated intravascular coagulation, thrombosis, surgery) or falsely normal/elevated results (e.g. argatroban, bivalirudin, dabigatran in factor IIa-based assays; rivaroxaban, apixaban, edoxaban, but not betrixaban in Xa-based assays). Molecular testing, if available, may …

Communicating In Crisis Situations, Rick Gorvett, Chris Morse, Julie Volkman

Communication Faculty Journal Articles

Communicating technical information, especially in a crisis situation and particularly when the audience does not share the technical background, is a challenge that actuaries frequently face. This essay describes the dynamics and issues involved in crisis communications and provides some recommendations for actuaries confronting such a situation.

Cultural Communication For New Nurse Residents: K.I.N.D Communication Toolkit, Jennifer Caraballo

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Microaggressions can create a hostile work environment and decrease rapport and functioning in clinical and personal relationships. Exposure to micro aggression and implicit bias results in micro trauma and possible compassion fatigue by medical staff. Symptoms can include headaches, poor sleep, depressions, and anxiety, similar to compassion fatigue.

Purpose: To develop a toolkit for healthcare staff to use as educational material to facilitate for cultural communication and cultural humility.

Methods: Nurses that were enrolled in a nurse residency program at a level 1 trauma center participated in the education of a communication toolkit related to K.I.N.D …

Communication Of Professional Readiness In Dietetics And Human Nutrition Undergraduates: A Pilot Study, Heather Norman-Burgdolf, Emily M. Dewitt, Nathan L. Vanderford, Julie Plasencia

Dietetics and Human Nutrition Faculty Publications

Learning experiences within the dietetics and human nutrition undergraduate curricula develop knowledge and skills pertinent to student career goals. Core competency requirements are extensively assessed in these programs, yet the communication of transferable skills gained and student professional readiness are rarely examined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate undergraduate students' perceived professional readiness following six professional development workshops on transferable skills and career preparedness communicated through resumes and personal statements. In this pilot study, twelve upper-level dietetics and human nutrition students self-assessed their resumes and personal statements with rubrics and completed surveys before and after the intervention. Following …

Non-Song Vocalizations Of Humpback Whales In Western Australia, Angela Recalde-Salas, Christine Erbe, Chandra Salgado Kent, Miles Parsons

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study presents non-song vocalizations of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from two migratory areas off the Western Australian coast: Geographe Bay and Port Hedland. A total of 220 sounds were identified as non-song sounds in 193 h of recordings reviewed. Of those, 68 were measured and qualitatively classified into 17 groups using their spectral features. One group (HW-02) had a high level of variation in terms of spectral slope. However, further classification using statistical classification methods was not possible because of the small sample size. Non-song sound frequencies varied from 9 Hz to 6 kHz, with the majority of sounds …

Communication Patterns Between Physicians And Physician Assistants, Joey Valentini

Senior Honors Theses

Communication is imperative to the success of any team-based organization. In healthcare, it is common for patient outcomes to be affected by variables including but not limited to the quality of extraprofessional communication. Physicians and physician assistants are two meaningful and valued members of the medical care team, and the need for collaboration amongst each other is irrefutable. Physicians are the trusted leaders of any medical team, having completed the most amount of schooling and training. Physician assistants are versatile, economically advantageous, and skill-proficient mid-level practitioners that are required by law to be supervised by a collaborating physician. The working …

An Edge Based Multi-Agent Auto Communication Method For Traffic Light Control, Qiang Wu, Jianqing Wu, Jun Shen, Binbin Yong, Qingguo Zhou

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

With smart city infrastructures growing, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been widely used in the intelligent transportation systems (ITS). The traditional adaptive traffic signal control method based on reinforcement learning (RL) has expanded from one intersection to multiple intersections. In this paper, we propose a multi-agent auto communication (MAAC) algorithm, which is an innovative adaptive global traffic light control method based on multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) and an auto communication protocol in edge computing architecture. The MAAC algorithm combines multi-agent auto communication protocol with MARL, allowing an agent to communicate the learned strategies with others for achieving global optimization …

Strategies For Safe And Effective Treatment Of Patients With Alzheimer Disease, Jafar Alabdullah, Ahmed Almuntashiri

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Alzheimer disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that causes cognition impairment and memory loss, affecting activities in daily living. In the United States, an estimated 4.5 million people have AD and this figure is expected to reach 14 million by 2050. Because patients with AD experience a deterioration of their mental functions, patients need more help with their activities of daily living, including oral hygiene, as their AD progresses. Studies have found that individuals with AD often experience poor oral health. As advanced age is a risk factor for AD and the number of older adults in the US continues …

A Randomized Control Trial Of Intensive Aphasia Therapy After Acute Stroke: The Very Early Rehabilitation For Speech (Verse) Study, Erin Godecke, Elizabeth Armstrong, Tapan Rai, Natalie Ciccone, Miranda L. Rose, Sandy Middleton, Anne Whitworth, Audrey Holland, Fiona Ellery, Graeme J. Hankey, Dominic A. Cadilhac, Julie Bernhardt, Verse Collaborative Group

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

Effectiveness of early intensive aphasia rehabilitation after stroke is unknown. The Very Early Rehabilitation for SpEech trial (VERSE) aimed to determine whether intensive aphasia therapy, beginning within 14 days after stroke, improved communication recovery compared to usual care.

Methods

Prospective, randomized, single-blinded trial conducted at 17 acute-care hospitals across Australia/New Zealand from 2014 to 2018. Participants with aphasia following acute stroke were randomized to receive usual care (direct usual care aphasia therapy), or one of two higher intensity regimens (20 sessions of either non-prescribed (usual care-plus or prescribed (VERSE) direct aphasia therapy). The primary outcome was improvement of communication …

Supporting Safety Culture In Academia: Giving A Voice To Faculty, Emily K. Faulconer, Chelsea A. Lenoble

Publications

In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, “The difference between mere management and true leadership is communication.” Department leaders have a vital role to play at all institutional levels when it comes to achieving an optimal safety culture that promotes safety voice behavior.

At the university level, this role is to help the university develop a solid foundation that will support a strong safety culture. At this level, it can be a challenge to mobilize and sustain the necessary resources to effectively develop and communicate a clear, consistent message that is aligned with implicit and explicit reward structures.

Kind Communication: An Educational Intervention To Raise Nurse Resident's Awareness Towards Decreasing Implicit Bias Through Effective Communication Strategies, Khadijah Tuitt

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: There is an increasing need for healthcare institutions to become more aware of how provider biases can affect patient outcomes and contribute to health care disparities for Black and other diverse populations. Implicit biases can result in poor patient outcomes and a breakdown in trust between patients and health care providers.

Purpose: To educate nurse residents on the use of the Kinesics, Inclusive, Non-biased and Deliverable KIND, Communications technique to decrease biases during interactions.

Methods: Nurses enrolled in the institutions Nurse Residency program participated in the training session during their monthly educational meeting. Education was provided using …

From Open Access To Open Science: The Path From Scientific Reality To Open Scientific Communication, Christian Heise, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications

Although opening up of research is considered an appropriate and trend-setting model for future scientific communication, it can still be difficult to put open science into practice. How open and transparent can a scientific work be? This article investigates the potential to make all information and the whole work process of a qualification project such as a doctoral thesis comprehensively and freely accessible on the internet with an open free license both in the final form and completely traceable in development. The answer to the initial question, the self-experiment and the associated demand for openness, posed several challenges for a …

The Chilling Effect Of Copyright Permissions On Academic Research: The Case Of Communication Researchers, Patricia Aufderheide

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Communications researchers in the U.S., who routinely analyze copyrighted material, both qualitatively and quantitatively, face challenges from strict copyright. The doctrine of fair use permits some unpermissioned use of copyrighted works. Survey research shows that researchers routinely need access to copyrighted material; that they are often unsure or confused, even unknowing, about fair use; and that this lack of knowledge and/or familiarity leads to both failure to execute and failure to initiate, or “imagination foregone.” Creating a best practices code has improved knowledge but more institutional change is needed for knowledge to inform action.

Analyzing Workflows And Improving Communication Across Departments: A Simple Project Using Rapid Contextual Design, Rachel S. Evans

Articles, Chapters and Online Publications

Conference program review of a session from the 2020 NASIG (North American Serials Interest Group) Conference.

When We Can’T Say Goodbye — Loss, Grief, And Dying During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Holly Nelson-Becker, Ann Callahan

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

How do we understand and manage our thoughts about death? How can we prepare for our own and the deaths of others for whom we care deeply? How can we communicate at times when our clients, significant others, or friends are dying? Finally, how do we say goodbye in haste or cope when we cannot?

This article addresses three complementary aspects of death and grief: death and loss for the one who is dying, death and loss for the person mourning, and death and loss for communities. Each section is informed by public health guidelines, statements by professional organizations, and …

Potential Roles Of Extracellular Vesicles In The Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, And Treatment Of Autoimmune Diseases., Jing Tian, Giacomo Casella, Yuan Zhang, Abdolmohamad Rostami, Xing Li

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

Since extracellular vesicles (EVs) were discovered in 1983 in sheep reticulocytes samples, they have gradually attracted scientific attention and become a topic of great interest in the life sciences field. EVs are small membrane particles, released by virtually every cell that carries a variety of functional molecules. Their main function is to deliver messages to the surrounding area in both physiological and pathological conditions. Initially, they were thought to be either cell debris, signs of cell death, or unspecific structures. However, accumulating evidence support a theory that EVs are a universal mechanism of communication. Thanks to their biological characteristics and …

A Framework Of International Competencies For Systems Engineers, Annlizé L. Marnewick, Holly A.H. Handley

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In the course of their career, many systems engineers are likely to interact with engineers of other nationalities as they collaborate on large, complex projects and system of system problems. These partnerships are necessary to support international goals, such as those for sustainable development. System engineers may even work onsite in other countries where they must adapt to different styles of doing business. This requires a set of global skill sets for cooperating and decision making, as well as basic social skills for interacting with the local community. These global skills can be included in a graduate level system engineering …

Disaster Damage Categorization Applying Satellite Images And Machine Learning Algorithm, Farinaz Sabz Ali Pour, Adrian Gheorghe

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Special information has a significant role in disaster management. Land cover mapping can detect short- and long-term changes and monitor the vulnerable habitats. It is an effective evaluation to be included in the disaster management system to protect the conservation areas. The critical visual and statistical information presented to the decision-makers can help in mitigation or adaption before crossing a threshold. This paper aims to contribute in the academic and the practice aspects by offering a potential solution to enhance the disaster data source effectiveness. The key research question that the authors try to answer in this paper is how …

Modulating Cytokine Production Via Select Packaging And Secretion From Extracellular Vesicles, B. J. Barnes, C. C. Somerville

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

'Take 10 To Talk About It': Use Of A Scripted, Post-Event Debriefing Tool In A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Anastasi Gougoulis, Rory Trawber, Kathryn Hird, Greg Sweetman

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Aim: This study assessed the impact of a scripted, post-event debriefing tool in identifying logistical, procedural, personnel and performance obstacles and successes in a clinical setting. It was predicted that the debriefing tool would highlight the importance of routine debriefing following challenging clinical events.

Method: The study was conducted in a 22 bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a tertiary hospital and involved all staff members in the perinatal service. The debriefing tool, a two-page form providing a structured, scripted approach, was used at the earliest opportunity after acute clinical deteriorations, emergency caesarean sections and any other critical events as …