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Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

Seven Properties Of Highly Effective Problems, Thomas Ales, Kevin Peterson, Constantine Roussos

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

In an effort to provide more critical thinking opportunities in their courses, instructors are embracing the power of problem- and project-based learning (PBL). In this paper we address the importance of problem quality when utilizing PBL. We list seven important properties that a high-quality problem should have. We conclude with an example of a problem that possesses all seven properties.

Implementation Of A Cancer Education Program In Rural Counties With The Lowest Hpv Vaccination Rates And Health Rankings, Sarah Arezo, Shillpa Naavaal, Charlotte Garrett, Marcie S. Wright, Vanessa B. Sheppard, Michael A. Preston

Dental Public Health and Policy Publications

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). To address STIs, one rural county public school district developed a series of Family Life Programs to educate pre-teens about pertinent health information. The Schooling Cancer Program (SCP) was developed in partnership with the local Cancer Research and Resource Center to raise awareness about cancer risk factors including HPV-related cancers and HPV prevention methods. Methods: We collected a post-evaluation survey from students who attended a SCP session at one of the targeted middle schools. The SCP educated students about topics focusing on healthy lifestyles. The survey asked students’ …

Using Natural Language Processing To Understand The Lived Experiences Of People Identifying With Adhd: What Themes Emerge In Social Media Posts?, Gabby C. Scalzo

Theses and Dissertations

Compared to the amount of research conducted on how to identify and understand children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), there has been relatively little work done to understand the lived experiences of adults with ADHD. Increased understanding of how adults with ADHD conceptualize themselves in the context of their diagnosis would help clinical experts tailor research and treatments to better serve these communities. However, there are several barriers towards conducting high-quality qualitative research, including time- and labor-intensity. This study, informed by qualitative research traditions, used innovative data sources (i.e., social media) and analytic techniques (i.e., machine learning) to reduce these …

Through The Decades: Aapi Life At Vcu, Asian American & Pacific Islander Affinity, Aurianna Nacua, Aerin Fortes, Cierra T’Eo, Maryam Rabiutheen, Sithmi Rajaguru, Natalie Auandee

Through the Decades: AAPI Life at VCU

Posters displayed at the exhibit "Through the Decades: AAPI Life at VCU." The posters presented were: Depictions of AAPI Culture On-campus, The Model Minority Myth on Campus, Services for AAPI Individuals, Black Contributions to AAPI Life on Campus, Monroe Park Campus, Meet the Monroe Park Students, Medical College of Virginia, Meet the Medical Students, Current Student Voices, Past Student Organizations, Current Student Organizations Spotlight, Meet Past Faculty, Current Faculty and Staff Spotlight, and Pieces by Professor Roberto Jamora.

The Relationship Between Material Circumstances And Primary Care Utilization After Enrollment In Virginia’S Medicaid Expansion, Hannah Shadowen

Theses and Dissertations

Health and health equity encompass not only healthcare but individual level material circumstances like food and housing, neighborhood level conditions like local consequences of residential segregation, and state and federal policies like Medicaid expansion. However, we are just beginning to understand how state level health insurance policy changes operate in the relationship between material circumstances, healthcare use, and health outcomes. This work focuses on newly enrolled Virginia Medicaid expansion members by using both claims data and survey data collected at the point individuals enrolled in Medicaid expansion and a year after Medicaid coverage.

Paper 1 asks if newly enrolled Medicaid …

Dynamic Mathematical Approaches To Understanding Pain In Sickle Cell Disease, Quindel Jones

Theses and Dissertations

In the last 50 years, pain in Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) has become more widely studied thanks to advancements in technology and awareness. Clinical studies, population surveys, pharmaceutical trials, and computational models have been created and conducted to elucidate the mechanisms, treatments, and prediction of Sickle Cell disease pain episodes. Computational models have become quite useful in unraveling disease pathology with the rise in data collection accessibility and advanced computational power. In particular, dynamic mathematical models have been used to investigate Sickle Cell disease pathology and treatment. In this work we conduct a literature review of mathematical models used in …

Qualitative Study Of Hiv-Related Stigma In The Dental Care Setting, Sania A. Pullen, Dr. Dina T. Garcia

Undergraduate Research Posters

Objectives: People living with HIV (PLWH) are susceptible to developing a variety of oral conditions that if left untreated can lead to sore gums, painful chewing, and tooth loss as well as compromise HIV management and viral suppression. Despite the increased risk of developing oral conditions, it is estimated that up to 58% of PLH do not receive regular dental care. This study aimed to examine HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the dental care setting.

Methods: Adults living with HIV who receive care through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program at the VCU Infectious Disease (ID) clinic were recruited to participate. …

Health-Based Urban Design And Planning Interventions; Maximizing Harmony, Vitality, And Wellness In Hopewell, Virginia, Suzanne K. Yeats

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Urban planners as practitioners work to create a more progressive future while simultaneously redressing the past. This tension is found in many cities, including the City of Hopewell, Virginia where city planners, managers, economic developers work passionately for positive change. In Hopewell, there has been almost no population growth since 1970 and existing health outcomes are alarming. In every determinant of health category (medical, psychological, or social), this city falls below the state and national average. This health-based urban design and planning intervention capstone challenges the status quo by flipping the paradigm and placing the health of all residents first …

Examining Effects Of Perceived Discrimination And Loneliness On Overall Health Outcomes In Black Americans, Apoorva Saravanan

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

On average, Black Americans suffer more from a wide range of diseases when compared to White Americans. The national mortality rate for Black Americans is also 24% higher than their White counterparts. Although there are multiple factors contributing to such disparities, one line of research provides strong evidence that negative health outcomes are more likely to occur in Black Americans who experience racial discrimination than those who experience no discrimination. A separate line of research also provides evidence that loneliness is a major health risk factor. In fact, prior research indicates that the experience of discrimination and loneliness are both …

Socioeconomic Status And Health Disparities Drive Differences In Accelerometer-Derived Physical Activity In Fatty Liver Disease And Significant Fibrosis, Lucia Tabacu, Sajag Swami, Mark Ledbetter, Mohamad S. Siddiqui, Ekaterina Smirnova

Internal Medicine Publications

Background and aims: The cornerstone of clinical management of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are lifestyle changes such as increasing physical activity (PA) aimed at improving cardiometabolic risk. To inform NAFLD prevention and treatment guidelines we aimed to: (i) quantify the role of PA on lowering the risk for NAFLD and fibrosis; (ii) characterize NAFLD and fibrosis association with PA in the context of socioeconomic environment.

Methods: A sample of 2648 participants from the NHANES 2003–2006 was selected to develop survey weighted multivariable logistic regression models for predicting NAFLD and significant fibrosis, diagnosed non-invasively via fatty …

Bulletin Of The Virginia State Dental Association (Vol. 38, No. 3, 1961)

Bulletin of the Virginia State Dental Association

No abstract provided.

Bulletin Of The Virginia State Dental Association (Vol. 38, No. 1, 1961)

Bulletin of the Virginia State Dental Association

No abstract provided.

Bulletin Of The Virginia State Dental Association (Vol. 38, No. 2, 1961)

Bulletin of the Virginia State Dental Association

No abstract provided.

Teaching In An Unfamiliar Place: A Mixed Methods-Grounded Theory Study On The Experiences Of New Correctional Educators, Nicole Patrie

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

New correctional educators must learn to teach in an unfamiliar correctional environment. In this convergent mixed-methods study, experienced correctional educators in Alberta, Canada reflected on their first 6 months teaching in adult correctional institutions. Teachers initially struggled to do something familiar (teach) in an unfamiliar place, perceiv- ing prisons as non-conducive to education. Seeing the absence of a purpose-built community, they built one or attached to existing non-educational communities. New educators invoked strategies such as engaging in mutual support, connecting with non-education professionals, asking others to demystify institutional culture, and practicing reflexivity. When reflecting on useful training and orientation activities, …

Commonwealth Times 2023-04-12

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Strategies To Improve Patient Compliance Regarding Smoking Cessation, Genevieve R. Benzinger, Lydia Burton

Dental Hygiene Student Scholarship

Exposure to cigarette smoke in the oral cavity alters the function of key periodontal pathogens such as P. gingivalis, promoting biofilm formation, colonization, and infection. The purpose of this review is to investigate how improved education on smoking can decrease negative oral health risks. Education amongst healthcare professionals and their patients is positively correlated to smoking cessation.

Smoking counseling has been shown to be more effective when given by multiple healthcare professionals outside of and in addition to primary care. Evidence shows that the chances of breaking smoking habits increase as smoking cessation counseling, cost-free medications, and follow up visits …

Health Sciences Collection Development: An Overview Of Fundamental Knowledge And Practices (2nd Edition), Karen H. Gau, Iris Kovar-Gough

Open and Affordable Course Content at VCU

This Open Access work from the Medical Library Association Collection Development Caucus provides an overview of the responsibilities and tasks involved in the development and management of health sciences collections. Readers can explore topics in greater detail through references at the end of each chapter.

You can access the most up-to-date version of this work at https://doi.org/10.21974/1tsq-na64

Cancer Therapy And Oral Mucositis, Breanna E. Walker, Heidi Berczes

Dental Hygiene Student Scholarship

Cancer therapy can cause various adverse effects on the oral cavity. The development of oral mucositis is one of the most common oral condition associated with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. As dental professionals it is our duty to prevent and treat this condition in our patients. OM is very painful and has been known to decrease the quality of life in those with the condition. We have looked at studies evaluating the effectiveness of various agents in the prevention and treatment of OM. Our hope is to bring awareness to OM while educating providers on treatment options.

Optimization Of Microfluidic Device Methodology For Optical Trapping Epithelial Cells In A Mixture, Brittney N. Hackworth

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Evidence containing biological mixtures can make DNA interpretation more difficult due to ambiguous allele calls and artifacts that may be present within electropherograms. Separating out these cell mixtures can be advantageous to the analysts’ analysis methods for identifying STR profiles with higher accuracy. A potential cell separation method that could be implemented in the beginning of the forensic DNA workflow is optical trapping.

This research utilized a 5W ytterbium linearly polarized laser split into two optical traps, paired with a microfluidic device to isolate spermatozoa and vaginal epithelial cells from a 1:1 mixture of vaginal fluid and 1:20 diluted seminal …

Perceptions About Human Papillomavirus Vaccine And Oropharyngeal Cancers, And The Role Of Dental Care Providers In Human Papillomavirus Prevention Among Us Adults, Shillpa Naavaal, Christina A. Demopoulos, Abigail Kelly, Eric Tranby, Julie Frantsve-Hawley

Dental Public Health and Policy Publications

Background: The authors examined adults' perceptions about the importance of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in preventing oropharyngeal cancers and dental care providers' role in HPV prevention and identified associated factors.

Methods: Adults (≥ 18 years) completed a national survey of consumer and patient attitudes, experiences, and behaviors on oral health. Descriptive and multivariable logistic regression models determined associations between perceptions regarding HPV and attitudes toward dental care providers' role and HPV knowledge, HPV vaccine recommendation, and sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: One in 3 adults (32.8%; n = 5,320) said the HPV vaccine was very important, 1 in 2 said it …

Correlation Between Intraoral Markers And The Risk Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea In Children, Linda K. Powers

Theses and Dissertations

Specific aims: The purpose of this study was to explore the association between various intraoral markers and the risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in children. Specifically, nine intraoral clinical characteristics were analyzed: ankyloglossia, palatal vault height, presence and level of dental wear, tonsillar grade, Friedman's classification, skeletal and dental classification, and posterior crossbite. The correlation between these features and the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) and Pediatric Symptoms Checklist (PSC) scores were assessed.

Methods: Orthodontic patients aged 8-17 were recruited at the VCU Graduate Clinic. Intraoral measurements were collected from patients (n=100) by treating doctors. At this time, the PSQ …

Treatment Access And Outcomes For Craniofacial Care: Patient And Parent Perspectives, Benjamin F. Lowe Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose was to evaluate whether craniofacial patients and their parents have adequate access to care, perceive this care as high quality, and believe that the incorporation of telehealth visits would benefit their current system of craniofacial care. Methods: An original survey was developed and sent to families in treatment with the Virginia Commonwealth University craniofacial team. The tool was used to gather demographic information and assess opinions toward access to, outcomes of, and telehealth services for craniofacial care. Patients 18 years and older took the survey for themselves, while patients under 18 years old had a parent/guardian take …

Effect Of Apical Preparation Size On Endodontic Treatment Outcomes, Joseph Vaughn

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Previous authors have attempted to identify the ideal apical preparation size needed to achieve endodontic treatment objectives. Despite vast literature on the topic, there exists a lack of consensus on ideal apical enlargement, with few studies discussing the effect of apical prep enlargement on clinical outcomes. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the effect of final apical preparation size on endodontic outcomes in maxillary and mandibular molars treated in both a graduate endodontic clinic and a private practice.

Methods: A chart review was conducted for patients seen at the VCU graduate endodontic clinic as well as …

How Do Cultural Norms Shape Healthy Eating In African Americans? The Role Of Cultural Congruence And Mindsets Of Health In Healthy Eating Intentions Among African American College Students, Danyel Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Targeting dietary behaviors is a predominant strategy to reduce rates of obesity among African Americans, across the lifespan. Notably, dietary behaviors are shaped by social, cultural and environmental affordances. This study integrated Theory of planned behavior (TPB), identity-based motivation, and mindset theory to unearth cultural mechanisms that inform motivations to eat healthy among African American college students. This project employed a cross-sectional (Study 1) and experimental design (Study 2) to contextualize the antecedents of intentions to eat healthy among African American college students. Recruitment occurred via university-wide digital channels. Eligible participants: were 18+ years; Black/African American; were undergraduate students; and …

Children With Special Healthcare Needs: The Cost Of Medical Care, Kasey Dye

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore factors that impact children with special healthcare needs’ (CSHCN) health insurance coverage and out-of-pocket medical expenses. The Ecological Model for Health Promotion developed by McLeroy et al. (1988) was the guiding theoretical framework for this study. Using data from the 2020 National Survey of Children’s Health, I conducted descriptive statistics, logistic regressions, and multilevel modeling analyses to determine if health insurance coverage and out-of-pocket expenses for CSHCN differed by individual, family, and community, organization, and policy factors. Results indicated that race, gender, disorder category, insurance type, and family’s federal poverty level were …

The Age And Primary Reason For The First Dental Visit In Children With Special Health Care Needs, Amanda Dickerson

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The aim of this project is to evaluate the average age and primary reason for the first dental visit among patients with special health care needs as well as to examine socioeconomic factors and other barriers related to children with special health care needs accessing care.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey that was distributed to caregivers of children with special health care needs. Study data was collected through REDCap, a secure web-based survey application. The inclusion criteria for participating in the survey included having a child with a special health care need that presented for a recall or …

Provider Racial Concordance And Medical Mistrust In Pediatric Dentistry, Chinelo Eke

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Studies have drawn varying conclusions on the importance of a racially concordant patient provider relationship. Medical mistrust has continued to garner attention as healthcare enterprises thread equity, diversity and inclusion throughout their organizational policies, practices and systems.

Methods: Parents/caregivers of pediatric patients at VCU Pediatric Dentistry were invited to participate. Surveys included questions about demographics, racial concordance, language preference, and the validated Group-Based Medical Mistrust Scale.

Results: A total of 246 guardians completed the survey. For guardians, 40% reported Black or African American, 31% Hispanic, and 19% Caucasian. Seventy-one percent of guardians reported speaking English, 18% Spanish, and 11% …

Utilization Of Intraoral Scanners For Fabrication Of Obturators For Patients Born With Cleft Lip/ Palate (Clp), Swara Fadnis

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The goal of this cross-sectional study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of providers regarding incorporating a digital scanner for impression taking in children born with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP). Methods: A survey was sent out to members of the American Association of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD). The survey included questions regarding the providers’ perception of incorporating digital intraoral scanners for impressions for fabrication of obturators. The survey also included questions about the providers’ reservations in using this technology in practice, what their experience has been with the incorporation of this technology into practice, and what is …

Sleep And Health Behaviors In A Safety-Net Primary Care Setting, Sahar Sabet

Theses and Dissertations

Nearly half of all premature deaths in the United States are attributable to preventable and modifiable health risk behaviors. For decades, the leading behavioral health contributors to morbidity and mortality are tobacco use, physical inactivity, and alcohol consumption. Medication adherence is a relatively less studied yet critical interrelated health behavior that is tied to health and treatment outcomes. Sleep, an important pillar of health, is a daily and modifiable behavior that shows promise as a health behavior facilitator. Better understanding the dynamics of these modifiable health behaviors is essential for the improvement of health promotion, particularly among underserved populations (e.g., …