Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Legal Implications Of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Surgeries In The United States: A Comprehensive Analysis Of Two Decades Of Lawsuits., Joao Porto, Maria Camila Suarez Arbelaez, Mohamadhusni Zarli, Mariam Ahumada, Sanjaya Swain, Robert Marcovich, Hemendra N. Shah

HPD Articles

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The United States (US) currently faces a medical malpractice crisis, and a survey done in 2006 informed that 63% of urologists faced an average of 2.1 medical malpractice lawsuits. Surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is performed by 95% of US urologists. Hence, we postulated that these procedures might be responsible for a substantial number of medical malpractice lawsuits. We examined claims related to BPH surgery in various US courts.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected from Westlaw and LexisNexis databases using the keywords "benign prostatic hyperplasia," "enlarged prostate," "surgery," and "malpractice" to search for cases from …

Inconsistencies And Values As Signs Of Paradigmatic Change: Researchers’ Language In Research Articles On Feedback, Stefan Sellbjer

The Qualitative Report

The aim is to contribute to scientific research development in the field of feedback. More specifically, the purpose is to illustrate how researchers, even though they are devoted to the constructivist model, still use expressions with their roots in the transfer model, and to demonstrate researchers’ use of value statements in favor of the constructivist model thus distancing themselves from the transfer model. The examples are taken from research articles on feedback mainly focusing on higher education. The empirical material is analysed using concept analysis. The result is discussed in relation to theories of metaphors and folk-theories as well as …

Journalism On Forced Migration In Latin America: Recommendations From Experts And International Journalism Guides From A Qualitative Study, Gabriel Lotero-Echeverri, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez

The Qualitative Report

Wars, insurgent groups, dictatorships, and economic crises are the main reasons for forced migration. Displaced persons, asylum seekers, and refugees often face public stigmatization, as they are treated by the media as a social problem and, in many cases, seen as economic and social threats. This article presents the results of in-depth interviews with expert journalists and researchers from different Latin American countries on the phenomenon of forced migration and its journalistic coverage. Their recommendations are complemented by Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) of international guides on migration journalism. The findings highlight the need for training and awareness-raising in critical skills …

Balancing The Drinking Act: A Grounded Theory Of Youth Drinking, Policy And Covid-19 In Botswana, Tebogo Sebeelo

The Qualitative Report

Stakeholder and consumer participation is generally seen as a critical part of effective alcohol policy making as it has a direct impact on policy implementation. In the advent of COVID-19, the views and experiences of stakeholders and consumers were integral to how countries responded to the virus. The involvement of alcohol stakeholders and consumers raises critical questions about policy making practices. Using Grounded Theory (GT) methods amongst 20 drinkers and six alcohol stakeholders, I examined the views and experiences of stakeholders and alcohol consumers in Botswana during COVID-19. I identified two interrelated core categories of Balancing the Drinking Act and …

Shedding Light On Racial Realist Parent Engagement Through The Experiences Of Black Families And Othermothers, Rebecca Rogers, Kelly Byrd

The Qualitative Report

As educator-scholars committed to building family learning communities rooted in principles of educational liberation, McCarthy Foubert’s book Reckoning with Racism in Family-School Partnerships caught our attention because of its promise to expose the challenges of systematically racist ideologies about family-school partnerships, to confront these issues during a toxic time in race relations and elucidate the narratives of Black racial realist parents. Our reading and discussion of the book were informed by our own experiences as an inter-racial reviewing team with shared commitments to anti-racist family engagement.

Community Gatekeepers: Power, Pitfalls And Possibilities When Recruiting And Researching Black, Asian, And Minority Ethnic (Bame) Participants, Nadia K. Bashir

The Qualitative Report

Using data from a large primarily qualitative research project on how people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities experience and access health services, this methodological article focuses on the role of the community gatekeeper – a role that has significance for research teams globally when attempting to involve those facing multiple forms of exclusion. Drawing on standpoint feminist principles and using a reflexive approach, researcher positionality, situated knowledges, and the power dynamics between researchers, participants, and community gatekeepers are reflected upon. Addressing a gap in the literature by providing real-life examples of the power and influence of gatekeepers …

Methodological Challenges In Interviewing Elite Women In A Patriarchal Society, Amira Firdaus Dr., Iffat Aksar Dr., Mahmoud Danaee Dr., Jiakun Gong, Nasrullah Dharejo Mr

The Qualitative Report

The current article reflects on the challenges of selecting and accessing participants from societies where power relations are gender-based. The paper discusses the methodological difficulties of gaining research access to professionally and educationally elite women in Pakistan's patriarchal society and suggests a strategy of "referral in-group" for recruiting interview participants. Drawing on the author's purposive sampling-based research in Pakistan, this article proposes a methodological strategy to recruit an elite population to participate in research interviews on a culturally sensitive subject, namely, patriarchal control over Pakistani women's digital lives. Furthermore, coupled with purposive sampling, this article contributes to the existing literature …

Self-Modulation Of Rectus Femoris Reflex Excitability In Humans, Kyoungsoon Kim, Tunc Akbas, Robert Lee, Kathleen Manella, James Sulzer

HPD Articles

Hyperreflexia is common after neurological injury such as stroke, yet clinical interventions have had mixed success. Our previous research has shown that hyperreflexia of the rectus femoris (RF) during pre-swing is closely associated with reduced swing phase knee flexion in those with post-stroke Stiff-Knee gait (SKG). Thus, reduction of RF hyperreflexia may improve walking function in those with post-stroke SKG. A non-pharmacological procedure for reducing hyperreflexia has emerged based on operant conditioning of H-reflex, an electrical analog of the spinal stretch reflex. It is currently unknown whether operant conditioning can be applied to the RF. This feasibility study trained 7 …

Dextromethorphan/Quinidine For The Treatment Of Bulbar Impairment In Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis., Lauren Tabor Gray, Eduardo Locatelli, Terrie Vasilopoulos, James Wymer, Emily K. Plowman

HPD Articles

OBJECTIVE: No efficacious treatments exist to improve or prolong bulbar functions of speech and swallowing in persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (pALS). This study evaluated the short-term impact of dextromethorphan/quinidine (DMQ) treatment on speech and swallowing function in pALS.

METHODS: This was a cohort trial conducted between August 2019 to August 2021 in pALS with a confirmed diagnosis of probable-definite ALS (El-Escorial Criteria-revisited) and bulbar impairment (ALS Functional Rating Scale score ≤ 10 and speaking rate ≤ 140 words per minute) who were DMQ naïve. Efficacy of DMQ was assessed via pre-post change in the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised bulbar …

A Patient With Foot Pain Found To Have Leriche Syndrome: A Case Report And Brief Review Of The Literature., Moshe Bengio, Quan Ta, Glenn Goodwin, Megan De Kok, Alexander J. Scumpia

HPD Articles

Leriche syndrome, a rare and critical complication of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), affects the distal abdominal aorta (infrarenal) and, similar to PAD, is a result of plaque buildup in the arterial lumen. The Leriche syndrome triad includes claudication in the proximal lower extremity, decreased or absent femoral pulses, and, in some cases, impotence. This article presents a patient with an atypical presentation of foot pain who was subsequently found to have Leriche syndrome. The patient was a 59-year-old female, a former smoker, who presented to the emergency department (ED) with atraumatic, acute right foot pain. All right lower extremity pulses …

The Role Of Clock Genes In Maintaining Circadian Rhythm And Rheumatoid Arthritis Pathophysiology., Arathi Kulkarni, Michelle Demory-Beckler, Marc M. Kesselman

HPD Articles

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive autoimmune condition that affects up to 1% of the world population and symmetrically affects the joints leading to joint stiffness and decreased mobility. RA patients present with increased pain and chronic inflammation within their joint spaces, which researchers have linked to poorer sleep patterns, including difficulty falling asleep and non-restorative sleep. As such, identifying mediators of poor sleep quality among RA patients may improve their long-term quality of life. More recently, researchers identified an association between chronic inflammation in RA patients and their circadian rhythm. Altered circadian rhythms negatively impact the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) …

A Scoping Review On The Effects Of Covid-19 On Syringe Service Programs In The United States., Dylan Pietrantoni, Crystal Barroca, Sarah Lynch, Jonathan Byrne, Miranda Ortner, Roshni Kotwani, Kolin Limbrick, Paul Kaldas, Michael Moussa, Tatem Fredrickson, Jeffrey Schaefer, Robin J. Jacobs

HPD Articles

The COVID-19 pandemic has had worldwide impacts, including disrupting community services. One interrupted service was syringe service programs (SSPs), community-established initiatives that provide sterile supplies and aid in overcoming addiction in drug-using participants. In the United States (U.S.), SSPs have been key in combating the recent opioid use crisis and associated infections such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C. While some published reports on the pandemic's overall impacts on SSPs exist, certain aspects such as operational changes and repercussions on staff and participants may still be lacking. Information about the impact of interrupted SSP services due to …

Women And Children’S Victims Of Violence Case Management During Covid-19 Pandemic, Eti Sumiati, Elvy M. Manurung Dr., Indraswari - Ph. D

The Qualitative Report

Many studies have been conducted to prove the threat of violence against children and women during COVID-19. Unlike other studies, this study focuses more on government services in receiving complaints from victims of violence experienced by women and children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using case studies as a qualitative method, documentary studies and in-depth interviews have been conducted on 13 informants from various parties in Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The results showed that the use of digital technology during the pandemic sometimes hampered the follow-up process for complaints of violence by victims due to a lack of equipment and …

Unraveling The Situation Of Women In Stem Areas From The European Teacher Perspective: Insights From Females Project, Ayşin Kaplan Sayı, Nihal Yurtseven, Şirin Karadeniz, Sinem Vatanartıran

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study is to examine the views of teachers on the number and situation of women in STEM areas as well as ways to encourage female students to STEM areas. We carried out the study through basic qualitative research. The participants of the study included 39 teachers from Turkey, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Romania. For data collection, focus group interviews were carried out in each country. The collected data were analyzed through content analysis. The study yielded similar findings in almost all the countries showing that the number of women was not sufficient, and the participants mostly …

The Role Of Egfr Amplification In Deep Venous Thrombosis Occurrence In Idh Wild-Type Glioblastoma., Brandon Y. Kaye, Assad Ali, Raphael Augusto Correa Bastianon Santiago, Bilal Ibrahim, Julio Isidor, Hany Awad, Mohammadmahdi Sabahi, Michal Obrzut, Badih Adada, Surabhi Ranjan, Hamid Borghei-Razavi

HPD Articles

Introduction: Glioblastoma (GBM) patients have a 20-30 incidence of venous thromboembolic events. EGFR is a widely used prognostic marker for many cancers. Recent lung cancer studies have described relationships between EGFR amplification and an increased incidence of thromboembolic complications. We aim to explore this relationship in glioblastoma patients. Methods: Two hundred ninety-three consecutive patients with IDH wild-type GBM were included in the analysis. The amplification status of EGFR was measured using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Centromere 7 (CEP7) expression was recorded to calculate the EGFR-to-CEP7 ratio. All data were collected retrospectively through chart review. Molecular data were obtained …

Ecomorphology Of A Predatory Deep-Sea Fish Family: Does Trophic Specialization Drive Hyperspeciation?, Ryan P. Mcgonagle, David Kerstetter, Danté Fenolio, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Two of the main drivers of speciation among aquatic vertebrates are physical isolation (e.g., lakes and streams) and micro-niche availability (e.g., tropical reefs). In both regards, the mesopelagic domain of the open ocean, Earth’s second largest cumulative ecosystem (behind only the bathypelagic domain), would seem retardant. Ocean circulation makes isolation rare on both contemporary and geological time/space scales, and the lack of substrate precludes stable micro-niches. Paradoxically, some pelagic taxa demonstrate much higher-than-expected species richness on regional scales. A prime example is the dragonfish family Stomiidae, the most speciose family of mesopelagic fishes, owing largely to the subfamily Melanostomiinae (scaleless …

E-Health Literacy Scale, Patient Attitudes, Medication Adherence, And Internal Locus Of Control., Donrie J Purcell, Gesulla Cavanaugh, Kamilah Thomas-Purcell, Joshua Caballero, Drenna Waldrop, Victoria Ayala, Rosemary Davenport, Raymond L Ownby

HPD Articles

BACKGROUND: Health literacy is related to a variety of health outcomes, including disease control, health-related quality of life, and risk for death. Few studies have investigated the relation of electronic health literacy (e-health literacy) to outcomes or the mechanism by which they may be related.

METHODS: Secondary data were drawn from participants in a larger study on chronic disease self-management who were age 40 years and older, had at least one chronic health condition and a health literacy score of 8th grade or below on the validated short form of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine. Participants completed …

Artificial Intelligence Modelling To Assess The Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease In Oncology Patients., Samer S Al-Droubi, Eiman Jahangir, Karl M Kochendorfer, Marianna Krive, Michal Laufer-Perl, Dan Gilon, Tochukwu M Okwuosa, Christopher P Gans, Joshua H Arnold, Shakthi T Bhaskar, Hesham A Yasin, Jacob Krive

HPD Articles

AIMS: There are no comprehensive machine learning (ML) tools used by oncologists to assist with risk identification and referrals to cardio-oncology. This study applies ML algorithms to identify oncology patients at risk for cardiovascular disease for referrals to cardio-oncology and to generate risk scores to support quality of care.

METHODS AND RESULTS: De-identified patient data were obtained from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Patients with breast, kidney, and B-cell lymphoma cancers were targeted. Additionally, the study included patients who received immunotherapy drugs for treatment of melanoma, lung cancer, or kidney cancer. Random forest (RF) and artificial neural network (ANN) ML models …

Learning From Goa Pindul: Community Empowerment Through Sustainable Tourism Villages In Indonesia, Yudan Hermawan, Sujarwo Sujarwo, Yoyon Suryono

The Qualitative Report

This study aims to reveal the success of community empowerment based on sustainable tourism in Goa Pindul, Indonesia. This study adopted the interpretative phenomenological analysis approach to understand the village community empowerment process phenomenon. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine (9) research participants from the Goa Pindul tourism village community. The findings of this study indicated that tourism-based community empowerment is started with awareness-raising through socialization and community service, followed by capacity building through various needs-based tourism management training and the formation of tourism awareness groups that are given to manage their potential and evaluate their development. This tourism-based community …

I Want To Be A Teacher But The Profession Won’T Let Me: How A Criminal Record Alters A Black Man’S Teaching Aspirations, Terrence S. Mctier Jr., Cameron Beatty

The Qualitative Report

There is a shortage of Black men pursuing and or entering the pre-K-12 teaching profession. Some of the causes for the lack of Black men in the teaching profession stems from burnout, the school-to-prison pipeline, bad experiences as students, and a myriad of other reasons. We believe that Black men having a criminal record has not been fully explored or brought to the forefront as a major issue amongst the teaching profession and teacher preparation programs. To highlight this issue, we highlight and center the experience of one Black male who wanted to become an elementary reading teacher but was …

Using Timeline Methodology To Facilitate Qualitative Interviews To Explore Sexuality Experiences Of Female Pakistani-Descent Immigrant Adolescents, Neelam Saleem Punjani Dr., Elisavet Papathanassoglou Dr., Kathleen Hegadoren, Zubia Mumtaz, Saima Hirani, Margot Jackson

The Qualitative Report

In qualitative research, there is a growing interest in understanding the use of timelines in combination with other qualitative methods. In this paper, we will address how the creation of timelines facilitated and informed the process of semi-structured interviews. We used an interpretive descriptive qualitative study to understand the perceptions and experiences of developing sexuality among female adolescents of Pakistani descent, and timelines were used as a part of the semi-structured interview process. Timelines were created in a participatory way in which girls were asked to recount significant events related to their sexuality. We found that the methodological combinations within …

An Exploratory Qualitative Study Of Oncology Nurses’ Experience In Providing Care For Terminally Ill Patients In Salmaniya Medical Complex In Bahrain, Layla S. Turki, Leena Khonji, Magda Bayoumi

The Qualitative Report

Oncology nurses are essential in palliative care for cancer patients, especially at end-of-life stages. Caring for terminally ill cancer patients is stressful, accompanied by negative and positive feelings, but oncology nurses have an unavoidable responsibility. However, little is known about oncology nurses' experience in the Kingdom of Bahrain caring for terminally ill cancer patients in their final weeks or days. This study aimed to explore the experience of oncology staff nurses in providing care for terminally ill patients in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the research answered those questions: (a) What is the experience of oncology staff nurses in providing …

Obesity On The Line! An Analysis Of High School Linemen Recruited To Play For “Power Five” Schools, Jeffrey J. Fountain, Peter Finley, Thomas Wuerzer

HCBE Faculty Articles

Purpose: This article explored the changing body sizes of high school football linemen recruited to play for “Power 5” schools between 2003 and 2020 when factoring in the position group. This study also allowed for a cross-sectional analysis to explore body size differences within and between “Power 5” conferences. Methods: The dataset contained 7,428 linemen, and a cross-sectional design was used to examine position and conference affiliation related to the differences in height, weight, and Body Mass Index over three time periods. Statistical analysis was conducted using nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis H tests and post-hoc analysis with Bonferroni correction for pairwise comparisons. …

Type I Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection In A 33-Year-Old Male With Clinically Suspected Myopericarditis., Cullen Nisson, Yeily Hernandez Mato, Nimisha Lingappa, James Abraham

HPD Articles

We report a 33-year-old male with uncontrolled type II diabetes, and tobacco and marijuana use who presented with chest pain after a night of binge drinking and vomiting. ECG changes were consistent with acute pericarditis. Troponin levels were found to be significantly elevated and rising. The patient was immediately treated with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), morphine, nitroglycerin drip, and heparin drip. Echocardiogram showed preserved ejection fraction (EF) without effusion. Coronary angiography demonstrated a type I spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) of the mid-left anterior descending artery (LAD) without significant coronary artery disease. Diagnostic intravenous ultrasound (IVUS) confirmed a type I SCAD …

Benefits And Risks Of Sun Exposure To Maintain Adequate Vitamin D Levels., Jonathan Raymond-Lezman, Suzanne Riskin M.D.

HPD Articles

Vitamin D is a hormone that can be generated in the skin upon ultraviolet light exposure or ingested through supplementation. Vitamin D deficiency may have numerous deleterious effects on health. Sun avoidance strategies should be avoided due to the unwanted health risks associated with hypovitaminosis D. We present an objective investigation of the benefits and risks of using sun exposure to increase vitamin D levels and how it impacts human health. A review of the literature was conducted using Embase and PubMed to examine the relationship between UV exposure, vitamin D levels, health benefits, and risks. UV exposure is the …

Gender And Ethnic Disparities In Students' Perceptions Of How Different Groups Of Persons Suspected Of Possessing And/Or Selling Illegal Drugs Are Treated In The Criminal Justice System., Manuel J. Carvajal, Assma Twahir, Ioana Popovici

HPD Articles

Ethnic minorities and individuals of low socioeconomics status are disproportionately more likely to be detained, arrested, and convicted and receive longer sentences for drug offenses. This article explores gender and ethnic differentials among college students' perceptions on the criminal justice treatment of different gender, ethnic, and income groups applied to alleged drug offenders. It uses survey data provided by students at a large public university in South Florida. A two-way classification model examines the nature of disparities in perceptions. Students perceive widespread ethnic inequalities and female and Black students perceive greater disparities in the criminal justice system for all disadvantaged …

Variation In Leg Tissue Dielectric Constant Values Of Healthy Young Adult Females With And Without Compression Bandaging., Suzie Ehmann, Harvey N. Mayrovitz

HPD Articles

Background The clinical efficacy of a compression application has been often limited to the assessment of the change in limb volume, change in clinical symptoms (i.e., wound size, pain, range of motion, incidence of cellulitis), or vascular hemodynamics of the whole limb. Assessing compression-related biophysical changes of a localized area, such as around a wound, or in an area outside of an extremity cannot be objectively assessed by these measurements. Tissue dielectric constant (TDC) values, which provide a measure of the local tissue water (LTW) content, offer an alternative method to document variation in the LTW content of the skin …

Disparities In Women With Endometriosis Regarding Access To Care, Diagnosis, Treatment, And Management In The United States: A Scoping Review., Shannon Westwood, Mackenzie Fannin, Fadumo Ali, Justice Thigpen, Rachel Tatro, Amanda Hernandez, Cadynce Peltzer, Mariah Hildebrand, Alexnys Fernandez-Pacheco, Jonathan Raymond-Lezman, Robin J. Jacobs

HPD Articles

Endometriosis is a benign gynecological condition that elicits chronic pain in 2-10% of reproductive-age women in the United States and exists in approximately 50% of women with infertility. It creates complications such as hemorrhage and uterine rupture. Historically, the gynecologic symptoms of endometriosis have been associated with economic strain and inferior quality of life. It is suspected that endometriosis diagnosis and treatment are affected by health disparities throughout gynecological care. The goal of this review was to collate and report the current evidence on potential healthcare disparities related to endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, and care across race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. …

A Case Of Syringocystadenocarcinoma Papilliferum: Not Your Usual Suspect., Alena Bashinskaya, Lucas Shapiro, Conner Thompson, Artis P. Truett, Patricia Moody

HPD Articles

Syringocystadenocarcinoma papilliferum (SCACP) is an exceptionally rare cutaneous adnexal tumor that is infrequently encountered by clinicians worldwide. The tumor typically appears in the older population, affecting patients in their fifth and sixth decades of life without male or female predominance. Patients frequently present with a variable-sized hyperpigmented ulcerative lesion containing an exudate that has a long-standing course of progression from its benign counterpart, Syringocystadenoma papilliferum (SCAP). Additionally, the clinical presentation and morphology of the neoplasm can be easily confused with a variety of other skin cancers, such as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), basal cell carcinoma (BCC), cutaneous lymphoma, and cutaneous …

The Implications Of Pharmacogenomics In Oncology, Jean J. Latimer

HPD Articles

No abstract provided.