Digital Commons Network^™

Implementing A Quality Improvement Project To Decrease The Overuse Of High Flownasal Canula In Children With Bronchiolitis, Hannah Johnson, Joy-Marie Brusenback, Christal Chow

2022 Pediatric Research Forum Session

Introduction: This use of high flow nasal canula (HFNC) in the management of bronchiolitis in infants has increased over the last several years. However, there is no prospective data to indicate which patients would benefit from HFNC support. Research has shown that early initiation of HFNC has not decreased the rate of respiratory failure requiring intubation nor changed overall outcomes. In fact, research indicates that providers tend to overuse HFNC in the management of bronchiolitis. To address this issue, UNM Children’s Hospital is participating in American Academy of Pediatrics’ national quality improvement: HI-FLO, which aims to decrease the overutilization of …

Preparing Nicu Parents For Discharge: A Quality Improvement Initiative, Dawn Novak, Zachary Emmons

2022 Pediatric Research Forum Session

We are undertaking a QI initiative to improve the discharge process for infants from the NICU at UNMH. We currently have care conferences every 30 days for infants in the NICU, but we historically did not have a care conference dedicated to discharge preparation. In 2021 we instituted discharge care conferences as standard practice for infants admitted for more than 30 days or who otherwise have complex discharge needs. These conferences include a neonatology fellow or attending, at least one of the patient’s parents, and the patient’s bedside nurse. We seek to determine whether such care conferences improve parents’ self-reported …

Neonatal Opiate Withdrawal Syndrome In Covid-19: Are Hospitalized Infants With Nows Experiencing More Severe Clinical Illness Associated With Covid-19 Related Changes In Hospital Infection Control Policies And Practices?, Heather Pratt-Chavez, Lorena Galvan, Jessie R. Maxwell, Peggy C. Maclean, Chelsea L. Tarazi, Sofia Chavez

2022 Pediatric Research Forum Session

The SARS-CoV-2 (Covid19) pandemic is a disaster that has created stress and change at every level of society. Medical systems implemented increased infection control measures to prevent nosocomial disease. A group of infants who are experiencing this new hospital milieu are infants with neonatal opiate withdrawal syndrome (NOWS.) Infants with pre-natal opiate exposure may experience NOWS, characterized by fussiness, crying, poor feeding, sleep problems, increased muscle tone, and tremors. Newborns with NOWS need inpatient care, soften for as long as 2-3 weeks. Starting April of 2020, all caregivers for hospitalized newborns, including parents and nurses, are required to wear masks …

Facilitating Management Of Home Oxygen In Nicu Graduates: A Quality Improvement Project, Leah Enright, Dawn Novak

2022 Pediatric Research Forum Session

Discharge from the NICU on home oxygen therapy is a common occurrence, particularly at higher altitude. Management and weaning of home oxygen therapy can be a challenge for pediatric primary care providers and access to pedi rur al state s atric pulmonology is limited , such as New Mexico. The goal of our project is to facilitate the management of home oxygen therapy in NICU graduates in the primary care setting. To further analyze the challenges and help target potentially useful interventions, we surveyed ped iatric primary care providers and families of NICU graduates about their experiences with home oxygen …

Characterizing Risk Factors And Investigating Testing At Birth For Congenital Hepatitis C Virus Infection, Helen Ko, Monique Dodd, Teofilo Borunda, Kimberly Page, Isabella Cervantes, Jessie R. Maxwell, Ricardo O. Castillo

2022 Pediatric Research Forum Session

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) globally leads blood-borne infections with an increase associated with the opioid epidemic. Recommendations call for testing of HCV-exposed infants via antibody screens or RNA testing after 18 and 2 months of age, respectively, but studies show low compliance. We hypothesize that many women with HCV do not receive proper screening during pregnancy resulting in infant-care gaps. We seek to identify factors associated with suboptimal pediatric HCV screening. Methods: A retrospective chart review was completed using data from Tricore Laboratories. We assessed the yearly proportion of HCV in pregnant women who were tested from 2014-2019 at …

Quality Improvement Project Improves Pediatric Hepatitis C Healthcare Access, Monique Vallabhan

2022 Pediatric Research Forum Session

Objective: Maternal hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has increased by 400%, which has led to increased prevalence of HCV infection in children, with 5 to 10% of newborns of mothers with HCV being infected. Suboptimal HCV screening rates and diagnosis in children have precluded curative treatment, which is available starting at age 3. To address these gaps, we aimed to increase screening of children at risk and diagnosis and treatment of children with HCV infection in New Mexico. Methods: From July 2020-August 2021, quality improvement efforts were conducted by an improvement team including clinical staff from the UNMH pediatric gastroenterology …

Nano-Fabricated Atomic Waveguides For Inertial Measurements, Adrian S. Orozco

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

Atom-based inertial measurement systems can measure acceleration and rotation very precisely in the laboratory. The central element of these systems is atom interferometry where the phase shifts are sensitive to inertial forces experienced by the atom. This phenomenon has been used to make atom-based gravimeters, gradiometers, and gyroscopes. Recent effort has been made to make these systems more compact which require small size, light weight, and low power (SWaP). Nano-fabricated waveguides, such as photonic waveguides or optical nanofibers, offer a promising avenue to meet these goals. They have dimensions comparable to the guided light’s wavelength producing a mode that not …

04/18/2022 Meeting, Kelleen Maluski

Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Degradation Of Vitamin E Acetate Through Vaping Produces Byproducts Cytotoxic To Thp-1 Monocytic Cells, Joshua Alcon

Pharmaceutical Sciences ETDs

Electronic cigarette or vaping use associated lung injury (EVALI) is a pulmonary disease among those who vaped illicit tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cartridges that resulted in hospitalization or death. Vitamin E acetate (VEA) was a common additive present in the bronchioalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of patients who were hospitalized with EVALI. However, little is known about pulmonary exposure to vitamin E acetate (VEA) when inhaled through vaping. The hypothesis of this study is the cytotoxicity of vaped VEA is due, at least in part, to the pyrolytic breakdown products of VEA produced by vaping, as opposed to VEA itself. From this study, …

Approaching The 'Small Planet': Remain In Light's Starship Road Trip As Metaphor For Theatrical World-Building, Amy Yourd

Theatre & Dance ETDs

Using Elinor Fuchs’ “Visit to a Small Planet” as inspiration, I consider my play Remain in Light as its own small planet, examining theories of world-building, science fiction, and utopian performativity to investigate possible functions of imaginary worlds onstage. In chapter one, I appropriate Fuchs’ script analysis exercise for my own purposes of play development, discovering a world of sensory detail that parallels the characters’ experience in the play. In chapter two, I conceive of the play’s starship as an imaginary world crashing towards this one, its escape a hopeful reflection on the utopian possibilities of alternate worlds. In chapter …

Eccentric: Writing Through The Lens Of Empathy, Steven M. Blacksmith

Theatre & Dance ETDs

In this essay, I detail my growth as a writer through different periods of empathic learning. I examine my childhood struggle to understand many common emotions and the ways in which I began to logically dissect and replicate them in life and in art. I further delve into this examination through my discovery of comedy and the lifelong process of understand the deep connections humans make with humor. I then discuss how my understanding of empathy allowed me to write my dissertation play, The Eccentrics, and create a world in which empathy among the characters can be a catalyst …

Relativistic Magnetron Powered By Electrons In A High-Energy State, Dmitrii Andreev

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

A traditional relativistic magnetron is an efficient, high-power source of cm-wave radiation. Typically, a cathode sits inside the interaction region and produces a quickly expanding cathode plasma. However, rapid radial expansion leads to unwanted frequency drift and pulse shortening. Recently, researchers at Technion, in collaboration with the University of New Mexico, proposed to use a split cathode to form a low-energy “squeezed” state by injecting electrons externally into a potential well and squeezing them with a sufficiently strong magnetic field. Technion’s long-pulse experiments achieved a low-energy state, at the output power and efficiency comparable to a physical cathode inside the …

O Ventre Como Espaço De Resistência Em Maria Firmina Dos Reis E Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Jessica Luana Bueno Dos Santos Ms.

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

The issue of violence against reproductive capacity and the right to motherhood in the context of the African diaspora in Brazil and Puerto Rico was systematically placed in the background, especially in the literary field, as was the case with the attitudes of resistance practiced against such violence. Considering this reality, this thesis compares two texts that approach such violence from a place of resistance, evidencing practices of insubordination common to such contexts: “A escrava” (1887) by Maria Firmina dos Reis (1822-1917) and “Matronas” (2012) by Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro (1970). Specifically, this study examines and compares the representational strategies used …

Jesus Woodlą́Ą́Jí Sin: Sounding A Self-Determined Navajo Christian Church, Renata Yazzie

Music ETDs

Jesus Woodlą́ą́jí’ Sin: Navajo Hymns of Faith, the first and only extensive Navajo hymnal, was published in 1979. This hymnal contains 365 hymns for congregational singing, translated into the Navajo language. The Navajo Hymnal Committee, responsible for the seven years of intensive translation work, formed in 1972 under the direction of Reverend Dr. Paul Redhouse (1925-2019), an ordained Navajo minister within the Christian Reformed Church. Redhouse wholeheartedly believed that Navajo people had the right to worship in their own language and argued that pre-issued English hymnals by outside church leaders were not suitable for obvious reasons—a language barrier. Through …

The Role Of Coastal Resource Stability In The Transition To Agriculture, Soconusco, Mexico, Asia Alsgaard

Anthropology ETDs

Around the world, the transition to agriculture happens at different times and under different conditions, sometimes failing to occur at all. I address how risk management strategies, such as Niche Construction tactics, influence human subsistence decision making, both within the context of climate or habitat changes and its converse, stability. I focus on how coastal resource reliance in the Soconusco region, Mexico, may have allowed the Archaic period Chantuto society to continue to rely on aquatic resources even as other groups in the region began relying on maize agriculture. To address this question within the context of stability, I focus …

Measurement Error Modeling Applied To Phylogenetic Inference And Parametric Bootstrap Approach To Multifactor Anova Models With Unequal Variances And Unbalanced Data, Sarah Katharine Alver

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

This dissertation includes two main topics. The first uses measurement error modeling to improve upon an existing method of inferring species trees from gene trees that were estimated with error. The second involves extending the parametric bootstrap (PB) approach, which was previously shown to work well for one- and two-way analysis of variance models with unequal variance and unbalanced data (heteANOVA), to multi-factor heteANOVA models. An overall framework using PB is presented. For each topic, the underlying theory is shown, and simulations and applications to empirical data are presented, demonstrating improvement over earlier methods. The proposed species tree inference method …

The Consequences Of Climate Change For Native Bee Assemblages, Melanie R. Kazenel

Biology ETDs

Recent declines in terrestrial arthropod biodiversity highlight the need to pinpoint which taxa and ecosystem services are most threatened, and why. But, for most of the world’s ~20,000 bee species, we lack robust evidence of population trends, and the role of climate change remains surprisingly little studied. I used long-term bee monitoring data from the Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research Program (Socorro, NM, USA), along with complementary experimental and observational data, to examine how climate relates to bee abundance and diversity patterns over time and space, and to identify the traits that govern bees’ climate sensitivities. Under climate change, drylands worldwide …

"For All You Know, I Might Be A Black Panther": How The News Media Cultivated White Anxiety In The United States And Became A Modern Panopticon For Black Power, Caitlin Grace Leishman

History ETDs

Building upon French philosopher Michel Foucault’s analysis of Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, I argue that throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, the news media and resulting culture nurtured and reinforced the postcolonial narratives that associated Blackness with criminality. I analyze the national newspaper coverage for their narrative portrayal of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP). The national media and U.S. government targeted the BPP and Black Power politics to discredit them and the overall movement for Black Liberation. I argue that this media-state project only intensified during the 1970s and into the 1980s with the country’s turn to …

"Do You Know The Way To San Jose?" Ethnic Mexicans, Urbanism, Culture, And Politics In Emerging Silicon Valley, 1940-1980, Alexandro J. Jara

History ETDs

My dissertation explores the Latino experience in Santa Clara County, especially in San Jose. The area, located in Northern California’s Bay Area, is nestled just south of the more popular cities of Oakland and San Francisco, nearly five hundred miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. My examination of the social, cultural, and political activities of Latinos in San Jose provides insight into the community development of ethnic Mexicans away from traditional sites of study in places like Tucson, San Antonio, and Los Angeles. I argue that beginning at mid-century, Latinos moved into the downtown area and helped prevent nearby neighborhoods from …

Mental Toughness And Athletic Performance: A Meta-Analysis, Dax Mitchell Crum

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

This investigation employed meta-analysis techniques to examine the relationship between mental toughness and athletic performance. A total of 76 studies were systematically analyzed with 470 correlation coefficients (r_xy) calculated to determine the mean effect. Fifty-five subject and study variables (age, gender, sport, psychometric instrument, and theoretical definition, etc.) were coded for each correlation to assess changes in the magnitude according to these key characteristics noted within the literature. Overall, the total average correlation produced a small effect size of r_xy =.218. However, the effect size varied significantly depending on the definition, measurement, quality of the investigation, …

Experimental Investigations On Boiling Heat Transfer Characteristics Of Accident-Tolerant-Fuel And Traditional Claddings, Mingfu He Mr.

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

To make it more clear that how the materials’ thermal-physical properties and wall thickness have influential impacts on boiling heat transfer characteristics of cladding, this dissertation looks into the potential impacts of cladding materials on critical heat flux and heat transfer coefficients by a systematic experimental investigation across a wide range of pool/flow boiling conditions under the steady-state and power-transient heat inputs.

Recent thermal-hydraulics studies have demonstrated that iron-chromium-aluminium (FeCrAl) alloys have the thermal priorities over zircaloys and other commercial alloys including critical heat flux and heat transfer coefficient. However, it is found in our experimental results that FeCrAl-C26M, and …

What Is The Experience Of An International Collegiate Athletes That Play Ncaa Division I And Ii Basketball?, Daniel Gayle

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

This paper explores the complete journey of International Collegiate Athletes (ICAs) that play basketball at a Division I or II National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) school. This study uses Schlossberg’s (1981, 1984, 1995) transition theory to establish how these athletes navigate moving into college, moving through college, and moving out of college. Through semi structured interviews, the study gives insight into the unique experiences, obstacles, pressures, and successes of ICAs, and provides implications for how the experience of ICAs attending college in the U.S. might be improved. The most important aspect for the success of an ICA at their collegiate …

Spin Interactions In New Donor-Acceptor Complexes, Ju Chen

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

Transition metal complexes ligated by Donor-Acceptor (D-A) biradicals are of interest for probing the degree of electronic coupling between chemically biased radical fragments. The unique nature of their electronic coupling has allowed these systems to serve as ground state analogues of charge separated excited states generated by photoexcitation. We have been interested in how the nature of the acceptor radical affects the magnitude of the electronic coupling matrix element in these biradicals. As such, we have synthesized a new series of D-A semiquinone-verdazyl (SQ-VD) biradical ligands and their transition metal complexes. We have characterized these new complexes by x-ray crystallography, …

(In) Visible In The Field And In The Data: Uncertain, Hidden, And Homeless. Essays On The Conceptualization Of Homelessness, Elements Of Social Exclusion, And Integrity Of Social Relationships, Places, And Resources, Richard Neil Greene

Sociology ETDs

This dissertation includes three empirical chapters framed by an overarching introduction and conclusion. Together, they comprise a mixed methods and community engaged study on homelessness, mortality, and systems related to homelessness. This study uniquely speaks to the social construction of homelessness and construction of knowledge about homelessness from a sociological perspective. Data come from: 1) qualitative interviews (N=20) with field deputy medical investigators (FDMI) in New Mexico about conceptualizing homelessness and housing instability as a contributing cause of death; 2) quantitative death records comparing people affected by homelessness who were identified as having been engaged with services or were not …

Melancolía X A Projection Of Queer Of Color Ambivalence In The 21st Century New Mexico, Anthony Rosendo Zarinana

Communication ETDs

This dissertation seeks to elucidate a form of investigation, derived from Jose Esteban Muñoz’s (2006) considerations of brown feelings. By triangulating a base across Queer of Color embodied critiques, I locate a research site in the field of Queer Intercultural Communication to ground the capacity of this project. In this, I work with Queer of Color men in New Mexico, focusing on their feelings about identity and desire as it relates to relational thresholds. By mapping an analytical structure across my own experiences and theirs, I determine to craft a more complicated vantage across our experiences, outlining the socio-cultural pressures …

Limiting Potentially Inappropriate Medications In Long-Term Care, Clare M. Ironside

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Aim: This project aimed to assess the effectiveness of the STOPP/START tool in identifying and reducing potentially inappropriate medications among multi-morbid, older, long-term care residents in a metropolitan area of a Southwestern state.

Design: In this quality improvement project, seven prescribers working within four long-term care facilities were trained to assess for potentially inappropriate medications using the STOPP/START tool. The medication lists for long-term care residents (n =45) over age 65 were collected at baseline and again at three months post-intervention and assessed for overall medication use, psychotropics, and proton pump inhibitors. The project also assessed prescribers’ comfort and …

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Alters The Expression Of Mir-150-5p And Its Vascular Targets In Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells And Disrupts The Structure And Integrity Of The Developing Brain Vasculature, Gabriela Perales

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can result in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) causing developmental disabilities and neurocognitive deficits. The effects of PAE on neuronal-specific alterations during brain development have been studied extensively but the contribution of the brain vascular system is limited. Recent studies have determined that there are alterations to the cortical microvasculature during PAE, posing new questions about the role of the vasculature and the development of PAE-mediated neurocognitive deficits. Even less studied are the molecular mechanisms that contribute to changes in the vasculature during PAE. As microRNAs (miRNAs) are master post-transcriptional regulators capable of regulating many mRNA …

Approaches In Molecular Engineering To Optimize The Desired Properties Of Photoactive Molecules, Douglas Joseph Breen

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

Within this dissertation, photochemical systems that bear significance to next-generation photonic materials and devices are explored. Notable advances in the design, synthesis, and characterization of three distinct groups of photoactive molecules are achieved through molecular design and spectroscopic analysis. First, novel ruthenium sulfoxide complexes bearing substituted phosphine ligands are found to provide extraordinary control over photoisomerization quantum yields. A comparison of these complexes reveals ground-state characteristics that are instrumental in this reactivity, while a novel spectroscopic technique provides rare structural evidence for an O-bonded metastable isomer. Ruthenium complexes bearing chelating carbene-sulfoxide ligands rapidly thermally revert from the O-bonded metastable isomer …

Dc Microgrid Fault Detection Using Multiresolution Analysis Of Traveling Waves, Rudy Montoya

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Fast detection and isolation of faults in a DC microgrid is of particular importance. Fast tripping protection (i) increases the lifetime of power electronics (PE) switches by avoiding high fault current magnitudes and (ii) enhances the controllability of PE converters. This thesis proposes a traveling wave (TW) based scheme for fast tripping protection of DC microgrids. The proposed scheme utilizes a discrete wavelet transform (DWT) to calculate the high-frequency components of DC fault currents. Multiresolution analysis (MRA) using DWT is utilized to detect TW components for different frequency ranges. The Parseval energy calculated from the MRA coefficients are then used …

Albuquerque Public School’S Vision Zero For Youth Initiative: Engaging Student Youth In Designing A School District Transportation Safety Program, Cordell S. Bock

Architecture and Planning ETDs

The APS (Albuquerque Public Schools) Vision Zero for Youth Initiative adopts the global Vision Zero traffic safety movement’s goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and injuries to pedestrians and cyclists from vehicular crashes. The APS Vision Zero for Youth Initiative is comprised of a traffic-safety curriculum for K-8 students, an action plan that sets traffic-safety goals and progress evaluation frameworks for the school district, and a campaign to build a new culture of traffic safety for students, families, and local communities.

This project employs participatory methods that build the capacity of students enrolled in local public schools to produce and share …