Digital Commons Network^™

Blood Test Result Communication In Primary Care: Mixed-Methods Systematic Review Protocol, Helen Nankervis, Alyson Huntley, Penny Whiting, William Hamilton, Hardeep Singh, Sarah Dawson, Jane Sprackman, Anna Ferguson Montague, Jessica Watson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: After testing, ensuring test results are communicated and actioned is important for patient safety, with failure or delay in diagnosis the most common cause of malpractice claims in primary care worldwide. Identifying interventions to improve test communication from the decision to test through to sharing of results has important implications for patient safety, GP workload, and patient engagement.

Aim: To assess the factors around communication of blood test results between primary care providers (for example GPs, nurses, reception staff) and their patients and carers.

Design & setting: A mixed methods systematic review including primary studies involving communication of blood …

New Paths Of Attacks: Revealing The Adaptive Integration Of Artificial Intelligence In Evolving Cyber Threats Targeting Social Media Users And Their Data, Larry Teasley

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The intersection between artificial intelligence tools and social media has opened doors to numerous opportunities and risks. This research delves into the escalating threat landscape in a society heavily dependent on social media. Despite the efforts by social media companies and cybersecurity professionals to mitigate cyber-attacks, the constant advancements of new technologies render social media platforms increasingly vulnerable. Malicious actors exploit generative AI to collect user data, enhancing cyber threats on social media. Notably, generative AI amplifies phishing attacks, disseminates false information, and propagates propaganda, posing substantial challenges to platform security. Ease access to large language models (LLMs) further complicates …

A Review Of Threat Vectors To Dna Sequencing Pipelines, Tyler Rector

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Bioinformatics is a steadily growing field that focuses on the intersection of biology with computer science. Tools and techniques developed within this field are quickly becoming fixtures in genomics, forensics, epidemiology, and bioengineering. The development and analysis of DNA sequencing and synthesis have enabled this significant rise in demand for bioinformatic tools. Notwithstanding, these bioinformatic tools have developed in a research context free of significant cybersecurity threats. With the significant growth of the field and the commercialization of genetic information, this is no longer the case. This paper examines the bioinformatic landscape through reviewing the biological and cybersecurity threats within …

Incidence And Outcomes Of Acute Kidney Injury Including Hepatorenal Syndrome In Hospitalized Patients With Cirrhosis In The Us, Kavish R Patidar, Justin M Belcher, Kevin R Regner, Shelsea A St Hillien, Douglas A Simonetto, Sumeet K Asrani, Javier A Neyra, Pratima Sharma, Juan Carlos Q Velez, Hani Wadei, Mitra K Nadim, Raymond T Chung, Ritu Seethapathy, Xavier Vela Parada, Tianqi Ouyang, Nneka N Ufere, Jevon E Robinson, Paige Mclean Diaz, Robert M Wilechansky, Eric M Przybyszewski, Thomas N Smith, Arzina Aziz Ali, Eric S Orman, Philipp Schulz, Salaah M Siddiqui, Rehma Shabbir, Lucas J Liu, Augusto Cama-Olivares, Alexander H Flannery, Megan L Baker, Deepthi Gunasekaran, Adeline Aswine, Rafik Issa, Jay Li, Shreya Verma, Dustin Chalmers, Vipin Varghese, Walter Lam, Muner Mohamed, Rosemary Kovacic, Anna Gaddy, Rose Mary Attieh, Pedro Cortes, Sahar Semnani, Lin Wang, Saro Khemichian, Andrew S Allegretti

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Acute kidney injury (AKI) in cirrhosis is common and associated with high morbidity, but the incidence rates of different etiologies of AKI are not well described in the US. We compared incidence rates, practice patterns, and outcomes across etiologies of AKI in cirrhosis.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 11 hospital networks, including consecutive adult patients admitted with AKI and cirrhosis in 2019. The etiology of AKI was adjudicated based on pre-specified clinical definitions (prerenal/hypovolemic AKI, hepatorenal syndrome [HRS-AKI], acute tubular necrosis [ATN], other).

RESULTS: A total of 2,063 patients were included (median age 62 …

Differentiating Desquamating Skin Lesions: A Case Of Methotrexate Epidermal Necrosis, Sahifah Ansari, Dina H Zamil, Edgar Rodriguez, Carly Dunn, Soo Jung Kim

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Desquamating skin lesions are a non-specific finding that requires urgent evaluation given the life-threatening severity of one of the potential causes, Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS). Methotrexate toxicity, also known in its cutaneous form as methotrexate epidermal necrosis (MEN), is another entity that presents similarly to SJS and is described here in a patient with increased risk due to his age, chronic kidney disease, and increased dose of methotrexate. His diagnosis was complicated by other historical risk factors, including antibiotic use, but was eventually elucidated when he was noted to have bone marrow suppression. Given the pathophysiology of SJS, a T-cell mediated …

Chromoblastomycosis Presenting As A Solitary Lesion In A Non-Endemic Region, Yelena Dokic, Gordana Verstovsek, Theodore Rosen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Chromoblastomycosis is a neglected tropical disease typically found in endemic tropical and subtropical regions. Herein, we discuss a rare case of a 55-year-old man in Texas who presented with an exophytic papule on the forearm, diagnosed to have chromoblastomycosis by shave biopsy and subsequent histopathological analysis. Treatment options for chromoblastomycosis include long-term oral antifungal therapy with itraconazole, physical modalities such as heat therapy in conjunction with oral antifungals, and surgical interventions such as cryosurgery or surgical excision.

Critical Care Delivery Across Health Care Systems In Low-Income And Low-Middle-Income Country Settings: A Systematic Review, Emily S Bartlett, Andrew Lim, Sean Kivlehan, Lia I Losonczy, Srinivas Murthy, Richard Lowsby, Alfred Papali, Madiha Raees, Bhavna Seth, Natalie Cobb, Jason Brotherton, Enrico Dippenaar, Gaurav Nepal, Gentle S Shrestha, Shih-Chiang E Kuo, J Ryan Skrabal, Margaret Davis, Cappi Lay, Sojung Yi, Michael Jaung, Brandon Chaffay, Nana Sefa, Marc Lc Yang, P Andrew Stephens, Amir Rashed, Nicole Benzoni, Bernadett Velasco, Neill Kj Adhikari, Teri Reynolds

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Prior research has demonstrated that low- and low-middle-income countries (LLMICs) bear a higher burden of critical illness and have a higher rate of mortality from critical illness than high-income countries (HICs). There is a pressing need for improved critical care delivery in LLMICs to reduce this inequity. This systematic review aimed to characterise the range of critical care interventions and services delivered within LLMIC health care systems as reported in the literature.

METHODS: A search strategy using terms related to critical care in LLMICs was implemented in multiple databases. We included English language articles with human subjects describing at …

Comparative And Integrative Analysis Of Transcriptomic And Epigenomic-Wide Dna Methylation Changes In African American Prostate Cancer, Chad J Creighton, Flora Zhang, Yiqun Zhang, Patricia Castro, Rong Hu, Md Islam, Somiranjan Ghosh, Michael Ittmann, Bernard Kwabi-Addo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

African American (AA) men have the highest incidence and mortality rate from Prostate cancer (PCa) than any other racial/ethnic group. To date, PCa genomic studies have largely under-represented tumour samples from AA men. We measured genome-wide DNA methylation in benign and tumor prostate tissues from AA men using the Illumina Infunium 850 K EPIC array. mRNA expression database from a subset of the AA biospecimen were used to assess correlation of transcriptome and methylation datasets. Genome-wide methylation analysis identified 11,460 probes that were significant (p < 0.01) and differentially methylated in AA PCa compared to normal prostate tissues and showed significant (p < 0.01) inverse-correlation with mRNA expression. Ingenuity pathway analysis and Gene Ontology analysis in our AA dataset compared with TCGA dataset showed similarities in methylation patterns: top candidate genes with significant hypermethylation and corresponding down-regulated gene expression were associated with biological pathways in hemidesmosome assembly, mammary gland development, epidermis development, hormone biosynthesis, and cell communication. In addition, top candidate genes with significant hypomethylation and corresponding up-regulated gene expression were associated with biological pathways in macrophage differentiation, cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity, protein destabilization, transcription co-repression, and fatty acid biosynthesis. In contrast, differences in genome-wide methylation in our AA dataset compared with TCGA dataset were enriched for genes in steroid signalling, immune signalling, chromatin structure remodelling and RNA processing. Overall, differential methylation of AMIGO3, IER3, UPB1, GRM7, TFAP2C, TOX2, PLSCR2, ZNF …

Body Surface Area Compared To Body Weight Dosing Of Valganciclovir Is Associated With Increased Toxicity In Pediatric Solid Organ Transplantation Recipients, Salih Demirhan, Flor M Munoz, Kristen G Valencia Deray, Claire E Bocchini, Lara Danziger-Isakov, Samantha Blum, Tanvi S Sharma, Gilad Sherman, Juri Boguniewicz, Samantha Bacon, Monica I Ardura, Gabriela M Maron, Jose Ferrolino, Marc Foca, Betsy C Herold

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Optimal dosing of valganciclovir (VGCV) for cytomegalovirus (CMV) prevention in pediatric solid organ transplantation recipients (SOTR) is controversial. Dosing calculated based on body surface area (BSA) and creatinine clearance is recommended but simplified body weight (BW) dosing is often prescribed. We conducted a retrospective 6-center study to compare safety and efficacy of these strategies in the first-year posttransplant There were 100 (24.2%) pediatric SOTR treated with BSA and 312 (75.7%) with BW dosing. CMV DNAemia was documented in 31.0% vs 23.4% (P = .1) at any time during the first year and breakthrough DNAemia in 16% vs 12.2% (P = …

Facility Closures And Distance Traveled To Receive Dialysis Care In The United States, Jingbo Niu, Melandrea Worsley, Omar Rosales, Abiodun Oluyomi, Kevin F Erickson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

University Faculty Perceptions Of Professional Development: Impact And Effectiveness, Claudia Vela, Velma D. Menchaca, Hilda Silva

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine faculty perceptions of the effectiveness and impact of professional development programs and activities in the areas of teaching, research, and service. This qualitative phenomenological study was conducted in a four-year Hispanic-serving institution in South Texas. It focused on exploring tenured and tenure-track faculty perceptions and experiences of their participation in professional development to help them meet tenure and promotion expectations. Analysis of data showed that faculty had mixed feelings about the workshops and training sessions that were offered on campus. However, networking, collaboration, and access to resources and technology were practices that …

Steroid Receptor Coactivator-2 Drives Epithelial Reprogramming That Enables Murine Embryo Implantation, Vineet K Maurya, Maria M Szwarc, David M Lonard, Ramakrishna Kommagani, San Pin Wu, Bert W O'Malley, Francesco J Demayo, John P Lydon

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Although we have shown that steroid receptor coactivator-2 (SRC-2), a member of the p160/SRC family of transcriptional coregulators, is essential for decidualization of both human and murine endometrial stromal cells, SRC-2’s role in the earlier stages of the implantation process have not been adequately addressed. Using a conditional SRC-2 knockout mouse (SRC-2 ^d/d) in timed natural pregnancy studies, we show that endometrial SRC-2 is required for embryo attachment and adherence to the luminal epithelium. Implantation failure is associated with the persistent expression of Mucin 1 and E-cadherin on the apical surface and basolateral adherens junctions of the SRC-2 …

Identification Of Genetic Regions Associated With Alzheimer ‘S Disease Blood-Based Biomarkers In Mexican American Families, Marcio A. Almeida

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Dementias are heterogeneous age-associated neurodegenerative disorders generally included in the broad term, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD). ADRD affects individuals of all ethnicities, but Hispanic individuals show a 1.5-fold higher risk when compared to non-Hispanic whites. Many AD risk biomarkers have been proposed but not much is known about how genetic elements control their expression. We used 2000 genome sequenced Mexican Americans from extended pedigrees to identify genetic regions associated with AD blood-based biomarkers.

Method: A total of 70 Mexican American subjects were diagnosed as ADRD cases (h²= 0.75, p = 2.6×10^-5). We …

Microbial Stimulation Of Oxytocin Release From The Intestinal Epithelium Via Secretin Signaling, Heather A Danhof, Jihwan Lee, Aanchal Thapa, Robert A Britton, Sara C Di Rienzi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Intestinal microbes impact the health of the intestine and organs distal to the gut. Limosilactobacillus reuteri is a human intestinal microbe that promotes normal gut transit, the anti-inflammatory immune system, wound healing, normal social behavior in mice, and prevents bone reabsorption. Oxytocin impacts these functions and oxytocin signaling is required for L. reuteri-mediated wound healing and social behavior; however, the events in the gut leading to oxytocin stimulation and beneficial effects are unknown. Here we report evolutionarily conserved oxytocin production in the intestinal epithelium through analysis of single-cell RNA-Seq datasets and imaging of human and mouse intestinal tissues. Moreover, …

Metabolic Dysfunction, Triglyceride-Glucose Index, And Risk Of Severe Asthma Exacerbation, Kristen A Staggers, Charles Minard, Michelle Byers, Drew A Helmer, Tianshi David Wu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Metabolic conditions may worsen asthma. There is a need to define a composite biomarker of metabolic dysfunction that has relevance to asthma outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of the triglyceride-glucose index (TyG), a biomarker of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance, with risk of severe asthma exacerbation.

METHODS: A 5-year retrospective cohort of patients with asthma receiving health care from the US Veterans Health Administration from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2019, was constructed. Fasting TyG values were extracted. Patients were followed for a severe asthma exacerbation, defined as an asthma-related corticosteroid prescription fill or an emergency encounter …

Strategies To Enhance Remote Monitoring Adherence Among Patients With Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Devices, Thomas L Rotering, Sylvia J Hysong, Katherine E Williams, Merritt H Raitt, Mary A Whooley, Sanket S Dhruva

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Remote monitoring (RM) of patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) (pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators) has a Class 1, Level of Evidence A Heart Rhythm Society recommendation. Yet RM adherence varies widely across settings, and factors associated with variation are not understood.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify strategies for supporting RM across Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities.

METHODS: In a national evaluation, we surveyed and interviewed 27 nurses, medical instrument technicians, and advanced practice providers across 26 VHA facilities (following approximately 15,000 CIED patients). Participants were selected based on overall patient adherence by facility, which …

Radiographic And Clinical Outcomes With Particle Or Liquid Embolic Agents For Middle Meningeal Artery Embolization Of Nonacute Subdural Hematomas, Jonathan P Scoville, Evan Joyce, Daniel A Tonetti, Michael T Bounajem, Ajith Thomas, Christopher S Ogilvy, Justin M Moore, Howard A Riina, Omar Tanweer, Elad I Levy, Alejandro M Spiotta, Bradley A Gross, Brian T Jankowitz, C Michael Cawley, Alexander A Khalessi, Aditya S Pandey, Andrew J Ringer, Ricardo Hanel, Rafael A Ortiz, David Langer, Michael R Levitt, Mandy Binning, Philipp Taussky, Peter Kan, Ramesh Grandhi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Middle meningeal artery (MMA) embolization is an apparently efficacious minimally invasive treatment for nonacute subdural hematomas (NASHs), but how different embolisates affect outcomes remains unclear. Our objective was to compare radiographic and clinical outcomes after particle or liquid MMA embolization.

METHODS: Patients who had MMA embolization for NASH were retrospectively identified from a multi-institution database. The primary radiographic and clinical outcomes-50% NASH thickness reduction and need for surgical retreatment within 90 days, respectively-were compared for liquid and particle embolizations in patients treated 1) without surgical intervention (upfront), 2) after recurrence, or 3) with concomitant surgery (prophylactic).

RESULTS: The upfront, …

The Brd4-Nut Fusion Alone Drives Malignant Transformation Of Nut Carcinoma, R Taylor Durall, Julianna Huang, Luke Wojenski, Yeying Huang, Prafulla C Gokhale, Brittaney A Leeper, Joshua O Nash, Pedro L Ballester, Scott Davidson, Adam Shlien, Emmanuel Sotirakis, Fabien Bertaux, Vincent Dubus, Jia Luo, Catherine J Wu, Derin B Keskin, Kyle P Eagen, Geoffrey I Shapiro, Christopher A French

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

NUT carcinoma (NC) is an aggressive squamous carcinoma defined by the BRD4-NUT fusion oncoprotein. Routinely effective systemic treatments are unavailable for most NC patients. The lack of an adequate animal model precludes identifying and leveraging cell-extrinsic factors therapeutically in NC. Here, we created a genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) of NC that forms a Brd4::NUTM1 fusion gene upon tamoxifen induction of Sox2-driven Cre. The model displayed complete disease penetrance, with tumors arising from the squamous epithelium weeks after induction and all mice succumbing to the disease shortly thereafter. Closely resembling human NC (hNC), GEMM tumors (mNC) were poorly differentiated squamous …

Rsif Rwanda Country Report 2023, Regional Scholarship And Innovation Fund (Rsif)

Rsif Country Progress Reports

Rwanda is among the world’s fastest growing economies with a projected growth in GDP of 8.0% in 2024 according to the African Development Bank. The need for highly skilled human capital is a driver for Rwanda’s Vision 2050. Investing in higher education, research and innovation will enable Rwanda to close the skills gap and contribute to sustainable economic growth and development. Rwanda is one of the nine African countries that are contributing to the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (Rsif) of the Partnership for skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) since 2015. It’s committed contribution is USD 4 …

The Family Strength Wheel: A Strength-Based Visual Tool For Families, Genese Clark

Journal of Extension

In 2017, data was collected from 59 African-Americans living in the northeastern United States to investigate the saliency of six family strength domains. The study results highlighted an emerging domain, Leadership, and led to the development of a visual family strength tool adapted from DeFrain's (2002) American Family Strength Inventory for family practitioners. With a supplemental worksheet, the Family Strength Wheel provides a self-rating scale illustrating baselines for strength-based family functioning while simultaneously showing benchmarks for improvement. The Family Strength Wheel offers immediate insight into individuals' perceptions of their family's functioning, opening areas for dialogue between family members and practitioners.

Food Sovereignty In Indigenous Communities: Extension Programs For Health, Culture, And Resilience, Katherine Hartmann

Journal of Extension

Extension is not equitably serving Indigenous communities due to the effects of colonization in the Land Grant System, a lack of funding, and a lack of understanding of the needs of Indigenous communities. The concept of food sovereignty offers a way to create meaningful educational programming and, despite the inequitable access to services, there are some Extension educators that collaborate with Indigenous communities. To understand these collaborations, I investigated the Western Region of Extension through an interview study. The interviews revealed that educators are facilitating programs having to do with food sovereignty that meet communities’ goals and respect Indigenous sovereignty.

The Digital Engine Model: Generating Leads Through The Application Of Dcm And Inbound Marketing, Kyle A. Huggins, John D. Hansen

Journal of Applied Marketing Theory

Digital Content Marketing (DCM) has become a primary tool for marketers in driving lead generation in today’s digital marketing world. Leading brands are creating and curating content trying to build brand equity and trust, connecting content to consumer action through brand story. And while strong theoretical models of content marketing have been discussed in the marketing literature, like Hollebeek and Macky (2019), there is a dearth of understanding about the application and direct impact of organic digital content strategies on marketing directives. This paper investigates an applied model, called The Digital Engine, which provides instruction on proper inbound marketing techniques …

Psychosocial Factors Affecting Intention To Play Esports, Soojung K. Park, Jennifer Y. Mak, Lei Ouyang

Journal of Applied Marketing Theory

According to a report by Newzoo (2023), global e-sports revenue will reach US$187.7 billion in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%. By understanding the motivations of esports players, marketers can tailor their strategies, messages, and products better to meet the needs and desires of the esports community, ultimately enabling more effective marketing campaigns and increased brand success. This study explored the psychosocial factors that influenced esports participation and attempted to identify the most influential motivational factor among these three factors: enjoyment, escapism, and social interaction. The data for analysis is based on reliable responses from 200 eSports players gathered through …

Endometrial Tgfβ Signaling Fosters Early Pregnancy Development By Remodeling The Fetomaternal Interface, Sydney E Parks, Ting Geng, Diana Monsivais

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The endometrium is a unique and highly regenerative tissue with crucial roles during the reproductive lifespan of a woman. As the first site of contact between mother and embryo, the endometrium, and its critical processes of decidualization and immune cell recruitment, play a leading role in the establishment of pregnancy, embryonic development, and reproductive capacity. These integral processes are achieved by the concerted actions of steroid hormones and a myriad of growth factor signaling pathways. This review focuses on the roles of the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) pathway in the endometrium during the earliest stages of pregnancy through the …

Temporary Ventricular Assist Device Support With A Catheter-Based Axial Pump: Changing The Paradigm At A Pediatric Heart Center, Sebastian C Tume, Andres A Fuentes-Baldemar, Marc Anders, Joseph A Spinner, Hari Tunuguntla, Michiaki Imamura, Asma Razavi, Edward Hickey, Gary Stapleton, Athar M Qureshi, Iki Adachi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: We report the largest pediatric single-center experience with an Impella (Abiomed Inc) catheter-based axial pump support.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all patients with acute decompensated heart failure or cardiogenic shock requiring catheter-based axial pump support between October 2014 and February 2022. The primary outcome per individual encounter (hospital admission) was defined as bridge-to-recovery, bridge-to-durable ventricular assist device support, bridge-to-cardiac transplantation, or death at 6 months after catheter-based axial pump explantation. Adverse events were defined according to the Pediatric Interagency Registry for Mechanical Circulatory Support criteria.

Results: Our final study cohort included 37 encounters with 43 …

Understanding Burnout In Pediatric Residency Through The Lens Of The ‘Areas Of Worklife’, Linessa M Zuniga, Julieana Nichols, Teri Turner, Carla Falco

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Burnout is a widespread problem in medicine, especially among trainees. Despite this, data on effective interventions are limited. An organizational context for burnout entitled Areas of Worklife identified six areas of the work environment that can affect burnout through mismatches between individuals expectations of that area and the reality of the work environment. This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of pediatric residents’ perspectives of the Areas of Worklife to allow programs to utilize this framework in the development of future interventions.

METHODS: Using qualitative methodology founded in grounded theory, we employed an iterative data collection …

What Discrimination? Christian Microaggression Rhetoric Against Nontheists, Nicole Dolfi Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Theories of microaggressions have been used in the last decade as a framework for studying subtle forms of discrimination against racial minorities and other marginalized groups. However, there is a dearth of research on the scope and types of microaggressions nontheists face. This qualitative study examines microaggressions against nontheists by interviewing 16 religious Christians on their experiences and opinions of the discrimination Christians and nontheists face. The narratives were analyzed for thematic patterns between the rhetoric used and the type of microaggressions employed. The study revealed nine categories of microaggressions. The findings also showed how experiences of discrimination, political viewpoint, …

Monitoring External Workloads And Countermovement Jump Performance Throughout A Preseason In Division 1 Collegiate Women’S Basketball Players, Michelle Van Dyke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring external workloads and countermovement jump performance may be useful for coaches. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of external load on player performance as measured by a CMJ and specific blood biomarkers throughout the preseason. METHODS:10 female division 1 basketball athletes had PlayerLoad^TM (PL) monitored for all mandatory basketball training during six weeks of the preseason and CMJs were performed weekly. Blood biomarkers were collected before preseason and at the end of preseason. Data were analyzed via the Catapult Sport software (Openfield, Catapult, Innovations, Melbourne, VIC, Australia) to quantify all participant …

Community College Students' Perceptions Of Sense Of Community And Instructor Presence In The Online Classroom, Marla Cartwright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this non-experimental, comparative, quantitative study was to determine if there were significant differences between the perceptions of male and female community college students about the importance of sense of community (SoC) in online classes and sense of instructor presence (IP) at eight southern, public, community colleges using survey data. It was the intent of the study to determine if there were significant relationships of students’ perceptions of the presence of sense of community in online classes among factors of age, race, grade point average, cumulative credit hours, credential type, major area of study, and number of previous …

Childhood Trauma In Early Care And Education: Understanding School Administrators’ Perceptions, Olawale Olubowale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods study explores childhood trauma with a primary focus on the beliefs and attitudes of elementary school administrators in their ability to offer trauma-informed leadership and assist their teachers in trauma-informed care (TIC) and education. Participants at various stages of their careers were recruited from elementary schools across 10 U.S. states (N = 240). Employing an explanatory sequential mixed method design, Phase I assessed school administrators’ attitudes using the attitudes related to trauma-informed care scale (ARTIC-45) (see Appendix A). Phase II employed semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data to explain further and clarify the quantitative results. Findings suggest …