Digital Commons Network^™

Hurricane Risk Perceptions And Evacuation Decision-Making In The Postvaccine Era Of Covid-19 In U.S. Coastal States Impacted By North Atlantic Hurricanes, Jennifer Collins, Elizabeth A. Dunn, Rashida K. Jones, Amy Polen, Nagashree R. Rao, Stephen Murphy, Mark Welford

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

During peak disease transmission in 2021, the compounding threat posed by the pandemic and hurricane season required coastal states to understand evacuation behaviors during a major hurricane to inform the planning process. While research relating to hurricane evacuation behavior and perceptions of risk has increased since the start of the pandemic, there is minimal understanding of how perceptions have changed now the COVID-19 vaccine is available. A total of 1075 individuals across seven U.S. coastal states participated in a study on evacuation intentions postvaccine availability. Findings revealed that most survey participants (50.9%) preferred to stay home if a major hurricane …

Unpacking The Influencing Factors Of Telehealth Usage Among Older Consumers, Xiaojing Sheng, Yuri Martirosyan, Khondoker Sayeed Hossain, Reto Felix, Arjun Singh

Marketing Faculty Publications

This research unpacks the challenges and motivations of telehealth usage among older consumers—an understudied population in the extant telehealth literature. Through surveying a sample of older consumers who regularly migrate to winter in the southern areas of the United States, our qualitative analysis uncovers motivations (i.e., convenience, ease of use, efficiency, and a forced option) and challenges (i.e., telehealth limitations, privacy concerns, and lack of trust, access, and skills) of older consumers’ telehealth usage. Further, logistic regression identifies attitude toward telehealth, gender, and health status as significant predictors of telehealth usage behavior. Contributions to theory and practice are also discussed.

Compliance With World Health Organization Covid19 Preventive Behaviors In Rural Counties In Western Kenya: A Cross-Sectional Study, Caleb Nyaranga, Cholo Wilberforce, Fletcher J. Njororai

Population Health Leadership and Analytics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended various measures to tackle COVID-19, and were adopted by many governments, targeting behavior change among citizens to lower the transmission. There was a paucity of data on the patterns of compliance with different measures within individuals and whether people adhere to all recommended measures or cautiously prefer few but not others. Understanding compliance behaviors and associated factors is important for developing interventions to increase compliance.

Methods: cross-sectional study was conducted among adults in the western region of Kenya. A sample of 806 participants was selected using a stratified sampling method. A structured questionnaire …

Mental Resilience And State Anxiety In Bulgarians Living In Their Country Of Origin Or Abroad During Covid-19 Pandemic, Stanislava Stoyanova

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Comparing state anxiety and mental resilience among people living in their country of origin and emigrants abroad may reveal if they have different experiences of negative emotional states, as well as different resources for coping with changes in everyday life brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were 142 Bulgarians living in Bulgaria during COVID-19 pandemic and 142 Bulgarians living in different countries abroad, whose age varied from 21 to 44 years old. The study was conducted online by means of Qualtrics applying Spielberger’s State Anxiety Scale and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale CD-RISC2. State anxiety was significantly lower (t(282) = 3.242, …

A Case Study Of Technology Integration At A Community College During A Disruption Of Learning Due To A Global Pandemic, Cara Suzanne Barth-Fagan

Dissertations

This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the financial stress, digital divide, and inequalities in educational opportunities that arose during this period. However, it also acknowledges the advantages of remote learning, such as flexible scheduling, individualized learning, and global collaboration. The study design used was qualitative, aiming to identify the perceived levels of student engagement and support between faculty and students, and the perceived levels of success of completing a blended learning course in an online, hybrid, or hyflex format during a global pandemic. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance …

“I Know A Lot Of People Just Gave Up And Died, Out Of Loneliness”: Family Members Experiences Of Covid-19 Visitation Restrictions In Irish Nursing Homes, Emily Egan, Sarah Robinson, Erin Nic An Bhaird, Graham Gillespie

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on older adults, particularly those living in nursing homes (NH) globally and in Ireland, the site of our study. Whilst NH residents were at increased risk of serious illness from the virus, visitation bans and restrictions also impacted residents' quality of life. Family members' (FMs) essential caring role was recognised in contexts like the Netherlands, parts of the United States and Ontario, Canada, but were not in Ireland. The current study explored the experiences of FMs of residents who experienced visitation bans during the first four waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. Eight …

Developmental Profile Of Filipino Children Born During The Sars-Cov-2 Pandemic: Pilot Study, Angel Belle Dy, Michelle Alexandra Edillon, Mikhaela Francesca Marietta A. Malonzo, Glenda Darlene Garcia, Alane Blythe C. Dy, Clarisse Joyce S. Espiritu, Ma Bianca Carmela Aquino, Shannen Louise T. So, Nina Linly D. Capulong, Rizza Victoria C. Dagal, Lourdes Bernadette Tanchanco

Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Publications

Objective

The Philippines experienced one of the longest restriction periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to provide a developmental profile of 18-25 month-old children and identify factors associated with their development during their early years being born and raised during the pandemic.

Methods

The study population was recruited through convenience sampling among families living in proximity to the daycare centers in Cainta, Rizal, Philippines. 116 children qualified to participate and underwent developmental screening using the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Checklist and their parents were interviewed related to demographic and social factors.

Results

The mean score of …

Odiar Es Proteger: La Respuesta Inevitable Al Origen De Una Pandemia, Haowen Huang

Honors Theses

Esta tesis analiza la causa del odio hacia los asiáticos durante la pandemia de COVID-19, enfocándose específicamente en los casos que tuvieron lugar en España. La prevalencia de discriminación dirigida al origen de una pandemia identificado por la narrativa del brote es cultivada por la persistencia de estereotipos. En el caso de COVID-19, la xenofobia hacia los asiáticos fue el resultado de una construcción histórica que ha estigmatizado su identidad persistentemente, la repetición de la cual es definida en esta tesis como racismo pandémico. La imagen de los asiáticos enfermos fue establecida injustificadamente por la medicina occidental en el siglo …

An Innovative Covid-19 Patient Recognition Framework, Shereen H. Ali

Mansoura Engineering Journal

A virus called COVID-19 has caused devastation throughout the world and is still putting people's lives in jeopardy. It is important to identify COVID-19 patients as soon as possible so that they can be treated and kept from spreading. A new framework for recognizing COVID-19-infected individuals would be provided in this study. The patient’s recognition framework (PRF) is a term used to describe a method for detecting patients. The PRF consists of three stages, which are: the pre-processing stage (P2S), the feature selection stage (FS2), and the classification stage (CS). The P2S extracts a collection of features from CT chest …

Caring For The Caregivers: Reimagining Institutional Recognition Of Caregiving Work After The Covid Care Crisis, Shruti Rana

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic washed over the already uneven landscape of legal academia with an unrelenting force, hitting the most vulnerable most harshly while leaving others bobbing or churning in the waves, loosening the tethers to the social and institutional structures that had previously supported them. Some of the most devastating losses were unsurprising and indeed played out as had long been feared or predicted in times of crisis. Other harms played out in entirely new ways, creating new scars and obstacles. As we survey the changes brought across this landscape in the pandemic's wake, several emerging themes deserve further scrutiny …

Vaccine Hesitancy In Those Experiencing Homelessness And Housing Instability In Marin County: Is Covid-19 Any Different?, Kelsey Bas

Global Public Health | Senior Theses

Introduction:

COVID-19 booster hesitancy amongst different populations is a continuing public health issue. Within Marin County, individuals experiencing homelessness or housing instability are not receiving their booster vaccination in spite of receiving the primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine. Hence, there is a lack of research that reveals the barriers and motivation as to why individuals experiencing homelessness and housing instability in Marin are facing hesitancy towards the COVID-19 booster.

Methods:

In this qualitative study, the researcher interviewed clients of the Ritter Center. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals ages 18 and older, currently experiencing homelessness or housing instability, and …

Student Achievement Growth Before And During Covid-19: Comparing In-Person And Remote Learning In Catholic And Public Schools, Stephen Ponisciak, Julie W. Dallavis

Journal of Catholic Education

In response to COVID-19, U.S. students learned remotely from mid-March to June 2020. At the start of academic year 2020-21, many schools remained remote but others—primarily Catholic and other private schools—reopened. We consider Catholic schooling as a proxy for in-person instruction and use national data from Renaissance Star and MAP Growth assessments to compare the achievement of similar students pre-pandemic, during the height of mitigation strategies, and after most schools reopened. In a departure from pre-pandemic growth patterns, students in Catholic schools showed more growth than those in public schools during the height of mitigation strategies, suggesting the importance of …

Predicting Severe Covid-19 Using Readily Available Admission Indicators: Spo2/Fio2 Ratio, Comorbidity Index, And Gender, Luan D. Vu, Rebecca C. Christofferson, Hollis R. O’Neal, Diana Hamer, Anh T.Q. Phan, Katie M. Vance, E. A. Turner, Avinash Kumar, Ibrahim Musa Yola, Natalie Lim, Beverly Ogden, Stephania A. Cormier

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

The focus of this study was to identify risk factors for severe and critical COVID-19, evaluate local respiratory immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and develop a prognostic tool for COVID-19 severity using accessible early indicators. Using nasopharyngeal swab samples from hospitalized patients with COVID-19 of varying severity during the first wave of the pandemic from March to May 2020 in Louisiana, we evaluated the association between COVID-19 severity and viral load, respiratory immune mediators, and demographic/clinical factors. We found that the SpO2/FiO2 ratio at triage, total comorbidity burden (represented by Charlson Comorbidity Index), and gender were significantly associated with COVID-19 …

Strategies For Sustainable Access To Electronic Resources During Covid-19 Pandemic Era: Experience From The Consortium Of Uganda University Libraries, Jackline Estomihi Kiwelu, Andrew Mwesigwa, Jesca Karungi

Libraries

The paper shares the strategies the Consortium of Uganda University Libraries (CUUL) adopted to provide access to electronic resources to its member libraries in COVID-19 pandemic era. It examines the challenges, opportunities COVID-19 brought and how CUUL managed to deliver its mandate during the pandemic. The study used a qualitative research approach and a survey research design. A structured online interview data collection tool was employed to collect the required information from the CUUL executive committee members and the electronic resources functional committee. Content analysismethod, with coding and categorization, was used for data analysis and presentation of findings. This paper …

Eliding Consent In The Case Of Pandemic Countermeasures Authorized Only For Emergency Use, Lars Noah

UF Law Faculty Publications

Four months after the first vaccines against Covid-19 became available to the public, and just as some universities announced plans to require inoculations, the Boston Globe quoted me as (alone) suggesting that mandates would conflict with federal law. When Congress created a special mechanism for the emergency use of still investigational products, it directed providers to reveal, among other things, that individuals remained free to decline such an intervention; only after full FDA approval of a medical countermeasure would this disclosure obligation become inapplicable. I have watched with dismay over the last three years as nearly everyone—including Executive branch officials, …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Postsecondary Transition For Students With Disabilities: Provider Perspectives, Haley L. Muir Knox

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Transition planning is an essential component of special education for students transitioning from high school to the adult world. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the ways in which transition education is implemented and has been a catalyst for change and potential improvement in transition education practices. Research is just beginning to emerge regarding the ways in which education has changed as a result of the pandemic. Teachers and transition coordinators are key stakeholders in the transition process and serve as a link between the school and the students and their families. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with both special …

A Phenomenological Study Of Middle School Reading Teachers' Lived Experiences Of Learning Management Systems During The Covid-19 Pandemic And Their Impact On Reading Instruction, Rebekah L. Hadley

Doctor of Education Dissertations

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many school districts were forced to switch to remote learning, which presented a new and challenging experience for teachers. The study described the experiences of middle school reading teachers’ use of learning management systems (LMSs) during the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on reading instruction. The study focused on a school district in southeastern North Carolina with 19 middle schools and three reading teachers per grade level. The primary method of data collection used in the study was interviews. The interviews revealed that teachers faced several challenges when using LMSs, such as limited knowledge of LMS, …

Knowledge Is Power…To Misinform: Examining How Knowledge Gaps Affect Engagement With Covid-19 Misinformation, Ben Wasike

Communication Faculty Publications

This study examined how the knowledge gap hypothesis (KGH), the belief gap hypothesis (BGH), partisan media use, and interpersonal discussion affected COVID-19 knowledge and social media engagement (SME) with related misinformation. The KGH partially affected knowledge and reduced SME with misinformation regarding income. The BGH increased knowledge and reduced SME with misinformation among Liberals. Right-leaning media use and interpersonal discussion increased SME with misinformation respectively. Overall, knowledge was inversely associated with SME with misinformation.

Incremental Value Of Radiomics Features Of Epicardial Adipose Tissue For Detecting The Severity Of Covid-19 Infection, Ni Yao, Yanhui Tian, Daniel Gama Das Neves, Chen Zhao, Claudio Tinoco Mesquita, Wolney De Andrade Martins, Weihua Zhou, Et. Al.

Michigan Tech Publications

Introduction. Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is known for its pro-inflammatory properties and association with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. However, existing detection methods for COVID-19 severity assessment often lack consideration of organs and tissues other than the lungs, which limits the accuracy and reliability of these predictive models.

Material and methods. The retrospective study included data from 515 COVID-19 patients (Cohort 1, n=415; Cohort 2, n=100) from two centers (Shanghai Public Health Center and Brazil Niteroi Hospital) between January 2020 and July 2020. Firstly, a three-stage EAT segmentation method was proposed by combining object detection and segmentation networks. Lung …

Fostering Corporate Resilience: Assessing Risk Management Committee Effectiveness In Malaysia’S Telecommunication And Media Sector Pre- And During The Covid-19, Flicia Rimin, Siti Rahayu Beli, Anastasiah Harbi, Imbarine Bujang, Jamaliah Said

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted organizations, underscoring the critical role of financial factors in determining performance. Maintaining a healthy financial stance during crises necessitates effective risk management, prompting the exploration of a Risk Management Committee (RMC) as a focal point for addressing risk issues and managing internal controls. A study spanning 2017 to 2021 assessed 11 listed companies in the Telecommunication and Media Sector, revealing that a combined RMC did not enhance financial performance, indicating its ineffectiveness during the crisis. The study advocates for a separate risk management committee due to the audit committee’s limitations in performing both functions. …

Ever Use Of Telehealth In Nebraska By March 2021: Cross-Sectional Analysis, Lisa C. Smith, George Johnson, Snehal Jadhav, Josiane Kabayundo, Muskan Ahuja, Hongmei Wang, Kendra L. Ratnapradipa

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

BACKGROUND: Nationally, COVID-19 spurred the uptake of telehealth to facilitate patients' access to medical care, especially among individuals living in geographically isolated areas. Despite the potential benefits of telehealth to address health care access barriers and enhance health outcomes, there are still disparities in the accessibility and utilization of telehealth services. Hence, identifying facilitators and barriers to telehealth should be prioritized to ensure that disparities are mitigated rather than exacerbated.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify factors associated with ever use of telehealth in Nebraska, a primarily rural state with a significant portion of its population living in nonmetropolitan areas. …

The Study Of Baby Boomers And Generation Z’S Attitudes Towards Generational Mental Health Dynamics, Regina M. Luttrell Ph.D., Hunter Harpin, Emma Grace Reville, Yunxiang Yu, Abagail Sweeney

Real Chemistry Emerging Insights Lab

The purpose of this research is to compare and contrast how different historical events have impacted Generation Z members’ and the Baby Boomers’ attitudes towards mental health and how those attitudes have guided members of these generations to feel about medical experts and the technology that they use to deliver their services in the post-COVID era. Studying these topics allows our group to make recommendations as to how medical experts should go about interacting with members of the Generation Z and Baby Boomer generations respectively, based on how historical events have influenced their attitudes towards mental health topics, their perceived …

Examining Connectivity And Mental Health Amongst Generation Z And Millennials, Regina M. Luttrell Ph.D., Alexandra Hosilyk, Nyah Jones, Grace Kos-Dondlinger, Runchu Lang, Katerina Miller

Real Chemistry Emerging Insights Lab

The Real Chemistry Emerging Insights Lab tasked our research team to develop findings based on two generational cohorts and mental health. Our team decided to research Millennials and Generation Z in relation to their mental health and connectivity habits. In addition to these general topics, we analyzed how remote work, the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. political turmoil have played a role in the mental health status of these two generational cohorts.

The Millennial generational cohort is defined as individuals born from 1981 to 1996. The Generation Z generational cohort is defined as individuals born from 1997 to 2012. In order …

Effective Public Health Communication In A Post-Covid-19 America: Lessons From Behavioral Science, Molly J. Walker Wilson

Lewis & Clark Law Review

As we emerge from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are still reeling from the loss of life, the financial fallout, and the deep divide that continues to characterize our social and political institutions. Public health experts who were tasked with communicating facts and advice to the American public faced a daunting challenge, particularly because three distinct groups of Americans received messages differently. One group of Americans was receptive to scientific findings and amenable to taking recommended precautions. A second group was skeptical about the safety and efficacy of available vaccines, and genuinely confused or suspicious about the source …

The Online Education Landscape, Digital Tools, And Covid-19, Rosetta S. Burk

Undergraduate Scholarship

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has been the ultimate stress test for communication technologies, online learning methods, digital pedagogies, students and educators as the world faced school closures and emergency online learning situations during the pandemic lockdowns. There has been an influx in communication tools, digital paradigms, and teaching methodologies in addition to relying on existing digital tools and methods to continue students' education while unable to meet in person. The level of remote learning and digital movement is unprecedented and the results have been varied and illuminating. Research has been conducted on student attitudes in the immediate aftermath of the …

Diagnostic Certainty During In-Person And Telehealth Autism Evaluations, Natasha N. Ludwig, Calliope Holingue, Ji Su Hong, Luther G. Kalb, Danika Pfeiffer, Rachel Reetzke, Deepa Menon

Speech-Language Pathology Faculty Publications

Background

Many diagnostic evaluations abruptly shifted to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, little is known about the impact on diagnosis patterns for children evaluated for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this clinical research study was to examine (1) the frequency of diagnoses evaluated beyond ASD; (2) the frequency of diagnoses made, including ASD; and (3) clinician diagnostic certainty for all diagnoses evaluated for children who received an evaluation due to primary concerns about ASD via telehealth during the pandemic compared to those evaluated in person before the pandemic at an ASD specialty clinic.

Methods

The sample included …

Caregivers' Perceptions Of Covid-19 Educational Disruptions On Children With Developmental Language Disorder And Typically Developing Peers, Katherine Radville, Danika Pfeiffer, Karynn Sheranian, Julie Wolter, Jessie Ricketts, Tiffany L. Hogan

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Purpose: Understanding the experiences of families of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) during COVID-19 educational disruptions is essential for designing responsive supports during pandemic recovery efforts and beyond. This qualitative study describes the experiences of families of first-and second-grade children with DLD during the pandemic as compared to the experiences of families of typically developing (TD) peers.

Method: A conventional content analysis approach was used to analyze caregivers’ written responses to open-ended questions regarding their perceptions of COVID-19 educational disruptions. Responses were analyzed separately by group: caregivers of children with DLD (n= 23) and caregivers of TD children (n= …

Machine-Learning-Enabled Diagnostics With Improved Visualization Of Disease Lesions In Chest X-Ray Images, Md. Fashiar Rahman, Tzu-Liang (Bill) Tseng, Michael Pokojovy, Peter Mccaffrey, Eric Walser, Scott Moen, Alex Vo, Johnny C. Ho

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

The class activation map (CAM) represents the neural-network-derived region of interest, which can help clarify the mechanism of the convolutional neural network’s determination of any class of interest. In medical imaging, it can help medical practitioners diagnose diseases like COVID-19 or pneumonia by highlighting the suspicious regions in Computational Tomography (CT) or chest X-ray (CXR) film. Many contemporary deep learning techniques only focus on COVID-19 classification tasks using CXRs, while few attempt to make it explainable with a saliency map. To fill this research gap, we first propose a VGG-16-architecture-based deep learning approach in combination with image enhancement, segmentation-based region …

Student Engagement In The Communication Classroom: An Intervention To Encourage Student Success, Jay Baglia, Elissa Foster, Kendra Knight, Stephanie Grau

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Universities implement a variety of interventions to address student engagement and retention. This is especially true post-pandemic as faculty attempt to return to a pre-pandemic structure. Emerging adulthood aligns with the personal responsibility demanded of college students as well as changes in personal growth. In the current climate, stress has been shown to negatively impact executive functioning, the cognitive processes necessary for academic success. This essay describes an intervention encouraging student self-reflexivity around processes for engagement, academic success, and retention. Communication Fundamentals for College Success—a 5-week, two-credit workshop—was developed and delivered by the authors. Curriculum focused on time management, study …

Rural And Urban Clinician Views On Covid- 19’S Impact On Substance Use Treatment For Individuals On Community Supervision In Kentucky, Carrie B. Oser, Maria Rockett, Sebastian Otero, Evan Batty, Marisa Booty, Rachel Gressick, Michele Staton, Hannah K. Knudsen

Center on Drug and Alcohol Research Faculty Publications

Background The COVID-19 pandemic produced system-level changes within the criminal legal system and community-based substance use disorder (SUD) treatment system with impacts on recovery efforts. This study examines rural and urban clinicians’ perspectives of COVID-19 on SUD treatment delivery for people on community supervision.

Methods Virtual qualitative interviews were conducted between April and October 2020 with 25 community supervision clinicians employed by Kentucky’s Department of Corrections (DOC), who conduct assessments and facilitate community-based treatment linkages for individuals on probation or parole. Transcripts were analyzed in NVivo using directed content analysis methods.

Results Clinicians were predominantly white (92%) and female (88%) …