Digital Commons Network^™

Pondering Possible Psychological Pandemonium: Covid-19’S Impact On Undergraduate Students’ Distress Levels, Laura Alarcon

Student Theses

The pandemic has altered everything in its path, including a broad impact on mental health, but not everyone has been affected equally. The COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity to examine if previously found differences in how non-Hispanic white and Latinx populations experience anxiety persist and/or were compounded. This study investigated distress levels of Latinx and non-Hispanic white undergraduate students at a public Hispanic Serving Institution both prior to and during the pandemic. A two-way ANOVA was run on a subset of an existing database to assess changes in distress levels between the two populations and timeframes. It was hypothesized that …

On The Frontlines Of Covid-19: A Jd-R Approach To Better Understand Emergency Medicine Clinicians' Psychological Well-Being, Riley Mccallus Pegram

All Dissertations

Healthcare organizations have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with emergency departments (EDs) facing especially large burdens. Increased patient volumes, fewer opportunities to disengage from work, and the persistence of the pandemic over many months continue to place demands on emergency medicine clinicians (EMC) and may elevate their levels of psychological stress. Psychological resilience and meaningful work experiences may protect EMC from these negative effects but may also be negatively impacted by high levels of ED crowding. Using the Job-Demands Resources model as a theoretical framework, this dissertation sough to explore how ED crowding (measured objectively and subjectively), psychological …

A Global Experiment On Motivating Social Distancing During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nicole Legate, Thuy-Vy Nguyen, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. …

Manual Therapy For Patients With Radiation-Associated Trismus After Head And Neck Cancer, Holly Mcmillan, Carly E A Barbon, Richard Cardoso, Abigail Sedory, Sheila Buoy, Christine Porsche, Kiara Savage, Lauren Mayo, Katherine A Hutcheson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Trismus is highly prevalent in head and neck cancer (HNC) survivorship. Current standards for trismus treatment include various stretch-based exercise protocols as a primary and single treatment modality with limited evidence regarding the role of manual therapy (MT) for this indication.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect size and associations of response to MT to increase oral opening in the setting of radiation-associated trismus.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This retrospective case series was conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between 2016 and March 2020 (before COVID-19 interruption) and included 49 disease-free survivors of HNC who were …

Perceived Covid-19 Threat Across The Intersections Of Age, Race/Ethnicity, And Gender, Christina Varghese

Sociology and Criminology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Studying how perceived threat of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) differs across intersections of age and race/ethnicity as well as age and gender will create a basis for identifying subgroups at greater risk of negative mental health outcomes. I analyzed nationally representative survey data collected in February 2021 from the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (N=9,069). To measure perceived threat, the respondents were asked whether COVID-19 is considered 0) no threat, minor threat, or 1) major threat for personal and population health. Race/ethnicity, gender, and age categories are used as independent variables. Results from logistic regression models indicate that …

Developing And Applying Computational Algorithms To Reveal Health-Related Biomolecular Interactions, Yixin Xie

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Computational biology is an interdisciplinary area that applies computational approaches in biological big data, including protein amino acid sequences, genetic sequences, etc., which is widely used to analyze protein-protein interactions, make predictions in drug discovery, develop vaccines, etc. Popular methods include mathematical modeling, molecular dynamics simulations, data science mythology, etc. With the help of computational algorithms and applications, drug development is much faster than traditional processes, as it reduces risks early on in a drug discovery process and helps researchers select target candidates that have the highest potential for success. In my doctoral research, I applied multi-scale computational approaches to …

An Exploration Of Art Therapy Services Offered To University Community Members During Transition, Julia Arias, Marissa Gonzales, Melissa Gonzalez, Raegen Valdes

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study examined art therapy services offered by Loyola Marymount University's Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic to university students and staff amidst the transition back to in-person services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of interventions and clinical themes that emerged as a result of the services offered to members of the university as they transitioned back to in-person services. Two focus groups were held to gather data from participants and facilitators of the workshops. The analysis of this data led researchers to find that the art therapy services …

Factors Affecting Hotel Recommendation: Before The Covid-19 Pandemic And After The Reopening, Boran Kim

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous people lost their lives, and a lot of industries were affected. The hospitality industry was especially affected due to social distancing, travel restrictions, and safety issues. During that time, not only did customers' expectations change but their recommendation of hotels to friends and colleagues also changed. The current study used five factors (i.e., cleanliness, location, room, service, and value) to discover which factors were affecting hotel recommendation before the COVID-19 pandemic and after the reopening. This study used secondary data (online surveys) from one of the well-known integrated resorts located in the western United States. …

Building Capacity For Cancer Research In The Era Of Covid-19: Implementation And Results From An International Virtual Clinical Research Training Program In Zambia, Kevin Diao, Dorothy C Lombe, Catherine K Mwaba, Juliana Wu, Darya A Kizub, Carrie A Cameron, Elizabeth Y Chiao, Susan C Msadabwe, Lilie L Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: The incidence of cancer in sub-Saharan Africa is increasing rapidly, yet cancer research in the region continues to lag. One contributing factor is limited exposure to clinical research among trainees. We describe implementation and results of a virtual clinical research training program for Zambian clinical oncology fellows developed jointly by the Cancer Diseases Hospital in Zambia and the MD Anderson Cancer Center to address this need.

Methods: The clinical research training program consisted of 14 weekly virtual lectures, development of research questions by Zambian clinical oncology fellows, assignment of faculty and peer mentors, longitudinal mentorship of research protocols, and …

Mutual Recognition Of Covid-19 Vaccine To Restore Normal Social Activities And Redistribute Vaccines For The Next Stage Of The Pandemic, Chenyu Sun, Scott Lowe, Qin Zhou, John Patrick Nanola Uy

Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Homestays In Nepal In The Era Of Covid-19, Anup K C

All Dissertations

Homestays are accommodation facilities provided by hosts in their own residence. Usually, guests are provided food and lodging by the host family members. These tourism facilities are a source of alternative income in rural areas of countries like Nepal. But now, COVID-19 has adversely affected homestays along with other tourism sectors, so it is necessary to assess homestays in Nepal in the COVID-19 era. For this dissertation, online interviews were conducted with homestay stakeholders (54 homestay operators, 12 homestay leaders, 11 homestay experts, and 8 biodiversity experts). These online interviews were recorded in the Nepali language and were translated and …

Public Libraries In Rural Arkansas: An Oasis In An Information Desert, Britt Graves

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Public libraries in Arkansas are welcome, but those found in rural Arkansas are almost a necessity. The public uses the library for more than just checking out books or their email: it’s become a community gathering place for all walks of life, regardless of age or economic status. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the state, libraries also became essential for education, medicine, news, and employment, nearly overloading their resources and shining a spotlight on technology, or the lack thereof, that so many public libraries are needing. With the Arkansas governor planning an upgrade on broadband technology and the federal government …

Teaching Through Screens, David Dell'osso Ritter

Masters Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic affected educational delivery dramatically, as many classes were transferred from ground to online in just a few weeks. This research explored the impact this transfer had on teachers and students. The research focused on student motivation and productivity in the online environment, as well as teacher presence in and preparedness for the online environment. The problem statement for this research is as follows: The COVID-19 pandemic responses to education diminished teacher presence resulting in a steep decline in student motivation and productivity. In addition to an extensive literature review, three case studies to better understand what had …

Covid-19 And Its Impact On Minority-Owned Banks, Salvador Contreras, Amit Ghosh

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

Employing a difference-in-differences framework, we examine the effect of COVID-19 on various performance metrics of minority-owned banks relative to peer banks. We find little evidence of worsening performance of minority-owned banks, except for Asian-owned banks. In some instances, minority banks show improved performance. We find a decline in nonperforming single-family residential loans for Hispanic-owned banks. Moreover, minority banks have disbursed more Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans than their matched non-minority counterparts. Their resilient performance indicates that minority banks are well positioned to aid in the ongoing economic recovery.

Laissez-Faire, Social Networks, And Race In A Pandemic, Roland Pongou, Guy Tchuente, Jean-Baptiste Tondji

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

We study the effects of race, network centrality, and policies that tolerate some level of virus spread (laissez-faire) on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes in the United States. Our analysis uses unique data on nursing home networks and calibration-based estimates of states' preferences for health relative to short-term economic gains. Our findings suggest that laissez-faire policies increase deaths. Nursing homes with a larger share of Black residents experience more deaths, but they are less vulnerable to laissez-faire policies, especially when not central in social networks. Our findings highlight significant interactions between COVID-19 policies, race, and network structure among US seniors.

Increasing Social Development For 5th Graders, Akito Aromin

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Elementary school kids in 5th grade had social development being enhanced before the year 2020. The pandemic hit in 2020, causing the social development of children to falter. There have been more negative effects on social development in children, impacting their regulation of emotions, respect, and even forming friendships to have troubling effects. This is expressed because of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus), ceasing any real-life events or schools to halt for a bit and moving to remote learning for the time being. This paper outlines how social development in 5th graders was impacted, providing research needed on how you can increase …

Parent Volunteers And Covid-19: Balancing Necessity, Enthusiasm, And Caution, Jarrod Myers

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus issue addressed in this Capstone Project is how the pandemic disrupted parent volunteering in schools. Parent volunteering is an essential issue for schools because parent involvement is essential for student success. An evidence-based argument is offered that schools struggled to staff the void left by parent volunteers. The three primary stakeholder perspectives chosen were parents, school leadership, and teachers. Parents make up the volunteer pool; teachers know what kind of assistance classrooms need, and school leadership creates policies. Three themes emerged from analyzing the data and explored ways to reintroduce parents to a school campus. Parent volunteers make …

The Effects Of Covid-19 On Early Childhood Mental Health Development, Taylor Ybanez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

A child’s development is of the highest importance to any person that has the opportunity to teach them. Due to the impact of COVID-19, many people, especially developing children have struggled with their mental health development. With the lack of resources and outreach opportunities, some of them had to be left alone for a good portion of their time during their stay-at-home orders due to not being allowed to attend school. This senior capstone is to bring awareness of the toll COVID-19 has taken on children’s development in terms of their emotional, physiological, and physical well-being. The findings offer some …

Research On The Challenges Of "The Great Resignation" Faced By Nonprofits, Breanna Wilson

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence serves all nonprofits in Monterey County with direct financial support, training for organizational growth, and leadership development. Nonprofit organizations in Monterey County face challenges retaining and hiring qualified staff due in part to the Great Resignation phenomenon where many employees have voluntarily resigned from their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency-level problem is there is too little information on this issue to provide effective assistance. This research project aims to uncover how this phenomenon is impacting local nonprofits, especially in staff hiring and retention. Interviews were conducted with nonprofit leaders to gain organizational insights. …

Improving Nurse Leaders’ Knowledge And Confidence In Transformational Leadership Skills In The Online Environment, Tanya Haight

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Leadership is critical to the success of most organizations, and the achievement of an organization's goals is largely dependent on the leaders' ability to engage, motivate, and influence their teams—often referred to as Transformational Leadership. This is especially true for healthcare organizations wherein the morbidity and mortality of patients may be affected by the quality of leadership. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person meetings transitioned to the online format without nurse leaders' formal training. Leaders cited this lack of orientation as impeding their ability to sustain an online-virtual transformational leadership presence with their teams. They reported varying degrees …

An Application Of Matrices To The Spread Of The Covid 19, Selena Suarez

Theses and Dissertations

We represented a restaurant seating arrangement using matrices by using 0 entry for someone without covid and 1 entry for someone with covid. Using the matrices we found the best seating arrangements to lessen the spread of covid. We also investigated if there was a factor needed to create a formula that could calculate the matrix that shows who would be affected with covid with each seating arrangement. However, there did not seem to be a clear pattern within the factors. Aside from covid applications, we also investigated the symmetries in seating arrangements and the possible combinations with these arrangements …

Teaching Music Theory Through Covid-19, Donna Deloy

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

This thesis surveyed music theory instructors throughout the United States. Throughout the interviews, instructors shared their insights during COVID-19 as a college instructor. This thesis seeks to describe and inform college instructors of the changes made to the undergraduate curriculum and classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic; as a result, instructors found and created new ways to engage students in a classroom through an online format. While creating an online music theory course is challenging, instructors share their experiences navigating this temporary shift beginning in March 2020. A suggestion of implementing more technology into the music theory core could create a …

Internal Medicine Residents' Perceptions Of Virtual Morning Report: A Multicenter Survey, Tyler J Albert, Joel Bradley, Helene Starks, Jeff Redinger, Cherinne Arundel, Albertine Beard, Laura Caputo, Jonathan Chun, Craig G Gunderson, Dan Heppe, Anand Jagannath, Kyle Kent, Michael Krug, James Laudate, Vignesh Palaniappan, Amanda Pensiero, Zaven Sargsyan, Emily Sladek, Matthew Tuck, Paul B Cornia

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

IMPORTANCE: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted graduate medical education, compelling training programs to abruptly transition to virtual educational formats despite minimal experience or proficiency. We surveyed residents from a national sample of internal medicine (IM) residency programs to describe their experiences with the transition to virtual morning report (MR), a highly valued core educational conference.

OBJECTIVE: Assess resident views about virtual MR content and teaching strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DESIGN: Anonymous, web-based survey.

PARTICIPANTS: Residents from 14 academically affiliated IM residency programs.

MAIN MEASURES: The 25-item survey on virtual MR included questions on demographics; frequency and reason for attending; opinions …

Impact Of A Comprehensive Musicianship Through Performance Program On An International School Band During Covid-19, Anna Lee Siew Hui

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The threats of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020 resulted in schools moving to online learning and impacted programs with cocurricular activities, especially band programs. Student retention, low enrollment, loss of interest, and lower motivation became liabilities for band programs during the pandemic. Therefore, having an engaging online band program is crucial to continue effective music learning and maintain a high standard of band instruction. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of a Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) program on an international school band during COVID-19. Forty-six participants ages 13-16 were recruited from the senior band …

An Analysis Of The Suspect: The Impact Of Economic Conditions On Crime, Ryan Perez

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Every place in the world experiences a level of crime within its borders, but there is much contention as to which factors lead to crime. Economic conditions, due to their association with poverty, are frequently discussed as a possible contributors to crime rates. This analysis examines four macroeconomic variables (GDP per capita, unemployment rate, inflation rate, and interest rate) and their effect on crime rates (violent, property, and total). After thoroughly reviewing the philosophical nature of crime, the current economic conditions through the lens of the selected macroeconomic variables, and the present criminal landscape throughout the United States and the …

In Sickness And In Health: Effects Of Covid-19 On Felony Crime In Washington County, Arkansas, Layne Roberts

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research explores potential connections to the COVID-19 pandemic and felony crime levels, as seen in the categories of business crimes, domestic violence, and theft. The COVID-19 pandemic has rearranged what was previously known about the world, in every aspect of life. From jobs to public life to even government, at every level worldwide there was a fundamental change. Therefore, it stands to reason that crime was also affected by this massive shift in the overall state of being. This research examines how much of an effect there was on crime rates in Washington County, Arkansas by measuring amounts and …

An Epidemic Of Skepticism: Examining Right-Wing Populist Responses To The Covid-19 Crisis In Germany, Rachel Moline

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the role of far-right populist groups in the framing of global health crises. To understand the impact far-right populism has had on the response to health crises, I will be analyzing the case of the Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD), or Alternative for Germany, and their response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. I evaluate three distinct time periods in the AfD’s history and determine how the AfD has framed and reframed its crisis narrative in response to the coronavirus compared to previous crises, such as the refugee crisis of 2015. I hypothesize that new crises will lead far-right …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And The Implementation Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act In Higher Education: Discretionary Practices Of Disability Services Professionals, Crystal Denise Hill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly transformed the landscape of higher education. The urgent nature of procedural changes in academic and administrative higher education services did not exempt leadership, faculty, or staff from their legally mandated responsibility to provide equal access to the educational environment for students with disabilities as outlined within title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA). The purpose of this study was to explore the strategies used by disability services professionals to implement the ADAAAA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sources and preferred formats of policy guidance were explored. The priorities of department, division, and institution-level …

How Do I Implement An Outpatient Program For The Administration Of Convalescent Plasma For Covid-19, Evan M. Bloch, Aaron A R Tobian, Shmuel Shoham, Daniel F. Hanley, Thomas J. Gniadek, Edward R. Cachay, Barry R. Meisenberg, Kimberly Kafka, Christi Marshall, Sonya L. Heath, Aarthi Shenoy, James H. Paxton, Adam Levine, Donald Forthal, Yuriko Fukuta, Moises A. Huaman, Alyssa Ziman, Jill Adamski, Jonathan Gerber, Daniel Cruser, Seble G. Kassaye, Giselle S. Mosnaim, Bela Patel, Ryan A. Metcalf, Shweta Anjan, Ronald B. Reisler, Anusha Yarava, Karen Lane, Nichol Mcbee, Amy Gawad, Jay S. Raval, Martin Zand, Matthew Abinante, Patrick B. Broderick, Arturo Casadevall, David Sullivan, Kelly A. Gebo

Pathology Research and Scholarship

Convalescent plasma, collected from donors who have recovered from a pathogen of interest, has been used to treat infectious diseases, particularly in times of outbreak, when alternative therapies were unavailable. The COVID-19 pandemic revived interest in the use of convalescent plasma. Large observational studies and clinical trials that were executed during the pandemic provided insight into how to use convalescent plasma, whereby high levels of antibodies against the pathogen of interest and administration early within the time course of the disease are critical for optimal therapeutic effect. Several studies have shown outpatient administration of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) to be …

Peripheral Neuropathy Evaluations Of Patients With Prolonged Long Covid., Anne Louise Oaklander, Alexander J Mills, Mary Kelley, Lisa S Toran, Bryan Smith, Marinos Dalakas, Avindra Nath

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

Background and objectives: Recovery from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection appears exponential, leaving a tail of patients reporting various long COVID symptoms including unexplained fatigue/exertional intolerance and dysautonomic and sensory concerns. Indirect evidence links long COVID to incident polyneuropathy affecting the small-fiber (sensory/autonomic) axons.

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional and longitudinal data from patients with World Health Organization (WHO)-defined long COVID without prior neuropathy history or risks who were referred for peripheral neuropathy evaluations. We captured standardized symptoms, examinations, objective neurodiagnostic test results, and outcomes, tracking participants for 1.4 years on average.

Results: Among 17 patients (mean age …