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Sustainable Solutions Newsletter (2016-2021)

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Trends In Insulin Prescribing For Patients With Diabetes During The Covid-19 Pandemic In The Us, Ismaeel Yunusa Ph.D., Bryan L. Love Pharm D., Chao Cai, Tessa Hastings, Claiborne E. Reeder, Elizabeh W. Blake, Cynthia Phillips

Faculty Publications

Introduction

For the approximately 7 million US individuals with diabetes who rely on insulin,¹ the number of insulin prescriptions rose steadily in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic.² Reduced access to medical care and disruptions in supply related to the pandemic may have decreased access to insulin,³ with possible adverse consequences for diabetes control.⁴ Conversely, emergency Medicaid expansions that increased capacity for telemedicine services during the pandemic may have been associated with improved access to treatment.⁵ Therefore, this study aimed to assess whether changes to insulin prescription claims occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

In …

Epistonet: An Ensemble Of Epistocracy-Optimized Mixture Of Experts For Detecting Covid-19 On Chest X-Ray Images, Seyed Ziae Mousavi Mojab, Seyedmohammad Shams, Farshad Fotouhi, Hamid Soltanian-Zadeh

Diagnostic Radiology Articles

The Coronavirus has spread across the world and infected millions of people, causing devastating damage to the public health and global economies. To mitigate the impact of the coronavirus a reliable, fast, and accurate diagnostic system should be promptly implemented. In this study, we propose EpistoNet, a decision tree-based ensemble model using two mixtures of discriminative experts to classify COVID-19 lung infection from chest X-ray images. To optimize the architecture and hyper-parameters of the designed neural networks, we employed Epistocracy algorithm, a recently proposed hyper-heuristic evolutionary method. Using 2500 chest X-ray images consisting of 1250 COVID-19 and 1250 non-COVID-19 cases, …

2021-11-02_Michiganoverview_Covidlongtermcare, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Long Term Care Data

The COVID Long Term Care Facilities page was obtained from Michigan's COVID-19 data page: https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98163_98173-526911--,00.html.

This report is created by the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services from data self-reported by long-term care facilities into EMResource. Data for all reporting facilities is posted weekly each Monday.

The information below represents COVID-19 data reported directly to MDHHS by licensed and operating Skilled Nursing, Home for the Aged and Adult Foster Care facilities (licensed to serve 13 or more individuals) in Michigan from January 1, 2020. All long-term care facilities additionally have an obligation to report COVID-positive residents and/or staff …

2021-11-02_Michiganoverview_Covidsymptoms, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Syndromic Surveillance System Data

The Syndromic Surveillance System Data report was obtained from Michigan's COVID-19 dashboard, from under the link "​Coronavirus Symptoms": https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus. Data was compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The information was updated three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Syndromic Surveillance System data is obtained from approximately 216 facilities participating in syndromic surveillance (139 Emergency Departments (ED), 77 Urgent Care) across the State of Michigan. The reporting is based on individuals who present at EDs and may not be representative of the overall population. The coronavirus-like symptoms query searches visit free-text (chief complaint, …

A Class Ii Mhc-Targeted Vaccine Elicits Immunity Against Sars-Cov-2 And Its Variants, Novalia Pishesha, Paul W Rothlauf, Mariel J Liebeskind, Maria A Vakaki, Louis-Marie Bloyet, Marjorie Cornejo Pontelli, Ma Xenia G Ilagan, William J Buchser, Sean P J Whelan, Et Al

Open Access Publications

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in over 100 million infections and millions of deaths. Effective vaccines remain the best hope of curtailing SARS-CoV-2 transmission, morbidity, and mortality. The vaccines in current use require cold storage and sophisticated manufacturing capacity, which complicates their distribution, especially in less developed countries. We report the development of a candidate SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that is purely protein based and directly targets antigen-presenting cells. It consists of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor-binding domain (Spike

A Guide To The 87th Texas Legislative Session, José Menéndez, Pearl D. Cruz

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Challenges and potential solutions during the 87th Texas Legislative session.

Socially Acceptable Alcohol Use: The Normalization Of Binge-Drinking And The Influences Of The Covid-19 Pandemic In A College Sample., Carter Golembeski

Honors College Theses

The relationship between college students and binge-drinking is a heavily researched and discussed topic. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic a whole new side of the issue is introduced. The impacts of the pandemic on binge drinking episodes, as well as personal desire to binge drink, is valuable data to be analyzed. This capstone project collected data from Georgia Southern students on their drinking habits, as well as how COVID-19 interrupted their social life. Their personal drinking habits were investigated, including how often they find themselves “black-out drinking” and how many drinks they usually consume on a single drinking occasion, as …

Infant Outcomes Following Maternal Infection With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (Sars-Cov-2): First Report From The Pregnancy Coronavirus Outcomes Registry (Priority) Study., Valerie J. Flaherman, Yalda Afshar, W. John Boscardin, Roberta L. Keller, Anne H. Mardy, Mary K. Prahl, Carolyn T. Phillips, Ifeyinwa V. Asiodu, Vincenzo Berghella, Brittany D. Chambers, Joia Crear-Perry, Denise J. Jamieson, Vanessa L. Jacoby, Stephanie L. Gaw

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Papers

Infant outcomes after maternal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are not well described. In a prospective US registry of 263 infants, maternal SARS-CoV-2 status was not associated with birth weight, difficulty breathing, apnea, or upper or lower respiratory infection through 8 weeks of age.

Rces: Rapid Cues Exploratory Search Using Taxonomies For Covid-19, Wei Li, Rishi Choudhary, Arjumand Younus, Bruno Ohana, Nicole Baker, Brendan Leen, Muhammad Atif Qureshi

Articles

To assist the COVID-19 focused researchers in life science and healthcare in understanding the pandemic, we present an exploratory information retrieval system called RCES. The system employs a previously developed EVE (Explainable Vector-based Embedding) model using DBpedia and an adopted model using MeSH taxonomies to exploit concept relations related to COVID-19. Various expansion methods are also developed, along with explanations and facets that collectively form rapid cues for a valuable navigational and informed user experience.

Emergency Department Administration Of Covid-19 Antibody Therapies: Early Experience., Christopher Payette, Joseph T. Brooks, Robert Shesser

Emergency Medicine Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Statistical Analysis Of Anxiety And Self-Perceived Stress Level Among People During Covid-19 Pandemic, Md. Tanwir Akhtar, Neha Gupta, Saeed H. K. Al-Dulaimi

Journal of Statistics Applications & Probability

In this paper, a survey was conducted online to analyze anxiety and perceived stress level among the people living in Delhi- NCR. A questionnaire was developed on the web, and its link was distributed via the internet to the people of Delhi NCR, which consists of students, professionals, nonprofessional’s, etc. The results confirm that between the two groups, female shows more anxiety level, whereas males have more perceived stress during the COVID-19 outbreak. Alternatively, the level of anxiety is high among the people aged 36-45 years, whereas perceived stress rate was higher among older people.

Statistical Analysis Of Anxiety And Self-Perceived Stress Level Among People During Covid-19 Pandemic, Md. Tanwir Akhtar, Neha Gupta, Saeed H. K. Al-Dulaimi

Journal of Statistics Applications & Probability

In this paper, a survey was conducted online to analyze anxiety and perceived stress level among the people living in Delhi- NCR. A questionnaire was developed on the web, and its link was distributed via the internet to the people of Delhi NCR, which consists of students, professionals, nonprofessional’s, etc. The results confirm that between the two groups, female shows more anxiety level, whereas males have more perceived stress during the COVID-19 outbreak. Alternatively, the level of anxiety is high among the people aged 36-45 years, whereas perceived stress rate was higher among older people.

The Evolution Of Telepractice Use During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Perspectives Of Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologists, Ying Hao, Saijun Zhang, Austin Conner, Na Youn Lee

Faculty and Student Publications

The study investigated how pediatric speech-language pathologists (SLPs) applied teleprac-tice to compensate for the loss of in-person services and the dynamics of telepractice use during the COVID-19 pandemic in a rural state. We conducted interviews with 10 SLPs and then a statewide survey in which 51 SLPs participated. The qualitative interviews revealed themes including changes in service environment due to the pandemic (e.g., transition to telepractice, losing clients), challenges in the transition to telepractice (e.g., limited training, difficulty engaging clients), worsening well-being of clinicians and clients, and SLPs’ perspectives and suggestions towards telepractice in the future. Survey results showed service …

2021-11-01_Michiganoverview_Covidstats, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Cumulative Michigan COVID-19 Data

The COVID Overview page was obtained from Michigan's main COVID-19 page: https:/www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98163-520743--,00.html.

The State of Michigan is working around the clock to test and treat COVID-19 patients. Below is the most recent data healthcare experts across the state have compiled. COVID case and testing data will be posted three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

This report is provisional and subject to change. City of Detroit and Wayne County are reported separately. MDHHS began tracking probable cases April 5, 2020. FCI indicates federal correctional institute. MDOC indicates Michigan Department of Corrections. Diagnostic tests, including nucleic acid amplification/real-time …

Examining Food Security, Choices And Barriers Among Community Supported Agriculture Participants During Covid- 19 In Kentucky, Martha J. Biddle, Junghee Kang, Julie Derringer, Anna Rose, Dawn Brewer, Misook L. Chung, Terry A. Lennie, Gia Mudd-Martin, Timothy A. Woods

UK CARES Faculty Publications

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is challenging food security. Our study’s purpose was to examine relationships among food security status, eating patterns and perceived barriers to food choices among shareholders (N = 209) in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program during stay- at-home restrictions due to the pandemic. The food insecure group (n = 33) reported lower consumption of fruits/vegetables, whole grains and greater consumption of fast foods and more barriers to food choices compared to the food secure group (p < .05). A low food insecure proportion (16%) among the CSA participants suggests a potential role of a CSA program to prevent food insecurity.

Non-Patent Intellectual Property Barriers To Covid-19 Vaccines, Treatment And Containment, Sean Flynn, Erica Nkrumah, Luca Schirru

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

As the World Trade Organization considers a proposal to waive or otherwise address intellectual property barriers to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the attention given by scholars and policy makers has been focused on patents. The original proposals by South Africa and India, as well as the groundbreaking support of the United States, however, explicitly applied to all forms of intellectual property. This paper documents many instances where non-patent forms of intellectual property create barriers to the global scale up of access to vaccines, treatments, and the ability to contain the virus through social distancing. Addressing …

Accounting And Finance Lessons In The Time Of Covid-19: Views From The Pacific Basin: Part 2, Kuan Yong David Ding, Julie Harrison, Martien Lubberink, Chris Van Staden

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The global COVID-19 pandemic is now in its second year, and we are fast approaching the third. The year 2021 has brought some hope that vaccination will lead to the end of the pandemic. But it has also brought a more infectious variant of COVID-19 and multiple waves of surging cases that show no immediate sign of disappearing. As the pandemic continues to impact global societies and economies, it is imperative that we study its impact to try and understand how it will affect us in both the short-term and long-term. While the longer-term impacts are still unknown, there is …

Qualitative Assessment Of Medical Student Concerns About The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Multicenter Study Exploring Medical Student Perspectives, Somtochukwu Ukwuani, Nicole Kloosterman, Catherine Hammack-Aviran, Mario Davidson, Luke Finck

Law Faculty Scholarship

Medical school poses numerous stressors and challenges that can affect student well-being. Medical students are a vulnerable population within the system and may have a difficult time reporting concerns and questions to administration, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to highlight medical student perspectives by assessing the priorities and most pressing concerns of medical students during the global pandemic via an online questionnaire.

2021-11-01_Michiganoverview_Covidbedppe, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Hospital Data

Contains the tables Statewide Hospital Capacity Report for COVID-19, COVID-19 Metrics, Statewide Hospital Available PPE Tracking for COVID-19, as well as the tables PPE Days On Hand and Patient Census.

“Nadie Nos Han Preguntado…” (Nobody Has Asked Us...), Mark Nagasawa

Straus Institute for Thriving Children & Families

This is the latest in a series of reports from the Listening to Teachers Study, which seeks understanding of how New York City's early childhood educators are faring during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to use data gathered through surveys (May 2020, n=3355; June 2021, n=663) and in-depth interviews (spring 2022) to prompt reflection and discussion about what a more equitable post-pandemic ECE system could look like.

This report focuses on describing the June 2021 sample and preliminary findings:

1. As in 2020, emotional/mental health support was the most frequently requested need, but professional …

Mast Cell Activation Symptoms Are Prevalent In Long-Covid, Leonard B Weinstock, Jill B Brook, Arthur S Walters, Ashleigh Goris, Lawrence B Afrin, Gerhard J Molderings

Open Access Publications

OBJECTIVES: Hyper-inflammation caused by COVID-19 may be mediated by mast cell activation (MCA) which has also been hypothesized to cause Long-COVID (LC) symptoms. We determined prevalence/severity of MCA symptoms in LC.

METHODS: Adults in LC-focused Facebook support groups were recruited for online assessment of symptoms before and after COVID-19. Questions included presence and severity of known MCA and LC symptoms and validated assessments of fatigue and quality of life. General population controls and mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) patients were recruited for comparison if they were ≥18 years of age and never had overt COVID-19 symptoms.

RESULTS: There were 136 …

How Work From Home Has Affected The Occupant’S Well-Being In The Residential Built Environment: An International Survey Amid The Covid-19 Pandemic, Zhihong Pang, Burcin Becerik-Gerber, Simi Hoque, Zheng O’Neill, Giulia Pedrielli, Jin Wen, Teresa Wu

Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results from an international survey that investigated the impacts of the built environment on occupant well-being during the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic when most professionals were forced to work from home (WFH). The survey was comprised of 81 questions focusing on the respondent’s profiles, residences, home indoor environmental quality, health, and home working experiences. A total of 1460 responses were collected from 35 countries, and 1137 of them were considered complete for the analysis. The results suggest that home spatial layout has a significant impact on occupant well-being during WFH since home-life distractions and …

Revisiting Strategy In A Time Of Crisis, Gregory A. Smith

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The season of upheaval brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic is a critical occasion for libraries to revisit their organizational strategies. Strategy includes two complementary dimensions: alignment with the environment and the pursuit of competitive advantage. Rapid changes in the environment call for practicing strategic thinking iteratively rather than engaging in a fixed rhythm of multi-year planning. An effective library strategy displays four key attributes: (1) It responds to the concerns of diverse stakeholders. (2) It is flexible enough to adapt to emerging conditions. (3) It enacts organizational mission but can also help to reshape it. (4) It integrates with …

In The Midst Of A Pandemic: Exploring Nursing Students' Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Their Training And Education, Harper C. Lewis

Honors College Theses

During Spring of 2020, didactic and clinical courses for nursing students at Georgia Southern University transformed to virtual platforms due to COVID-19. Student nurses learn their profession with experiences in both classroom and clinical settings. Clinical setting helps students strengthen psychomotor skills learned during simulated laboratory work. While all health profession students expressed stress as a major factor for well-being, student nurses seemed to experience more stress. Stress threatens nursing students’ sense of control over present and future performance. Competently performing skills required of newly graduated nurses greatly determines new graduates’ ability to secure employment as a registered nurse in …

Association Between Androgen Deprivation Therapy And Mortality Among Patients With Prostate Cancer And Covid-19, Andrew L. Schmidt, Matthew D. Tucker, Ziad Bakouny, Chris Labaki, Chih-Yuan Hsu, Yu Shyr, Andrew J. Armstrong, Tomasz M. Beer, Ragneel R. Bijjula, Mehmet A. Bilen, Cindy F. Connell, Scott Joseph Dawsey, Bryan Faller, Xin Gao, Benjamin A. Gartrell, David Gill, Shuchi Gulati, Susan Halabi, Clara Hwang, Monika Joshi, Ali Raza Khaki, Harry Menon, Michael J. Morris, Matthew Puc, Karen B. Russell, Neil J. Shah, Nima Sharifi, Justin Shaya, Michael T. Schweizer, John Steinharter, Elizabeth M. Wulff-Burchfield, Wenxin Xu, Jay Zhu, Sanjay Mishra, Petros Grivas, Brian I. Rini, Jeremy Lyle Warner, Tian Zhang, Toni K. Choueiri, Shilpa Gupta, Rana R. Mckay

Hematology/Oncology Articles

Importance: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been theorized to decrease the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with prostate cancer owing to a potential decrease in the tissue-based expression of the SARS-CoV-2 coreceptor transmembrane protease, serine 2 (TMPRSS2).

Objective: To examine whether ADT is associated with a decreased rate of 30-day mortality from SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients with prostate cancer.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study analyzed patient data recorded in the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium registry between March 17, 2020, and February 11, 2021. The consortium maintains a centralized multi-institution registry of patients with a current or past …

Low-Cost Peer-Taught Virtual Research Workshops For Medical Students In Pakistan: A Creative, Scalable, And Sustainable Solution For Student Research, Ronika Devi Ukrani, Ayesha Niaz Shaikh, Russell S. Martins, Syeda Sadia Fatima, Hamna Amir Naseem, Mishall Ahmed Baig

Medical College Documents

Background: Pakistan has not been a major contributor to medical research, mainly because of the lack of learning opportunities to medical students. With the increase in online learning systems during COVID-19, research related skills can be taught to medical students via low-cost peer taught virtual research workshops.
Aim of the study: To assess the effectiveness of a comprehensive low-cost peer-taught virtual research workshops amongst medical students in Pakistan.
Methods: This quasi-experimental study assessed the effectiveness of five virtual research workshops (RWs) in improving core research skills. RWs for medical students from across Pakistan were conducted over Zoom by medical students …

Responding To The Pandemic: A Multicountry Study On Social-Political Factors And Health Outcomes Of Covid-19, Lan Yao

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Introduction. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a major global threat to human beings, which has caused devastating consequences of population health, political, and economic crises in many countries. This dissertation was composed of three research activities to study the following aims: (1) review the existing literature focusing on political factors and health outcomes of COVID-19; (2) assess the relationship between democracy and case fatality rate of COVID-19 by controlling for the effect of age, comorbidity, health expenditure, healthcare workforce, and population density; and (3) identify the trajectory pattern cases peak days, deaths peak days, and peak periods.

Methods. We accessed …

Chosen Family, Care, And The Workplace, Deborah Widiss

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Employees often request time off work to care for the medical needs of loved ones who are part of their extended or chosen family. Until recently, most workers would not have had any legal right to take such leave. A rapidly growing number of state laws, however, not only guarantee paid time off for family health needs, but also adopt innovative and expansive definitions of eligible family.

Several provide leave to care for intimate partners without requiring legal formalization of the relationship. Some go further to include any individual who has a relationship with the employee that is “like” or …

International School Elementary Educators' Transition To A Revised Mathematics Curriculum: A Case Study, Christine H. Saba

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this single instrumental case study was to research how teachers at an organization of international schools transitioned to using a revised mathematics curriculum to understand how to replicate or improve the process for success in the implementation phase in the future. The guiding theories for this research were Schlossberg’s (1981) transition theory, as the aim of the study was to research teachers in a time of transition, and Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning theory, as teachers worked through the cycle of experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting. Data was collected through interviews, focus groups, and journaling. The site was …