Digital Commons Network^™

Covid-19 Challenges, Responses, And Resilience Among Rural Black Women: A Study Protocol, Fanghui Shi, Jiajia Zhang Ph.D., Chengbo Zeng, Xiaowen Sun, Zhenlong Li, Xueying Yang, Sharon Weissman, Bankole Olatosi Ph.D., Xiaoming Li Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Background

Timely linkage to care (LTC) is key in the HIV care continuum, as it enables people newly diagnosed with HIV (PNWH) to benefit from HIV treatment at the earliest stage. Previous studies have found LTC disparities by individual factors, but data are limited beyond the individual level, especially at the county level. This study examined the temporal and geographic variations of county-level LTC status across 46 counties in South Carolina (SC) from 2010 to 2018 and the association of county-level characteristics with LTC status.

Methods

All adults newly diagnosed with HIV from 2010 to 2018 in SC were included …

Pandemic Produce: Impacts Of Covid-19 On Florida's Fruit And Vegetable Industries, Christa D. Court, David Outerbridge, Lauri Baker, Laura Birou, Catherine Campbell, Gigi Digiacomo, Sebastian Galindo, John Lai, Alexandre Magnier, Michelle Miller, Gustavo De L.T. Oliveira, Eyrika Orlando, Hikaru Hanawa Peterson, Xiaohui Qiao, Fritz Roka, Andrew Ropicki, Bijeta Bijen Saha, Andrew W. Stevens, Li Zhang

Geography

Florida has one of the most diverse agricultural economies in the United States, producing several dozen types of fruits and vegetables that are consumed within the state, across the country, and around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting policy responses occurred during the peak of spring harvest season for many crops in Florida, abruptly removing market demand from the food service industry and shifting consumer purchasing habits, which enabled insights into several aspects of the fruit and vegetable supply chain. This article examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted fruit and vegetable industries in Florida, how these industries responded to …

Updated Analysis To Reject The Laboratory-Engineering Hypothesis Of Sars-Cov-2, Fuqing Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A clear understanding of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is important for future pandemic preparedness. Here, I provided an updated analysis of the type IIS endonuclease maps in genomes of alphacoronavirus, betacoronavirus, and SARS-CoV-2. Scenarios to engineer SARS-CoV-2 in the laboratory and the associated workload was also discussed. The analysis clearly shows that the endonuclease fingerprint does not indicate a synthetic origin of SARS-CoV-2 and engineering a SARS-CoV-2 virus in the laboratory is extremely challenging both scientifically and financially. On the contrary, current scientific evidence does support the animal origin of SARS-CoV-2.

Anxiety, Depression, And Stress During Covid-19: A Comparative Study Of Latino Dreamers In College, Vanessa Robles, Janelly Molina

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

College students generally experience anxiety, depression, and stress associated with the higher education life. It can be argued that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to worsen the mental health conditions of these students. This situation can be even worse for DACA recipients in college who have to deal not only with the pandemic but also with legal status uncertainties. This study attempted to compare mental health outcomes (levels of anxiety, depression, and stress) between Latino DACA recipients in college and their counterparts with no DACA status during the COVID-19 pandemic. The existing literature has mostly been silent regarding comparing the …

Covid-Induced Stress And Symptoms Of Anxiety And Depression In Undergraduate Students, Quenea Popoca, Christina Ngo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has had ramifications on the mental health of numerous vulnerable individuals. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between COVID-19 induced stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression among undergraduate students. Embracing a quantitative design, this study surveyed 93 undergraduate students in major public universities in the western part of the United States (N = 93). Results from the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U Test revealed that there is no statistically significant relationship between COVID-19 induced stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression in undergraduate students (U = 734.500, p = .066 for …

How Latino Parents Coped With Financial Challenges During Covid-19, Melissa Gradilla, Valerie Malagon

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined how low-income Latino parents coped with financial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data from this study was collected through one-on-one interviews with 14 low-income Latino parent participants who resided in Southern California. Results indicated COVID-19 caused financial strain in food, healthcare, basic needs, and financial strain in general. Results from this study also concluded that many existing government assistance programs benefited participants but had distribution and application processing flaws. This study provides future researchers and government officials some insight regarding what government assistance and local resources helped low-income Latino parents cope with their financial challenges …

Assessing A Pandemic: Spatiotemporal Analysis Of Covid-19 In Tennessee School-Age Children, Omobolaji Olawuyi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a spatiotemporal analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic in school-age children (5-18 years) in Tennessee, from 2020-03-19 to 2022-02-12. Trend Analysis, Emerging Hot Spot Analysis, and a time series revealed three significant waves in both age groups. Therefore, Change Point Detection at the county level was completed using six defined change points to identify the wax and wane of the three COVID-19 waves. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis grouped counties with similar change points into six clusters. No spatial pattern was observed in distribution of the six clusters, however, when each change point was evaluated separately, spatial autocorrelation was present, …

Comparison Of Covid-19 Diagnostic Testing Methodologies In The U.S., Joseph Blommel

All Dissertations

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a world in which diagnostic testing for the virus that is responsible for COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, became commonplace. Diagnostic testing was required for myriad reasons beyond simple diagnosis. We set out to compare SARS-CoV-2 testing methods, see if differences sensitivity correlated to increased positivity, and to evaluate self-collection methods.

In examining the Limit of Detection (LoD) of tests receiving FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), our findings indicated that there were considerable differences in LoD. However, these differences in observed sensitivity were not correlated with the methodologic differences as reported in EUA documentation.

We …

Comprehensive Literature Review: Assessing The Impact Of Covid-19 Policies, School Closures And Social Distancing, On The Mental Health Of School Age Children, Fatuma A. Hassan

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Mental health is vital to the well-being of all individuals, especially children. COVID-19 unveiled a significant public health issue with poor mental health during the pandemic. There is limited literature about the mental health implications of COVID-19 policies for children and adolescents and preventive strategies for future pandemics. This comprehensive literature review seeks to further investigate the mental health impacts of school shutdowns and social distancing, which were nonpharmaceutical strategies, on school-aged children, 5-18 years old, and propose recommendations for public health officials to mitigate the mental health impacts for future pandemics. Additionally, the review aims to highlight the potential …

Sting Agonist-Loaded Mesoporous Manganese-Silica Nanoparticles For Vaccine Applications, Cheng Xu, Hannah E Dobson, Mengjie Yu, Wang Gong, Xiaoqi Sun, Kyung Soo Park, Andrew Kennedy, Xingwu Zhou, Jin Xu, Yao Xu, Andrew W Tai, Yu Leo Lei, James J Moon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs), as one type of Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) pathway agonist, have shown promising results for eliciting immune responses against cancer and viral infection. However, the suboptimal drug-like properties of conventional CDNs, including their short in vivo half-life and poor cellular permeability, compromise their therapeutic efficacy. In this study, we have developed a manganese-silica nanoplatform (MnOx@HMSN) that enhances the adjuvant effects of CDN by achieving synergy with Mn2+ for vaccination against cancer and SARS-CoV-2. MnOx@HMSN with large mesopores were efficiently co-loaded with CDN and peptide/protein antigens. MnOx@HMSN(CDA) amplified the activation of the STING pathway and enhanced the …

Wearing Masks Implies Refuting Trump?: Towards Target-Specific User Stance Prediction Across Events In Covid-19 And Us Election 2020, Hong Zhang, Haewoon Kwak, Wei Gao, Jisun An

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

People who share similar opinions towards controversial topics could form an echo chamber and may share similar political views toward other topics as well. The existence of such connections, which we call connected behavior, gives researchers a unique opportunity to predict how one would behave for a future event given their past behaviors. In this work, we propose a framework to conduct connected behavior analysis. Neural stance detection models are trained on Twitter data collected on three seemingly independent topics, i.e., wearing a mask, racial equality, and Trump, to detect people’s stance, which we consider as their online behavior in …

Teaching Higher Education During A Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study Of Instructor Decisions Associated With Switching From Face-To-Face To Online-Only Sessions, Steven M. Miner

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, university instructors were required to shift their course delivery from face-to-face to online-only presentations with two weeks of preparation. Volunteering instructors were interviewed via a semi-structured interview protocol regarding their actions to maintain instructor presence in an online-only setting. The term emergency remote teaching (ERT), defined by fellow researchers as the adoption of just-in-time remote teaching practices that would otherwise be offered face-to-face, aligned with the actions taken by interviewees. The data indicated that given an event requiring ERT, instructors should: overcome technology issues for themselves and their students to verify communication pathways, and exhibit …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On The Mental Health Of College Students, Jack Marcelain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

COVID-19 changed the world in the span of a few months. Schools and other businesses had to close and move to an online format to decrease physical interaction and stop the spread of the virus. Many people went without seeing close friends and loved ones due to the quarantine or lost someone close to them due to the virus. Students enrolled in college were sent home abruptly and could not return in person to school for the remainder of the year. Even when they were allowed to return to school, new guidelines and how classroom content was delivered were put …

Longitudinal Insights Into Student Behaviors And Program Impact: A Multi-Year Analysis Of Post-Program Surveys Pre- And Post-Covid-19, Brendan Bernard Charles Harmon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Substance use is arguably the most pertinent concern for college students. The prolonged use of substances has consequences that may impact many aspects of one’s life. As a result of decades worth of research, multiple evidence-based interventions have been created to help aid college students. One of these interventions includes BASICS, Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students. This study examined experiences of the BASICS program participants with special attention to the impact of COVID-19. It used a convenience sample of 44 after-program survey respondents from 2015 to 2022 at a faith-based private university in Texas. This study found …

Adapting Elements Of Cleft Care Protocols In Low- And Middle-Income Countries During And After Covid-19: A Process-Driven Review With Recommendations, Matthew Fell, Michael Goldwasser, B S Jayanth, Rui Manuel Rodrigues Pereira, Christian Tshisuz Nawej, Rachel Winer, Neeti Daftari, Hugh Brewster, Karen Goldschmied, Collaborators Fernando Almas, Mekonen Eshete, George W Galiwango, Larry H Hollier, Akhter Hussain, Lun-Jou Lo, Paul Salins, Debbie Sell, Amanuel Tafase, Ronald M Zuker

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

A consortium of global cleft professionals, predominantly from low- and middle-income countries, identified adaptations to cleft care protocols during and after COVID-19 as a priority learning area of need. A multidisciplinary international working group met on a videoconferencing platform in a multi-staged process to make consensus recommendations for adaptations to cleft protocols within resource-constrained settings. Feedback was sought from a roundtable discussion forum and global organizations involved in comprehensive cleft care. Foundational principles were agreed to enable recommendations to be globally relevant and two areas of focus within the specified topic were identified. First the safety aspects of cleft surgery …

Sars-Cov-2 Serostatus And Covid-19 Illness Characteristics By Variant Time Period In Non-Hospitalized Children And Adolescents, Sarah E Messiah, Michael D Swartz, Rhiana A Abbas, Yashar Talebi, Harold W Kohl, Melissa Valerio-Shewmaker, Stacia M Desantis, Ashraf Yaseen, Steven H Kelder, Jessica A Ross, Lindsay N Padilla, Michael O Gonzalez, Leqing Wu, David Lakey, Jennifer A Shuford, Stephen J Pont, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: to describe COVID-19 illness characteristics, risk factors, and SARS-CoV-2 serostatus by variant time period in a large community-based pediatric sample.

DESIGN: Data were collected prospectively over four timepoints between October 2020 and November 2022 from a population-based cohort ages 5 to 19 years old.

SETTING: State of Texas, USA.

PARTICIPANTS: Participants ages 5 to 19 years were recruited from large pediatric healthcare systems, Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers, urban and rural clinical practices, health insurance providers, and a social media campaign.

EXPOSURE: SARS-CoV-2 infection.

MAIN OUTCOME(S) AND MEASURE(S): SARS-CoV-2 antibody status was assessed by the Roche Elecsys

RESULTS: Over half …

Factorial Structure Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Anxiety Scale (Pas-38) Using Exploratory And Confirmatory Factor Analysis, M. S. S. Alnasraween, Z. D. Zaghlool, D. S. Bazadough, M. S. Alsmadi

Information Sciences Letters

COVID-19 has created an unprecedented challenge for the whole world. Apart from being a big threat to lives, it has also created a lot of anxiety among the people. This study aimed to identify the factorial structures of the psychological anxiety scale for the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial form of the scale consisted of (55) items. The validity and reliability of the scale were verified. Moreover, the exploratory factor analysis was extracted, which showed the presence of three factors on which the items gathered: the somatic, the psychological, and the cognitive. Twelve items were deleted because they were not saturated …

Effects Of Covid-19 On Elementary And Secondary Music Education, Colette Stefaniak

Student Theses

This paper will highlight several key effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on elementary and secondary music education. The 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic drastically changed music education for both elementary and secondary institutions. Changes made to music curriculums to adapt to an online teaching environment have had both positive and negative effects on post-pandemic music education. This paper will discuss how the 2020 pandemic has created a different learning environment for elementary music classrooms, music ensembles, and private lessons.

Get The Jab Or Else: Examining The Role Of Fear Appeals In The Herman Cain Award Subreddit Using Protection Motivation Theory, Julia May

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

In 2021, I conducted participant observation research on the Herman Cain Award subreddit, examining the effectiveness of fear appeals on social media. In that research, I determined that fear appeals on social media platforms are just as effective as when used on mass media platforms. The research also showed that the fear appeals in the subreddit worked to appeal to the unvaccinated users’ fear of online ridicule rather than a fear of bodily harm. I found this finding interesting and worked to expand my research, now two years later, by further investigating the platform using Protection Motivation Theory, a health …

Taking The Social Out Of Social Media: Social Media Induced Loneliness As A Mechanism For Elevated Depression During The Pandemic, Samara Rosen

Honors Theses

During the COVID-19 pandemic health protocols limited in-person interactions, interrupting the undergraduate experience and prompting students to find virtual ways to connect with their peers. A key goal of this study was to assess whether college students’ social media use was a viable replacement for in-person interactions during the pandemic, reducing risk for psychological difficulties that ordinarily accompany social isolation. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate loneliness as a potential mediator underlying the longitudinal relationship between social media use and depression. Self-report data were collected in November 2020 (T1), February 2021 (T2), and May 2021 (T3). The …

Understanding The Experiences Lived By Nurses Caring For Patients With Covid-19: A Hermeneutic Approach, Awatif Mansoor Alrasheeday, Ma. Venus Borja, Eddieson Pasay-An, Farhan Alshammari

Makara Journal of Health Research

Background: Nursing is highlighted among professions that value caring and is perceived as the profession’s heart and soul because of its critical role in providing and delivering high-quality patient care, especially during this coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, little is understood about the experiences of the frontline workers in caring for persons diagnosed with COVID-19. This study aimed to explore the experiences of nurses in caring for persons diagnosed with COVID-19 inspired by the four lived worlds of van Manen.

Methods: The hermeneutic phenomenology was used in nine nurses working in hospitals of Hail region. This study …

Strengthening Patient-Family Engagement Amidst A Pandemic: Lessons Learned And Paths Forward, Kyle J. Rehder, Shannon Haney, Jan Freeman, Aaron West

Patient Experience Journal

The COVID-19 pandemic was highly disruptive to healthcare and negatively affected healthcare worker and patient experience on multiple levels. Patient Family Advisors serve an important role in partnering with health systems to improve patient experience, yet the work of many volunteer programs were interrupted by the onset of the pandemic, at a time when integrating patient voice into care delivery was sorely needed. This case study presents one health system’s experience adapting a system-wide Patient Family Advisory program in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the transition to a virtual format and increased flexibility in how Patient Family Advisors …

Living With Covid-19 In The Community During The First Wave Of The Pandemic: Lessons From Patients For Healthcare Providers And Policy Makers, Linda Rozmovits, Michelle Marcinow, Ilja Ormel, Terence Tang, Elizabeth Mansfield, Kerry Kuluski, Seema Marwaha, Susan Law Dr

Patient Experience Journal

This qualitative descriptive study explores patients’ experiences of living with COVID-19, in the community, during the early stages of the pandemic. Between October 2020 and April 2021, fifteen semi-structured, video-recorded interviews were conducted, via Zoom, with participants in five Canadian provinces. Participants self-identified as having had a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19. The constant comparative method was used to produce a thematic analysis of findings. Key findings include 1) PCR tests were not widely available in Canada, during the first wave, so many participants lacked a confirmed diagnosis and, subsequently, encountered challenges accessing specialist medical care; 2) Rapidly changing …

Mental Health And Academic Experiences Among U.S. College Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Michael E. Roberts, Jillian Meyer '23, Elizabeth A. Bell

Psychology and Neuroscience Faculty Publications

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, U.S. college students reported increased anxiety and depression. This study examines mental health among U.S college students during the subsequent 2020–2021 academic year by surveying students at the end of the fall 2020 and the spring 2021 semesters. Our data provide cross-sectional snapshots and longitudinal changes. Both surveys included the PSS, GAD-7, PHQ-8, questions about students’ academic experiences and sense of belonging in online, in-person, and hybrid classes, and additional questions regarding behaviors, living circumstances, and demographics. The spring 2021 study included a larger, stratified sample of eight demographic groups, and we added scales to …

Factors Associated With Handwashing Behaviors During The Covid-19 Pandemic: An Analysis Of The Community Health Survey In Korea, Soojung Jo, Soo-Yeon Han, Nancy Howe

School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Introduction: Handwashing is the most effective preventive behavior for coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) infection. However, research has shown the lower handwashing behaviors among Korean adults. Objectives: This study aims to analyze factors associated with handwashing as a preventive behavior for COVID-19 infection based on the health belief model (HBM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) behavioral theories. Methods: This secondary data analysis utilized the Community Health Survey developed by Disease Control and Prevention Agency conducted in 2020. Sampling method was stratified and targeted 900 people living in the territory of each community public health center. In total, 228,344 cases were …

Catholicism Online: How The Church Is Communicating In The Visual Field, Alexandra Barfield

Honors Theses

ABSTRACT

Given the rise and importance of social media in the last two decades, religious institutions, especially the Roman Catholic Church, have an important place online to fulfill their mission and belief of spreading the Gospel message. Communicating this message on social media and with contemporary marketing practices is an opportunity and a challenge for churches, Catholics, and apostolates alike. In this study, I analyze a variety of Catholic-related Instagram accounts and interview individuals involved in Church management and content creation. This primary research is prefaced with secondary research exploring the status of the Catholic Church in the United States, …

The Rise In Anti-Asian Racism And Xenophobia In The Time Of Covid-19, Mitchell Alan Kaplan

Journal of Hate Studies

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a detrimental impact on the health of the American people and those abroad, the social consequences stemming from the spread of the virus have become an international crisis whose effects reach far beyond the medical issues associated with the disease. Racial and xenophobic propaganda about the illness promoted on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and at campaign rallies by former President Trump has spurred a dramatic increase in anti-immigrant sentiments toward Asian Americans. The polarizing effects of the Administration’s anti-Asian rhetoric have become a battle cry that has given renewed …

Anxio-Depressive Disorders In A Pandemic Context: A Comparative Analysis: Year 2019 Versus 2020, Andreea Roxana Droahnă, Lavinia-Alexandra Moroianu, Valeria-Anca Pietroșel, Cristina Ioana Bica, Teodor Salmen, Cecilia Curis, Emanuele Maria Merlo, Roxana Adriana Stoica, Marius Moroianu

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in increased rates of anxiety and depression worldwide. Objective. To comparatively evaluate factors associated with the psychological impact of Coronavirus disease between 2019 and the pandemic year 2020. Materials and Methods. The study was performed on a group of 3224 patients, of which 197 were hospitalized, selected from Jan 1st 2019 until 30th Dec 2020 in a tertiary care center for psychiatric disorders. Data were collected from the observation charts. Results. The incidence of anxiety disorders is higher in the age range 40-70 years with an average value of 53 years old. In …

Unvaxxed And Unafraid: Unvaccinated Americans Perceive Less Disease Risk Than Do Vaccinated Americans, David J. Hauser, Brian P. Meier

Psychology Faculty Publications

Is disease risk perception accurately calibrated among the unvaccinated? People shift their attitudes to rationalize their choices, so those who choose to be unvaccinated may be motivated to feel less at risk. In three studies (total N = 1446), we asked Americans how worried they were about catching/spreading influenza and COVID-19 and whether they were vaccinated against those diseases. Unvaccinated participants felt less at risk of catching/spreading the diseases they were unvaccinated against than vaccinated participants. For instance, unvaccinated participants felt ∼24% less at risk of catching/spreading COVID-19 and had ∼28% stronger intention to engage in activities that carried a …

Using Online Collaborative Learning To Improve Learning Gaps After Covid-19 Impacts On Higher Education: A Qualitative Multiple-Case Study, Teresa M. Henning

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this multiple-case study was to understand and discover the learning gaps created by emergency online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact it has had on instructors and students in institutes of higher education. A look at how online collaborative learning theory and the effect it has had on online learning was also examined. The theory that guided this study was the online collaborative learning (OCL) theory, which stresses the process involving memory, thinking, reflection, abstraction, and motivation. The central research question that this study investigated was how COVID-19 impacted institutes of higher education and …