Digital Commons Network^™

Comparing The Use And Effectiveness Of In-Person And Remote Physical Education Delivery During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kempson Onadeko, Timothy J Walker, Derek W Craig, Jacob Szeszulski, Andjelka Pavlovic, Laura F Defina, Harold W Kohl

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Physical Education is a key component to improve youth health, but there is limited information on Physical Education delivery in different formats.

PURPOSE: We compared PE formats (in-person versus remote) across evaluation aspects: weekly minutes; perceived effectiveness; and student-to-teacher ratio.

METHODS: We distributed questionnaires (2020-2021 school year) to school contacts who represented NFL Play 60 FitnessGram

RESULTS: Among 165 schools, 10% (n=17) offered in-person instruction, 31% (n=51) offered remote instruction, and 59% offered both (n=97). Results revealed higher in-person PE minutes (77.2±7.3) compared to remote minutes (67.1±14.6), but results were not significantly different (p=0.19). School contacts reported significantly more …

Self-Perception Of Mental Health, Covid-19 And Associated Sociodemographic-Contextual Factors In Latin America, Pablo Roa, Guillermo Rosas, Gloria Isabel Niño-Cruz, Sergio Mauricio Moreno-López, Juliana Mejía-Grueso, Haney Aguirre-Loaiza, Javiera Alarcón-Aguilar, Rodrigo Reis, Adriano Akira Ferreira Hino, Fernando López, Deborah Salvo, Andrea Ramírez-Varela

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of alterations in self-perceived mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and their associated factors in four Latin American countries. This is a cross-sectional study based on data collected from adults in 2021 through the Collaborative Response COVID-19 Survey by the MacDonnell Academy at Washington University in St. Louis (United States). The sample was composed of 8,125 individuals from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Chile. A generalized linear model for a binary outcome variable with a logistic link and fixed country effects was used. There were 2,336 (28.75%) individuals who considered having suffered alterations in …

Prozone Masks Elevated Sars-Cov-2 Antibody Level Measurements, Micaela N Sandoval, Samuel P Mcclellan, Stephen J Pont, Jessica A Ross, Michael D Swartz, Mark A Silberman, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We report a prozone effect in measurement of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibody levels from an antibody surveillance program. Briefly, the prozone effect occurs in immunoassays when excessively high antibody concentration disrupts the immune complex formation, resulting in a spuriously low reported result. Following participant inquiries, we observed anomalously low measurement of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibody levels using the Roche Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S immunoassay from participants in the Texas Coronavirus Antibody Research survey (Texas CARES), an ongoing prospective, longitudinal antibody surveillance program. In July, 2022, samples were collected from ten participants with anomalously low results for serial dilution studies, and a …

Psychological Safety During The Covid-19 Pandemic Restrictions-A U.S. Healthcare Context, Mary Jean Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The pandemic forced many employees to transition to remote work, leading to concerns about the economic impact and inequities between remote and on-site workers. The shift to remote work has raised psychological safety issues, work-life balance, and employee engagement. The virtual workspace created during the pandemic has highlighted communication challenges, interpersonal dynamics, and maintaining boundaries between work and personal life. Through a quantitative approach, this study explored changes in perceived psychological safety, its relation to the psychosocial impact of COVID-19, and demographic factors, offering the opportunity to gain insights into this unprecedented experience during a global pandemic. Findings showed that …

Fostering A Culture Of Belonging Within Women Working In A Hybrid Environment, Jam Narte Harley

Theses and Dissertations

This research discusses the opportunity presented by the post-pandemic return to work to support Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging initiatives by creating a new belonging framework for women working in a hybrid environment. The transition to remote and hybrid work arrangements amid the pandemic highlighted the importance of leaders tackling ongoing challenges in leadership and management, such as digital transformation and remote management, which led to rapid change, anxiety, and uncertainty. The lack of daily contact has significantly impacted workplace relationships and highlighted the importance of belongingness for employees' well-being and retention. Hybrid work arrangements are likely to become a …

The Lived Experience Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Among Mandate-Resistant Adults In Washington State, Amber N. Peterson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examined the lived experience of self-identified, mandate-resistant adults in Washington state. This study explored participants’ experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, from a retrospective framework by uncovering challenges, silver linings, decision-making, and self-reported mental health. Remote interviews were conducted with nine participants. Participants were between 23–31 years old, mostly male, and over half identified as Black. Through semi structured interviews, data was collected and analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Participants described their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted significant changes in the way they lived their lives. Most notably, participants described ways in which they defied COVID-19 …

The Incidence And Management Of Local Facial Myalgia In Covid-19 Patients Of Babylon Province Patients, Malath Azeez Al-Saadi, Ali Alyasiry Doaa Haider Muhammad, Janan Hatem Zwaid, Zainab Qassim Kadim, Nour Mahdi Askar

Hilla University College Journal For Medical Science

Background : facial pain is of clinical importance that could complicate other conditions like COVID-19 which still under investigation and research.

Objective: to highlight the incidence and management of COVID-19 associated local facial myalgia in Babylon province patients.

Aim of this study is to explore the incidence ,prevalence of facial myalgia and its management during COVID-19 infection in sample of Babylon province patients.

Subjects, Materials and Methods: An exploratory study include 87 patients of both gender having history of mild-moderate COVID-19 infection. Incidence of local myalgia,location,duration and pain characteristics reviewed in addition to history of drugs used for management and …

Alterations Of Hematological Profile In Patients With Sars-Cov-2 Infection: An Overview, Basim A. Abd, Hussein Naji Al-Shammari, Ban Adnan Shamki

Hilla University College Journal For Medical Science

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) resulting in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now prevalent around the world and has been accountable for a significant number of fatalities and disability. An extensive summary of the changes in hematological profiles seen in COVID-19-infected patients is given in this review.

The symptoms of COVID-19 range from moderate or undetectable to life-threatening respiratory distress and multiple organ dysfunction. The importance of hematological discrepancies as biomarkers of illness degree of severity, clinical course, and outcome becoming increasingly appreciated. Increased neutrophils, reduced lymphocytes, and raised C-reactive protein are typical initial laboratory findings. …

Feasibility And Safety Of Early Post-Covid-19 High-Intensity Gait Training: A Pilot Study, Joakim Halvorsen, Christopher Henderson, Wendy Romney, Magnus Hågå, Tonje Barkenæs Eggen, Jan Egil Nordvik, Ingvild Rosseland, Jennifer Moore

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Background: The feasibility and safety of rehabilitation interventions for individuals recovering from COVID-19 after the acute stage is not well understood. This pilot study aims to provide a preliminary investigation of the feasibility and safety of providing high-intensity gait training (HIT) with a targeted cardiovascular intensity of 70–85% of the age-predicted maximum heart rate (HRmax) for individuals undergoing rehabilitation post-COVID-19. Methods: Consecutive patients who were medically cleared for HIT were invited to participate in the study. Participants practiced walking in varied contexts (treadmill, overground, and stairs), aiming to spend as much time as possible within their target cardiovascular intensity zone …

The Many Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Latinx College Students’ Mental Health: Exploring The Role Of Sleep, Social Support, And Familismo, Mayra S. Ramos

Theses and Dissertations

College students experienced a multitude of disruptions to their daily life, and changes to their physical (i.e., sleep quality) and mental health (e.g., anxiety and depressive symptoms) because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the field has identified the factors that have contributed to negative physical and mental health changes, there remains much to be known about social and cultural protective factors that could buffer the negative role of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latinx college students. The current study contributed to the literature on the mental health outcomes of Latinx college students by identifying a possible mediator and moderators between the …

Sars-Cov-2 Immunogenicity Models Inform Novel Strategies That Can Improve Mrna Vaccines, Katherine S. Lee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The onset of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, issued a call to action in the fields of biomedical science and public health to implement strategies to contain and protect against the viral threat. In record times, pharmaceutical companies produced antiviral therapies and novel mRNA vaccines that were approved by the FDA for human use. With time, these vaccines were able to assist in ending the pandemic. However, time also showed the limits of mRNA vaccine induced immunity. Despite antibody responses being initially robust, titers dramatically wane with time and are limited in cross-neutralizing ability. As …

Which Side (Of The Balance Sheet) Are You On? Household Financial Resources And Participation In The 2020 Protests, Selina Miller, Stephen Roll, C.Taylor Brown, Laura Brugger, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The summer of 2020 was marked by widespread protests. Though research has often examined the predictors of protest participation, there exists little work examining the relationship between different types of wealth and protesting. Drawing on resource-based theories of protest participation and asset-based theories of civic engagement, we constructed regression models disentangling relationships between income, liquid assets, investment assets, homeownership, and protesting. Using a national survey administered during the protests, we find that liquid assets are negatively associated, homeownership is positively associated, and investment assets exhibit a non-linear association with protesting. These relationships hold when controlling for income, demographics, and ideology, …

“We’Re Left Picking Up The Pieces:” Use Of Grief Interventions In Rural Schools Since Covid-19 Pandemic, Jennifer Lynn Rotzal

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Research has indicated that individuals who have died from the COVID-19 virus will likely leave behind several grieving family members. For every person who dies of COVID-19, it was estimated that they would leave behind 2.2 children and 4.1 grandchildren (Albuquerque & Santos, 2021). The death of a parent or other loved one is often noted as one of the most potentially traumatic experiences for a child. During the COVID-19 pandemic, death became more prominent in hundreds of thousands of children’s lives, having a profound effect on the child, as well as on their family and surrounding community (Griese et …

Is Preexisting Inflamed Jaw Marrow A “Hidden” Co-Morbidity Affecting Outcomes Of Covid-19 Infections? – Clinical Comparative Study, Johann Lechner, Robert E Mcmahon, Jerry E Bouquot, Florian Notter, Fabian Schick

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Exceedingly high levels of the chemokine CCL5/RANTES have been found in fatty degenerated osteonecrotic alveolar bone cavities (FDOJ) and aseptic ischemic osteolysis of the jaw (AIOJ) from toothless regions. Because CCL5/RANTES seems to have a prominent role in creating the COVID-19 “cytokine storm”, some researchers have used the monoclonal antibody Leronlimab to block the CCR5 on inflammatory cells.

Objective: Is preexisting FDOJ/AIOJ jaw marrow pathology a “hidden” co-morbidity affecting some COVID-19 infections? To what extent does the chronic CCL5/RANTES expression from preexisting FDOJ/AIOJ areas contribute to the progression of the acute cytokine storm in COVID-19 patients?

Methods: Authors report …

Advanced Techniques In Time Series Forecasting: From Deterministic Models To Deep Learning, Xue Bai

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation discusses three instances of temporal prediction, applied to population dynamics and deep learning.

In population modeling, dynamic processes are frequently represented by systems of differential equations, allowing for the analysis of various phenomena. The first application explores modeling cloned hematopoiesis in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) via a nonlinear system of differential equations. By tracking the evolution of different cell compartments, including cycling and quiescent stem cells, progenitor cells, differentiated cells, and terminally differentiated cells, the model captures the transition from normal hematopoiesis to the chronic and accelerated-acute phases of CML. Three distinct non-zero steady states are identified, representing …

Transitioning From Professional Practice To Teaching During Covid-19: A Participatory Research Study, Yvonne Thomas, Ciara Hensey, Claire Squires, Anna Collier, Heidi Cathcart, Lindsey Coup

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The transition from expert occupational therapy practice to academic educator is stressful and complex, involving the development of a new professional identity. In 2020-21 COVID-19 created a new challenge for recently employed academics, who were in this transition process. This study utilized participatory research to explore the impact of COVID-19 on six new occupational therapy lecturers who were employed immediately before and during the pandemic. The participatory research approach simultaneously engaged participants in research processes and aimed to promote researcher development. Three focus groups were conducted to explore participants experiences before, during and after COVID-19 restrictions. Focus groups transcripts were …

A Multidimensional Look Into Covid-19’S Reverberating Psychological Consequences, Talia Schulder

Dissertations and Theses

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated preexisting inequities in depression and anxiety symptoms, particularly for marginalized populations. Post-disaster mental health has often been investigated in both public health and clinical psychological literature, and the present dissertation integrates both disciplinary frameworks to understand the reverberating psychological consequences of the pandemic. Methods: Data were collected Winter 2022-2023, and the present analyses used descriptive statistics, correlations, and structural equation models to measure associations between variables of interest. Two separate SEMs were conducted with variables often used in public health literature. Specifically, these models assessed the indirect relationship between COVID-19-related financial and social stress …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Individuals With Aphasia: Effects On Quality Of Life And Communication, Kaci L. Gammon

Honors College Theses

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) help people with aphasia (PWA) manage their communication symptoms and become more independent by supporting them linguistically and emotionally. During COVID-19, speech and language services were not as readily available to PWA due to quarantine restrictions resulting in isolation within this population. Individuals with aphasia had to redirect and find a new way to function daily. This study explored factors that affected quality of communication and quality of life for PWA during the pandemic, including technology, living situation, timing of stroke, and speech-language pathology services. Through an online survey, PWA from across the country expressed how their …

The Importance Of Endrew: Analyzing The Influence Of A New Legal Precedent In Pennsylvania Due Process Hearing Officer Decisions Before And After Covid-19 Closures, David H. Rush

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

In 2017, a new standard for determining substantive violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was established with the ruling for Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. Recently, the United States Department of Education and State Education Agencies have cited the Endrew decision as being important in defining what constitutes a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) under the IDEA, in light of mandated school closures due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Despite its noted importance, there has been limited analysis into how this new legal precedent has influenced special education due process hearing officer decisions. …

Adjustments To Social Work Practice During The Covid-19 Pandemic In North Carolina: Effects On Burnout And Commitment, Aaron R. Brown, Jayme E. Walters, Aubrey E. Jones, Lara Cates

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for social workers in the U.S. and abroad has increased. There is demand for more social workers in North Carolina due to ongoing and increasing mental health, substance use disorder, and child welfare needs. COVID-19 has taken a toll on the personal and professional lives of social workers, and research is needed to understand the pandemic’s effects on burnout and commitment among social workers. The present study sought to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the personal and professional lives of social workers practicing in North Carolina and to determine how …

Knowledge Construction And Multiple Realities: Global Health Collaborations, Development Practices, And Face Masks In The Context Of Covid-19, Linan Zhang

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

This thesis is inspired by a global health collaborative programme named GRASPIT and by my own desire to do something good which can benefit the people in need as well as reduce suffering. The GRASPIT collaboration intended to improve post-operative outcomes, but the programme failed to deliver the expected result. Preliminary analysis by the GRASPIT team identified issues with knowledge sharing as one of the contributory causes of its failure. This prompted the reflection in this thesis upon apparent asymmetries when knowledge is shared. Quite soon after the research began, the global pandemic COVID-19 revealed the issue of having inconsistent …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Insurance Segment Of The Warsaw Stock Exchange, Tadeusz Winkler-Drews

Studia i Materiały Wydział Zarządzania Uniwersytet Warszawski

Purpose: The article aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the insurance sector of the Warsaw Stock Exchange S.A. in 2019–2021.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Quarterly financial reports were used to conduct the study. The economic condition was examined using elements of financial analysis, and the valuation was based on the analysis of market rates of return.

Findings: The results allowed us to conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic harmed the insurance sector of WSE. Due to the differences in the parameters of the size of capitalization, the scope of services provided, the territory of operation and the …

An Interactive Information Visualization System For Temporal Queries In A Large-Scale Covid-19 Ehr Dataset (Covid-Sphere): Development And Qualitative Evaluation, Yan Huang, Shiqiang Tao, Wei-Chun Chou, Licong Cui, Guo-Qiang Zhang, Xiaojin Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

COVID-SPHERE is a self-service web application designed to advance clinical research informatics by facilitating secondary use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) for COVID-19 research. The system employs a flexible EHR concept framework that defines hierarchical concepts and ontologies, enabling clinical researchers to build complex temporal queries through an intuitive, single-click interface without requiring database expertise. Our method dynamically generates MongoDB queries in real-time and offers interactive, faceted visualizations to analyze longitudinal patient activities and integrated health records, supporting both individual patient analysis and population-level research. Hosted on a server managing over 5 TB of data encompassing 30 billion health records …

Risk Stratification And Prediction Of Severity Of Covid-19 Infection In Patients With Preexisting Cardiovascular Disease, Stanislava Matejin, Igor D Gregoric, Rajko Radovancevic, Slobodan Paessler, Vladimir Perovic

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 is a highly contagious viral disease. Cardiovascular diseases and heart failure elevate the risk of mechanical ventilation and fatal outcomes among COVID-19 patients, while COVID-19 itself increases the likelihood of adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Methods: We collected blood samples and clinical data from hospitalized cardiovascular patients with and without proven COVID-19 infection in the time period before the vaccine became available. Statistical correlation analysis and machine learning were used to evaluate and identify individual parameters that could predict the risk of needing mechanical ventilation and patient survival.

Results: Our results confirmed that COVID-19 …

Individual Ingredients Of Np-101 (Thymoquinone Formula) Inhibit Sars-Cov-2 Pseudovirus Infection, Abdelrahim Maen, Betul Gok Yavuz, Yehia I Mohamed, Abdullah Esmail, Jianming Lu, Amr Mohamed, Asfar S Azmi, Mohamed Kaseb, Osama Kasseb, Dan Li, Michelle Gocio, Mehmet Kocak, Abdelhafez Selim, Qing Ma, Ahmed O Kaseb

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Thymoquinone TQ, an active ingredient of Nigella Sativa, has been shown to inhibit COVID-19 symptoms in clinical trials. Thymoquinone Formulation (TQF or NP-101) is developed as a novel enteric-coated medication derivative from Nigella Sativa. TQF consists of TQ with a favorable concentration and fatty acids, including palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acids. In this study, we aimed to investigate the roles of individual ingredients of TQF on infection of SARS-CoV-2 variants

Impact Of Covid Status And Blood Group On Complications In Patients In Hemorrhagic Shock, Jason Bradley Brill, Krislynn M Mueck, Madeline E Cotton, Brian Tang, Mariela Sandoval, Lillian S Kao, Bryan A Cotton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: Among critically injured patients of various blood groups, we sought to compare survival and complication rates between COVID-19-positive and COVID-19-negative cohorts.

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 infections have been shown to cause endothelial injury and dysfunctional coagulation. We hypothesized that, among patients with trauma in hemorrhagic shock, COVID-19-positive status would be associated with increased mortality and inpatient complications. As a secondary hypothesis, we suspected group O patients with COVID-19 would experience fewer complications than non-group O patients with COVID-19.

METHODS: We evaluated all trauma patients admitted 4/2020-7/2020. Patients 16 years or older were included if they presented in hemorrhagic shock and received …

The Impact Of Psychological Strengths On Veteran Populations' Mental Health Trajectories During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Amanda Mccleery, Jonathan K Wynn, Derek M Novacek, Eric A Reavis, Damla Senturk, Catherine A Sugar, Jack Tsai, Michael F Green

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Mental health trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic have been examined in Veterans with tenuous social connections, i.e., those with recent homelessness (RHV) or a psychotic disorder (PSY), and in control Veterans (CTL). We test potential moderating effects on these trajectories by psychological factors that may help individuals weather the socio-emotional challenges associated with the pandemic (i.e., 'psychological strengths').

Methods: We assessed 81 PSY, 76 RHV, and 74 CTL over 5 periods between 05/2020 and 07/2021. Mental health outcomes (i.e., symptoms of depression, anxiety, contamination concerns, loneliness) were assessed at each period, and psychological strengths (i.e., a composite score based …

Optimizing Medication Querying Using Ontology-Driven Approach With Omop: With An Application To A Large-Scale Covid-19 Ehr Dataset, Xiaojin Li, Yan Huang, Licong Cui, Shiqiang Tao, Guo-Qiang Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Efficient querying for medication information in Electronic Health Record (EHR) datasets is crucial for effective patient care and clinical research. To address the complexity and data volume challenges involved in efficient medication information retrieval, we propose an ontology-driven medication query (ODMQ) optimization approach, leveraging the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model (CDM). Integrating semantic ontology structures from the OMOP CDM can help enhance query accuracy and efficiency by broadening the scope of relevant medication terms like drug names, National Drug Codes, and generics, resulting in more comprehensive query outcomes than traditional methods. ODMQ significantly reduces manual search time …

Absolute Concentration Estimation Of Covid-19 Convalescent And Post-Vaccination Igg Antibodies, Melvin E Klegerman, Tao Peng, Ira Seferovich, Mohammad H Rahbar, Manouchehr Hessabi, Amirali Tahanan, Audrey Wanger, Carolyn Z Grimes, Luis Z Ostrosky-Zeichner, Kent Koster, Jeffrey D Cirillo, Dinuka Abeydeera, Steve De Lira, David D Mcpherson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Soon after commencement of the SARS-CoV-2 disease outbreak of 2019 (COVID-19), it became evident that the receptor-binding domain of the viral spike protein is the target of neutralizing antibodies that comprise a critical element of protective immunity to the virus. This study addresses the relative lack of information regarding actual antibody concentrations and binding affinities in convalescent plasma (CP) samples from COVID-19 patients and extends these analyses to post-vaccination (PV) samples to estimate protective IgG antibody (Ab) levels. A direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure IgG anti-spike protein (SP) antibodies (Abs) relative to human chimeric spike S1 …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Nationwide Pediatric Complicated Sinusitis Trends Throughout 2018–2022, Gianna Rosamilia, Kyung Hyun Lee, Soham Roy, Catherine Hart, Zhen Huang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: To describe and analyze the trends of pediatric sinusitis cases from 2018 to 2022 across the country utilizing the Pediatric Hospital Information System (PHIS) database focusing on volumes, socioeconomics, and severity of cases.

Study design: Retrospective Cohort Study.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study using the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database, which consists of 50 children's hospitals was performed. Regions were defined according to PHIS guidelines. We evaluated percentage of sinusitis cases demographic and socioeconomic information and subgrouped by region throughout 2018-2022.

Results: In all regions there were a greater number of sinusitis cases post-COVID compared to pre-COVID, with …