Digital Commons Network^™

Cme: Identification And Management Of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children, Sarah Lasser

Capstone Showcase

This CME poster discusses Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or (MIS-C), which was first described in Europe in April 2020 as a post viral inflammatory syndrome. Since then it has gained attention worldwide and become better understood. This CME aims to give providers a brief overview of the current knowledge regarding MIS-C, as well as recommendations for recognition, diagnostic studies, treatment, and follow-up of this disease.

Bodily Autonomy And Anti-Vaccine Discourse During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Haley Sherman

Capstone Showcase

This paper explores the relationship between anti-vaccine discourse and ideas about bodily autonomy. I analyze the cyclical nature of vaccine hesitancy and show that it can lead to misinformation and harmful narratives. This paper uses theories of bodily autonomy that identify a concept called moral obligation. This concept, as explored by Alberto Giubilini, is a utilitarian approach in which citizens have a responsibility to their governments to get vaccinated so that, in turn, their governments can fulfill their obligation of protecting other individuals’ health (Giubilini 2020, 54). A discourse analysis of four key players in the anti-vax movement shows that …

The Diverse Neurological Manifestations Of The Sars-Cov-2 Pandemic, Asmeda Spalding

Capstone Showcase

SARS-CoV-2 remains an international public health concern and can be encountered in all aspects of healthcare. Although most neurological manifestations are benign, clinicians must be aware and able to recognize more serious conditions that require urgent referral and intervention. Patients at risk for severe cases should be given extra attention given their propensity for neurological and clinical deterioration. This article highlights the most common and urgent neurological symptoms and diagnoses of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as clinical pearls for their identification.

Covid-19 And Advanced Course Enrollment: Kentucky High Schools, Jessica Thomas

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In Kentucky governments, districts, and schools made decisions about school closures and mode of learning that would impact community health as well as student achievement. Within those schools, students themselves were also making decisions that could impact their futures academically. In spring 2020, students were choosing their courses for the following year. Vast uncertainty about what the 2020/2021 school year would look like had the potential to impact those decisions. Disruptions to spring 2020 classes could also impact whether a student felt they had learned the prerequisite skills needed to pursue advanced coursework. This study found that advanced course enrollment …

Effect Of Trust And The Covid-19 Pandemic On Nonprofit Collaboration With Food Insecurity Services In Kentucky, Aaron Brewer

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Food insecurity in Kentucky is at a crisis point. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent natural disasters, it has only gotten worse. Nonprofit organizations that focus on food insecurity are fighting to fill the gap between federal and state programs but still struggle to find enough resources as demand grows. In order to help achieve their strategic missions, organizations often engage in collaboration with one another. The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the landscape of many services and businesses across the world and certainly in Kentucky. Food insecurity organizations were faced with new challenges because of the health …

Covid, Care, And The Carceral State: American Disposability Politics And The Selective Weaponization Of Public Health Guidelines During Covid-19, Uma Nagarajan-Swenson

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the American state's role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on marginalized communities, arguing that the state used the frame of disposability politics to justify expanding its carceral capacities and withdrawing as a provider of welfare during the pandemic.

A Crisis Of Care: Effects Of Covid-19 On The Household Division Of Labor, Caroline Elliot Albro

Scripps Senior Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic brought monumental challenges to the lives of parents around the world. As schools shut down, children stayed at home, and employees worked from their living room couches or dining room tables, working parents struggled to balance paid labor, household labor, and childcare during this time. Working mothers faced particular challenges in reconciling household labor and employment due to the pressures of gender norms and the expectation for women to “do it all.” This paper explores the strategies that families utilized to deal with the household division of labor during the pandemic. Families employed a variety of strategies …

Essential Jobs, Remote Work And Digital Surveillance: Addressing The Covid-19 Pandemic Panopticon, Antonio Aloisi, Valerio De Stefano

All Papers

An unprecedented COVID-19-induced explosion in digital surveillance has reconfigured power relationships in professional settings. This article critically concentrates on the interplay between technology-enabled intrusive monitoring and the augmentation of 1

managerial prerogatives in physical and digital workplaces. It identifies excessive supervision as the common denominator of “essential” and “remotable” activities, besides discussing the various drawbacks faced by the two categories of workers during (and after) the pandemic. It also assesses the adequacy of the current European Union legal framework in addressing the expansion of data-driven management. Social dialogue, workers’ empowerment and digital literacy are identified as effective solutions to promote …

The Emergency Next Time, Noa Ben-Asher

Faculty Publications

This Article offers a new conceptual framework to understand the connection between law and violence in emergencies. It is by now well-established that governments often commit state violence in times of national security crisis by implementing excessive emergency measures. The Article calls this type of legal violence “Emergency-Affirming Violence.” But Emergency Violence can also be committed through governmental non-action. This type of violence, which this Article calls, “Emergency-Denying Violence,” has manifested in the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Article offers a taxonomy to better understand the phenomenon of Emergency Violence. Using 9/11 and COVID-19 as examples, the Article proposes …

An Unintended Abolition: Family Regulation During The Covid-19 Crisis, Anna Arons

Faculty Publications

In a typical year, New York City’s vast family regulation system, fueled by an army of mandated reporters, investigates tens of thousands of reports of child neglect and abuse, policing almost exclusively poor Black and Latinx families even as the government provides those families extremely limited support. When the City shut down in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this system shrunk in almost every conceivable way as mandated reporters retreated, caseworkers adopted less intrusive investigatory tactics, and family courts constrained their operations. The number of reports fell, the number of cases filed in court fell, and the number of …

Does The Novel Coronavirus Use The Ocular Surface As An Entrance Into The Body Or As An Infection Site?, Remzi Karadag, Alp Kayiran, Christopher J Rapuano

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

This study attempts to review whether the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is transmitted through the ocular surface and examine the symptoms and signs of ocular disease. Considering that COVID-19 is transmitted by airborne droplets and close contact with infected individuals, we will also review the conditions to which eye clinics and ophthalmologists should pay attention to prevent the transmission of the disease. Although some researchers have argued that COVID-19 transmission cannot occur through the ocular surface, most of them are of the opinion that the ocular surface is a potential pathway of transmission. Until date, ocular signs and symptoms have been …

Temporal Cohort Logic, Guo-Qiang Zhang, Xiaojin Li, Yan Huang, Licong Cui

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We introduce a new logic, called Temporal Cohort Logic (TCL), for cohort specification and discovery in clinical and population health research. TCL is created to fill a conceptual gap in formalizing temporal reasoning in biomedicine, in a similar role that temporal logics play for computer science and its applications. We provide formal syntax and semantics for TCL and illustrate the various logical constructs using examples related to human health. Relationships and distinctions with existing temporal logical frameworks are discussed. Applications in electronic health record (EHR) and in neurophysiological data resource are provided. Our approach differs from existing temporal logics, in …

Examining The Influence Of Covid-19 On Elementary Mathematics Standardized Test Scores In A Rural Ohio School District, Dara Bright, Yiyun "Kate" Fan, Chris Fornaro, Kristin L. K. Koskey, Toni A. May, Jonathan D. Bostic, Dolores Swineford

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

In the United States, national and state standardized assessments have become a metric for measuring student learning and high-quality learning environments. As the COVID-19 pandemic offered a multitude of learning modalities (e.g., hybrid, socially distanced face-to-face instruction, virtual environment), it becomes critical to examine how this learning disruption influenced elementary mathematic performance. This study tested for differences in mathematics performance on fourth grade standardized tests before and during COVID-19 in a case study of a rural Ohio school district using the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) mathematics test. A two-way ANOVA showed that fourth- grade MAP mathematics scores were statistically …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Special Education: A Case Study, Megan Cercone

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research project is to explore the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on special education by evaluating the experiences of one child with disabilities who attends public schools. METHODS: A semi-structured interview was conducted with the two parents of the child, who has physical disabilities and an IEP through his school, meaning he receives special education services through intervention teachers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. The interview was recorded and transcribed, and then interview transcripts were evaluated to identify themes in the subjects’ responses regarding their child’s experience with public education during the pandemic. …

Themes And Associations Concerning The Covid-19 Pandemic: Autoethnography, Amber Mcgannon, Ebunoluwa O. Adedeji

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Per the college of nursing, my proposed project will discuss living during uncertain times and unusual times of change. This APA formatted paper will be an autoethnography, meaning that we will review the perspectives of COVID through the lens of culture, research, and our own perspectives and experiences. Everyone has experienced changes during the COVID-19 pandemic due to self-isolation. Examples of change include changes in learning, working, thinking, teaching, and behaving. Using acquired nursing skills such as critical thinking, reflection, inquiry, and evidenced-based practice; my partner and I will dissect and discuss these changes and how they have affected ourselves, …

Auto- Ethnography With A Deep Dive Into Changes Mental Health During The Pandemic And A Look Into The Way The Pandemic Has Shaped Nursing Protocols For Recent Nursing College Graduates, Audrey Shaffer, Sarah Bereznay

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this project we completed a deep dive into how the Covid-19 pandemic reshaped our mental health and has affected our preparation for careers as registered nurses through a series of auto- ethnographic narrative journals using scholarly articles to support this idea. By utilizing personal narratives, we analyzed and reflected upon the cognitive and mental changes we experienced throughout this pandemic. We fulfilled this by comprising two personal narratives with inquiries pertaining to each shared narrative by utilizing the common themes of being nursing students and living through a pandemic. Within these personal narratives, we discussed how the pandemic influenced …

The Effect Of Virtual Learning As A Result Of Covid-19, Ann Redle Ms., Joel Mcmullen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In the early spring of 2020, the United States began to experience the effects of the question-inspiring, novel COVID-19 viral illness, with the onset of massive business, school, and entertainment closures, initiating a shift towards virtual learning, communication, and professional interactions. This paper is intended to identify the common experiences of two nursing students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing a personal narrative, or autoethnographic approach, coupled with reviews of previously published literature relating to shared themes of the authors, including the rapid changes to an online environment from traditional classroom settings, the stressors that were experienced as a result …

Mental Health Apps: A Study Of College Students' Perceptions Of Counseling Through An App, Caroline Burns

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this study is to gather data on the perceptions of undergraduate students regarding mental health apps. Participants will be asked to complete a survey through Qualtrics. There will be 20 questions, some with pre-determined answers and some open-ended. The survey, including a few demographic questions, should take approximately 20 minutes. Data will be collected from all undergraduate students at The University of Akron who are 18 years of age or older, with the goal of at least 100 responses. There are no preferences for major or year. The survey will be sent out to undergraduate students via …

An Examination Of Capacity Building For Sanitary And Phytosanitary Measures For Women In Sub-Saharan Africa: Empowerment Theory At The Individual, Organizational, And Community Levels, Lisa De Leon

Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge and application gaps exist for women farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa who are key agricultural players for economic growth and food security. This study examined capacity development for Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and empowerment of women farmers considering Rappaport (1984) and Zimmerman’s (1995, 2000) lenses of empowerment theory. The central research question was, how does capacity development for sanitary and phytosanitary measures empower women at the individual, organizational, and community levels in Sub-Saharan Africa? The study employed an embedded mixed methods design collecting data via an electronic survey from 23 Sub-Saharan women farmers; 22 from Ghana and one from …

Board Governance In Crisis: Director Influence In Executive Crisis Leadership, Kevin Schaller

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 global pandemic is the most far-reaching crisis of the modern era and the cascading impacts on organizations is tantamount to a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment for decision-making by board directors and top management team (TMT) leaders. The pandemic provided an unprecedented opportunity to expand upon the disparate research associated with decision-making by board directors and TMT leaders during crises. This phenomenological study explored how the pandemic influenced decision-making distinctly from previous crisis events and how executive decisions on firm policies and strategies transpired throughout the crisis. A sample of 32 board directors and senior executives …

Assessing The Impacts Of Covid-19 On Activity-Travel Scheduling: A Survey In The Greater Toronto Area, Alireza Dianat, Jason Hawkins, Khandker Nurul Habib

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 lockdown provided many individuals an opportunity to explore changes in their daily routines, particularly when considered in combination with an ever-changing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) landscape. These new routines and alternative activities have the potential to be continued in the post-COVID era. Transportation planners must understand how routines vary to effectively estimate activity-travel scheduling. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on activity-travel behavior and the adoption of ICT-based alternative options. A special emphasis is placed on predicting the long-term effects of this disturbance on activity-travel scheduling. This study …

Discrimination Experiences During Covid-19 Among A National, Multi-Lingual, Community-Based Sample Of Asian Americans And Pacific Islanders: Compass Findings, Van M. Ta Park, Marcelle M. Dougan, Oanh L. Meyer, Bora Nam, Marian Tzuang, Linda G. Park, Quyen Vuong, Joon Bang, Janice Y. Tsoh

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Reports of escalated discrimination among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) due to COVID-19 are alarming, making this a public health priority. However, there are limited empirical studies on the scope and impact of COVID-19-related discrimination among AAPIs. Using the COVID-19 Effects on the Mental and Physical Health of AAPI Survey Study (COMPASS) data (N = 4971; survey period: October 2020–February 2021), which is a U.S.-wide multi-lingual survey, we examined the prevalence of, and factors associated with discrimination experiences attributable to being an AAPI during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 60.7% reported experiencing discrimination; the group prevalence ranged from 80.0% (Hmong) …

Analysis Of Covid-19 Pandemic Disease Metrics In Nebraska Counties With Large Meat Processing Plants, Nyah D. Chambers, James Lawler Md,Mph, Sara Donovan Mph

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This poster analyzes COVID-19 disease metrics of counties with large meat processing facilities to counties with small or no meat processing facilities based on different time frames of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Convalescent Plasma In Hospitalized Pediatric And Obstetric Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Patients, Saki Ikeda, Eduardo Benzi, Lisa A Hensch, Sridevi Devaraj, Shiu-Ki Rocky Hui, Manisha Gandhi, Karin A Fox, Jun Teruya, Flor M Munoz

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Published data on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) convalescent plasma (CCP) use in children and obstetric patients are limited. We describe a single-center experience of hospitalized patients who received CCP for acute COVID-19.

METHODS: A retrospective review of children 0-18-years-old and pregnant patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed acute COVID-19 who received CCP from March 1, 2020 to March 1, 2021 was performed. Clinical and laboratory data were collected to assess the safety of CCP administration. Antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were measured in the CCP products and in patients before transfusion and at various time points post-transfusion. …

Factors Impacting Vaccine Uptake During Pregnancy: A Retrospective Analysis, Maame Aba Coleman, Deepa Dongarwar, Jessica Ramirez, Mei-Li Laracuente, Chelsea Livingston, Julliet Ogu, Racquel Lyn, Arabella Hall, Sylvia Adu-Gyamfi, Hamisu M Salihu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Vaccine uptake rates during pregnancy remain below target goals due to a convergence of factors. In particular, women of lower socioeconomic means and racial minorities typically have reduced rates of vaccine acceptance. This study aims to identify additional factors contributing to vaccine acceptance within a sample population of women receiving prenatal care in Houston, Texas, United States of America.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 11,500 pregnant women covered by Medicaid or ChipPerinate who received prenatal care during 2013-2021, assessing influenza (flu) and combined Tetanus, Diphtheria, Acellular Pertussis (TDAP) vaccine acceptance in the patient population. …

"It Just Kind Of Feels Like A Different World Now:" Stress And Resilience For Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes In The Era Of Covid-19, Maeve B O'Donnell, Marisa E Hilliard, Viena T Cao, Miranda C Bradford, Krysta S Barton, Samantha Hurtado, Brenda Duran, Samantha Garcia Perez, Kiswa S Rahman, Samantha Scott, Faisal S Malik, Daniel J Desalvo, Catherine Pihoker, Chuan Zhou, Abby R Rosenberg, Joyce P Yi-Frazier

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major stressor for adolescents. Given the unique implications of the pandemic for youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D), who already navigate multiple stressors as a function of their chronic condition, we aimed to describe the impact of the pandemic on adolescents with T1D and describe their coping strategies and resilience resources.

RESEARCH METHOD: In a 2-site (Seattle WA, Houston TX) clinical trial of a psychosocial intervention targeting stress/resilience, adolescents 13-18 years old with T1D ≥ 1 year and elevated diabetes distress were enrolled August 2020 - June 2021. Participants completed a baseline survey …

Virtual Adaptation Of An International Exchange Program In Medical Education, Celia Fung, Nicholas Maxwell, Stephen Powell, Michelle Benassai, Natalia Chunga, Jennifer Corcoran, William Barbosa, Marisabel Lopez, Betsy Hanampa, Melissa Llaiqui-Condori, Victor Delgado-Lazo, Karina Mendoza, Yanet Astete, Martin Flor, Sheyla Palacios, Blanca Valdovinos, Jorge Risco, Isabel Camargo, Ralph Jozefowicz, Karlo J Lizárraga

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Medical education has drastically transformed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures such as adopting telemedicine visits, minimizing the number of trainees on service, discontinuing external rotations, and converting in-person to online didactics have been broadly and swiftly implemented. While these innovations have promoted greater interconnectivity amongst institutions and made continuing medical education possible, international exchange programs in medical education are still largely disrupted. In response to the changing guidelines and restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors used Kern's six-step approach to design and implement a virtual curriculum to replace the in-person activities of the 2020-2021 Neurology Peru-Rochester exchange program …

Characterization And Outcomes Of Hospitalized Children With Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Report From A Multicenter, Viral Infection And Respiratory Illness Universal Study (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Registry, Utpal S Bhalala, Katja M Gist, Sandeep Tripathi, Karen Boman, Vishakha K Kumar, Lynn Retford, Kathleen Chiotos, Allison M Blatz, Heda Dapul, Sourabh Verma, Imran A Sayed, Varsha P Gharpure, Erica Bjornstad, Nancy Tofil, Katherine Irby, Ronald C Sanders, Julia A Heneghan, Melissa Thomas, Manoj K Gupta, Franscene E Oulds, Grace M Arteaga, Emily R Levy, Neha Gupta, Margit Kaufman, Amr Abdelaty, Mark Shlomovich, Shivanand S Medar, A M Iqbal O'Meara, Joshua Kuehne, Shina Menon, Paras B Khandhar, Aaron S Miller, Suzanne M Barry, Valerie C Danesh, Ashish K Khanna, Kimberly Zammit, Casey Stulce, Patrick W Mcgonagill, Asher Bercow, Ioana G Amzuta, Sandeep Gupta, Mohammed A Almazyad, Louisdon Pierre, Prithvi Sendi, Sidra Ishaque, Harry L Anderson, Pooja Nawathe, Murtaza Akhter, Patrick G Lyons, Catherine Chen, Allan J Walkey, Azra Bihorac, Imam Wada Bello, Judith Ben Ari, Tanja Kovacevic, Vikas Bansal, John T Brinton, Jerry J Zimmerman, Rahul Kashyap

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: Multicenter data on the characteristics and outcomes of children hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 are limited. Our objective was to describe the characteristics, ICU admissions, and outcomes among children hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 using Society of Critical Care Medicine Discovery Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study: Coronavirus Disease 2019 registry.

DESIGN: Retrospective study.

SETTING: Society of Critical Care Medicine Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study (Coronavirus Disease 2019) registry.

PATIENTS: Children (< 18 yr) hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 at participating hospitals from February 2020 to January 2021.

INTERVENTIONS: None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome was ICU admission. Secondary outcomes included hospital and ICU duration of stay and ICU, hospital, …

The Realities And Expectations Of Community Involvement In Covid-19 Research: A Consumer Reference Group Perspective, Claire Adams, Paul Albert, Tim Benson, Anne Cordingley, Barbara Daniels, Noreen Fynn, Mary Gurgone, Chris Jeffery, Ann White, Natalie Strobel

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background:

Older adults have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 restrictions such as stay at home orders and physical distancing measures have been implemented to reduce older adults’ risk of infection, however, such measures can have negative effects on older adults’ mental health and social wellbeing. In 2020, the research team received funding as part of an Australian COVID-19 research grants program to investigate how services can better meet the mental health and social support needs of older adults during COVID-19. A Consumer Reference Group (CRG) was established to provide a community perspective on all research activities.

Main …

Spartan Face Mask Detection And Facial Recognition System, Ziwei Song, Kristie Nguyen, Tien Nguyen, Catherine Cho, Jerry Gao

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), wearing a face mask is one of the most effective protections from airborne infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Since the spread of COVID-19, infected countries have been enforcing strict mask regulation for indoor businesses and public spaces. While wearing a mask is a requirement, the position and type of the mask should also be considered in order to increase the effectiveness of face masks, especially at specific public locations. However, this makes it difficult for conventional facial recognition technology to identify individuals for security checks. To solve this problem, the Spartan Face Detection …