Digital Commons Network^™

Demographic Variation In Continuous Glucose Monitoring Utilisation Among Patients With Type 1 Diabetes From A Us Regional Academic Medical Centre: A Retrospective Cohort Study, 2018–2021, Omer Atac, Kory R. Heier, Daniela Moga, John L. Fowlkes, Min-Woong Sohn, Aaron J. Kruse-Diehr, Teresa M. Waters, Mary E. Lacy

Health Management and Policy Faculty Publications

Objective: While continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) utilisation has been increasing among patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), few studies have examined patterns of use across age, race/ethnicity and insurance status together. In this study, we examine CGM utilisation among patients with T1D from a regional academic medical centre across all insurance types.

Design and Setting: This is a retrospective cohort study including both paediatric and adult patients with T1D who visited a regional academic medical centre between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2021.

Methods: Patients were followed from the date of their first T1D encounter during the study period …

“A Safe Place”: Exploring Black Couples’ Perceptions Of Black Love And Relationship Coping In The Context Of Their Lived Experiences With Racism, Melinda Murdock

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Historically, Black couples have not been studied within the context of their lived experiences as it relates to the effects of racism on relationship health. Only in the last decade have relationship scholars begun to consistently link racism-related stressors to relationship processes and outcomes. Despite the growing literature, recent studies are primarily quantitative in method and rely on samples, theoretical models, and measures that predominantly represent White couples’ experiences. It remains unclear how Black couples’ perceptions of love and relationship coping lead to resilient outcomes despite the negative effects of racism.

Therefore, the goal of the present study is to …

“There Is No Fashion On A Dead Planet:”1 How A Mandatory Reporting Directive Shared By The Us And The Eu And Centered On Transparency Could Be The First Step To Increased Sustainability In The Fashion Industry, Adrienne Redman

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The fashion industry hangs on self-expression and individualism, yet our methods of consumption and their resulting environmental impacts are far from an individualistic concern. This paper examines the global fashion industry’s substantial contribution to pollution, resource-depletion, and waste as evidence that the self-regulation model is insufficient to curb the environmental footprint of the industry. Self-regulation presumes that consumer awareness and the desire to purchase sustainably will be enough to limit the industry’s environmental impact. However, this presumption is undermined by a lack of standardized and enforceable regulations necessary for consumer-decision making. Instead, greenwashing and deceptive environmental claims have pervaded the …

Plasma S100Β Is A Predictor For Pathology And Cognitive Decline In Alzheimer’S Disease, Geetika Nehra, Bryan J. Maloney, Rebecca Smith, Wijitra Chumboatong, Erin L. Abner, Peter T. Nelson, Björn Bauer, Anika M. S. Hartz

UK CARES Faculty Publications

Background Blood–brain barrier dysfunction is one characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is recognized as both a cause and consequence of the pathological cascade leading to cognitive decline. The goal of this study was to assess markers for barrier dysfunction in postmortem tissue samples from research participants who were either cognitively normal individuals (CNI) or diagnosed with AD at the time of autopsy and determine to what extent these markers are associated with AD neuropathologic changes (ADNC) and cognitive impairment.

Methods We used postmortem brain tissue and plasma samples from 19 participants: 9 CNI and 10 AD dementia patients who …

Artesunate Enhances The Efficacy Of Enzalutamide In Advanced Prostate Cancer, Xinyi Wang, Jinghui Liu, Fengyi Mao, Yifan Kong, Qiongsi Zhang, Chaohao Li, Daheng He, Chi Wang, Yanquan Zhang, Ruixin Wang, Sally R. Ellingson, Qiou Wei, Zhiguo Li, Xiaoqi Liu

Toxicology and Cancer Biology Faculty Publications

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the leading causes of death among men worldwide. Treatments targeting the androgen receptor pathway remain the standard therapy for PCa patients. Enzalutamide (ENZ), a second-generation androgen receptor inhibitor, was developed to treat castration-resistant prostate cancer. However, while patients initially respond to ENZ, drug resistance typically develops within a few months. Artesunate (ART), a semisynthetic derivative of the Artemisinin plant, is approved for antimalaria treatment. In this study, we conducted an FDA-approved drug screening and identified ART as a potential candidate for overcoming ENZ resistance in PCa. Mechanistically, ART induces the degradation of c-Myc, enhancing …

Current Practices In Training Paraeducators: A Literature Review, Rebekah Pearson

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

I conducted a brief literature review to examine current practices for training paraeducators in school settings. I reviewed literature published after 2010 using an online database. Using an author-made inclusion criterion, 13 articles were considered for review. Findings suggest that behavior skills training (BST), brief performance feedback, didactic training, and a strategy instruction framework are currently being used to train paraeducators. These trainings have yielded positive results in increasing desired paraeducator behaviors. I conclude by discussing the limitations and directions for future research.

Rural Hospital Closure And Medicaid Expansion, Jason White

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Introduction: In the United States, hospitals in rural areas have been under financial pressure and have been closing at an increasing rate.  This reduces access to care for rural citizens.  The Affordable Care Act of 2010 was passed in order to increase access to medical care, partially through an optional expansion of Medicaid coverage to a larger percentage of the population.  As some states adopted the expansion and some states did not, an opportunity was created to examine the policy’s effect on rural hospital stability.

Purpose of the Study:  This study was designed to examine the effect of …

Stars: Enhancing Student Leadership, Caroline Budwell, Braden Goddard, Tamer Nadeem, Saleema Karim, Joseph Turner

The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Publications

The VCU Division of Student Affairs aims to enhance training for leaders of student organizations, addressing variability in their success. By analyzing data from RamsConnect, surveying advisors, and reviewing best practices from peer institutions, we will identify areas for improvement. Our final deliverable will include a comprehensive analysis and tailored recommendations to strengthen leadership within student organizations, ensuring students benefit from opportunities for leadership, collaboration, and engagement, ultimately supporting their success and retention at VCU.

Orienting New Researchers Across Multiple Pathways: Bridging Research Resource Gaps For New Faculty At Vcu, Maecy Richmond, Sarah Lines, Travis Oakes, Yali Pang

The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Publications

New faculty researchers at VCU, who possess diverse research interests or requirements, often find it challenging to navigate the VCU environment in search of research resources necessary to initiate their work. The majority of available research resources highlighted on central VCU pages primarily cater to biomedical research, inadvertently marginalizing those in less prominent fields. Resources in other departments, such as fine arts and education, are limited and often restricted to the departmental or school level. This raises the essential query: "How and where should I begin my research?" The project employs a faculty and staff survey aimed at assessing the …

Precipitation, Perceptions, And Participation: An Analysis Of Individual Perceptions Of Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority's Cloud Seeding Pilot Program And Suggestions For Public Outreach And Communications, Rachel A. Rowlee

Pitzer Senior Theses

Cloud seeding is a form of weather modification intended to increase the amount of precipitation by introducing a seeding agent. The Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) has implemented a four-year cloud seeding pilot program utilizing silver iodide as a seeding agent during rain storm events. Over the last year, SAWPA received various feedback, much of which exists in the social media realm. This research consists of open-ended interviews with water resource managers, SAWPA employees, and individuals expressing disapproval of the program on social media and Instagram comment analyses. Interview and comment analyses are put into conversation with the theory …

Influences Of Sex, Alcohol, And Stress On Conditioned Fear Responses, Heyam K. Mayberry

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Learned fear responses are acquired through the identification and association of threatening stimuli with aversive outcomes. Fear responding and the proper maintenance of defensive behaviors is integral to survival. However, without the homeostasis of such systems, fear responses can become maladaptive and lead to dysregulated behavioral responding. Psychological conditions such as alcohol use disorder (AUD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often lead to impairments in fear learning, deficits in fear memory, and heightened fear responses. While there are clear sex differences in the prevalence of both AUD and PTSD, development of either disorder increases the risk for comorbid AUD/PTSD, leading …

Impacts Of School-Based Agricultural Education On The Resilience Of Senior Appalachian High School Students Living In Economically Disadvantaged Counties In Kentucky And Virginia, Ruth D. Toole

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Students in Central Appalachia, particularly those in economically disadvantaged (ED) counties, may face unique risks related to their geographic and socioeconomic circumstances. However, school-based and youth development programs have been shown to foster resilience among youth. This convergent mixed-methods study aimed to explore whether involvement in School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) can enhance youth resilience. Data were collected through a resilience questionnaire and semi-structured focus group interviews, which were analyzed, interpreted, and integrated to uncover key findings. Results indicated that participants living in ED areas exhibited relatively high resilience scores. Focus group discussions revealed that, despite the challenges they face, participants …

Metformin In Overcoming Enzalutamide Resistance In Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer, Kendall Simpson, Derek B. Allison, Daheng He, Jinpeng Liu, Chi Wang, Xiaoqi Liu

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Androgen deprivation is the standard treatment for patients with prostate cancer. However, the disease eventually progresses as castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Enzalutamide, an androgen receptor inhibitor, is a typical drug for treating CRPC and with continuous reliance on the drug, can lead to enzalutamide resistance. This highlights the necessity for developing novel therapeutic targets to combat the gain of resistance. Metformin has been recently investigated for its potential antitumorigenic effects in many cancer types. In this study, we used enzalutamide and metformin in combination to explore the possible rescued efficacy of enzalutamide in the treatment of enzalutamide-resistant CRPC. We first …

Portable Multi-Parametric Microscopy For Noninvasive Metabolic And Vascular Imaging Of Orthotopic Tongue Cancer Models In Vivo, Pranto Soumik Saha, Jing Yan, Caigang Zhu

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Significance: Precise imaging of tumor metabolism with its vascular microenvironment becomes emerging critical for cancer research because increasing evidence shows that the key attribute that allows a tumor to survive therapies is metabolic and vascular reprogramming. However, there are surprisingly few imaging techniques available to provide a systems-level view of tumor metabolism and vasculature in vivo on small animals for cancer discoveries.

Aim: We aim to develop a new multi-parametric microscope that can faithfully recapitulate in vivo metabolic and vascular changes with a wide field of view and microscope-level resolution to advance cancer-related investigations. To maximize the ease and accessibility …

Dihydropyrimidine Enzyme Activity And Its Effect On Chemotherapy Toxicity: Importance Of Genetic Testing, Alexia Shamaei Zadeh, Danielle Roberts, Abby Williams, Deepali Pandey, John L. Villano

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Purpose

Patients with partial or complete DPD deficiency have decreased capacity to degrade fluorouracil and are at risk of developing toxicity, which can be even life-threatening.

Case

A 43-year-old man with moderately differentiated rectal adenocarcinoma on capecitabine presented to the emergency department with complaints of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, and lower abdominal pain for several days. Laboratory findings include grade 4 neutropenia (ANC 10) and thrombocytopenia (platelets 36,000). Capecitabine is used as a component of first-line adjuvant therapy by approximately 2 million patients worldwide each year. Capecitabine is metabolized to fluorouracil via the enzyme dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD). With worsening pancytopenia …

2025 Student Life Achievement Award Winners

Student Life Achievement Award Winners

No abstract provided.

Platform Dynamics And Rapid Scaling: An Empirical Examination Of Growth Drivers In Platform-Based Start-Ups, Noemi Nagy, Richard Bläse, Matthias Filser, Jan Appenzeller, Kaisu Puumalainen

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning

Understanding the mechanisms that enable rapid growth in platform-based technology start-ups represents a complex yet crucial research imperative for contemporary scholarship. To develop a comprehensive taxonomy of factors that facilitate rapid growth, we conducted a narrative integrative review and thematic synthesis to identify key prerequisites for the successful scaling of platform businesses. Employing purposeful sampling, we then conducted qualitative interviews (N = 13) with founders of two-sided platform start-ups to validate our findings. Our analysis reveals a multidimensional framework of success factors, systematically categorized into entrepreneurial attitudes, organizational resources, and capabilities, strategic business practices and external environmental factors. The findings …

Addressing Ai Usage In Your Course Syllabus: A Guide For Faculty, Diana Almodovar Ph.D.

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Podcasting As An Innovative Pedagogical Tool In Social Work Education, Mim Fox, Jonathan B. Singer

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Podcasting as a means of educational delivery has been slowly increasing since the introduction of podcasting to the consciousness of the general public in 2004. In parallel, social work education has experienced a global increase in online and remote delivery. Social workers globally have embraced social work content podcasts as a means of providing, and supplementing, their traditional pedagogy. In this article, the authors, both international podcasting social work academics, present an innovative framework for podcasting pedagogy and discuss co-production of podcasts as a form of teaching and learning co-design that is grounded in social work approaches to knowledge creation, …

Attracting Secondary Public School Teachers Through Servant Leadership In South Carolina, Chetara Lee

Dissertations

This study investigated the impact servant leader administrators have on the recruitment of secondary public-school teachers in South Carolina. The purpose of this study was to identify effective servant leadership behaviors that align with teacher recruitment. This research sought to enhance the existing body of knowledge on servant leadership in education by offering a comprehensive understanding of how school leaders can recruit career changers as teachers by aligning their servant leadership behaviors with the motivations of prospective educators for transitioning into teaching.

This research assessed 16 secondary public-school teachers and 3 school district HR personnel employed within various school districts …

Long Covid And Vulnerability To Climate Change’S Health Effects: An Informational Booklet For Healthcare Settings, Rachel Nussbaum

Public Health Theses

According to the World Health Organization, around 10–20% of people infected by COVID-19 may go on to develop symptoms that can be diagnosed as Long COVID, also known as the post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). While the risk of Long Covid among people who received the primary vaccine series fell to 3.5% in one study, as of September 2024, over 1.3 million Americans were being infected with SARS-CoV-2 every day, and reinfections increase the likelihood of experiencing Long Covid in some studies. Continued transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has led to roughly 400 million people experiencing infection-associated chronic conditions, creating an accumulating …

Effect Of Wildfire Smoke Pm2.5 On Preterm Birth Outcomes: A Generalized Synthetic Control Analysis Of Preterm Births In The Contiguous United States From 2006 To 2020, Alexandra Maria Nechaev

Public Health Theses

Wildfire activity has intensified across the United States due to climate change, contributing to rising levels of smoke-attributable fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in ambient air. Wildfire-specific PM2.5 is linked to adverse health outcomes, including increased risk of preterm birth, a leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Despite growing concern, few studies have applied quasi-experimental methods to evaluate the causal effects of wildfire-attributable PM2.5 on preterm birth across large, diverse populations and geographical areas. This study estimated the effect of wildfire-specific PM2.5 exposure on preterm birth rates across all counties in the contiguous United States from 2006 to 2020 using …

Enhancing Disease Surveillance In Conflict Settings: An Ecological Case Study On Cholera In Sudan At The Intersection Of Environmental And Conflict Drivers, Kinsey Medlin

Public Health Theses

Cholera outbreaks are complex and driven by an interaction of environmental circumstances and conflict-related disruptions, yet few studies have integrated both in the context of conflict regions. This ecological study examines cholera transmission dynamics in Sudan from 2016 to 2025, exploring temporal associations using cross-correlation analysis and applying generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) to analyze the influence of remotely sensed environmental variables (rainfall, temperature, NDVI, NDWI) and conflict indicators (civilian targeting, political violence, demonstrations) on cholera cases. Weekly cholera surveillance data, combined with satellite-derived environmental variables and conflict event datasets, were modeled across two time periods: pre-conflict (2016-2018) and active …

A Framework For Icu Culture In Australia & New Zealand, Smriti Sukesh Kumar

Public Health Theses

Organizational culture is increasingly recognized as a fundamental determinant of operational performance and clinical outcomes in healthcare, particularly within high-acuity settings such as Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Despite a growing body of international literature affirming this relationship, there is a paucity of context-specific evidence on the role of organizational culture within ICUs in Australia and Aotearoa, New Zealand. This absence has constrained the capacity of health systems in these regions to design and implement culture change interventions tailored to local realities. In response to this gap, this thesis offers a conceptual framework that maps domains of organizational culture hypothesized to …

Social Media Influences On Youth Substance Use, Sexual Health, And Mental Health In Paterson, New Jersey: A Rapid Qualitative Analysis, Nimisha Srikanth

Public Health Theses

Introduction: Social media use among youth has become a topic of concern among public health professionals and policymakers. Youth have grown to rely on social media for communication and entertainment, but are exposed to negative health behaviors with the potential to model them in their lives. In this study, we investigated youth’s perspectives on social media content and the impact it has on their health and lives.Methods: We conducted a rapid qualitative analysis of individual interviews of youth from Paterson, New Jersey. Among the sample (n=20), the mean age was 16 years, 80% identified as male, and 30% were justice-involved. …

Youth Views On Health Content, Ads, And Messages On Social Media, Christina Tong

Public Health Theses

This study aims to investigate youth perspectives on nutrition and healthism-related content, promotions, and messaging on social media. With the growing usage and impact of social media, especially in younger generations, it is important to recognize how social media may influence types of exposures and messaging of nutrition, weight management, and supplement-related content that youth are exposed to, which can, in turn, influence their perceptions on health and healthy lifestyles. These perspectives can then initiate engagement in helpful or harmful health behaviors. Through a qualitative analysis of focus group and interview responses of 29 Massachusetts teenagers, emerging themes were about: …

Cross-Sectional Study On The Distribution And Epidemiology Of Plasmodium Ovale Species In Asymptomatic And Symptomatic Individuals In Gulu, Uganda, Xiaohan Xu

Public Health Theses

Despite global progress in malaria control, Plasmodium ovale remains an under-recognized contributor tothe malaria burden in sub-Saharan Africa. Its ability to form dormant liver-stage hypnozoites enables silent, recurrent transmission that often escapes detection by routine diagnostics. This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence, species distribution, and clinical profile of P . ovale infections in Gulu, Uganda, comparing asymptomatic individuals from the community to symptomatic patients presenting at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital. Molecular diagnostics, including qPCR, nested PCR, and hemi-nested PCR, were used to detect and differentiate P . ovale curtisi and P . ovale wallikeri. Geographic sampling was conducted across 33 …

Risk Factors Of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (Rsv) Infection In Infants: A Study Using New York State Inpatient And Outpatient Databases, Mengjing Yang

Public Health Theses

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is the main cause of respiratory diseases in infants, but the sociodemographic differences in RSV risk have not been fully understood for New York State infants within the first two years of life. This study aims to investigate the distribution and risk factors of respiratory syncytial virus infection in infants and young children under 2 years old in New York State.We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the data from the New York State Inpatient Database (SID) and the State Emergency Department Database (SEDD) from 2016 to 2019. Analyze sociodemographic characteristics, including birth weight, gender, …

Characterization And Survival Outcome Of Missing Ecog Performance Status In A Real-World Cohort Of Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients, Yuanqing Zhang

Public Health Theses

BackgroundThe Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) is a critical factor in treatment decisions and prognosis for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, documentation gaps exist in clinical practice. The characteristics of patients with missing ECOG PS and the prognostic implications of this missingness are poorly understood. This study aimed to identify demographic and clinical predictors associated with missing ECOG PS documentation and to evaluate whether missing ECOG PS is associated with overall survival (OS) in a large real-world cohort of advanced NSCLC patients.

MethodsThis retrospective cohort study utilized the Flatiron Health electronic health record-derived, de-identified database. …

Heredity Vs Environment: Anthropology In Relation To Eugenics, Keelan Coronati

Spectrum

No abstract provided.