Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of The Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score On Inpatient Length Of Stay On Inpatient Psychiatric Units Within An Acute Care Hospital, Princess P. Minter

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Insufficient discharge planning at the time of patient admission can result in increased hospitalization length of stay and poor clinical outcomes, including a rapid deterioration of stabilized patients’ mental status while unnecessarily waiting for discharge arrangements to be put in place at the time of discharge. Purpose: To determine if completing the Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score (BRASS) index tool to identify barriers to discharge at the time of patient admission impacts the length of stay for patients admitted to general psychiatric inpatient units. Methods: Patient admission and discharge data collected using the BRASS index within 48 hours …

Assessing Readiness To Quit As An Intervention For Tobacco Cessation In Oncology Patients, Victoria Gabriela Maddox

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Smoking and tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Twenty percent of all cancer diagnoses are directly linked to smoking, and tobacco-related diseases and cancers contribute to one in every five deaths annually in the United States. Less than one in ten smokers are successful at quitting. Smokers attempting to quit are more successful in cessation programs after evaluation of self-efficacy, such as the readiness to quit.

Purpose: This evidence-based practice project aimed to evaluate the impact of motivational interviewing with the 5A’s model on smoking cessation efforts in patients at an …

Use Of An Audit And Feedback Tool And Sglt-2 Inhibitors To Delay Progression Of Chronic Kidney Disease, Megan Elaine Lanpher

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease experience a higher risk for progression to end-stage kidney disease, which negatively impacts health, increases medical costs, and decreases quality of life. Purpose: Determine if an audit and feedback intervention in a local nephrology clinic can increase provider adherence to a clinical practice guideline that supports the prescription of sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors. Methods: A pretest-posttest design was used to determine if an audit and feedback tool delivered to providers at three-week intervals would increase prescription of SGLT-2 inhibitors in adults with Type 2 diabetes and chronic …

Appropriate Policies For Patients Utilizing Insulin Pumps With Continuous Glucose Monitoring During Hospital Admission, Mary Elizabeth Holiday

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: A growing number of patients with diabetes are using advanced diabetes management technology with an integrated insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor (CGM); however, multiple concerns surround their use during hospitalization, ranging from patient safety risks to nursing comfort in overseeing these devices.

Purpose: This project aimed to determine if an accurate, reformed inpatient policy supporting specific automated insulin pump use during admission maintained patient glucose control, improved patient satisfaction, and increased nursing comfort levels.

Methods: Pre- and post-policy nursing knowledge surveys, retrospective admission glucose metrics, and patient experience narratives were evaluated.

Inclusion Criteria: Patients and nurses were …

Reducing Wait Times For Psychiatric Intakes, Ryan Brad Carsten

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Early intervention for mental illness is vital to a swift recovery and extended wait times for mental health treatment have proven to be a barrier to early intervention. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine if wait times for psychiatry intakes at the University of South Carolina (USC) Student Health Center Psychiatry Services can be reduced and kept under 1 week by utilizing the Specific Timely Appointments for Triage (STAT) model. This model consists of clinicians scheduling a specified number of intake appointments based on the typical demand for service. Students were booked in …

Using Visual Thinking Strategies To Increase Empathy Levels In Inpatient Psychiatric Nurses: A Quality Improvement Project, Katharine E. Harding

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Research indicates that empathy is declining in today’s behavioral health nursing workforce. Purpose: The aim of this quality improvement project was to apply an evidence-based Visual Thinking Strategies intervention to the clinical problem and increase empathy levels from pre-survey measurement among psychiatric nurses. Method: VTS methodology was employed through in-person interviews where participants viewed art-based images pertaining to mental health. Feedback from semi-structured questions was shared among participants. Pre and post-test interventional quantitative data via The Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Provider version (JSE-HP) and The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) instruments were collected. Inclusion Criteria: Participants were voluntarily recruited …

Variation And Adaptation In Guppies And Gambusia, Alan L. Gillen, Anna Collins

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The guppy fish is considered by many to be a symbol of fertility, renewal, and growth. Gambusia are likely relatives of guppies and are known as mosquito fish because they largely prey on mosquito larvae. For a century, they have been used locally and globally in mosquito control. Guppies, Endler’s livebearers, and Gambusia are in the Poeciliidae family and freely interbreed in the wild. They are assumed to be in the same baramin or created kind. Their purpose in creation is often associated with harmony, balance, and abundance. It appears that the Poeciliidae family was designed with an array of …

Spatial Microsimulation Of Carbon Tax Incidence: An Application To Washington State, Nathan W. Chan, Susan Stratton Sayre

Economics: Faculty Publications

Understanding carbon tax incidence is critical. However, standard approaches for calculating the incidence of subnational policies are prone to inaccuracy due to coarse aggregation. We evaluate an alternative approach: a spatial microsimulation (SMS) method that generates granular household-level incidence estimates. SMS provides unique and more nuanced insights into the distributional consequences of carbon taxes, including across geographies. We demonstrate this method for a recent carbon tax initiative in Washington State and counterfactual variations on its revenue recycling provisions. Comparing across counterfactuals, we pinpoint how different targeting provisions in revenue recycling designs will have disparate consequences for the progressivity/regressivity of the …

Writing About A Stressful Experience Can Impair Visual Working Memory, Colton Hunter, Grant S. Shields

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Acute stress has been well-established to impair working memory. However, less is known about how writing about an unresolved stressor may influence working memory or working memory processes. We addressed these issues in the present study (N = 282) by randomly assigning participants to write about an unresolved stressful experience (stressful writing condition or the events of the previous day). We then both measured performance on a change detection task and used computational modeling to estimate the processes underlying performance: attention, capacity, and guessing bias. We found that, relative to the control condition, writing about a stressful experience impaired …

Optimal Fat-Modified Diet Duration For The Treatment Of Postoperative Chylothorax In Children, Melissa M. Winder, Stephanie Schwartz, Jason R. Buckley, Kristi L. Fogg, Megan Matiasek, Alissa Lyman, Alisa Tortorich, Kathy Holmes, Deborah U. Frank, Mandy Nasworthy, Piyagarnt E. Vichayavilas, Rebecca A. Bertrandt, Cam Kasmai, Jill C. Kuester, Tia T. Raymond, Lawrence E. Greiten, Ron W. Reeder, David K. Bailly

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Dietary modification is the mainstay of treatment for postoperative cyclothorax in children. However, optimal fat-modified diet (FMD) duration to prevent recurrence is unknown. Our aim was to determine the association between FMD duration and chylothorax recurrence.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study conducted across 6 pediatric cardiac intensive care units within the United States. Patients aged < 18 years who developed chylothorax within 30 days after cardiac surgery between January 2020 and April 2022 were included. Patients with a Fontan palliation, who died, or were lost to follow-up or within 30 days of resuming a regular diet were excluded. FMD duration was defined as the first day of a FMD when chest tube output was < 10 mL/kg/d without increasing until the resumption of a regular diet. Patients were classified into 3 groups (< 3 weeks, 3-5 weeks, >5 weeks) based on FMD duration.

Results

A total of 105 patients were included: < 3 weeks (n = 61) 3-5 weeks (n = 18), and >5 weeks (n = 26). Demographic, surgical, and hospitalization characteristics were not different across groups. In the >5 weeks group, chest tube duration was longer compared with the < 3 weeks and 3-5 weeks groups (median, 17.5 days [interquartile range, 9-31] vs 10 and 10.5 days; P = .04). …

Data Management Report July 2024, Tennessee. Department Of Disability And Aging

Compliance & System Data/Reports

This monthly report provides data on various aspects of the department's activities and programs.

Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry-Based High-Performance Distributed Sensing Empowered By A Data And Physics-Driven Neural Network, Zhaopeng Zhang, Wei Peng, Osamah Alsalman, Lingmei Ma, Jie Huang, Chen Zhu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) based distributed strain sensors are the preferred choice for achieving accurate strain measurements over extensive sensing ranges while maintaining exceptional spatial resolution. However, the simultaneous realization of high spatial resolution, high strain resolution, large strain range, and an extended sensing range presents an exceedingly challenging endeavor. In this study, we introduce and experimentally demonstrate a data and physics-driven neural network-empowered OFDR system designed to attain high-performance distributed sensing. In our experiments, we successfully maintained an impressive sensing resolution of sub-microstrain (0.91 µε) alongside a sharp spatial resolution of sub-millimeter (0.857 mm) across a 140-m sensing …

Ballc And Ballcools: Efficient Formatting And Operating For Single-Cell Dna Methylation Data, Wei Tian, Wubin Ding, Jiawei Shen, Daofeng Li, Ting Wang, Joseph R Ecker

2020-Current year OA Pubs

MOTIVATION: With single-cell DNA methylation studies yielding vast datasets, existing data formats struggle with the unique challenges of storage and efficient operations, highlighting a need for improved solutions.

RESULTS: BAllC (Binary All Cytosines) emerges as a tailored format for methylation data, addressing these challenges. BAllCools, its complementary software toolkit, enhances parsing, indexing, and querying capabilities, promising superior operational speeds and reduced storage needs.

AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: https://github.com/jksr/ballcools.

Healthy Dietary Patterns Are Associated With Exposure To Environmental Chemicals In A Pregnancy Cohort, Guoqi Yu, Ruijin Lu, Jiaxi Yang, Mohammad L Rahman, Ling-Jun Li, Dong D Wang, Qi Sun, Wei Wei Pang, Claire Guivarch, Anna Birukov, Jagteshwar Grewal, Zhen Chen, Cuilin Zhang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Healthy dietary patterns, such as the alternate Mediterranean diet and alternate Healthy Eating Index, benefit cardiometabolic health. However, several food components of these dietary patterns are primary sources of environmental chemicals. Here, using data from a racially and ethnically diverse US cohort, we show that healthy dietary pattern scores were positively associated with plasma chemical exposure in pregnancy, particularly for the alternate Mediterranean diet and alternate Healthy Eating Index with polychlorinated biphenyls and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances. The associations appeared stronger among Asian and Pacific Islanders. These findings suggest that optimizing the benefits of a healthy diet requires concerted regulatory …

Momelotinib Vs. Ruxolitinib In Myelofibrosis Patient Subgroups By Baseline Hemoglobin Levels In The Simplify-1 Trial, Vikas Gupta, Stephen Oh, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

A key hallmark of myelofibrosis is anemia, which ranges from mild to severe based on hemoglobin levels. To more clearly define outcomes with the Janus kinase (JAK) 1/JAK2/activin A receptor type 1 inhibitor momelotinib by anemia severity, we performed a descriptive post hoc exploratory analysis of the double-blind, randomized, phase 3 SIMPLIFY-1 study (NCT01969838;

Unprincipled All The Way Down, Wilfred U. Codrington Iii

Articles

In 2006, the Supreme Court issued an emergency stay order in Purcell v. Gonzalez. Sparing in words and inattentive to the realities on the ground, the opinion nevertheless made a reasonable and understandable assertion: prior to issuing relief, courts presiding over elections should take into account any harms that judicial orders might cause, particularly in the lead-up to voting, alongside other considerations unique to elections. The statement was general enough to mollify the masses in the short-term. But over the long haul, it has proven to be a vehicle through which important election decisions might be made in less than …

Childhood Maltreatment And Amygdala-Mediated Anxiety And Posttraumatic Stress Following Adult Trauma, Farah Harb, Michael T. Liuzzi, Ashley A. Huggins, E. Kate Webb, Jacklynn M. Fitzgerald, Jessica L. Krukowski, Terri A. Deroon-Cassini, Christine L. Larson

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Childhood abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual) is associated with aberrant connectivity of the amygdala, a key threat-processing region. Heightened amygdala activity also predicts adult anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, as do experiences of childhood abuse. The current study explored whether amygdala resting-state functional connectivity may explain the relationship between childhood abuse and anxiety and PTSD symptoms following trauma exposure in adults.

Methods

Two weeks posttrauma, adult trauma survivors (n = 152, mean age [SD] = 32.61 [10.35] years; women = 57.2%) completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. PTSD and anxiety …

Necrotizing Sarcoid Granulomatosis With Hepatic Involvement And Reversible Noncirrhotic Portal Hypertension., Vivek V Jasti, Adam J Hanje

Ambulatory and Primary Care Articles

Necrotizing sarcoid granulomatosis falls within the spectrum of sarcoidosis and is characterized by features of necrosis and granulomatous vasculitis. Like classical sarcoidosis, it can affect numerous organ systems, and there is a wide range of disease activity. Few cases of necrotizing sarcoid granulomatosis have been reported in the liver. We present a case of necrotizing sarcoid granulomatosis associated with noncirrhotic portal hypertension.

Library & Knowledge Services Newsletter - Summer 2024, Baystate Health Sciences Library

Library Newsletters

Library & Knowledge Services Newsletter - Summer 2024

Mathematical Methods For Economics And Business Syllabus, Marian Melnyk

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus outlines an online asynchronous course introducing essential mathematical tools and techniques in economics. It spans 24 sessions covering Functions, Differentiation, Limits, Integration, and Multivariable Functions, grounded in college algebra and calculus. The course utilizes Open Educational Resources (OER) for all materials, available in text and video formats on Blackboard. Continuous assessment, including quizzes, homework, two 1-hour tests, and a final exam, ensures consistent progress. Weekly online office hours provide additional support. The primary objective is to equip students with the mathematical skills necessary for economic analysis and problem-solving.

Water Current, Volume 56, No. 2, Summer 2024

Water Current Newsletter

No abstract provided.

It’S Heavy: Experiences Of Students From Underrepresented Communities At Grand Valley State University’S Frederik Meijer Honors College, Abigail Palmiter

Honors Projects

The present research uncovers the factors impacting the underrepresentation of minorities within the Frederik Meijer Honors College (FMHC) at Grand Valley State University. Our findings shed light on the systematic barriers’ minority students encounter during their time within the FMHC. Our qualitative data was obtained through a sample of convenience. The findings of this research are as follows: 1.) The location of the honors program building, Niemeyer Learning and Living Center, provides a barrier for students to feel included within the program; 2.) There is a negative stereotype of honors students that can cause stress on honors students; 3.) Students …

In Vitro Culture Alters Cell Lineage Composition And Cellular Metabolism Of Bovine Blastocyst, Hao Ming, Mingxiang Zhang, Sandeep Rajput, Deirdre Logsdon, Linkai Zhu, William B. Schoolcraft, Rebecca L. Krisher, Zongliang Jiang, Ye Yuan

Faculty Publications

Profiling bovine blastocyst transcriptome at the single-cell level has enabled us to reveal the first cell lineage segregation, during which the inner cell mass (ICM), trophectoderm (TE), and an undefined population of transitional cells were identified. By comparing the transcriptome of blastocysts derived in vivo (IVV), in vitro from a conventional culture medium (IVC), and in vitro from an optimized reduced nutrient culture medium (IVR), we found a delay of the cell fate commitment to ICM in the IVC and IVR embryos. Developmental potential differences between IVV, IVC, and IVR embryos were mainly contributed by ICM and transitional cells. Pathway …

Secondary School State Athletic Association Health And Safety Policy Development Processes, Susan Yeargin, Rebecca M. Hirschhorn, William M. Adams, Samantha E. Scarneo-Miller

Faculty Publications

Background: The National Federation of State High School Associations provides recommendations regarding health and safety policies; however, policy development is governed at the state level. Given interstate differences in governance, the primary purpose was to describe processes that State High School Athletic Associations (SHSAAs) utilize to develop a new policy. The secondary objective was to determine what methods associations use to implement new policies. Methods: A cross-sectional survey requested SHSAA (n = 51) representatives to report how athlete health and safety policies are introduced, revised, approved, and implemented within their state. The 22-question survey was developed to gather variables for …

Presidential Stories Of Fear: Focusing Congressional Climate Change Mitigation Attention In The United States, Holly L. Peterson, Chad Zanocco

Faculty Publications

Do presidential climate change narratives increase related congressional attention in the United States? Narrative theory says since narratives leverage cognitive heuristics, they should focus policy-making attention in institutions more efficiently than non-narrative statements. This study identifies and tests climate change statements and narratives, including those focused on solutions, or “stories of hope,” and those focused on problems and victims, “stories of fear,” for relationships with congressional attention using time series analysis. Findings suggest a relationship between narrative and hearings, but not for non-narrative statements and hearings. Furthermore, while narratives are related to hearings generally, stories of fear have larger effects, …

Navigating Technological Change And The Landscape Of Work: Past, Present, And The Future, Alexandra Lucille Y. Navarez

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

No abstract provided.

Comparing Goldin And The Philippines: Analyzing The Research Efforts In Women And Labor Economics Using Basic Text Mining Techniques, Arianna Liza Ortillan

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

No abstract provided.

Efficacy Of Tezepelumab In Patients With Severe, Uncontrolled Asthma Across Multiple Clinically Relevant Subgroups In The Navigator Study, Tara F Carr, Wendy C Moore, Monica Kraft, Guy Brusselle, Mario Castro, Geoffrey L Chupp, Michael E Wechsler, Gillian Hunter, Andrew W Lindsley, Jean-Pierre Llanos, Luke K Burke, Shradha Chandarana, Christopher S Ambrose

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Many patients with severe asthma continue to experience symptoms and exacerbations despite treatment with standard-of-care therapy. In the phase 3 NAVIGATOR study, tezepelumab significantly reduced exacerbations over 52 weeks compared with placebo in patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma. This analysis assessed the efficacy of tezepelumab in reducing asthma exacerbations in various clinically relevant subgroups of patients in NAVIGATOR.

METHODS: NAVIGATOR was a phase 3, multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Participants (12-80 years old) with severe, uncontrolled asthma were randomized 1:1 to receive tezepelumab 210 mg or placebo subcutaneously every 4 weeks for 52 weeks. Pre-specified and post hoc analyses …

Readability And Suitability Of Local Disaster Preparedness Materials In Predominantly Hispanic Border Communities: A Case Study Of Cameron County, Texas, Katarzyna Sepielak, Dawid K. Wladyka

Sociology Faculty Publications

Community awareness is a key component of disaster resilience and numerous agencies developed a plethora of preparedness materials. Previous studies evaluated national-level resources and social media content indicating that these efforts are not effectively reaching vulnerable populations, as the information is provided at or above the secondary education level. However, the local-specific content has been mostly overlooked in the analyses, subsequently neglecting the needs of areas with specific demographics and hazards, like predominantly Hispanic border communities. Thus, this study turns to local preparedness and mitigation materials, rather than general internet searches or national level documents. We analyze information provided on …

Label-Free Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Coupled With Machine Learning Algorithms In Pathogenic Microbial Identification: Current Trends, Challenges, And Perspectives, Jia Wei Tang, Quan Yuan, Xin Ru Wen, Muhammad Usman, Alfred Chin Yen Tay, Liang Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Infectious diseases caused by microbial pathogens remain a primary contributor to global health burdens. Prompt control and effective prevention of these pathogens are critical for public health and medical diagnostics. Conventional microbial detection methods suffer from high complexity, low sensitivity, and poor selectivity. Therefore, developing rapid and reliable methods for microbial pathogen detection has become imperative. Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), as an innovative non-invasive diagnostic technique, holds significant promise in pathogenic microorganism detection due to its rapid, reliable, and cost-effective advantages. This review comprehensively outlines the fundamental theories of Raman Spectroscopy (RS) with a focus on label-free SERS strategy, reporting …