Digital Commons Network^™

Poverty Experience To Address Clinical Outcomes In Community Health, Denise Isibel

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Simulation serves as a valuable augmentation to direct clinical care or practice within healthcare settings. In Community health, students spend time in a variety of agencies experiencing a variety of vulnerable populations. One issue that crosses over these populations is poverty.

The poverty rate in America is 11.1 % (Shrider, 2024).A key competency in nursing education related to population health is understanding how poverty affects patients. This simulation related to the poverty allows students to understand many people in poverty are not all homes less but live next door and may be one paycheck away from catastrophe.

The experience starts …

3d Printed Portable Automatic Pill Dispenser​, Amber M. Ocasio

Publications and Research

Medication adherence is a major public health concern, particularly among patients with chronic illnesses. Reports from the National Institutes of Health indicate that adherence rates are significantly lower for chronic conditions, with patients taking only ~50% of medications prescribed. Unintentional non-adherence—such as forgetting doses—is more prevalent (62.9%, 47.1%, 46.9%) than intentional non-adherence, and the consequences include medication waste, disease progression, reduced functional abilities, lower quality of life, and increased reliance on medical resources. Because existing automatic pill dispensers cost over $100 on average, they remain inaccessible for many lower-income patients who could benefit from such technology. This project addresses this …

The Effects Of Perceived Stress On First Responders' Job Performance While Moderating For Self-Efficacy, Diane Craig

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Stress in the workplace results in substantial economic losses for U.S. organizations. The effects of perceived stress on reducing the job performance of first responders continue to be a concern for administrators in emergency response management. Grounded in self-efficacy theory, the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the moderating effects of self efficacy on the relationship between perceived stress and job performance among U.S. first responders. The sample comprised 78 men and 65 women (N = 143) from professional response agencies in the United States. They completed the Perceived Stress Scale, Endicott Work Productivity Scale, and the …

Exploring The Academic Self-Advocacy Experiences Of African American Female College Students With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd), Temetric Reeves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Despite available resources for students with disabilities, AA female college students with ADHD continue to experience academic challenges that threaten their graduation goals. Students with ADHD are not graduating at the same level as their non-ADHD peers, which may often be due to inefficient academic self-advocacy skills that can address intersectional oppression. College students with ADHD often face academic challenges that contribute to lower graduation rates compared to their non-ADHD peers. African American women similarly experience lower graduation rates compared to their white peers. When combined, these intersecting factors highlight the compounded barriers African American female college students with ADHD …

Mental Health And Willingness To Seek Mental Health Aid In Aviation, Andrew Lynch, Giacomo Tropeano, Trenton Paige Plogher, Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

No relationship was found between aviation student mental health status and willingness to seek mental health aid; there was no difference in willingness to seek help between pilots and non-pilots.

Faculty Senate Chronicle December 4, 2025, Lisa Appeldorn

The University of Akron Faculty Senate Chronicle

Minutes for the regular meeting of The University of Akron Faculty Senate on 12/04/2025.

G6pd Deficiency, Annette C. Osias Arredondo

Honors Capstones

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is an X-linked recessive enzyme disorder affecting over 400 million people worldwide.G6PD is essential for producing NADPH, which maintains reduced glutathione (GSH)—the RBC’s primary defense against oxidative damage. When G6PD activity is low, RBCs cannot neutralize oxidants, leading to hemoglobin oxidation, Heinz body formation, and subsequent bite cells and hemolysis. Symptoms range from asymptomatic to acute hemolytic crises, especially after exposure to oxidative triggers such as infections, certain drugs, or fava beans.

Developing Outreach Strategies To Sustain Diversity And Inclusion In Interfaith Partnerships With Local Government, Dora Muhammad

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Local government has been hindered by a lack of sustained interfaith engagement. Faith leaders have not been consistent stakeholders in policymaking decisions. This gap in practice stemmed from a lack of research of self-transcendence within public administrative settings. Grounded in a review of 70 years of research into the conceptual framework of government needs analysis, this study’s purpose was to explore principles and concepts of civic engagement and partnership shared among faiths. Qualitative research was designed to answer, “How do faith leaders describe the current civic participation, partnership, diversity, and inclusive strategies within their faith communities as they relate to …

Facility Usage On The International Space Station, Justin St. P. Walsh, Rao Hamza Ali, Ryan Shihabi, Erik Linstead

Art Faculty Articles and Research

Science experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) and in future space habitats require “facilities,” as they are known to space agencies, as the core building blocks of the research capabilities they provide. Facilities are experimental apparatus that enable research, often (but not always) used for more than one experiment, such as centrifuges, furnaces, gloveboxes, freezers, and more. The US Orbital Segment of the ISS has been home to 191 such facilities, belonging to four of the five ISS international partner agencies as well as private companies, in its 25 years of continuous operation. Until now, there has been no …

A Quality Improvement Project: Faculty Education On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Principles, Ashley Mcdoulett

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

According to the literature, social injustices, inequities, and implicit bias influence health outcomes in marginalized populations. To eliminate health disparities, nurses should be prepared to provide care that addresses these issues, and faculty should be able to effectively integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles into the nursing curriculum. A literature review suggests the integration of DEI into nursing education is lacking, and by offering an educational session for faculty on best practices for curriculum incorporation, this project aimed to address that gap. The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) model guided this project. RE-AIM emphasizes targeting a population to …

Responding To The Association Of Secondhand Tobacco Smoke And Mental Illness: A Systematic Review, Pooja Bhattarai, Bassema Abu-Farsakh, Chizimuzo T.C. Okoli

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Background: Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure represents a significant yet often overlooked public health challenge affecting over a billion people globally (World Health Organization 2021). Individuals exposed to SHS exposure inhale over 7,000 chemicals, including nicotine and other toxic substances, which adversely impact physical health (Carreras et al., 2019; Nadhiroh et al., 2020; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2024). However, growing evidence suggests SHS exposure may increase the likelihood of poor mental health outcomes (Van der Eijk & Woh 2023, Zeng et al., 2016) Addressing SHS exposure not only requires acknowledging its impact but also respecting the …

Revolutionizing Nursing Informatics: Using Ai For Students To Develop Ehr Alerts And Faculty Grading, Barbara Kupferschmid, Rhonda Rae Schoville, Jeffrey Drake

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Problem: Nurses need to develop specialized knowledge and competence to optimize the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. This study evaluates the use of AI in a Nursing Informatics graduate-level course assignment focused on designing an EHR alert. The evaluation focuses on both students and faculty. Students conducted a literature search with AI tools and compared them to other databases. AI was also used to create an alert design and workflow analysis. Faculty used AI to grade the assignment utilizing a rubric.

Methods: An IRB-exempt retrospective descriptive design was used with a convenience sample of 103 Doctor of Nurse Practitioner …

Wmu Board Of Trustee Board Meeting, Thursday December 4, 2025, Wmu Board Of Trustees

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

• Acceptance of the Agenda
• Approval of the Minutes (October 30, 2025)
• Remarks by the Chair of the Board
• Remarks by the President
• Updates by the Faculty Senate President
• Updates by the Western Student Association President
• Updates by the Graduate Student Association President
• Presentation: The Voice of Bronco Success
• Public Comments Regarding Action Items

Action Items

Student Housing and Meal Rates 2026/27

Consent Items

Curriculum Proposals

Personnel Report

• General Public Comments

Breaking The Five-Year Barrier: Essential Tactics For Long-Term Small Business Sustainability And Growth, Tanesha L. Ford Dr., Carol-Anne Faint Ph.D, Rocky J. Dwyer Dr.

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

This study explores the sustainability and growth of small businesses beyond the critical 5-year mark, a pivotal milestone often associated with survival challenges. Active business owners within the United States often shut down their operations due to reduced revenues and operational challenges, including the multifaceted factors influencing long-term success. The study places a particular emphasis on effective training strategies by examining the intersection of sustainability and training to identify actionable insights for owners of small business to enhance their resilience and longevity in today’s dynamic economic landscape.

Ai-Driven Sustainable Textile Waste Utilization In New York State: Part I, Kyshia Anderson, Alyssa Dana Adomaitis

Publications and Research

While technology and awareness are advancing, a significant lack persists in how New York State utilizes innovative reports and enveloping contexts to envision solutions for textile waste, particularly evident in the context of interdisciplinary collaboration among fashion, technology, and construction design, a challenge that remains even with New York State's historical efforts in textile waste utilization (Tonjes, Manzur, Wang, Firmansyah, Rahman, Walker, Lee, Thomas, Johnston, Ly, Medina, Shi, Srivastava, Tucker, Maung, Thyberg, & Hewitt, 2024). Despite a more than nine hundred (900) percent increase in textile waste between 1960 and 2018, from 1,760,000 tons to 17,030,000 tons, current alternatives like …

Asian College Students' Well-Being During A Period Of Rising Anti-Asian Sentiment, Kyuhan Choi, Ying Shi, Maria Zhu

Center for Policy Research

We use a large survey of students in U.S. colleges to study the distinct ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying anti-Asian rhetoric shaped the experiences of Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs). Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that the pandemic led to Asian students experiencing more discrimination, feeling less safe during the day, and using fewer mental health services compared to White peers. The increase in discrimination and the perceived lower safety are concentrated among East and Southeast Asians, while South Asians were not affected. Despite these effects, we detect no relative deterioration in severe psychological distress or …

Comprehensive Analysis Platform To Understand, Remedy, And Eliminate Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Capture Als): Study Protocol For A Canadian Multicenter, Multimodal, Longitudinal Observational Study, Natalie Saunders, Claire Magnussen, Hyungmo Kang, Mathieu Blais, Harpreet Bhinder, Gerald Pfeffer, Shelagh K. Genuis, Liziane Bouvier, Tanushka Anand, Tania M. Bubela

Office of the Provost

Background: The marked heterogeneity of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) combined with a lack of biomarkers are key contributing factors to the lack of disease-modifying treatments. The Comprehensive Analysis Platform to Understand Remedy and Eliminate ALS (CAPTURE ALS) is a Canadian platform designed to create the most comprehensive picture of people living with ALS with the objective of facilitating ALS research initiatives worldwide.
Objectives: The main aims of CAPTURE ALS include: (1) to characterize ALS and healthy controls with biosamples and data in order to provide the most comprehensive picture of individuals living with ALS to date; (2) to create a …

Edward Lowe - Part 1, Mark Naison, Steven Payne

Oral Histories

In 1960, Lowe’s parents moved to Paulding Avenue, and they lived right next to the Fordham Rose Hill campus and the Bronx Zoo. At this time, Lowe’s mother had recently graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1954, and was now getting her Masters in law at Columbia University. When he wasn’t bothering his mother studying, Lowe and his friends would often play around Paulding Avenue, visiting the Rose Hill campus and the Bronx Zoo. He also had a sister named Leslie and they both went to PS 59 on 183rd and Bathgate together. His family then moved to Teaneck, New …

Evaluating The Risk And Etiological Factors Of Relative Energy Deficiency In Sport (Red-S) In Collegiate Female Wrestlers, Cari Barrett

Doctorate in Kinesiology

Becoming a collegiate athlete requires physical, mental, and emotional preparation through sport-specific training and nutritional strategies, which are critical for peak performance. However, many female athletes, particularly those in weight-sensitive sports, struggle to meet energy needs, increasing the risk of low energy availability (LEA) and relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). This study examined RED-S risk and its etiological factors among female collegiate wrestlers at two time points: preseason and in-season. Fifteen female collegiate wrestlers from a local university completed self-reported questionnaires and anthropometric assessments during both phases. The Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q) assessed physiological symptoms of …

Equity-Aware Natural Hazards Resilience Assessment And Improvement Of Road Networks, Naqib Mashrur

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As climate change intensifies the frequency and severity of hurricanes, the resulting flood events pose escalating threats to transportation infrastructure and community well-being. This dissertation addresses the intersection of flood resilience, network connectivity, and social equity by integrating principles from network analysis, equity planning, and disaster resilience. The research begins by examining the social dimensions of accessibility loss during hurricane-induced flooding. Spatial and demographic analysis reveals that Native American and Hispanic populations in the case study region experience the most significant reductions in access to essential service facilities, highlighting inequities in systems.

Investigating a region southern Louisiana road network demonstrates …

Optimizing Clinical Monitoring And Management Guidelines For Capivasertib In Hr-Positive/Her2-Negative Advanced Breast Cancer: Expert Opinion, Neil M Iyengar, Joyce A O'Shaughnessy, Heather N Moore, Erika Hamilton, Komal L Jhaveri, Cynthia X Ma, Karen Tedesco, Monali Vasekar, Sarah Donahue, Hope S Rugo

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Capivasertib, an AKT inhibitor, approved in combination with fulvestrant for hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative advanced breast cancer with ≥1 PIK3CA, AKT1, and/or PTEN alterations, significantly improved progression-free survival in the CAPItello-291 phase 3 trial. However, capivasertib-associated adverse events of diarrhea, rash, and hyperglycemia may require proactive management. This article provides practical recommendations to support prevention and early intervention to optimize adherence and treatment outcomes.

Brain Metabolic-Functional (De)Coupling From Health To Glioma Dysfunction, G Vallini, G Baron, E Silvestri, T Volpi, A G Vlassenko, M S Goyal, A Chiuso, D Cecchin, M Corbetta, A Bertoldo

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The interplay between brain metabolism and function supports the brain's adaptive capacity in cognitively demanding processes. Prior work has linked glucose metabolism to resting-state fMRI activity, but often overlooks both hemodynamic confounders in the BOLD signal and the brain's dynamic nature. To address this, we employed a novel effective connectivity decomposition, separating symmetric partial covariance, capturing "true" statistical dependencies between regions, from antisymmetric differential covariance, reflecting directional brain flow. In 42 healthy subjects, we show that partial covariance corresponds to metabolic connectivity across regions, while node directionality relates to standardized uptake value ratio, a proxy for local glucose consumption. We …

Comparing Isocitrate Dehydrogenase Inhibitors With Procarbazine, Lomustine, And Vincristine Chemotherapy For Oligodendrogliomas, Gerardo Duran, Diego Pichardo-Rojas, Ahmed Hashim Ali, Peter Passias, Angela Downes, Wilson Z Ray, Gregory J Zipfel, Hakeem J Shakir, Andrew Bauer, Andrew Jea, Ian F Dunn, Jeffrey A Zuccato, Christopher S Graffeo, M Burhan Janjua

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The abstract has been submitted for presentation to the AANS 2026 meeting being held in San Antonio, TX, USA.

Universal School Meal Policies And Perceived Stigma: Quantitative Evidence From Eight Us States, Dania Orta-Aleman, Monica D. Zuercher, Leah Chapman, Marlene B. Schwartz, Caitlin D. French, Anisha I. Patel, Lorrene D. Ritchie, Juliana Cohen, Wendi Gosliner

Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Universal school meals (USMs) policies, which provide free meals to all students regardless of income, have the potential to improve child nutrition and reduce stigma. Quantitative evidence on the association between USM and stigma is limited.

Methods

Leveraging a natural policy variation in state‐level USM implementation, we surveyed 1066 middle and high school students from eight US states (four with USM, four without) during the 2022–2023 school year. Stigma was measured as self‐reported embarrassment about eating school lunch. We used generalized estimating equations to examine the associations between USM, embarrassment, and lunch participation.

Results

Overall about one in nine …

Hawk's Herald -- December 4, 2025, Roger Williams University

Hawk's Herald

No abstract provided.

Strategies Leaders Use To Reduce Voluntary Attrition Among Employees With Access To Wellness Programs, Cara Murray

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Voluntary employee attrition presents ongoing challenges for organizational leaders, particularly among employees whose workplace needs and preferences are unmet. The problem is that many leaders lack effective strategies to mitigate voluntary attrition, which negatively impacts productivity, morale, and overall organizational performance. Grounded in the job demands–resources model and wellness climate theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry project was to explore strategies leaders used to reduce voluntary employee attrition among employees who have access to workplace wellness programs. The participants were six organizational leaders from mid-sized and public-sector organizations who successfully mitigated voluntary attrition. Data were collected through semistructured …

Changing Trends In Paediatric Acute Respiratory Infections: Pre- And Post-Covid-19 Presenting To An Emergency Department In An Academic Tertiary Hospital In Oman, Awatif K Alsarrai Al-Alawi, Aalia Adnan Alwahshi, Darpanarayan Hazra, Usama Al Khalasi, Amal Al-Shibli, Azhaar Al Harrasi, Sumaira Iram

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted seasonal paediatric respiratory infections due to widespread non-pharmaceutical interventions, sharply reducing viral circulation. This study aimed to compare paediatric viral acute respiratory infection (ARI) patterns and outcomes pre- and post-COVID-19 using hospital-based data from Oman. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Paediatric Emergency Department, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital in Muscat, Oman. Paediatric patients who underwent PCR testing for respiratory viruses before (December 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019) and after (April 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023) the pandemic. Quantitative data is presented as means ± standard deviations and qualitative data as …

Cyshcn: Religion And Spirituality With Qol Theoretical Frameworks, Translating Knowledge, Julia Dankanich

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Background: There are 14 million U.S. children with a special health care need. Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) are a broad, unique subgroup of children with diverse experiences with medical, psychosocial, and behavioral challenges. Children rating themselves as being more spiritual, but not religious, rated themselves as happier compared to children who were less spiritual. However, quality of life (QoL) scores are lower for CYSHCN. Factors influencing QoL for CYSHCN and their caregivers are incompletely understood. Religion and spirituality for CYSHCN and their caregivers impacting QoL is understudied. Research on QoL with theorical frameworks in this …

The Effects Of Resilience Enhancing Nursing Program Among Pregnant Teenagers, Thailand, Ampaiwan Boonkaewwan, Umaporn Kuasit, Nantiya Khoynueng, Ratchneewan Ross

Biennial Convention (CONV)

The situation of teenage pregnancy in Chawang district, Thailand has become a significant problem and of social concern. Teenage pregnant women who lack resilience are more likely to face adversity, including the risks and complications associated with physical and mental health.

A quasi-experimental one group pre-post test repeated measures design was used to test the effects of a resilience enhancing nursing program on resilience, knowledge of contraception, and the decision-making of contraceptive use during the postpartum among pregnant teenagers, Chawang district, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. Purposive sampling was used to select 20 adolescent pregnancies based on the inclusion criteria. The …

Scheduled Nurse-Led Visits: Responding To Specialty Care Access Limitations In Neuroscience Clinics, Charlene Grace Alforque Platon, Teresa Bell-Stephens, Cynthia Dorantes Cortez, Briana Williams, Chrystal L. Lewis

Biennial Convention (CONV)

BACKGROUND: As a result of high demand, outpatient clinics nationwide are pressured to effectively serve more patients.¹ Registered nurse (RN) interventions,² including RN-led visits (LV), have emerged as a strategy to increase quality patient care. RN-LVs encompass a wide range of services, including disease management,³ treatment follow-up,⁴ patient education,1 and care coordination.2 RN-LVs are not conducted by advanced practice nurses;⁵ however, RN-LVs demonstrate promising patient outcomes. The impact of these visits on patient access remains underreported within the ambulatory specialty care setting.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to elucidate ambulatory RNs’ experiences with …