Digital Commons Network^™

Service Disruptions In Early Intervention Amid Covid-19: Understanding Challenges Faced By Families And Providers, Tiana T. Nguyen, Samantha Mong, Juliana Lainez, Domenique Embrey

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Infants at risk for developmental delays require early intervention (EI) services to support their development. However, many families face barriers to receiving services, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: This qualitative study examined how COVID-19 impacted access to EI therapy services from the perspectives of families and EI providers in the San Francisco Bay Area. The study aimed to identify existing barriers and new pandemic-specific challenges to inform strategies for improving continuity and quality of EI care during future service disruptions.

Methods: Semi-structured virtual interviews were conducted with caregivers of eligible infants and EI providers. …

Theme Park Experiences Of Families With A Disabled Child Regarding Accessibility And Participation: Mixed Methods Study, Kylie Allan, Karen Park

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Despite the large number of children with disabilities, there is little research focused on the experiences families with a child who has a disability have while at theme parks. Both play and leisure participation offer meaningful opportunities for self-expression and can support skill acquisition and building social connections, particularly in family-oriented environments, like amusement parks.

Methods: Using environmental assessments, surveys, and semi-structured interviews, this mixed-methods study explored the experiences of these families, specifically looking at accessibility and participation in the theme park environment. Thirty-seven parents and guardians completed the online survey, while 10 individuals also elected to …

The Impact Of Computer Training On Confidence And Occupational Participation In Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Alicia Jones, Joseph A. Scazzero, Rosanne Dizazzo-Miller

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: It is fundamental to understand why older adults choose and use technology to fully understand how to meet the needs of an aging population in a technologically advanced society. This research aimed to design and implement a holistic technology training program for older adults that explores using a laptop beyond basic internet use.

Method: A pre-post mixed-method survey study took place at a local senior center. A classroom-style program was designed to deliver information and instruction using a digital device. An 11-item survey on attitudes toward technology using a 7-point Likert scale with qualitative responses was used to collect …

A Retrospective Study Correlating Omsq-12 And Quickdash Scores Of Post-Operative Upper Extremity Patients, Sabrina Nassir, Mariem Metry, Yuju R. Huang

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: This retrospective study aimed to identify a correlation between the Örebro Musculoskeletal Screening Questionnaire (ÖMSQ-12) and Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) of postoperative male patients with elbow and or wrist/hand conditions. The study aimed to discover how an individual’s comorbidities affect overall functionality over 6 weeks of treatment at Select Physical Therapy Hand Therapy in Orange, CA.

Methods: Data collected from male workers' compensation patients (N = 43) aged 20-50 years with elbow and/or wrist/hand conditions from January 1, 2021, to January 1, 2025, were included. Throughout a patient's therapy experience, they are …

The Content Validity Of The Functional Cognition Index In Instrumental Activities Of Daily Living (Fci-Iadl) As A Screening Tool For Mild Cognitive Impairment (Mci) In Older Adults In Singapore, Namrata P. Sadarangani, Phyllis Simon

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a syndrome that is considered a transition phase between healthy cognitive aging and dementia. The person may have subjective memory complaints, substantiated by family or caregiver and/or impaired executive function, that lead to difficulties performing complex Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). Our objective was to develop a tool to assess functional cognition in IADLs as a screen for MCI in older adults.

Method: A Qualtrics survey questionnaire was rated by 15 content experts on the relevance of the 22 test item questions to the cognitive domains being measured using a 4-point …

Reframing Occupational Therapy In A Reactive Health System Through Prevention And Caregiver Training, Rosanne Dizazzo-Miller

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

This article explores the expanding role of occupational therapy in chronic disease management, prevention, and caregiver supported care. Occupational therapy is uniquely positioned to support health promotion and caregiver training but remains underused in prevention-focused health care models. Current literature from the Open Journal of Occupational Therapy highlights the importance of caregiver training, the systemic barriers limiting occupational therapy's role in chronic disease management, and the need for the profession to embrace a broader role within this area of practice.

Self-Reported Confidence Of Dpt Students In Assessing And Treating Different Body Regions Within Musculoskeletal Physical Therapy Practice, Scott W. Lowe, Jennifer Wiley

The Journal of Integrated Primary Care

Introduction

This study examined Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) students' self-reported confidence in assessing and treating musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions based on body regions. We hypothesized that there would be identifiable differences in self-perceived confidence across the different body regions. Most literature assessing DPT students' readiness for clinical practice has come from the perspective of educators and clinicians, whereas student perspectives have not been reported.

Methods:

The study is a descriptive, observational online survey.  Participants were final-year DPT students in the United States. Participants rated their comfort level in assessing and treating patients with MSK complaints, both in general and specifically …

A Mixed-Methods Pilot Investigation Of Act Workshops In Integrated Primary Care, Katherine Buckheit, Kyle Possemato, Mara Sindoni, Luke Mitzel, Niranjala Yogaratnam, Allyson Smith, Lilian Dindo

The Journal of Integrated Primary Care

Mental health symptoms are prevalent and associated with considerable disease burden. However, most individuals who would benefit from mental health treatment do not receive appropriate care. Barriers such as logistical challenges and stigma often prevent access to traditional services. Alternative delivery modalities and settings may reduce these barriers. This pilot study evaluated the acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of single day Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) workshops delivered in a non-traditional setting, integrated primary care. Acceptability was operationalized as  treatment engagement and treatment satisfaction. Preliminary effectiveness was operationalized as within-condition change in mental health symptoms. Participants were 32 Veterans Affairs (VA) …

Small Cell Lung Cancer In A Never-Smoking Patient: A Case Highlighting Diagnostic And Screening Gaps In Primary Care, Edward Hamilton, Alexandra She, Francis Jenney

The Journal of Integrated Primary Care

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is best known in relation to tobacco exposure and tends to be seen in advanced disease. Contemporary guidelines in lung cancer screening demonstrate a strong emphasis on smoking exposure, which may serve as a barrier to recognition in never-smokers who lack conventional risk factors. As a result, SCLC in never-smokers remains an important but underrecognized consideration in general and primary care settings. The current case involves a 65-year-old African American man who has never been a smoker but who presented with progressive thoracic pain, shortness of breath, and unintended weight loss, leading to the discovery …

System For Diagram Generation With Decoupled Logical Interpretation And Deterministic Rendering, Timothy Jabez, Arindam Sirohia, Stenal P. Jolly, Shreya Prabhu

Defensive Publications Series

A system for diagram generation can address potential limitations where logical interpretation and visual rendering are coupled, which could lead to inconsistent outputs. The system can employ a decoupled, multi-stage pipeline. For example, a first processing stage using artificial intelligence can transform an unstructured user input into a platform-agnostic intermediate logical artifact that defines a diagram's components and connections without spatial or visual information. Subsequently, a separate layout and rendering engine can process this logical artifact to calculate spatial positions and generate a visual diagram. This separation of logical interpretation from visual rendering may improve the reliability and accuracy of …

System And Method For Zero Copy Machine Learning Inference Using Non Owning Shared Memory Model Views, Faiz Ahmed

Defensive Publications Series

A system and method are disclosed that eliminate model loading in machine learning inference by enabling inference processes to operate directly on a shared, already‑resident model representation, wherein trained model parameters are stored as native binary structures in operating‑system managed shared memory and are accessed by inference processes through non‑owning typed memory views that require no allocation, copying, or deserialization; the shared memory region serves as the authoritative representation of the model and includes a control header and a plurality of model slots arranged in a double‑buffered configuration, wherein model updates are performed by writing a model into an inactive …

A System And Method For Data Replication With Agentic Timestamp-Based Conflict Resolution In Rdbms Cluster, Ravi Shanker Kumar Sinha

Defensive Publications Series

A system and method for autonomous data replication with conflict resolution in a distributed relational database management system (RDBMS) cluster includes a plurality of RDBMS nodes arranged in a mesh topology, wherein each RDBMS node maintains a local database, a logical clock, and a node identifier. A replication agent associated with each RDBMS node monitors change logs and propagates record modifications to other RDBMS nodes through bi-directional replication links. A conflict resolution module detects concurrent updates to a same record from different RDBMS nodes and resolves detected conflicts by comparing logical timestamps and selecting an update having a higher timestamp …

Media-Baked Convergent First-Boot Network Bring-Up, Gustavo Matthew Assuncao

Defensive Publications Series

This document discloses, enables, and dates a method and system for driving a freshly imaged bare-metal server from power-on to a single-homed, remotely reachable management state without any console interaction, any human network operator, and — critically — without any cloud or on-network metadata source. A generator bakes a per-node convergence agent directly into the operating-system install media under the vendor-supplement ($OEM$) payload path. During installation the OS setup engine copies that agent onto the target file system. A tiny first-boot script then registers a privileged (SYSTEM) scheduled task that re-executes an idempotent convergence agent on every subsequent boot until …

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Verify-First Phase Autopilot With Out-Of-Band Differential Diagnosis, Gustavo Matthew Assuncao

Defensive Publications Series

This document discloses, in enabling detail, an autonomous and self-healing bare-metal deployment autopilot. The system drives an end-to-end deployment pipeline through a single uniform per-phase contract — attempt(phase, max, work, verify, heal) — that verifies the desired state before performing any work, performs the phase's work at most once, and on continued failure either remediates and retries or hard-escalates to a human. Verifying first makes every phase idempotent and turns an interrupted run into a resumable one at no extra cost. The defensible element of this disclosure is the mechanism by which the autopilot remediates a node whose in-band control …

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Self-Wiping Winpe With A Parked Shell: A Fail-Closed Single-Disk Clean Injected Into Boot.Wim For Unattended Remote Re-Image, Gustavo Matthew Assuncao

Defensive Publications Series

This document discloses, in enabling detail, a fail-closed mechanism for unattended, fully-remote re-imaging of bare-metal servers whose primary disk already carries an operating system, controlled only through an out-of-band management controller that exposes no remote keystroke channel. A user-mode edit of the Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) boot image injects a shell manifest (winpeshl.ini) and a launcher script that cleans the partition table of Disk 0 only before the OS installer runs, then parks the shell forever in a sleep loop because the installer entrypoint is a stub that returns before the operating system has been applied. The build step re-extracts …

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Traffic-Quiescence Virtual-Media Eject: Inferring Bare-Metal Os-Install Progress From Bmc Iso-Fetch Telemetry, Gustavo Matthew Assuncao

Defensive Publications Series

This document discloses, as enabling public prior art, a method and system for driving an unattended bare-metal operating-system (OS) installation to completion by inferring install progress from the network traffic that a server's out-of-band management controller (BMC) generates while it streams the installation image over virtual media. A range-capable HTTP ISO server instruments every byte-range request per served file into a compact {bytes, requests, last-read} record. A dual-threshold traffic-quiescence rule — a primary rule (image byte floor reached AND read activity quiet for a short window) plus a low-water/long-quiet fallback and a hard-timeout safety fallback — concludes that the image-apply …

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Distributed Computation Of Graph Structures By Mobile Agents, Prabhat Kumar Chand

Doctoral Theses

This thesis investigates how mobile agents with no centralised control can be employed in anonymous networks to perform efficient distributed graph computations. The network is modelled as a simple, undirected, anonymous graph with n nodes and m edges, where nodes are memoryless and indistinguishable, and edges represent bidirectional communication links or traversal paths for the agents. The mobile agents are uniquely identifiable, possess limited local memory, and operate under a local communication model, in which communication is restricted to agents colocated at the same node. Under this computational model, we explore how mobile agents can collaborate effectively to solve global …

Language Proficiency And Moves In Turkish And English Research Abstracts, Engin Evrim Önem

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The primary function of the abstract within a research article is to convince readers of the study's significance, encapsulating specific details such as its purpose, methodology, results, and discussions and/or conclusions. Notably, scholarly attention has been directed towards the rhetorical structures employed in abstracts found in scientific journals, as authors are believed to employ diverse structures to present their articles in an engaging manner that captures readers' interest. The varied rhetorical structures used in research article abstracts are often referred to as ``moves''. This study investigated the impact of language proficiency and translation on these moves. Six Ph.D. students from …

Negotiating Laughter: Power, Gender, And Classroom Discourse In Pakistani University Settings, Maheen Zahra, Rahat Bashir, Kanwal Zahra

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The aim of this study is to explore how laughter is used as an interactional and socially situated discourse in Pakistani university classrooms at different academic levels. A total of 29 episodes of laughter, out of 32 observed classrooms, were documented through detailed field notes, analyzing how the laughter was initiated, processed, and regulated within the classroom. The findings revealed that laughter is not only an expression of amusement, but it is also a complicated communicative discourse, which is used as a pedagogical tool to maintain power hierarchies and relations as per socio-cultural norms. At the undergraduate level, laughter usually …

The Interrelation Between Technology And Art In ``Brave New World'' And ``Never Let Me Go'', Nubar Aghalarova

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper examines the role of technology and art in dystopian literature and their interrelation in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005). Both dystopian novels depict the societies where technological advancements profoundly influence and control human life, creativity, and individuality. In Brave New World, technology is used to control and dehumanize individuals and to achieve social stability. Art is limited to suppress humans' emotions and self-expression as the world controllers want to do everything that they can erase the past. In Never Let Me Go, technology plays an important role in …

Contrasting Utopias: A Comparative Analysis Of Societal Ideals In Sir Thomas More's Utopia And Nizami Ganjavi's Iskandarname, Turkan Elbayiyeva

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The notion of an ideal society has long been a central theme in literature across diverse cultures and epochs. Originating in Plato's Republic in the fourth century B.C., the concept evolved through various literary genres and styles. Notable contributions emerged from both Western and Eastern traditions, exemplified respectively by Sir Thomas More's Utopia (1516) and Nizami Ganjavi's Iskandarname (12th century). This article undertakes a comparative analysis of these works, examining their portrayals of individual life, economy, religion, governance, and justice. Both Utopia and Iskandarname underscore the importance of nature, animals, and human relationships, emphasizing harmony and peace in society. They …

Analyzing Atmospheric Vortices On The Martian Surface, Francis Quinn, Noah Hoblet, Rachel Clark, Racine D. Cleveland, Brian Jackson

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

For this project, we are estimating the frequency of dust devils on Mars using data from the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. Dust devils are rotating columns of air that form when uneven surface heating, caused by solar insolation, creates localized instability. The resulting vortex produces a characteristic dip in atmospheric pressure. To detect these dips in atmospheric pressure, we have analyzed data collected by the MEDA (Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer) sensor suite aboard the Perseverance rover. Using Python-based tools, we tailor code to visualize the meteorological data (e.g, pressure and temperature) to find dips in pressure that may correspond to …

Precious Pattern: The Dotted-Diamond Motif In Indigenous American Textiles, Explorations In Mesoamerica, The American Southwest, And The Andes, Billie J. A. Follensbee, Lois Martin

Zea E-Books Collection

No abstract provided.

Safe, Secure, And Affordable? The State Of Household Water Insecurity In California, Melissa Beresford, Wendy Jepson, Jeremiah Osborne-Gowey, Kristin Dobbin, Amanda Fencl, Silvia R. González, Gregory Pierce

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

California's efforts to advance the Human Right to Water are constrained by limited household-level data on water insecurity. Using the 2021 CalSpeaks statewide probability survey (n = 628) this study offers the first representative look at water insecurity across California households. Results reveal significant water-related struggles: approximately 23% of respondents worried about having enough water to meet their household needs, 15% worried about perceived health impacts from water quality, and 7% struggled with affordability. Negative binomial regression models show that water insecurity is not randomly distributed: households with non-white residents, households which rely on private or small water companies for …

Community Health Workers’ Experiences Distributing Harm Reduction Supplies During Covid-19 In The Barren River Area Development District, Angel Nichole Shoemake

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community health workers (CHWs) distributing sterile injecting equipment help reduce infectious disease transmission among people who inject drugs; however, limited research exists regarding their experiences delivering harm reduction services during public health emergencies in rural areas. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore CHWs’ experiences and perceptions of health risks, operational barriers, and social influences affecting harm reduction service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Barren River Area Development District. The health belief model guided this study, emphasizing perceived susceptibility, severity, barriers, benefits, and self-efficacy. Data were collected through semistructured Zoom interviews with eight purposively sampled CHWs …

Examining Hiv Testing In Black Americans In The Southern United States: Association Between Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Healthcare Access, And Hiv High-Risk Behaviors, Shavon Wolfe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Examining factors that affect HIV testing in the Black/African American population is important because socioeconomic hardship, stigma, and restricted access to healthcare all lead to gaps in early diagnosis and prevention treatment to prevent further spread of infection. However, most studies have focused on these factors separately, leaving less understanding of how they work together to influence HIV testing behavior. Guided by the health belief model, this study examined the relationship between sexual orientation, gender identity, healthcare access, and HIV high-risk behaviors. The study examined the relationship between sexual orientation, gender identity, healthcare access, and HIV testing, and the influence …

Increasing Patient Education On Obesity, Claire Maddux, Linda Hughes

Group: Nebraska Methodist College

Obesity is a prevalent and undertreated chronic disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality, yet patient education and engagement in treatment remain limited in primary care. This quality improvement project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief, theory-driven educational handout in improving patient knowledge, self-awareness, and readiness to engage in obesity-related care. The intervention was implemented in a Midwestern primary care clinic and targeted adult patients with a body mass index of 30 or greater. Participants were provided with an educational handout and completed pre- and post-handout tests assessing knowledge of obesity etiology, risks, and treatment options, as well …

More Than Companionship: How Dogs May Improve Human Well-Being, Andrew Rowan

WellBeing News

Dogs enrich our lives in countless ways, but studies indicate that dog ownership is associated with improved cardiovascular outcomes and longer survival after major heart events. Explore what the science says in this article.

No-Boundary Wave Function For Chain-Inflation, Sutikshna Singhdeo

University Departments

This thesis explores the fundamental boundary conditions of the universe within the framework of canonical quantum cosmology, critically examin-ing the mathematical prescriptions that dictate its initial state. Central to this work is a comparative analysis of the Hartle-Hawking No-Boundary proposal and Vilenkin's Tunneling solution. While the Hartle-Hawking Eu-clidean path integral elegantly replaces the initial singularity with a smooth geometric cap, semiclassical approximations reveal a severe phenomeno-logical flaw: it exponentially favors a low-energy, empty universe over the high-energy state required to trigger slow-roll inflation. To resolve this, the study evaluates Vilenkin's Tunneling solution, which enforces an outgoing-wave boundary condition that naturally …

Exercise Training Prior To And During Cancer In Mice Preserves Muscle Mass, Reduces Tumour Weight And Suppresses Molecular Mediators Of Cachexia, Stavroula Tsitkanou, Pieter J. Koopmans, Ana Regina Cabrera, Nathan Serrano, Calvin S. Peterson, Ruqaiza Muhyudin, Zain B. Malik, Micah Goeke, Eleanor R. Schrems, Francielly Morena, Yuan Wen, Tyrone A. Washington, Kevin A. Murach, Nicholas P. Greene

Physiology Faculty Publications

Abstract: We investigated the prophylactic effects of exercise before and during cancer cachexia (CC) using a model designed to mimic endurance and resistance (i.e., concurrent) adaptations. Male and female Balb/c mice were randomly assigned to exercise or control groups whereby exercise groups were subjected to an 8-week voluntary progressive weighted wheel running (PoWeR) programme of habitual loading-mediated physical activity beginning at 8 weeks of age. At 16 weeks of age, mice were injected bilaterally with colon-26 adenocarcinoma (C26) cells or phosphate-buffered saline, and exercise training was maintained throughout disease progression. Twenty-five days post-tumour induction, we assessed whole-body and muscle phenotype, …