Digital Commons Network^™

Nonlinear Filtering Of Classical And Quantum Spin Systems, Sivaguru S. Sritharan, Saba Mudaliar

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Artworks: Art As Occupation, Erin Barrus

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

A collaborative effort from various artists at MRC artWorks located in Kalamazoo, MI contributed to the cover art for the Winter 2024 issue of the Open Journal of Occupational Therapy (OJOT). MRC Industries is a non-profit organization that focuses on supporting individuals with developmental disabilities, cognitive or emotional impairments or illnesses, and people who have experienced traumatic brain injuries. One particular program has become a staple in the Kalamazoo community – MRC artWorks, a professional working art studio for adults with disabilities to learn skills, both physical and emotional, through art instruction and art-making.

Exploring The Spiritual Alliance Of Maintaining A 5-Acre Tropical Farm Through The Lens Of Occupational Engagement, Jose Rafols, Amy Wagenfeld

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Large-scale commercial farmers and small scale “hobby” farmers engage in growing crops for subsistence and survival for themselves, their families, communities, and beyond. Their reverence and passion for farming make them good stewards of both community and world population nourishment. We suggest there may be a collective physical, emotional, and spiritual draw to farming that is interwoven with occupational engagement. Through a personal narrative approach, we reflect on the meaning and the work-focused occupation of farming and specifically how spirituality may be a guiding force that supports engagement despite seemingly insurmountable environmental and personal hardships. With an increasing interest in …

Occupational Therapists' Role In Sexual Education For Teens And Young Adults Living With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Taylor M. Urban, Reeti R. Douglas

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Teens and young adults living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not have equal access to sexual education, thus having lower sexual awareness, little knowledge of preventative sexual health care, and having a more difficult time reading sexual body language (Hannah & Stagg, 2016; Holmes et al., 2019; Mogavero & Hsu, 2020). Deficits in these and many other skills may make it more challenging for teens and young adults living with ASD to engage in an intimate or sexual relationship with a consenting partner. Skilled intervention on the occupation of sexual activity and its related dimensions, such as communication and …

When Music Becomes Me: Occupational Therapy’S Role In Caring For Upper Extremity Disorders In Musicians, Kathryn S. Halsted, Kristin Biggins, Kimberly Davis

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Musicians are a distinct population with a high rate of developing musculoskeletal and neurological disorders affecting their ability to participate in music-based occupations. These injuries negatively affect the musician’s health and well-being in physical, financial, psychosocial, and emotional dimensions. Given music’s complex and integrated role in the musicians’ life, treatment must be multi-dimensional, considering aspects of the person, the type of instrument, environment, context, and social obligations. Occupational therapy providers are uniquely qualified to treat musicians because of their focuse on holistic, occupation-based, and client-centered care. This manuscript describes the role of occupational therapy in this client population based on …

Outcomes Of The Nurosleeve And Occupational Therapy On Upper Limb Function Of An Individual With Chronic Hemiparesis Following A Stroke: A Case Report, Nicole M. Gerhardt, Jeremy P. Armstrong, Mijail D. Serruya, Mj Mulcahey

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Upper limb neuromuscular impairments can adversely impact function. This case report investigates the process and outcomes of occupational therapy (OT) for training in the use of the NuroSleeve, a novel research-grade exoskeletal powered orthosis, with a participant with chronic right hemiparesis following a stroke.

Method: The participant engaged in 24 OT sessions using the NuroSleeve over 10 weeks. Therapeutic interventions included neuromuscular reeducation, device management, and engagement in occupation-based activities with training to use the NuroSleeve. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), ABILHAND, Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Upper Extremity Short Form 7a (PROMIS UE SF), …

Covid-19 Pandemic’S Effect On Occupational Therapy Students’ Time-Use And Occupational Engagement On Returning To In-Person Learning, Jhannell Hannah D. Ocampo, Susan Macdermott, Karen Mccarthy

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The COVID-19 pandemic emotionally and physically impacted students in occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant programs. College students lost autonomy and access to meaningful occupations and environments. As students returned to campus, they struggled to navigate and adapt to in-person occupations and how they use their time. This study uses a mixed method descriptive research design to understand how the pandemic affected occupational therapy students' time-use and occupational engagement during the transition to in-person learning. Seventy-three students completed an online survey, while 12 of those students additionally participated in a follow-up time-use diary and interview. Eighty-three percent of the participants …

Osces’ Impact On Occupational Therapy Student Learning: Insights From Second- And Third-Year Focus Groups, Craig R. St. Jean, Karin Werther, Mary R. Roberts

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are widely used in health programs to assess clinical skills. We present results of a qualitative study investigating occupational therapy students’ perceptions of OSCEs’ impact on their learning and readiness for clinical practice.

Method: Six second and six third year students in the University of Alberta’s Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program were interviewed in separate focus groups. Independent reviewers applied thematic analysis to the focus group transcripts to identify, analyze, and report themes in the data.

Results: Five themes were constructed from the data: from learning to action, transition …

Hand Strength Changes Following A Clinical Rotation In Hand Therapy: A Pilot Study, Gretchen L. Bachman, Josh Macdonald, Rhian Sage

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Hand therapy clinical rotations are 12 weeks, and one common anecdotal change frequently expressed is an increase in hand strength. Quantifiable measures of change are not documented in the literature. The purpose of this study is to determine if students experience significant increases in strength during a clinical rotation.

Methods: This study is a quasi-experimental, double-blinded, non-randomized sample of convenience. Grip and pinch strength were assessed pre, mid, and post clinical rotation. Demographic data were collected and reported. Paired t-tests were used to compare means between groups. SPSS 27.0 was used for data analysis.

Results: After …

Predictors Of General Well-Being In Postprofessional Students Of Occupational Science And Occupational Therapy, Elena Wong Espiritu, Paul E. Yeatts, Cynthia L. Evetts

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Doctoral students experience decreased well-being during their educational experience. Self-compassion, engagement in meaningful occupations, and occupational balance positively impact well-being in individuals. This study examined the relationships between these constructs in postprofessional occupational science and occupational therapy students.

Method: This quantitative cross-sectional study collected national survey data (N = 113) using the Self-Compassion Scale – Short Form, the Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey, the Occupational Balance Questionnaire 11, and the 14-item Scales of General Well-Being. Multiple linear regression analysis determined how well each construct predicted general well-being and the strength of each construct’s relationship compared to other …

A Scoping Review Of Universal Design For Learning In United States Allied Health & Medical Education, Karolina Gawron, Madison Tomlinson, Nicole Mohan, Laura H. Vanpuymbrouck

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Universal design for learning (UDL) is considered best-practice for embracing inclusion for students with disabilities and there is growing evidence of its effectiveness in primary, secondary, and postsecondary education. However, little is known about if and how UDL is being implemented into United States graduate allied health and medical school curriculum as well as evidence of its benefits.

Method: We used Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) methodological framework. Search engines were: PubMed, CINAHL Complete, ERIC, GoogleScholar, and Scopus. Data were analyzed by the research team using Covidence to organize articles, screen, and complete a full-text review. Data extraction …

Practice And Recommendations For Universal Design For Learning In Occupational Therapy Client Education, Heather L. Panczykowski, Lynne F. Murphy, Victoria Christmas, Whitely Macintyre

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an educational framework that describes flexible approaches to teaching and learning, can be used to address problems related to limitations in health literacy in health care settings.

Methods: This exploratory observational study, using a web-based online survey, was undertaken to discern how occupational therapists use the principles of UDL in educating their clients and to determine if differences exist between degree type or practice settings and UDL implementation.

Results: Of the 147 respondents only 30.6% indicated prior awareness of UDL principles. The most frequently cited means of client engagement were displaying …

Perspectives On Adaptation In A Stroke Self-Management Program: A Multiple Case Study, Riqiea F. Kitchens, Gayle Hersch, Wayne Brewer, Marsha Neville

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Occupational Adaptation occurs when a person develops a response to meet an occupational challenge. This process is disrupted when a person experiences a life altering event, such as stroke. Stroke self-management programs equip persons with stroke with education and skills to manage the daily tasks associated with their condition. Few studies have explored the adaptive process survivors experience as they seek to effectively use the tools provided through stroke self-management programs. The objective was to explore the adaptive process of three individuals following participation in a stroke self-management program.

Method: A multiple case study design was used. …

Cross-Cultural Adaptation Of The Inventory Of Reading Occupations-Adult Into Filipino And Its Content Validation, Peñafrancia E. Ching, Treisha Naedine H. Santos, Lenin Grajo, Maria Concepcion Cabatan, Anna Liza Y. Tan Pascual

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Adult functional literacy ensures adequate and safe engagement in daily activities. It is assessed through the Inventory of Reading Occupations-Adult (IRO-A). The instrument underwent translation with cultural adaptation and content validation to ensure relevance to the Filipino context.

Method: The translation and cultural adaptation of the IRO-A to Filipino (Fil IRO-A) was guided by the process proposed by two international guidelines for cross-cultural adaptations that involves (a) forward translation and synthesis, (b) back translation, and (c) pre-panel review of the adaptation to the Filipino context. The Fil IRO-A also underwent content validation by seven experts. Item and …

Confronting Systemic Racism In Occupational Therapy: A Mixed Methods Study, Rachelle Murphy, Karen Park, Christy Billock, Tracy Becerra-Culqui, Natalie A. Perkins, Rajvinder Bains

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

This study aimed to examine how occupational therapists and students perceive systemic racism in occupational therapy practice and the effectiveness and impact of the delivery of a keynote address on confronting systemic racism in practice delivered to occupational therapists and students. The study aimed to help inform future efforts in creating a more diverse and inclusive profession at the practice, policy, and education level by providing input into the challenges and opportunities that occupational therapists and students face when reckoning with issues of racism in practice. A mixed methodology research design was used with Likert-style scale and open-ended questions delivered …

Relationships Between Sensory Processing, Temperament Characteristics For Effortful Control, And Executive Function In School-Age Children, Rachel B. Diamant, Natasha Smet

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Sensory processing behaviors, the temperament characteristic for effortful control, and executive function promote self-regulation, activity engagement, and problem-solving. This study examined inter-relationships between executive function, effortful control, and sensory processing in school-aged children between 7 and 10.11 years of age.

Method: Descriptive correlation research design was used to examine relationships of outcomes from three caregiver-reported, standardized questionnaires of behaviors related to sensory processing (Sensory Profile-2), effortful control (Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire) and executive function (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-2) in daily activities (N = 19).

Results: Data …

Cash At E-Commerce: Method For Disbursing Cash To A Cardholder Using An E-Commerce Platform, Lasha Davituliani, Nataliia Usenko, Stanislav Potemkin, Evgeny Kozlov

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure relates to a method for disbursing cash to a cardholder using an e-commerce platform. The present disclosure discloses a method of provisioning a user to initiate a transaction by ordering a product or service using an eCommerce application or a website. The user can also request an additional cashback amount along with the ordered product/service during the transaction. After successful authentication of the request, the ordered product/service and the requested cashback amount (i.e., the cash) are delivered to the user.

Freeze Signaling To Locate Defective Pixels In Display Panels, Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

A decoder based addressing mechanism is utilized to uniquely identify a particular set of pixels and to deactivate (freeze) the set of pixels during failure analysis. Based on an input of an address, e.g., a binary address, a particular row and/or column of pixels on the display panel can be stopped from emitting (frozen). The output from the decoder is utilized to modify input(s) received from the pixel drivers. Electrical signals from the pixel drivers are intercepted and combined with signals from the local row/column decoder and then transmitted to the display panel. If a defective pixel is located by …

Enhancing Customer Happiness Through Corporate Social Responsibility: Unveiling The Impact Of Csr On Customer Well-Being, Cheonglim Lee, Yongju Kwon, Youjae Yi

Asia Marketing Journal

Previous literature supports the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by demonstrating its effects on various aspects of firm performance. However, the extent to which CSR contributes to social well-being, its original objective, has rarely been examined. The current research investigates the impact of customers’ perceived CSR of service firms on customer happiness. Two studies confirm our proposition that perceived CSR increases customer happiness by enhancing perceptions of warmth and competence associated with the service company. Furthermore, we examine how the type of service moderates this effect. Specifically, we find that the indirect effects of CSR on customer happiness through …

Jay-Customer Behavior's Influence On Job Stress And Customer Orientation: Perceived Organizational Support's Moderating Effect, Li Mei Liu, Seong Ho Lee, Jin Choi

Asia Marketing Journal

The study aimed to analyze jay-customer behavior's impact on service industry employees' job stress to understand the importance of personnel management. Additionally, it aimed to identify strategies for managing job stress by examining perceived organizational support's moderating effects. The results show that the subdimensions of jay-customer behavior (i.e., verbal aggression, physical aggression, and sexual harassment) positively influenced employees' job stress. Second, job stress acts as a mediator between customer verbal and physical aggression and customer orientation, but not between customer sexual harassment and customer orientation. Third, organizational support had a moderating effect on the association between customer verbal aggression and …

Eng 1002g-012 College Composition Ii Argument & Critical Inquiry, Mike Mccelland

Spring 2024

No abstract provided.

Eng 2000-001 Introduction To Creative Writing, Mike Mccelland

Spring 2024

No abstract provided.

Eng 3001-001 Advanced Composition, Bobby Martinez

Spring 2024

No abstract provided.

Eng 4763-001 Advanced Fiction Writing, Mike Mccelland

Spring 2024

No abstract provided.

Eng 4763z-001 Advanced Fiction Writing, Mike Mccelland

Spring 2024

No abstract provided.

The Utah Statesman, January 15, 2024, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Seeing Eye To Eye? Comparing Faculty And Student Perceptions Of Biomolecular Visualization Assessments, Josh T. Beckham, Daniel R. Dries, Bonnie L. Hall, Rarchel M. Mitton-Fry, Shelly Engelman, Charmita Burch, Roderico Acevedo, Pamela S. Mertz, Didem Vardar-Ulu, Swati Agrawal, Kristin M. Fox, Shane Austin, Margaret A. Franzen, Henry V. Jakubowski, Walter R. P. Novak, Rebecca Roberts, Alberto I. Roca, Kristen Procko

Chemistry Faculty Publications

While visual literacy has been identified as a foundational skill in life science education, there are many challenges in teaching and assessing biomolecular visualization skills. Among these are the lack of consensus about what constitutes competence and limited understanding of student and instructor perceptions of visual literacy tasks. In this study, we administered a set of biomolecular visualization assessments, developed as part of the BioMolViz project, to both students and instructors at multiple institutions and compared their perceptions of task difficulty. We then analyzed our findings using a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative analysis was used to answer the following research questions: …

Dynamics Of Soil Microbial Communities Involved In Carbon Cycling Along Three Successional Forests In Southern China, Minghui Hu, Shuyidan Zhou, Xin Xiong, Xuan Wang, Yu Sun, Ze Meng, Dafeng Hui, Jianling Li, Deqiang Zhang, Qi Deng

Biology Faculty Research

Dynamics of plant communities during forest succession have been received great attention in the past decades, yet information about soil microbial communities that are involved in carbon cycling remains limited. Here we investigated soil microbial community composition and carbohydrate degradation potential using metagenomic analysis and examined their influencing factors in three successional subtropical forests in southern China. Results showed that the abundances of soil bacteria and fungi increased (p ≤ 0.05 for both) with forest succession in relation to both soil and litter characteristics, whereas the bacterial diversity did not change (p > 0.05) and the fungal diversity of Shannon-Wiener index …

Beyond Collaborative Learning: A Comparison Of Small Groups In Face-To-Face And Online Settings, Xiaomei Song

Faculty Scholarship

Small group-based instructional approaches such as case-based learning (CBL) and team-based learning (TBL) are widely used in medical education to promote collaboration and team learning. During the pandemic, many medical schools shifted from face-to-face instruction to online settings. While CBL/TBL are intended to foster collaborative skills, it is unclear how its use evolves in an online setting and whether the online setting impacts students’ perceptions and behaviors in collaboration. This study examined how the change from in-person to online CBL/TBL impacted students’ collaboration. We used a mixed-methods sequential design, first collecting and analyzing retrospective cohort quantitative data with the Class …

When Policies Problematize The Local: Social-Environmental Justice And Forest Policies In Burkina Faso And Vietnam, Grace Yee Wong, Mawa Karambiri, Pham Thu Thuy, Alizée Ville, Tuan Long Hoang, Chi Dao Thi Linh, Andrea Downing, Amanda Jiménez-Aceituno, Maria Brockhaus

Forest and Society

We examine social-environmental justice in forest governance by asking who is problematized as drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. We adapt Bacchi’s “What is the problem represented to be” approach to the community forest (CAF) model in Burkina Faso and the Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) in Vietnam and examine the implementation of these policies in specific sites through disaggregated focus group discussions (men, women, youth, ethnic minorities). We delve into the discursive, lived and subjectification effects of the policies’ problematizations, highlighting tensions and contestations relating to forest access and benefits. For both countries, what is left unproblematized in …