Digital Commons Network^™

Computational Modeling And Analysis Of Facial Expressions And Gaze For Discovery Of Candidate Behavioral Biomarkers For Children And Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Megan Anita Witherow

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Facial expression production and perception in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggest the potential presence of behavioral biomarkers that may stratify individuals on the spectrum into prognostic or treatment subgroups. High-speed internet and the ease of technology have enabled remote, scalable, affordable, and timely access to medical care, such as measurements of ASDrelated behaviors in familiar environments to complement clinical observation. Machine and deep learning (DL)-based analysis of video tracking (VT) of expression production and eye tracking (ET) of expression perception may aid stratification biomarker discovery for children and young adults with ASD. However, there are open challenges in 1) facial …

3/5ths Of Freedom: The Analysis Of {With} Black Individuals In Higher Education And Navigating Society Post-Justice-Involvement, Gabrielle Sarah Smith Finnie

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Black individuals have been disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system in the United States (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2022). Because of their criminal justice involvement, Black individuals are perceived as second-class citizens making their quest for “freedom” an endless journey impacted by oppression and domination post-justice-involvement (Couloute & Kopf, 2018; Johnson, 2021; Pager, 2003). To combat domination and oppression, Freire (1970) emphasized pursuing higher education helps individuals who experience marginalization become more humanized and aids them on their plight to freedom. Research highlighted pursuing higher education post-justice-involvement is a liberatory yet challenging experience because of discriminatory on-campus …

Visions For Digital Integrated Cardiovascular Care: Hrs Digital Health Committee Perspectives., Sanjiv M. Narayan, Elaine Y. Wan, Jason G. Andrade, Jennifer N. Avari Silva, Neal Kumar Bhatia, Thomas Deneke, Abhishek J. Deshmukh, Ki H Chon, Lori A. Erickson, Hamid Ghanbari, Peter A. Noseworthy, Rajeev Kumar Pathak, Lisa Roelle, Amber Seiler, Jagmeet P. Singh, Uma N. Srivatsa, Anthony Trela, Angela Tsiperfal, Niraj Varma, Omair K. Yousuf

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

No abstract provided.

Affordable Course Content Awards Authors Guide, Abbey Childs

Open Textbooks and Course Materials

This guide serves as a reference for faculty authors participating in the VCU Libraries Affordable Course Content Awards program.

The Effect Of Asynchronous Virtual Exchange On Intercultural Competence Among Undergraduate Students, Curtis Chu, Todd Hooper, Mariko Takahashi, Michael Herke

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

“Originally I Came From The Least Of Society”: Making Sense Of International Students’ Understandings Of Social Class Through Emotional Commentaries, Sam Shields, Alina Schartner

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Contributions Of Barad's New Materialism To Well-Being Research, M. Isidora Bilbao-Nieva, Alejandra Meyer

The Qualitative Report

In this article, we discuss the contributions that Karen Barad's theorizations can make to the study of well-being, particularly their ontoepistemological framework, “agential realism,” that emphasizes the inseparability of matter, ethics, and knowledge, as the relational entanglements of agencies. We use these ideas to imagine well-being as differential materializations, entanglements of human, and the non-human agencies that “intra-act” with each other and are inseparable from how we know about them and our responsibilities in their reconfigurations. From this perspective, we see well-being as a phenomenon, underpinning its dynamism and processuality. Analyzing an interview fragment, we exemplify how Barad's theorizations can …

Mutualism As Mutual Trust: An Ethnographic Case Study On An Elementary-School Teacher-Team Participation In A Science Pd Program, Olga Gould-Yakovleva, Xiufeng Liu

The Qualitative Report

This grounded in social constructivism yearlong ethnographic case study was conducted at the final stage of a larger, longitudinal, multisite, and multi-year project. The current research focused on a group of urban public elementary schoolteachers who volunteered to participate in the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded interdisciplinary science and engineering partnership (ISEP) project. These teachers were enrolled in the professional development (PD) college courses in physics and engineering design, summer research in university laboratories, and interdisciplinary science inquiry (ISI) pedagogy sessions. This research sought to understand the factors which contributed to successful teamwork at the elementary school under investigation. Additionally, this …

Expanding Frameworks: Conducting Discourse Analysis In Counseling Research, Chloe Lancaster, Melissa J. Fickling

The Qualitative Report

Discourse analysis encompasses a variety of disciplinary approaches that broadly aim to understand how individuals and groups use language to construct and maintain their psychological and social realities. A central concept in discourse analysis is we all use discourse to accomplish our communication goals despite being unaware of most discourses we evoke. While discourse studies could help counseling professionals to better understand how they deploy discourses to maintain identities, inequalities, and status quo, the method is not well-represented in counseling research in the United States. This methodological guide presents an introduction to discourse analysis and an overview of the analytic …

The Emotional Impact Of Sensitive Topics: An Autoethnographic Account Of An Ovarian Cancer Research, Dinah A. Tetteh

The Qualitative Report

Growing evidence suggests that qualitative research about sensitive topics is emotional work with varied unanticipated risks for researchers. This autoethnographic essay adds to the extant literature by discussing the complexities added when the research topic is sensitive, and the researcher has not personally experienced the topic under study. I reflect on and analyze epiphanies in my research with 28 ovarian cancer survivors in northwest Ohio and southern Michigan in the United States, including how I processed the death of some participants. I suggest that practicing active listening, reflexivity, and flexibility can help manage limitations of a research project of this …

Documents From The March 6, 2024 Meeting Of The Associated Students Of The University Of Montana (Asum), University Of Montana--Missoula. Associated Students

Senate Meeting Agendas and Minutes, 2007-Present

Agenda and meeting minutes from the March 6, 2024 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM). The following resolutions were discussed during the meeting:

SB19-23/24: Resolution Encouraging Excused Student Absences for the Democracy Summit

SB20-23/24: Resolution Amending House Rules to Include Public Comment

Equipping Home Visiting Staff For High Phq-9 Scores In The Home, Haley Junge, Gayle Schlabach

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Postpartum depression can have a detrimental effect on a mother's functional capacity, thereby impeding her ability to care for herself and her children and resulting in negative consequences. The PHQ-9 is an evidence-based screening and diagnostic tool for depression. Outcomes of women with postpartum depression are impacted due to inadequate screening, and evidence suggests that screening is only completed 40% of the time. This project was conducted within a home visiting program for mothers and infants within a vulnerable population in Central Illinois over four months. Nurses were given a QR code with mental health resources that would help patients …

Identifying And Improving Developmental Delays In Children Within Central America, Alyssa Blake

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Roughly 40% of children living in low-income countries worldwide are at an increased risk of not reaching developmental milestones. Many of these children are at risk due to lack of resources, quality healthcare, and proper developmental screenings. Short-term medical mission trips (STMMs) aim to improve the health of those residing in developing countries. However, although the U.S. does carry out many STMMs to developing countries within Central America to help improve health outcomes, pediatric developmental screenings are often not a part of routine health visits during these STMMs. This may be due to providers having a general lack of experience …

Sampling Methods And Sample Size In Church-Based Research, David R. Dunaetz

Great Commission Research Journal

An underlying assumption of most church-based research is that the sample from which the data is collected is representative of a wider collection of church members, church leaders, small groups, churches, denominations, or whatever is the focus of the study. To increase the likelihood that this assumption is met without making the research an impossible undertaking, various sampling strategies are used ranging from random sampling to convenience sampling, each with advantages and disadvantages. After a sampling strategy is chosen, an appropriate sample size should be pursued, depending on the nature of the study. The sample size of quantitative studies seeking …

Nh Farm And Ranch Stress Assistance Network Impact Report: Addressing The Root Causes Of Stress, Mental Health, And Suicide In The Farming Community, Seth Wilner

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Situated Reading Motivation And Perception Of The Learning Environment For Adolescent Students, Travis Vandervelden

Doctoral Dissertations

Reading proficiency is particularly crucial for adolescent students who are expected to adopt and approximate a multitude of authentic literacy practices in several different content areas within the span of a single school day. A large number of adolescent students are failing to master basic levels of reading, and are thus uniquely disadvantaged in secondary schools, where reading is not only more complex, but teachers also spend less time teaching students how to read. Reading motivation has been a focus of research to address the lack of reading proficiency in classrooms. An understudied area within this field of research is …

Contextualizing Your Lis Research Through Reflection And Dialogue, Drew Wallace, Justin Savage, Catherine Baird

University Libraries Scholarship and Creative Works

If you identify as a librarian practitioner-researcher, you may be selecting research topics based on your practice as a library professional. In order to deepen your research practice, consider incorporating elements of reflection in your work. For example, if your research is tackling a problem you are seeing in your work, such as understanding student information literacy practices, you may begin by describing the problem you see.

Chimes: April 1, 2024 (April Fools' Edition), Calvin University

Chimes

Becoming One initiative aimed at increasing unity and future enrollment by Imsol Only

Two-in-one experimental music group shuts down library by Ash-Hole

Thanks to time travel research, Calvin 150th comes two years early by Gerhardus Van Raalte

Reformed and reforming: Calvin's Plank of the Old Guard implements presidential term limits by Snippy S. Snap

"Rowing the boat of unity": Provost Toodaloo spearheads mandatory rowing retreat for all faculty members by Chris P. Lines

Student Senate to launch pop=up business casual stores around campus to draw in more applicants by Palees Likeymee

All your solar eclipse questions, answered by Meet …

The Role Of Between-Session Homework In Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy For Comorbid Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder And Autism: A Case Vignette, Molly J Church, Katie H Mangen, Jordan T Stiede, Samuel D Spencer, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Objective: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which includes a decided emphasis on exposure and response/ritual prevention (ERP) and between-session practice of treatment principles, has consistently demonstrated efficacy for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and is a gold standard, recommended first-line treatment. CBT with ERP has been successfully adapted to fit the needs of autistic individuals with OCD. The present article provides a brief overview of CBT for OCD and outlines special considerations and adaptations needed when working with patients with OCD and comorbid autism, with an emphasis on the importance of between-session homework.

Method: A case vignette is presented.

Results: This …

Optimizing Single T-Cell Transcriptomic Discrimination Of Atopic Dermatitis Versus Psoriasis Vulgaris, Mark A Taylor, Abdullah El Kurdi, Ashley Hailer, Sijia Wang, Michelle Yuan, Sumanta Mukhopadhyay, Tina Bhutani, Jeffrey P North, Raymond J Cho, Jeffrey B Cheng

Staff and Researcher Publications

No abstract provided.

European Society Of Coloproctology Guideline On Training In Robotic Colorectal Surgery (2024), Samson Tou, Stephanie Au, Cillian Clancy, Steven Clarke, Danielle Collins, Frances Dixon, Elizabeth Dreher, Christina Fleming, Anthony G Gallagher, Marcos Gomez-Ruiz, Jos Kleijnen, Yasuko Maeda, Katie Rollins, Klaus E Matzel

Staff and Researcher Publications

No abstract provided.

The Will To Chaos And Disorder: The Behemoth As A Model Of Political Economy, Bernard E. Harcourt

Faculty Scholarship

The history of political economy is tormented by beasts. The most famous is the Leviathan, the giant serpentine monster that figures in Hobbes’s masterpiece of modern political theory. Robert Fredona and Sophus Reinert spotlight another sea monster, the Kraken, that giant octopus or squid with a particular morphology (i.e., its tentacles) that so fittingly describes the grip of multinational corporations, stateless financial capital, social media, and tech giants today. But there are still other monsters in the bestiary of political economy. In this essay, I highlight the Behemoth, a land monster that captures another critical dimension of political economy: the …

Honors Convocation, 2024, State University Of New York College At Cortland

Honors Convocation Programs

Honors Convocation Program held in 2024.

Cognitive Flexibility Training For Chronic Pain: A Randomized Clinical Study, Katherine J. Holzer, Marko S. Todorovic, Elizabeth A. Wilson, Aaron Steinberg, Michael S. Avidan, Simon Haroutounian

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies suggest an association between cognitive flexibility and development of chronic pain after surgery. It is not known whether cognitive flexibility can be improved in patients with chronic pain.

OBJECTIVES: This study tested whether a neurocognitive training program results in improved cognitive flexibility and pain in patients with chronic pain.

METHODS: We conducted a single-center, prospective, randomized study investigating 5-week daily neurocognitive training in patients with chronic pain. Participants (n = 145) were randomized into neurocognitive training or care as usual, and they completed assessments at baseline, posttreatment, and 3 months. The treatment group was asked to spend …

Neighborhood Disadvantage And Breast Cancer-Specific Survival In The Us, Neha Goel, Alexandra E Hernandez, Angela Mazul

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Despite improvements in breast cancer screening, treatment, and survival, disparate breast cancer-specific survival outcomes persist, particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Most of these disparities are attributed to disparities in individual, tumor, and treatment characteristics. However, a critical knowledge gap exists as to whether disparities in breast cancer-specific survival remain after accounting for individual, tumor, and treatment characteristics.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if neighborhood disadvantage is associated with shorter breast cancer-specific survival after controlling for individual, tumor, and treatment characteristics in a national population.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This national retrospective cohort study included patients with breast cancer diagnosed from 2013 to …

Interstate Highway Connections And Traced Gun Transfers Between The 48 Contiguous United States, Leah Roberts, Mark H Hoofnagle, Brady Bushover, Ariana N Gobaud, Christina A Mehranbod, Carolyn Fish, Christopher N Morrison

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Interstate gun flow has critical implications for gun violence prevention, as gun transfers across state lines can undermine local gun control policies.

OBJECTIVE: To identify possible gun trafficking routes along interstate highways in the US.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This repeated-measures, ecological, cross-sectional study used data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2019, to examine associations between interstate connections via 13 highways that each spanned at least 1000 miles and interstate traced gun transfer counts for the 48 contiguous United States. Analyses were completed in November 2023.

EXPOSURES: Characteristics …

Cognitive Outcomes Of Children With Sagittal Craniosynostosis Treated With Either Endoscopic Or Open Calvarial Vault Surgery, Suresh N Magge, Annahita R Fotouhi, Virginia Allhusen, Brent R Collett, Gary B Skolnick, Sybill D Naidoo, Matthew D Smyth, Robert F Keating, Raj Vyas, Gary F Rogers, Kamlesh B Patel

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Several studies have reported a higher incidence of neurodevelopmental delays and cognitive deficits in patients with single-suture craniosynostosis; however, there are few studies examining the associations of repair type with cognitive outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To measure differences in neuropsychological outcomes between school-age children who were treated for sagittal craniosynostosis and unaffected controls and explore differences in cognitive function among children with sagittal craniosynostosis who were previously treated with either endoscopic strip craniectomy or open calvarial vault surgery.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study was performed between 2018 and 2022. Eligible participants included patients aged 5 to 17 years who …

Cannabis Oil Extracts For Chronic Pain: What Else Can Be Learned From Another Structured Prospective Cohort?, Dorit Pud, Suhail Aamar, Bareket Schiff-Keren, Roee Sheinfeld, Silviu Brill, Dror Robinson, Yaakov Fogelman, George Habib, Haggai Sharon, Howard Amital, Boris Boltyansky, Simon Haroutounian, Elon Eisenberg

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: The use of medicinal cannabis for managing pain expands, although its efficacy and safety have not been fully established through randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVES: This structured, prospective questionnaire-based cohort was aimed to assess long-term effectiveness and safety of cannabis oil extracts in patients with chronic pain.

METHODS: Adult Israeli patients licensed to use cannabis oil extracts for chronic pain were followed prospectively for 6 months. The primary outcome measure was change from baseline in average weekly pain intensity, and secondary outcomes were changes in related symptoms and quality of life, recorded before treatment initiation and 1, 3, and 6 …

Sprint Performance Following Plyometric Conditioning Activity In Elite Sprinters, Kinga Huminska-Lisowska, Aleksandra Strońska-Pluta, Aleksandra Suchanecka, Myosotis Massidda, Grzegorz Trybek, Carla Maria Calò, Agata Rzeszutko-Bełzowska, Remigiusz Recław, Anna Grzywacz

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Introduction: This study investigates an association between the human dopamine receptor 2 gene DRD2 Taq1D rs1800498 polymorphism and personality traits among athletes, exploring the genetic underpinnings of sports performance and psychological characteristics. It aims to understand how genetic factors related to dopamine reception influence athletic predispositions and behaviors. Materials and Methods: An association study was conducted with 391 male participants, comparing 159 sports subjects with 232 non-trained controls. Personality traits were assessed using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, while the DRD2 Taq1D rs1800498 polymorphism was genotyped through real-time PCR. Results: Significant differences in the DRD2 Taq1D rs1800498 genotype and allele frequencies …

Latest Research (Summaries) On Charitable Giving, Angie Holzer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.