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Research Update - May 2022, Office Of Research

Research Update

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Daydream’S Innovation Grant: A Year In Review, Janelle Le Roy '23, Julia Tran '23, Ela Gadi '23, Michelle Li '23

IMSA Innovation Grant

IMSA is a residential school with a rigorous math and science curriculum. Students here are ambitious and competitive, taking a variety of advanced classes. With IMSA’s many academic benefits, comes various intense pressures in its high-stress environment. As a part of this community, we have noticed our peers often negatively handle their stress by isolating themselves, staying up late, under and overconsumption, and procrastination. These habits are so normalized that as new students come into IMSA, they start to develop them too.

Political, Racial, And Household Income Barriers For Access To Healthcare In Illinois Counties, Kennedy Bray '23

Student Publications & Research

Access to health care impacts many people throughout the United States, as it restricts their ability to solve their health concerns. People who have the highest risk of a lack of access include people who are uninsured, people a part of a specific social class, or people belonging to a specific political party. In a particular geographical region, these factors could lead to groups of people suffering because of circumstances that they cannot control in their region. In my project, I determine how better access to healthcare and the percentage of people insured are affected by a measurement of the …

Hadron, Lily Song '23, Anisha Kolambe '24, Gautham Anne '23, Samuel Go '23

Hadron Magazine

• Pg 4 : The Impact of a Sip of Coffee
• Pg 8 : Any Ideas About Sonoluminesence?
• Pg 11 : Memory, Memory, and the Brain
• Pg 13 : Climate Change Soon to Be a Thing of the Past?
• Pg 15 : Non Fungible Tokens

Higher Education Housing Professionals And Disability: A Grounded Theory Exploration Of Resident Directors’ Understandings Of Disability, Christopher Toutain

Education (PhD) Dissertations

The residential experiences of students with disabilities in higher education play a pivotal role in their overall campus education. However, little is known about the ways in which the staff who manage and support these residential environments understand and work with issues and concepts of disability. Utilizing constructivist grounded theory, this study examines the ways in which resident directors think about and work with disability within their positions of residential management. The study also explores the ways in which resident directors think about and understand disability as a component of diversity, the steps that resident directors take in working with …

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Teacher Preparation Standards Within Inclusion-Intensive States, Kay Lynn Ceja

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Federal law calls for students with disabilities to be educated in the least restrictive environment possible. However, this still allows for students with disabilities to be placed in a range of educational settings, from the general education classroom to a separate school. The number of students with disabilities that are included to the maximum extent possible in the general education classroom varies by state. This study focused on the role of teacher training as defined by state drive teacher education standards. The purposeful outlier sample was selected by identifying the 12 states with the highest levels of inclusion of students …

Beta Drift: Forecasting The Manifold Relationships Between Students And Their Pursuit Of Stem Careers, Douglas D. Havard

Education (PhD) Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which motivational and persistence factors predict the occupational career choices of underrepresented students in their pursuit of a STEM career. Data selected from the High School Longitudinal Study beginning with the base year through the fourth wave were employed in a large-scale multinomial regression analysis. Anticipated STEM occupation at the age of 30 was examined across six years of complex survey data using multiple taxonometric definitions. Social Cognitive Career Theory provided the theoretical framework for defining relevant factors affecting this STEM pursuit construct. The findings from the study suggest …

Disabled Idf Veterans In Israeli Higher Education: Disability Identity And Use Of Support, Einat Ben Dov

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Even though military service in Israel is mandatory and common among the state population, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) veterans with disabilities are rarely represented in the literature regarding their experience in Israeli higher education (HE). This study aimed to fill this gap by investigating the experiences of disabled IDF (DIDF) veteran students, their experiences as students, identities, challenges, and utilization of support resources on their campuses. The relevant fields of Disability Studies, Veteran Studies, and the use of disability support services on campus are discussed in this study, focusing on the implementation of accessibility regulations and practices in the Israeli …

Practicing Organizational Care: Using Human-Centered Approaches To Facilitate Change In Your Library, Meghan Musolff, Annie Bélanger

Presentations

Most traditional change management practices seek to mitigate risk. They focus on process and implementation over listening, compassion, and healing. By using human-centered change methodologies and approaches, we will explore ways to tailor change efforts in ways that honor the individuals and the organization. We will consider how to engage in a change that harnesses the strengths of the team, making space for voices to be heard.

Comparison Of Treadmill Training For Individuals Post-Cerebrovascular Accident In Normalizing Reciprocal Gait And Improving Balance: A Systematic Review, Gregory Bell, Kayla Harrell, Alex Loya, Nora Salgado

DPT Capstones

Background. Optimizing rehabilitation techniques for patients with chronic stroke remains an ongoing effort. Previous research has yet to synthesize the effectiveness of underwater treadmill training (UTT) and body weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) for improving common impairments in balance and gait.

Purpose. The purpose of this review was to compare the effectiveness of UTT in helping to normalize reciprocal gait pattern and improve balance compared to BWSTT in patients with chronic cerebrovascular accidents (CVA).

Data Sources. CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, and Embase databases were searched over a period of several months from October of 2020 through March of 2021.

Study Selection. …

Implicit Bias Regarding Race In Physical Therapist Students: A Mixed Method Study, Brianna Dawkins, Joseph Kennerly

DPT Capstones

Introduction: Bias is defined as a tendency to show favor for or against something or someone; bias can be implicit or explicit. When their implicit biases are left unchecked, healthcare practitioners are more likely to negatively affect patient health outcomes. The purposes of this study were to examine implicit racial bias among physical therapist students, and explore their perspectives about how cultural competency content regarding race and ethnicity could be improved in their current education program.

Methods: Thirty-three students from the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) completed a pre-Implicit Association …

Examining Grit And Social Capital In First-Generation And Continuing Generation Students In A Doctor Of Physical Therapy Program, Maria Isabel Avila

DPT Capstones

Background and Purpose: Decreasing educational disparities experienced by minorities is an important step toward improving diversity in healthcare. The purposes of this study were to identify if grit or social capital is related to Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) student success, and to identify if First Generation College Students (FGCSs) have different levels of grit and social capital compared to their Continuing Generation College Student (CGCS) peers.

Subjects: Participants were 1st, 4th, and 7th-semester students in the 9-semester DPT Program at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in summer 2020.

Methods: This was an exploratory, non-experimental study employing …

Does Exergaming Improve Physical And Mental Health Outcomes For Individuals Living With Severe Mental Illness Compared To Traditional Treatment: A Systematic Review, David González, James Walther

DPT Capstones

Background: Physical activity improves physiological and psychological health outcomes. Increased research has been dedicated to the effect of physical activity through active video game play. Limited studies have explored active video game play in people diagnosed with severe mental illness (SMI). The term “exergaming” is relatively new but describes the current body of research studies that employ active video game play in lieu of traditional exercise. This review focuses on finding the most current available evidence exploring the effects of physical activity through exergaming on the physical and psychiatric health outcomes of people with SMI.

Methods: Articles across 6 databases …

Ultrasound Imaging Can Surrogate Mechanical Skinfold Calipers Assessing Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue And Body Fat Mass When A Standardized Protocol Is Used, Angel Rodriguez, Sebastian Lopez

DPT Capstones

Purpose: The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) to determine the agreement between ultrasound (US) imaging and mechanical skinfold (SF) caliper measurements using a standardized protocol and 2) to determine the agreement between SF caliper and US imaging inestimating total body fat mass and percent body fat mass using anthropometric formulas for body composition.

Methods: The present study has a repeated measures design where 2 independent testers measured 8 SFs using a mechanical caliper and US imaging, respectively, on 49 volunteers (24 males and 25 females). Anthropometric protocol followed the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry’s (ISAK) standardization …

Efficacy Of 4-D Smart Wireless Motion Sensors For Analysis Of Gait: A Pilot Study, Juan Torres, Jonathan Britton

DPT Capstones

Background: Wearable technology has become a widely utilized method of objective data collection in healthcare. Several barriers currently exist that are limiting their clinical utility. 4-D Smart Wireless Motion Sensors (4-D SWMS) have been developed to offer a less obtrusive wireless sensor that can be used in a variety of settings. The addition of machine learning to captured motion sensor data has the ability to improve classification accuracy in the analysis of gait.

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study is to determine whether the 4-D SWMS are sensitive enough to accurately differentiate normal gait parameters in healthy individuals.

Methods: …

Effects Of Neuromuscular Interventions Utilizing External Biofeedback Apparatuses On The Risk And Incidence Of Second Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: A Systematic Review., Marisa Olmo, Rebecca Sharp

DPT Capstones

STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is a common orthopedic condition with an estimated rate of 20,000 to 600,000 injuries in the US per year, with higher incidences in athletic and female populations. The rate of re-injury following surgical ACL repair (ACLR)ranges between 13.8-33.3%. Current clinical practice guidelines for ACLR rehabilitation cite inconclusive evidence for definitive outcome measures that accurately determine successful return to sport (RTS). There is a need to establish more effective avenues of rehabilitation interventions to decrease the rate of reinjury, particularly in female athletes. Recent evidence suggests interventions utilizing external biofeedback apparatuses …

Acute Hemodynamic Responses In Women Older Than 40 Years Old Following Resistance Training With Blood Flow Restriction Compared To Resistance Training Alone: A Systematic Review, Larissa Castro, Roger Castro, Michelle Constante, Seles Lerma

DPT Capstones

Introduction: Blood flow restriction (BFR) is a novel training method that has gained recent popularity given the benefits and similar results to resistance training (RT) with lower intensities. The authors of this systematic review sought to determine the acute hemodynamic effects of BFR plus RT compared to RT alone in women over 40 years old.

Methods: The databases searched included Pubmed, EBSCO (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINHAL), SPORTDiscuss, Medline, Academic Search Complete) and Cochrane. Keywords utilized included BFR, occlusion therapy, female, older female, women, older women, RT, hemodynamic, blood pressure, and the boolean phrase utilized was …

Traditional Physical Therapy Versus Traditional Physical Therapy Plus Pain Education For Treatment Of Chronic Neck Pain: A Systematic Review, Jesus Gabriel Altamiranda Molina, Adrian Joshua Llañez, Oscar Martinez, Collin Wigely

DPT Capstones

Objectives: Chronic neck pain, or neck pain that endures for longer than three months, is a very common musculoskeletal condition that affects a large number of individuals annually. Traditional physical therapy interventions used to treat this condition often include manual therapy techniques and neck specific exercises. Pain neuroscience education, which focuses on the pathophysiology of pain, is a method used to treat chronic pain conditions. The purpose of this systematic review is to determine whether the addition of pain neuroscience education techniques to traditional physical therapy interventions improves patient outcomes in those with chronic neck pain.

Methods: An electronic search …

The Relationship Between Migrants, Education, And Income In The Eu, Wendi Jiang

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

The European nations are currently facing one of the biggest challenges to their society since the end of World War II: Aging. While the rest of the world will also be facing this issue, it is the European societies that are the first to face this challenge and must find a sustainable solution fast. Among the choices of solutions are immigration, Universal Basic Income (UBI), and raising the retirement age. This paper aims to explore immigration as a solution to solve the problems that an aging society faces by looking into the earning power of migrants through their
education and …

The Effect Of Cortisol On Abdominal Fat, Zach Guerrieo

Senior Honors Projects

ZACHARY GUERRIEO (Biological Sciences)

The effect of cortisol on abdominal fat accumulation

Sponsor: Brietta Oaks (Nutrition)

Cortisol is the stress hormone of the body, it increases sugars in the bloodstream, enhances the brain's use of glucose, and increases the availability of substances to repair tissues. A healthy person has a daily slope of cortisol where it is high when they wake up and then decreases throughout the day. Cortisol, however, can be high throughout the day for people who live stressful or unhealthy lives. There have been conversations that high cortisol can cause fat gain specifically in the abdominal area. …

Generation Of A More Immunogenic Fh Vlp Platform To Support Covid-19 Vaccine Development, Jewel E. Voyer, Xinyuan Chen Phd.

Senior Honors Projects

The SARS-CoV-2 based pandemic has seen almost a million deaths in just the United States according to the CDC. This number is due to the increase of variants of COVID-19, therefore calling a demand in vaccine production. Vaccine adjuvants and carriers have been studied to increase the immunogenicity and safety of a variety of immunizations. Flagellin fused Hepatitis B core (FH) virus like particles (VLP) has been studied to have beneficial effects of TLR5, IL6 levels, and lack of body temperature rise in murine study. The FH platform also provides an improvement from its predecessors FljB alone which is a …

A Step Toward Reconstructing Climate Variability Druing The Last Ice Age Cycle In The Northeast Pacific Region, Blaine Lynch-Gadaleta

Senior Honors Projects

This study is designed as a step toward reconstructing the climate variability in the Northeast Pacific during the last ice age cycle, including the glacial and deglacial transitions. Reconstruction may also contribute to the regional picture of climate change and potentially provide new insights into the pattern of variability in the Northeast Pacific. Deep-sea sediment core AT26-19 09PC was collected west of the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Samples were analyzed in 1 cm intervals, representing approximately 300-year resolution. The abundance of mineral grains, planktonic foraminifera, and the polar foraminifera N.pachyderma was quantified using split aliquots …

Ballasting System For An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Noura Rayes, Bahram Nassersharif, Zach Champney, Kyle Alessandro, Jason Mirandou

Senior Honors Projects

NOURA RAYES (Mechanical Engineering); Ballasting System for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Sponsor: Bahram Nassersharif (Mechanical Engineering)

Over the last year, our Mechanical Engineering Capstone team, Nautilus, has been working to design a ballasting system for various Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) sponsored by Raytheon Technologies. Common AUV systems are used for a wide range of applications from environmental monitoring, oceanic exploration, to data collection. AUVs also have many technical advantages that make underwater tasks more efficient, cost-effective, and generally safer. Raytheon Technology, specifically, is looking to improve their existing ballasting mechanism for their AUVs to use for military defense. For this …

A Case Study Of How Pre-K-12 School Leaders’ Knowledge, Skills, And Dispositions Of The Iste Standards Affect Learning Environments, Connie Miller

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to better understand how pre-K-12 school leaders respond to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards. The instrumental case study involved school leaders with demonstrated success implementing learning technologies in elementary and middle level settings in a large southern, suburban school district. The study findings include: pre-K-12 school leaders benefit from the ISTE Standards’ framework to provide future-ready learning environments; the Standards serve as a technology guide to increase equity, inclusion, and digital citizenship; and school leaders benefit from participating as co-learners. Pre-K-12 school leaders can benefit from the current study’s …

A Qualitative Study Of The Collaborative Relationships Between District Leaders And School Principals In High-Performing And Low-Performing Schools Within A Single High-Performing School District, Shaunna Pierrelee

Doctoral Dissertations

Research on effective collaborative relationships between district leaders and school principals have shown to exhibit characteristics that positively impact student achievement. Characteristics such as reciprocal communication, shared decision making, intensive support, and quality professional learning opportunities are repeated in literature. Therefore, this qualitative case study examined whether there are differences in collaborative relationships between district leaders and school principals in high-performing and low-performing schools within a single school district based on those common characteristics. The following research questions guided the current study: (a) What are the differences, if any, in communication between district leaders and principals of high- and low-performing …

A Qualitative Study Identifying Perspectives, Experiences, And Needs Of School Principals And Teachers To Lead A Culture Of Differentiated Teaching And Learning, Natalie Gray Pope

Doctoral Dissertations

Differentiated instruction is defined as providing all students access to the same set of curricula while at the same time providing tasks and instruction tailored to a student’s specific learning style. This expectation has led researchers to study and understand differentiated instruction for embedded applications across all classroom and district experiences, public perceptions, and effective implementation of future trends. However, there is a gap in literature addressed by this study relating to the leadership of differentiated instruction in school settings.

Data for this study were collected from school principals and classroom teachers using both virtual and face-to-face interviews, documented field …

Assessing Gender Bias In Student Evaluations Of Teaching In Collegiate Aviation, Kary M. Randall

Doctoral Dissertations

Student evaluations of teaching (SET) are commonly used to assess teaching effectiveness and influence personnel decisions in higher education. This quantitative study sought to determine if gender and years of teaching experience were related to SET ratings for collegiate aviation faculty. Constructs evaluated related to gender stereotypes and consisted of expressiveness and immediacy as stereotypically female and professionalism and openness as stereotypically male. The overall rating was also analyzed as a fifth construct. Evaluation ratings from 54 participants associated with nine Aviation Accreditation Board International affiliated institutions were analyzed for the 2017 to 2020 academic years. Findings from the two-way …

Science Instructional Leadership Knowledge: A Qualitative Case Study, Mary Ann Chapman

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative case study aimed to investigate instructional leaders’ depths of science content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge and how their depths of that knowledge supports effective instructional leadership. Implementation efforts around the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have highlighted the need for science instructional leaders to have in-depth content and pedagogical knowledge to function as effective instructional leaders in secondary science classrooms across the United States. Semi-structured interviews with 19 teachers and instructional leaders in a public high school in the southern United States informed the study. The findings revealed that teachers expect instructional leaders to have higher levels …

An Autoethnographic View From The Chair Of A Higher Education Chief Information Officer, Thomas S. Hoover

Doctoral Dissertations

This autoethnographic study sought to answer the question: What is the impact of the chief information officer’s (CIO) organizational structure on his/her ability to impact his/her influence as a university leader? This study used semi-structured mind mapping, a Venn diagram, a cubic framework, and a qualitative, autoethnographic interview of the researcher. The chief data officer (CDO) framework was modified for this study. This study combines CIO experiences at three public southern universities. The findings of the study suggest that university leaders should (1) recognize the importance of information technology (IT) and, specifically, the CIO and ensure that both meet the …

Novice Teachers As Teacher Leaders: A Mixed Methods Study Of Years Of Experience And Teacher Leadership Development, Miranda Owens Allen

Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of this research was to address the gap in the literature on novice teacher leadership development from novice teachers’ perspectives. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used to identify the differences that years of experience may or may not have on southern US public school novice teachers’ teacher leadership identity, readiness, and engagement. Distributed leadership theory provided the theoretical lens and Sinha and Hanuscin’s (2017) Teacher Leadership Development Process Model was used as the conceptual framework.

Survey data were collected from 306 full-time pre-k through fifth grade teachers from 71 public elementary schools. One-way ANOVAs measured statistical …