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Dnp Final Report: Executive Rounding And How It Affects The Completion Of A Quality Checklist And Quality Indicators: An Evidence-Based Practice Project, Ruben P. Castillo

DNP Final Reports

A question of inquiring led to the development of PICOT questions and a systematic search that recognized an executive leadership rounding process healthcare initiative need to improve the quality of care for patients, QI (quality improvement) initiatives such as reducing CAUTI (community-acquired urinary tract infections) and CLABSI (central-line associated bloodstream infections) in the medical floor population project was developed. The compelling internal and external evidence makes it vital to examine the following question, In acute care inpatients (P), how does an executive leaderships (manager &/or director), quality-indicator rounding plan (I) compare to no rounding plan (C) affect consistent completion of …

The Nation's Blood Shortage Continues. Please Encourage Donation., Staff

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No abstract provided.

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Self-Organizing Map Application On Nearby Galaxies, Benne W. Holwerda, Dominic Smith, Lori Porter, Chris Henry, Ren Porter-Temple, Kyle Cook, Kevin A. Pimbblet, Andrew M. Hopkins, Maciej Bilicki, Sebastian Turner, Viviana Acquaviva, Lingyu Wang, Angus H. Wright, Lee S. Kelvin, Meiert W. Grootes

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Galaxy populations show bimodality in a variety of properties: stellar mass, colour, specific star-formation rate, size, and Sérsic index. These parameters are our feature space. We use an existing sample of 7556 galaxies from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, represented using five features and the K-means clustering technique, showed that the bimodalities are the manifestation of a more complex population structure, represented by between two and six clusters. Here we use Self-Organizing Maps (SOM), an unsupervised learning technique that can be used to visualize similarity in a higher dimensional space using a 2D representation, to map these 5D …

The Nation's Blood Shortage Continues. Please Encourage Donation., Alicia Rohan

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

B-Vitamins Influence The Consumption Of Macronutrients In Honey Bees, Walaa Ahmed Elsayeh, Chelsea N. Cook, Geraldine A. Wright

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Insects require dietary sources of B-vitamins, but relatively little is known about whether they regulate B-vitamin intake in the same way they regulate other nutrients. Honey bees meet their B-vitamin requirements mainly from the pollen they collect. Employing the geometric framework for nutrition, we found that honey bees actively regulate their vitamin intake following Bertrand’s rule. We fed bees with a diet of essential amino acids (EAAs) and carbohydrate (C) to identify how the addition of B-vitamins affected the regulation of these macronutrients. In our experiments, honey bees preferred vitamins in concentrations comparable to those found in honey bee food …

Automated Computer Network Exploitation With Bayesian Decision Networks, Graeme Roberts, Gilbert L. Peterson

Faculty Publications

Penetration Testing (pentesting) is the process of using tactics and techniques to penetrate computer systems and networks to expose any issues in their cybersecurity \cite{rsa}. It is currently a manual process requiring significant experience and time that are in limited supply. One way to supplement the shortage is through automation. This paper presents the Automated Network Discovery and Exploitation System (ANDES) which demonstrates that it is feasible to automate the pentesting process. The uniqueness of ANDES is the use of Bayesian decision networks to represent the pentesting domain and subject matter expert knowledge. ANDES conducts multiple execution cycles, which build …

Evolution Of Combined Arms Tactics In Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Teams, Robert J. Wilson, David W. King, Gilbert L. Peterson

Faculty Publications

Multi-agent systems research is concerned with the emergence of system-level behaviors from relatively simple agent interactions. Multi-agent systems research to date is primarily concerned with systems of homogeneous agents, with member agents both physically and behaviorally identical. Systems of heterogeneous agents with differing physical or behavioral characteristics may be able to accomplish tasks more efficiently than homogeneous teams, via cooperation between mutually complementary agent types. In this article, we compare the performance of homogeneous and heterogeneous teams in combined arms situations. Combined arms theory proposes that the application of heterogeneous forces, en masse, can generate effects far greater than outcomes …

A Bayesian Group Sequential Design For Randomized Biosimilar Clinical Trials With Adaptive Information Borrowing From Historical Data, Wen Zhang, Zhiying Pan, Ying Yuan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

At the time of developing a biosimilar, the reference product has been on market for years and thus ample data are available on its efficacy and characteristics. We develop a Bayesian adaptive design for randomized biosimilar clinical trials to leverage the rich historical data on the reference product. This design takes a group sequential approach. At each interim, we employ the elastic meta-analytic-predictive (EMAP) prior methodology to adaptively borrow information from the historical data of the reference product to make go/no-go decision based on Bayesian posterior probabilities. In addition, the randomization ratio between the test and reference arms is adaptively …

Young‐Onset Colorectal Cancer: Insights From An English Population‐Based Study, Joshua Franklyn, Joe Lomax, Peter L.Z. Labib, Amy Baker, Supriya Balasubramanya, Joe Natale, Muhammad Abdalkoddus, Joanne Hosking, Mark G. Coleman, Sebastian Smolarek

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Humanising Health And Social Care Support For People With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities: Protocol For A Scoping Review, Madison Milne-Ives, Rohit Shankar, Dan Goodley, Kirsten Lamb, Richard Laugharne, Tracey Harding, Edward Meinert

Peninsula Medical School

Background Health care is shifting toward a more person-centered model; however, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities can still experience difficulties in accessing equitable health care. Given these difficulties, it is important to consider how humanizing principles, such as empathy and respect, can be best incorporated into health and social care practices for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to ensure that they are receiving equitable treatment and support. Objective The purpose of our scoping review is to provide an overview of the current research landscape and knowledge gaps regarding the development and implementation of interventions based on humanizing principles …

Anhedonia Reduction Correlates With Increased Ventral Caudate Connectivity With Superior Frontal Gyrus In Depression., Xinhua Yang, Jia Huang, Matthew E. Roser, X Guangrong

School of Psychology

This study was to investigate the relationship between the ventral caudate connectivity and anhedonia. Nineteen depressed patients and 16 healthy controls participated in two identical functional magnetic resonance imaging scans during a 1-year period to determine the resting-state functional connectivity changes using a seed-based approach. Patients showed increased left ventral caudate functional connectivity with superior frontal gyrus over time and the increased connectivity was associated with anhedonia improvement. None of these associations were observed in healthy controls. The findings suggest that left ventral caudate may serve as a potential target to improve the severity of anhedonia.

Burnout In Pediatric Nephrology Fellows And Faculty: Lessons From The Sustainable Pediatric Nephrology Workforce Project (Superpower)., Susan M. Halbach, Kartik Pillutla, Patricia Seo-Mayer, Alan Schwartz, Darcy K. Weidemann, John D. Mahan

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Physician well-being is an important contributor to both job satisfaction and patient outcomes. Rates of burnout among physicians vary by specialty, ranging from 35 to 70%. Among pediatric residents, longitudinal data demonstrates consistent rates of burnout around 50-60%, although little is known about burnout among pediatric subspecialty fellows. Specifically, the degree of burnout among pediatric nephrologists remains unknown, as does the impact faculty burnout may have on trainee burnout. We sought to evaluate prevalence and predictors of burnout among US pediatric nephrology fellows and faculty, and assess for interactions between groups. In this multi-center pilot survey of all United States …

“What Is The Matter With Me?” Or A “Badge Of Honor”: Nurses’ Constructions Of Resilience During Covid-19, Anna Conolly, Ruth Abrams, Emma Rowland, Ruth Harris, Keith Couper, Daniel Kelly, Bridie Kent, Jill Maben

School of Nursing and Midwifery

It has long been known that nursing work is challenging and has the potential for negative impacts. During the COVID-19 pandemic most nurses’ working landscapes altered dramatically and many faced unprecedented challenges. Resilience is a contested term that has been used with increasing prevalence in healthcare with health professionals encouraging a “tool-box” of stress management techniques and resilience-building skills. Drawing on narrative interview data ( n = 27) from the Impact of Covid on Nurses (ICON) qualitative study we examine how nurses conceptualized resilience during COVID-19 and the impacts this had on their mental wellbeing. We argue here that it …

Real-Time Coordination Between Shared Schedulers In An O-Ran Architecture, Mark Grayson, Indermeet Gandhi

Defensive Publications Series

Sharing of Radio Access Network (RAN) resources is set to become a typical deployment scenario for enterprise Fifth Generation (5G) radio access implementations in which a neutral host may offer a converged Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Radio Unit (O-RU) function that can be shared between an enterprise and multiple mobile network operators (MNOs), can be hosted by an enterprise via a converged O-RU that simultaneously supports multiple MNOs, or can be hosted by a service provider (SP), which can support an enterprise as well as one or more MNOs. Current solutions provide for the ability to facilitate dynamic sharing …

On The Importance Of Human Perceptions Of Algorithmic Bias In Video Interviewing Software, Theresa Fister

Computer Science Research Seminars and Symposia

With increasing developments in technology, many sectors of society implement artificial intelligence into their structures with the goal of eliminating discriminatory practices and enhancing productivity. Artificial intelligence, while sometimes considered neutral by its proponents, can perpetuate the implicit and explicit biases of the engineers and designers responsible through the process of machine learning. Despite the risks, companies and organizations increasingly utilize artificial intelligence in their hiring processes, from recruiting to interviewing. As this technology shapes hiring decisions, further career-specific algorithmic bias research work rooted in human experience proves essential. Focusing on the applicants’ perspectives can identify whether this software provides …

Equity And Excellence: Educating All Students, Jeanette Bartley

Educational Equity and Excellence: webinar series

With the implementation of IMSA’s Equity and Excellence Plan, we are tasked with ensuring that our curriculum and instructional strategies meet the needs of all of our students particularly through a lens of equity. One of the Plan’s outcomes is to “Differentiate resources as necessary to provide every student with access to Culturally Competent pedagogy, curriculum, co-curriculum, support, facilities and other educational resources with an ultimate goal of achieving Excellence.” This webinar will explore some of the successes and challenges that IMSA is facing from an academic perspective and how we are attempting to move forward with ensuring that we …

Public Perception Of Gender And Legitimacy On The Court: A Study Of Descriptive And Substantive Representation, Kate Soulliere

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

In this study, I seek an answer to the question as to whether descriptive representation matters to female onlookers of the Supreme Court on the issue of abortion rights. I gather and analyze data to determine whether female onlookers of the Court exhibit greater trust for fellow women on the bench using survey questions that offer hypothetical case narratives with varying outcomes and ask respondents to rate their trust in justices coded implicitly by gender and ideology. I find no significant difference between the reaction of male and female respondents to male and female justices and conclude that no positive …

Study Of Soil Lead Levels In Gwinnett County, Jaci Carithers, Alexis Katz, Philipa Wang, Farmaan Judge, Brian Matayoshi

Research Day

INTRODUCTION: The CDC estimates that over half a million US children between ages 1-5 have blood lead levels high enough to damage their health. No level of lead can exist safely in the human body, especially since lead does not aid any of its biological processes and, actually, impedes these processes. Past use of lead paint, leaded gasoline, and manufacturing and disposal procedures in lead-based industries have contributed to lead contamination of soil and water. Now, the risks of lead contaminated soil and produce in urban community gardens pose a new challenge. Saikawa Labs at Emory discovered lead slag in …

Assessing The Safety And Efficacy Of Finerenone In Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease (Ckd) And Comorbid Type Ii Diabetes (T2d), A Systematic Review, Barry Brown

Research Day

Introduction: Potassium-sparing diuretics have long since held an important place in clinical practice; though, there are only a handful of options available. A novel potassium sparing diuretic, finerenone, has recently been investigated in patients with CKD with concomitant T2D to determine its safety and efficacy in a larger group of patients.

Objectives: The purpose of this abstract is to identify and analyze phase III trial data of novel diuretic therapies in patients with CKD and comorbid T2D.

Methods: The terms, “chronic kidney disease”, “type 2 diabetes”, “new therapy”, “effect”, “renal function”, and “cardiovascular disease”, were utilized to conduct a systematic …

A Novel Method For Studying Cerebellar Responses To Tdcs Using Mice: An In Vitro Approach, Madison Cohen, Eashwar Mohan, Sagar Darira, Emily Graves, Huo Lu

Research Day

Cerebellar ataxias are a group of neurodegenerative disorders associated with impaired cerebellar circuitry leading to loss of motor coordination and balance. Recent studies using animal models have shown that transcranial direct stimulation (tDCS) could be an effective therapy for the treatment of cerebellar ataxia. The sole output of the cerebellar cortex is from the axons of Purkinje cells, which allows the cerebellum to influence motor behavior via the cerebello-thalamo-cortical pathway. However, the influence of tDCS on Purkinje cells remains unknown. In this study, we used a customized whole-cell patch-clamp chamber, which allowed for patch-clamp recordings from Purkinje cells during tDCS. …

Pcom Partners: Empowering Community Members To Reduce Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy, Jeisson Garcia, Gloria Joseph, Darwin Mendez, Sheeren Mohammed, Danielle Myara, Jessica Myara, Jaclyn Zibman, Megha Bhagavan, Allison Smith, Mallory Hidinger, Brian Matayoshi

Research Day

As of March 24th, 2022, more than 400 million individuals have contracted the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) worldwide with a death toll count of over six million victims. SARS-CoV-2 is an anti-discriminatory virus that affects humanity as a whole. As society navigates through this pandemic, science has found a way to improve the human body’s ability to fight against the virus by creating a vaccine against the virus. Currently there are vaccines with a high rate of effectiveness against the different variants of the virus. However, vaccine hesitancy is a major obstacle in the fight against the …

Barbaloin (Aloin-A) And Isobarbaloin (Aloin-B) Selectively Inhibit Activity Of Papain Like Protease (Plpro) Of Sars-Cov-2 In Vitro, Devin Shane Lewis, Krishna Chavada, Joanna Ho, Savannah Wills, Srujana Rayalam, Vicky Mody, Shashidharamurthy Taval

Research Day

In human adapted corona viruses (including SARS-CoV-2), the most common host entry point is through the initial colonization in the laryngeal and pharyngeal regions which are responsible for spread of the infection. Recent studies suggest that commercially available oral and nasal rinse products are effective in inhibiting the viral replication, however, the anti-viral mechanism of the active ingredients present in the oral rinses have yet to be studied. In the present study, we have assessed in vitro enzymatic inhibitory activity of active ingredients in the oral mouth rinse products: aloin-A and B, chlorhexidine, eucalyptol, hexetidine, menthol, triclosan, methyl salicylate, sodium …

Isolation And Recording Of Thalamic Neuronal Activity From Ventral Medial And Ventral Lateral Thalamic Nuclei In Rat, Michael Bien, Halley Fowler, Jessica Hiscox, Anum Ul-Haque, Huo Lu

Research Day

The cerebellum, known for its role in coordination and motor adaptation, is hypothesized to travel through the thalamus in its signaling to and from the cerebral cortex, specifically through the ventral medial (VM) and ventral lateral (VL) thalamic nuclei. The thalamus is located within the diencephalon between the midbrain and cerebral cortex. It is an important relay center between the cerebellum and the motor cortex.

Isolation and recording of electrical activity from neurons in the ventral medial and ventral lateral thalamic nuclei in rats is the first step to study the thalamic response to electrical cerebellar stimulation in future experiments. …

Robotic Versus Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Meta-Analysis, Lana Aleuy, Oluwaferanmi Akande, Aliu Sanni

Research Day

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) remains the gold standard management of benign gallbladder disease. The adoption of the robotic platform that offers high-resolution 3- dimensional images, dexterity, better range of motion, and precise control in comparison to laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) into general practice is still lacking. Recent data on the safety and efficacy of Robotic cholecystectomy (RC) in comparison to LC has not yet been analyzed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of RC compared to LC for gallbladder disease from articles published after 2017.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted using EMBASE, PubMed, and …

The Appropriate Initiation Of Parenteral Nutrition Per Aspen Criteria In A Community Hospital, Adrian Gavre, Hyeseung Kang, Dewayne Cross

Research Day

Introduction

The American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) has published guidelines for the proper initiation of parenteral nutrition (PN) in order to safelyadminister PN.

Objective

The objective of this study is to determine the amount of PN orders that were appropriately initiated according to ASPEN guidelines within the WellStar North Fulton campus.

Methods

This study is a single-center, retrospective chart review over 30 months. The data was collected from Wellstar North Fulton Hospital patients from January 1st, 2019, to July 19th, 2021. The sample size is 115 patients. Appropriate initiation of PN was determined by analyzing how PN …

The Association Between Waist To Height Ratio And Cardiopulmonary Disease, Mierra Robinson, Yuhyun Kang, Julia Eisman, Vikas Damineni, Hamad Hassan, Bebe Eke, Fei Gao, Maryam Vessalpour, Samuel Ighodaro, Shelley Dicecco

Research Day

Introduction: Many studies have investigated the correlation of BMI and morbidities. Previous studies have elucidated waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) as a more suitable predictor of cardiovascular risk factors than BMI. BMI is limited due to neglecting the abdominal circumference. With this data we believe that WHtR is correlated with causes of death (COD) from cardiopulmonary diseases vs. non cardiopulmonary diseases in cadavers.

Methods: Cadavers were measured for their waist to height ratio using measuring tape and rulers. The cadavers’ height was measured in inches from top to bottom with the very tip of the head being the top and the plantar …

Identification Of Phytochemicals That Inhibit The Enzymatic Activity Of Sars-Cov-2 3-Chymotrypsin Like Protease (3clpro) In Vitro., Avini Sharma, Anasha Kawall, Devin Lewis, Krishna Chavada, Shashidharamurthy Taval, Vicky Mody, Srujana Rayalam

Research Day

SARS-CoV-2, which emerged in Wuhan, China in December of 2019, is classified as a global pandemic. Several studies suggest that phytochemicals exhibit potent anti-viral effects and in this study, we have investigated the use of phytochemicals as potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents. Previous studies indicated the importance of viral proteases in the replication of SARS-CoV-2. Among these proteases, papain-like protease and 3-chymotrypsin-like protease are involved in the synthesis of non-structural proteins responsible for the assembly of the replication-transcription complex. Phytochemicals such as rutin, myricetin, and kaempferol, were reported as potential inhibitors of 3CLpro activity in silico. However, recently we have established that …

An Interdisciplinary Approach To Addressing Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake Hesitancy Among Community Health Fair Participants In Gwinnett County, Ga, Grace Anim, Naima Bibi, Jared Gordon, Valerie Cadet, Edo-Abasi Mcgee

Research Day

Purpose

Vaccine uptake hesitancy is a key factor affecting public health, notably during this current COVID-19 pandemic. Addressing this is of utmost importance and poses a great challenge requiring effective communication and education. Presently, concerns raised by the public regarding hesitancy include uncertainty about vaccine safety, vaccines being produced too quickly, personal fears and beliefs, conspiracy theories, myths, misinformation, and religious leaders’ misinformation to their congregations. The purpose of this project was to identify some barriers for COVID -19 vaccine uptake hesitancy among non-vaccinated individuals attending community health fairs and possibly address their concerns through education and proper communication.

Methods …

Self-Reported Training And Confidence Levels Among Practitioners Managing Genital Lymphedema, Alicia Schmidt, Shelley Dicecco, Rhian Noble-Jones

Research Day

Introduction

Genital lymphedema (GL) can present with significant psychological, social, and physical impairments. Barriers to treatment include under-reporting, socio-cultural issues, patient/healthcare practitioner (HCP) perception/comfort, and lack of knowledge among HCPs.1-4 General lymphedema training utilizes hands-on approaches to learning for extremities; yet GL training is often minimal with little to no hands-on component. This self-reporting retrospective study investigates GL training, instruction methods, and confidence levels among HCPs.

Methods

An online 20 question survey was disseminated via direct email to HCPs that had previously downloaded tools for males/females with GL, announcements on social media pages related to lymphedema, links provided at conferences/courses, …

Large Single Center Experience In Pediatric Oncology And Bone Marrow Transplant Patients On Ecmo: How Should We Decide Candidacy?, Jordan Marquess

Research Days

Watch recording of live presentation

Background: ECMO is rarely utilized in pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant (BMT) populations due to concerns surrounding poor prognoses and high rates of complications. Patients with malignancies are often not offered ECMO as an option. There is paucity of data to determine whether a pediatric oncology or bone marrow transplant patient is an appropriate candidate for ECMO.

Methods: This is a single center retrospective cohort study on pediatric patients with primary oncologic diagnosis or history of bone marrow transplant who required VA- or VV-ECMO from 2015-2020.

Results: Twelve patients were identified with a 58% …