University of Southern Mississippi
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Feasibility and Acceptability of a Brief App-based Mindfulness Intervention for Sexual and Gender Minority Individuals
No full textSexual and gender minority individuals (SGM) often experience increased stress, marginalization, and more frequent experiences with discrimination relative to their heterosexual and cisgender peers (Meyer, 2003). These experiences have been shown to contribute to several well-documented mental health disparities (Miranda-Mendizábal et al., 2017). Emerging evidence suggests that app-based mindfulness interventions have been shown to reduce stress and improve aspects of mental health among the general population (Cook et al., 2022) but, the implementation and utilization of app-based mindfulness in SGM individuals remains in infancy. As such, this study aimed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a fourteen-day app-based mindfulness intervention, and the barriers and facilitators associated with engagement in the intervention among sexual and gender minority individuals. Eighteen SGM adults were recruited online via Prolific to participate in this mixed-method study. The present study provides encouraging quantitative and qualitative evidence supporting the feasibility and acceptability of an app-based mindfulness intervention among SGM individuals. Six qualitative themes emerged which can all be related to barriers and facilitators of engagement in app-based mindfulness among SGM individuals. The first two themes represent pure facilitators of engagement (Theme 1: Mindfulness is perceived as an effective self-regulation skill and Theme 2: App-based mindfulness “comes in all different shapes and sizes and lengths”). The next three themes contain features of both facilitators and barriers to engagement (Theme 3: Mindfulness and sleep are interdependent; Theme 4: “If my mental health were to get worse… I would use mindfulness more”; and Theme 5: Perceived competence impacts engagement in mindfulness). The final theme (Theme 6: Lack of time and routine limit use of app-based mindfulness) is indicative of barriers to engagement in app-based mindfulness. Finally, preliminary evidence suggests that app-based mindfulness can be effective for increasing overall well-being and mindfulness among SGM individuals. Future research should rigorously examine whether digital mindfulness interventions can reduce the impact of minority stress and improve SGM mental health via low cost and highly accessible digital health platforms to adequately address the unique needs of this group
CRNA Awareness of Evidence-Based Anesthetic Practices for Arteriovenous Fistula Procedures
No full textChronic kidney disease and the need for hemodialysis present frequent challenges for patients, providers, and the healthcare system. For dialysis to be successful, arteriovenous fistula maturation is of the utmost importance. However, variability in anesthetic practices has contributed to inconsistent outcomes. This doctoral project aimed to address that variability by enhancing anesthesia providers’ awareness of evidence-based anesthetic practices for arteriovenous fistula procedures. By designing and providing an educational seminar, this doctoral project demonstrated measurable improvements in anesthesia providers’ knowledge. The improvements were measured through a pre- and post- seminar questionnaire. The results showed statistically significant gains across five of the six questionnaire items, with positive trends on the sixth. These results confirm that a knowledge gap existed among anesthesia providers, and that an educational module was able to highlight and bridge the gap. The doctoral project was able to address a meaningful gap in anesthetic practice by successfully enhancing anesthesia provider awareness regarding evidence-based anesthetic approaches to AV fistula procedures. The educational seminar showed the value of education and how it can influence practice change. By providing anesthesia providers with current evidence, this doctoral project advances the goal of improving vascular access outcomes for patients requiring life-sustaining hemodialysis
Mental Health & Alcohol Outcomes for Student-Athletes: Exploring the Mediating Role of Drinking Motives
No full textHazardous drinking among college students has been a long-standing public health concern, with particular focus on student-athletes given their report of greater frequency and quantity of alcohol consumed. With the dual-role (i.e., student and athlete) of student-athletes, research has supported the comorbidity of mental health problems and alcohol outcomes, with drinking motives as an influential factor. Additionally, sport-related drinking motives may play a unique role, providing additional understanding of these relationships. No research to date has explicitly examined these variables despite the latest initiatives on student-athletes’ mental health and well-being. Thus, this study explored the mediating role of drinking motives, both general and sport-related, in the relationship between mental health and alcohol outcomes, to determine if these relationships differed by seasonal status. Athletic administration and support staff from 1,758 universities (e.g., National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)) across the United States were contacted to recruit student-athletes (N = 211; Mage = 20.53). Participants provided demographic information and completed measures of mental health symptoms, hazardous drinking, negative consequences, and drinking motives. Significant findings were evident when drinking motives were separated into two models. Conformity and coping drinking motives mediated the relationship between mental health symptoms and negative consequences, whereas social and coping drinking motives mediated the relationship between mental health symptoms and hazardous drinking. However, invariance testing was not supported across all models. Results suggested that exploring general drinking motives and sport-related drinking motives separately from one another may be the most advantageous way to understanding the drinking behaviors among student-athletes. Given the novelty of this study, further research is encouraged to better understand the relationships among these variables within this under-researched and high-risk population, particularly among more diverse samples
An Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for Epidural Blood Patch Administration
No full textCertified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) commonly perform neuraxial anesthesia, specifically spinal and epidurals, for laboring mothers and cesarean sections. A frequent complication of these techniques is post-dural puncture headache (PDPH), resulting in the need for epidural blood patch (EpBP) administration. EpBPs are an effective procedure to alleviate these debilitating headaches. This doctoral project aims to address the clinical need for improved EpBP technique through the creation of an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).
The OSCE was formulated through research on current best practice guidelines to improve provider competency, confidence, and overall patient outcomes. The EpBP OSCE provides a clinical scenario in a simulated environment for CRNAs to assess and enhance EpBP technique. This doctoral project addressed the validity of the OSCE as an educational tool for providers in the clinical setting.
To evaluate the OSCE, CRNAs were invited through email to participate in a review of the OSCE, followed by a survey to assess current provider competency in EpBP, as well as areas of improvement for this tool. The email included a link to the Qualtrics® survey, where providers agreed to informed consent, and were able to review the OSCE and answer survey questions. The questions included both a Likert Scale and one open-ended question regarding epidural blood patch administration, current provider competency, and areas for OSCE improvement. The results of the survey indicated that there were no needed improvements to the OSCE; however, there is a need for further education on the pathophysiology of PDPH and implications for epidural blood patch
Beyond the Desk: Expanding Library Reach with Passive Programming at Your Patron\u27s Pace
No full textPublic Building Accessibility: An Expanded Access Analysis Metric
Full text linkQuality accessibility features significantly impact the user experience in public service facilities; however, much of the research in this area tends to focus on code compliance, limiting the ability to analyze accessibility quality in depth. Additionally, studies often concentrate on common mobility challenges, leaving less focus on other disabilities, such as cognitive and visual impairments. As a public institution, the University of Southern Mississippi depends on students\u27 abilities to access its services, directly linking the institution’s value to the quality of its accessibility. To address this, we developed a set of survey questions to evaluate the accessibility features of campus buildings, with an emphasis on including underrepresented disabilities in the data. Data was collected from the Hattiesburg, MS campus and transformed into numeric values used to generate “accessibility scores” via the average response to survey questions. These scores reveal overall building accessibility and highlight campus-wide trends related to specific types of access. The results identify areas where accessibility efforts are lacking congruent with previous research and expected outcomes, indicating the efficacy of this form of analysis as a tool for identifying and prioritizing gaps in building accessibility, information which can be utilized to benefit disabled populations everywhere
Sliding Window Method for Simulating Action Potentials in Axons
Full text linkABSTRACT Hodgkin and Huxley’s nonlinear partial differential equations model the excitation and propagation of action potentials in neurons, and there have been numerous attempts at finding the best numerical solution method. This thesis proposes a novel approach to solving these equations: the Sliding Window method, in which a fixed sub-interval is found through capturing the signal’s head and tail. The system is then solved on the sub-interval instead of the entire interval. Using the Sliding Window technique also involves implementing the backward and forward Euler methods and the finite difference method. It will be demonstrated that, in utilizing the Sliding Window approach as opposed to more traditional numerical methods, we can maintain accuracy while reducing computational cost
Media and Attitudes: GLP-1 Medications for Weight Loss
Full text linkThis thesis aimed to explore relationships between media and attitudes toward using GLP-1/antidiabetic medications for weight loss. This survey-based study collected data on media usage, consumer behaviors, and attitudes from students attending a public, mid-major university in the southern United States. Data from the survey was statistically analyzed to find significant relationships and correlations between variables. The results showed that attitudes toward GLP-1/antidiabetic medications for weight loss had the strongest correlation with willingness to try these medications recommended by famous athletes. The results also showed that attitudes strongly correlated with willingness to try these medications recommended by social media influencers and celebrities. This study suggests that the promotion of pharmaceuticals by influencer personalities may affect perceptions of their use for weight loss. It also suggests that using famous athletes in marketing campaigns may promote positive attitudes toward pharmaceuticals. The implications of this study are to provide information that can help progress marketing in the pharmaceutical industry to deliver accurate healthcare information to the general public
Engaging scientific sense-making: An analysis of participation within informal science interaction
Full text linkWhile science learning in formal educational settings has been extensively examined using frameworks such as Bloom’s Taxonomy, its application to informal science educational environments remains underexplored. Informal science education—occurring outside traditional classrooms—presents unique challenges for evaluation due to its unstructured nature and diverse audiences. This action research study aimed to address this gap by developing and testing a framework that categorizes learner responses into high-order and low-order answers, based on Bloom’s six cognitive domains. The study was conducted at the Hattiesburg Zoo, where a docent volunteer presented two separate docent boxes, or mini science lessons, to members of the public. One docent box involved the presentation of three different types of animal skulls while the other examined natural selection through the examination of peppered moths. The study evaluated whether the proposed coding system could effectively measure the depth of learning as well as differences in high and low answer frequency between each docent box. Results indicate that informal science settings can indeed foster high-level cognitive engagement, aligning with outcomes typically observed in formal education. These findings have implications for both informal science programming and future classroom practices for me as a future educator