University of Southern Mississippi
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Good or Good Enough: Medical Communication Between Student-Athletes and Athletic Trainers
No full textThis dissertation explores the complex dynamics of medical communication between student-athletes and athletic trainers in Division I programs. Using uncertainty management theory and patient-centered care literature the dissertation investigates how student-athletes and athletic trainers communicate during diagnosis, treatment, and return-to-play scenarios. Through qualitative interviews with 20 student-athletes and 15 athletic trainers across multiple states and sports, the current study identifies patterns in how uncertainty is communicated and managed. Findings reveal multiple key themes in how athletic trainers and student-athletes navigate uncertainty surrounding injuries and the complications they face when making decisions. The results highlight the tension between institutional demands and individualized care, emphasizing the need for more inclusive and patient-centered communication practices. By bridging gaps between traditional patient-provider literature and the lived realities of medical care in college athletics this research calls for structural and educational changes that prioritize long-term health and agency of student athletes
A Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Emotion Regulationand Aggression in Justice-Involved Adolescents: Preliminary Outcomes from a Non-Randomized Trial in Short-Term Juvenile Detention
No full textJustice-involved youth are at risk for a variety of psychosocial difficulties, including anger, aggression, and emotion regulation challenges. Short-term juvenile detention settings offer a unique opportunity to provide psychological interventions to youth before they are returned to the community or sentenced to long-term placements. However, implementation barriers within these settings often hinder the delivery of evidence-based care. This study developed and tested a brief, two-session anger management intervention for adolescents detained in a short-term juvenile detention center in the Southeastern United States, drawing on evidence-based practices from prior work with justice-involved youth. The present study examined implementation outcomes (i.e., feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness) and preliminary changes in emotion regulation, outcome expectations for aggression, and social-cognitive processing using a non-randomized, single-group pre-post design. Findings supported the intervention’s feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability in this setting. Analyses showed a significant reduction in beliefs that aggression leads to tangible rewards (e.g., respect, getting one’s way), suggesting a promising shift in youth perceptions of the benefits of aggression. However, there was a non-significant trend toward increased beliefs that aggression can help avoid mistreatment (e.g., being disrespected or picked on). Youth also demonstrated improvements in positive emotion regulation strategies and benign intent attributions, though anger and hostile intent attributions remained stable. These results provide preliminary support for the benefits of brief, feasible interventions that can be embedded in short-term detention settings, while also identifying areas, such as protective beliefs about aggression, for further adaptation and monitoring
On the Degeneracy of Central Configurations
No full textIn the study of central configurations of the N-body problem, degeneracy plays a significant role---whether in thoroughly understanding bifurcation theory or in counting the number of central configurations to attempt a proof of the famous Chazy-Wintner-Smale conjecture. This dissertation is devoted to developing a new practical algorithm for determining the nondegeneracy of a given collision-free central configuration. Two key theorems are established to identify trivial zero eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix, enabling the implementation of the algorithm. Subsequently, this criterion is applied to demonstrate the nondegeneracy of collision-free restricted central configuration problems. As a concrete application, the collision-free (3+L)-body central configurations are proved to be nondegenerate
Enhancing EFL Learners\u27 Vocabulary Acquisition Through Digital Storytelling: Effects on Breadth and Depth
No full textThis paper aims to assess the impact of digital storytelling on enhancing undergraduate students’ vocabulary breadth and depth. For this purpose, 40 Omani intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners from a higher education institution were randomly selected and divided into two equal groups: a control group and an experimental group. The Updated Vocabulary Level Test, adapted from Webb et al. (2017), and the Word Associate Test, adapted from Read (1998), were conducted as pretests and posttests. The experimental group created digital stories during the treatment using various multimedia applications. The findings revealed that the experimental group demonstrated significant progress in word acquisition, suggesting a noteworthy expansion in vocabulary range. Furthermore, students demonstrated an improved comprehension and use of these terms, strengthening their lexical expertise. These findings suggested that digital storytelling significantly benefits vocabulary acquisition, underscoring its efficacy as a digital approach for promoting language learning in EFL settings. The results are beneficial for teachers and students
Breastfeeding Safety Following Maternal Anesthesia: A Guideline Development
No full textRecommendations regarding breastfeeding following maternal anesthesia are inconsistent and often not up to date with current best practice guidelines. Previous recommendations have led to mothers unnecessarily “pumping and dumping” breast milk has benefits for both mother and baby. These benefits include (a) increasing the infant’s access to colostrum, (b) encouraging mother-baby bonding, (c) improving the mother’s breastfeeding experience, (d) and providing significant health benefits to the infant. The purpose of this scholarly project was to develop a set of evidence-based recommendations that focus on mothers who desire to breastfeed following general anesthesia. These recommendations will highlight maternal- fetal transfer of medications and initiation of breast feeding. Many studies have shown that there are inconsistencies in postoperative breastfeeding recommendations with some providers allowing women to breastfeed when they are awake and alert. In contrast, others recommend pumping and dumping for 24 hours following the administration of anesthesia. Following a review of the literature, evidence was synthesized, and a plan was developed to disseminate this information to current practicing CRNAs in a concise and informative manner. Medications under review included fentanyl, labetalol, lidocaine, meperidine, midazolam, ondansetron, phenylephrine, propofol, rocuronium, sevoflurane, succinylcholine, and Sugammadex. Overall, almost all medications reviewed are safe to use in lactating mothers except for meperidine. As part of this project, a presentation and two quick reference handouts were delivered to 18 current practicing CRNAs in attendance at the CE Webinar hosted by the university. A 6 question pre and posttest regarding breastfeeding recommendations was administered and evaluated. The clinical importance of this doctoral project is the increase in anesthesia provider knowledge and confidence when administering anesthesia and postoperative education to breastfeeding mothers
2026 Nominee Bookmarks: 3rd - 5th Grade
No full texthttps://aquila.usm.edu/magnolia_book_awards/1013/thumbnail.jp
Do Finances Determine Our Fate?: Understanding the Relationships Between Socioeconomic Status, Inflammation, and Cancer Recurrence Risk
No full textIndividuals of a low socioeconomic status (SES) are more likely to experience a cancer recurrence relative to individuals with a higher SES. This may be partially explained by the stressors of living with a low SES. These stressors can increase inflammatory markers known to elevate the risk of cancer development. Health-promoting behaviors such as exercise, adequate sleep, and a healthy diet can reduce systemic inflammation. Health behaviors may therefore moderate any potential relationship between SES and cancer recurrence risk. This study explored associations between SES (income, educational attainment) and inflammatory markers related to cancer recurrence while seeking to determine if health behaviors (diet, exercise, sleep) moderate this relationship. Income was significantly associated with CRP (F = 4.484, p = .012) and the ratio of LBP to sCD14 (F = 5.383, p = .005) such that the lower income group had lower levels of these inflammatory markers. Education level was not associated with any inflammatory markers across visits (ps = .080 - .983). However, there was a significant interaction effect for education and sleep quality on CRP levels (F = 3.371, p = .037). Poor sleep quality led to elevations in CRP for individuals with a high school diploma or less that were not seen in the groups with higher educational attainment. This finding did not withstand a Bonferroni correction. No other interactions between SES and health behaviors yielded significant results (ps = .063 - .953). Equal access to quality care across SES groups may partially explain the limited significant findings
Exploring Fisheries Species Distribution Shifts in Response to Freshwater Inflow Through the Bonnet Carré Spillway Using Species Distribution Models
No full textThe Bonnet Carre Spillway (BCS) is a flood control structure on the Mississippi River (MR) ~52 km upstream of New Orleans. The BCS protects downstream communities from MR flooding by diverting floodwaters into Lake Pontchartrain when the MR exceeds 5.18m flood stage. Diverted waters flow east into the Mississippi Sound (MSS), introducing turbid, nutrient rich freshwater to the estuary before draining into the Gulf of Mexico. BCS openings have become much more frequent in the last decade, though little work has been done to explore the impact of the BCS on nektonic fisheries species. Here, a series of seasonal Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) species distribution models are constructed, validated, and performance-assessed to explore how BCS openings might affect Brevoortia patronus, Cynoscion nebulosus, and Farfantepenaeus aztecus in the space of the MSS and surrounding waters. Models are validated via 10-fold cross validation and assessed via area under curve analysis and a binomial test of training omission. The highest performing models are used to project species distribution over hydrodynamic simulations consistent with alternative operational regimes of the 2019 and 2020 BCS openings. Results indicate that the 2019 openings influenced nektonic species distribution, while the 2020 BCS opening had little impact on distribution. We found that reducing MR discharge at Baton Rouge only to the extent needed to reach 1.25 million cubic feet per second during the 2019 BCS openings would have minimized the distributional impact of these openings on B. patronus, C. nebulosus, and F. aztecus compared to all other candidate scenarios
Inside the Walls of the Asylum: Exploring the Lives of Individuals in the Mississippi State Asylum (1855-1935)
No full textThe Mississippi State Asylum (MSA), established in 1855, was the first such institution in but has been largely forgotten about since its closure in 1935. The cemetery associated with the facility, which is located on the University of Mississippi Medical Center campus, was recently rediscovered with new construction. As part of the Asylum Hill project, the remains of seven of the 7000 burials along with their mortuary artifacts were analyzed and allowed these forgotten individuals to once again regain their voice and tell a portion of their life story through osteobiographies.
The sample, dating to 1855-1899, included five males and two females, with an average age range of 28.5-33.5 for males and 35-40 for females. Most appear to have been African American. Caries were the most common dental pathology seen, and almost half experienced LEH and abscesses as well. This is undoubtedly related to the corn and carbohydrate rich diet, which also introduced certain nutritional deficiencies. Porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, and tentatively diagnosed pellagra also afflicted those analyzed. There was a lack of trauma within this sample, despite previous reports in the MSA population. Entheseal markers were largely gracile, perhaps due to patients being too ill to work.
With the exception of life expectancy, these findings generally comport with what was seen in analyses of cemeteries at contemporaneous institutions as well in the general population of the time, suggesting there was generally good care for these individuals. Nevertheless, much else is left to be learned from those interred in the MSA cemetery, this is just the beginning