17179 research outputs found
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The Utilization, Application, and Impact of Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) in Nursing Facilities: A Rapid Review
No full textBackground/Objectives: Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) are designed to enhance the quality of care for long-term nursing facility (NF) residents. However, utilization patterns vary significantly, and their broader impact remains only partially understood. This rapid review aims to identify, map, and synthesize the existing literature on the use of I-SNPs in nursing homes. Methods: Following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we conducted a comprehensive search of academic and gray literature using a predefined Boolean string. The extracted data were organized and analyzed thematically. Results: The synthesized literature (n = 12 studies) revealed four primary themes: (1) Market Penetration and Enrollment; (2) Models of Care Application; (3) Impact on Clinical and Financial Outcomes; and (4) Barriers to Utilization. Conclusions: I-SNP utilization represents a shift from fragmented FFS payment models toward integrated managed care within nursing facilities. Evidence shows a reduction in acute care transfers, although findings for other outcomes are mixed, underscoring the need for further research and policy development.Health Administratio
Oral history interview: Dallas Garza
No full textEdited and unedited transcript files (.pdf) and edited and unedited video files available with closed captioning.Oral history interview with Santiago Morales about friend Dallas Garza. Santiago discusses Dallas's life, service, and demeanor
An Overview of Islamic Finance: History, Principles, and Ethical Foundations
No full textThis research project provides an overview of Islamic finance, exploring its historical development, foundations, and ethical approach to economic activity. The core principles of Islamic finance are its compliance with Shari’ah (Islamic law), prohibition of interest (riba), encouragement of risk-sharing, and promotes socially responsible investment. This paper gives a brief history of Islamic finance, tracing it back to early Islamic civilization, where economic activity was guided by moral and spiritual accountability. Key concepts such as zakat (mandatory almsgiving), gharar (prohibition of excessive uncertainty), and mudarabah (profit-sharing partnership) show how Islamic finance integrates social justice and fairness into financial transactions and the broader economy. Islamic finance’s aim is to prevent exploitation, promote equitable wealth distribution, and ensure that financial dealings are tied to real economic value through asset-backed financing. This paper also explores a home financing transaction under Islamic law, comparing and contrasting it with modern conventional finance. Islamic finance is a holistic framework that combines ethical and moral values with economic activity and offers a model for socially conscious financial practices in today’s economy.Finance and Economic
The Butterfly Effect
No full text“The Butterfly Effect” is a creative work in which perception of the individual as a result of societal bigotry is analyzed in depth. In recent years the world has seen a growing focus on the effects of direct ostracization, so this project will explore where that route of thinking can take everyone involved. The modern day also continues to exhibit a multitude of internalized literary expectations around gender archetypes. I want to help challenge this by writing a story in which traditional gender roles are not present, or are even subverted. This work, titled The Butterfly Effect, is inspired in part by Howl’s Moving Castle and features a heartfelt story about several characters navigating their relationships with themselves, each other, and their world. I want to assess multiple angles of bigotry in this work; how bias can become internalized and impact not just the masses, but the people that it centers around. The story is told through multiple perspectives in order to get a varied grasp of the impact of bigotry as a whole. These characters include Arlen, a social outcast who is being hunted down because of the magic she can do, and Esthae, a child who, unlike all before her, meets Arlen with kindness. Arlen, Esthae, and others they meet along the way come face to face with Monarchy, an oppressive extremist group that is attempting to rid the land of magic. Set in a fictional world in which some people find themselves with magic they never asked for, this story presents as a commentary on the lenses through which we view others, serving as a way to digest a wider topic through the ease of comparison.Biolog
Evaluating eye tracking signal quality with real-time gaze interaction simulation: A study using an offline dataset
No full textThis is the source code for our research titled- Evaluating Eye Tracking Signal Quality with Real-time Gaze Interaction Simulation: A Study Using an Offline Dataset. The paper is accepted in ETRA'2025. You can find it - https://doi.org/10.1145/3715669.3723119We present a real-time gaze-based interaction simulation methodology using an offline dataset to evaluate the eye-tracking signal quality. This study employs three fundamental eye-movement classification algorithms to identify physiological fixations from the eye-tracking data. We introduce the Rank-1 fixation selection approach to identify the most stable fixation period nearest to a target, referred to as the trigger-event. Our evaluation explores how varying constraints impact the definition of trigger-events and evaluates the eye-tracking signal quality of defined trigger-events.
Results show that while the dispersion threshold-based algorithm identifies trigger-events more accurately, the Kalman filter-based classification algorithm performs better in eye-tracking signal quality, as demonstrated through a user-centric quality assessment using user- and error-percentile tiers. Despite median user-level performance showing minor differences across algorithms, significant variability in signal quality across participants highlights the importance of algorithm selection to ensure system reliability.Computer Scienc
Identifying Heritage Trees Using Lidar and Tree Crown Delineation to Fabricate a Database for the Conservation and Protection of Heritage Trees in San Marcos, Texas
No full textHeritage trees provide cultural, historical, and ecological benefits to the areas they inhabit. As the City of San Marcos continues to experience development, it is important that researchers come up with ways to identify heritage trees to ensure their integrity is kept. This research used the City of Austin’s heritage tree criteria, lidar data, and information provided by the San Marcos Forestry Department to identify potential heritage trees and create a database. Segmentation and linear regression analysis were used to identify any potential relationship between DBH (diameter at breast height) and tree canopy width. The segmentation results were more accurate for areas where there was low tree density. The linear regression model results indicated there was a weak correlation between the variables, concluding that DBH could not be predicted by tree canopy width alone. While this study concluded there was not a relationship between tree canopy width and DBH, additional research should be done on how the addition of different variables like tree height could affect the results.Geography and Environmental Studie
Persuasion at play: Understanding misinformation dynamics in human-LLM interactions
No full textIn an era of rapid information exchange, the spread of misinformation poses a significant societal challenge. Misinformation on exposure and susceptibility varies across demographic groups. The use of Large Language Models (LLMs) bring new dimensions to misinformation due to their persuasion abilitiesComputer Scienc
tRF31Asp2 and AGO proteins coordination mediate plant immunity in Arabidopsis
No full textCell responds to tRNA cleavage into sRNA fragments based on environmental clues. In plant immune response, we found Aspartate tRNA cleaving into tRNA-derived RNA fragments of 31-nt sizes (called tRF31Asp2). Infiltrating Arabidopsis with synthetic tRF31Asp2 upregulates over 500 defense genes conferring immunity. Like other small RNAs, tRF31Asp2 coordinates with Argonaut proteins (AGO) to guide its way inside nucleus, likely targeting chromatin regulating defense gene induction. To check the AGOs’ role in immunity, we infected pathogens and transfected tRF31Asp2 into wildtype and ago mutants (ago1/5/10, ago2/3/7 and ago4/6/8). ago mutants showed increased susceptibility and decreased Pathogenesis-Related (PR1) gene expression suggesting its role in tRF-mediated plant immunity. Biochemically, AGOs contain PAZ, MID, and PIWI domains, with the PIWI domain's metal-binding triad (DDD) being crucial, as mutational analysis confirms the necessity of an active slicer domain for function. To investigate the role of AGO slicer function in plant immunity, we infected wildtype and ago2 mutants with complementary AGO2 constructs containing wildtype (DDD) and mutated (DDA and DAD) slicer domain. This showed that a wildtype role AGO2 slicing domain is required for resistance to pathogens. This highlights the critical role of tRF-AGO2 slicing in plant immunity and as a potential RNA-based crop protection tool.Biolog
Understanding Weight Stigma, Body Appreciation, and Disordered Eating Behaviors through the Lens of Community Health Workers and Promotore/As
No full textWeight stigma is a form of discrimination that affects at least 40% of the population in the United States, but little is known about how marginalized groups experience weight stigma. Community Health Workers (CHWs) and promotore/as are frontline public health professionals who serve as a bridge between healthcare services and the communities they serve; often serving those in underserved communities. This allows them to provide a unique perspective on how diverse communities’ experience internalized weight stigma (IWS). This thesis explores the possible associations between IWS, body appreciation, and disordered eating behaviors in CHWs and promotore/as older than 19 years of age in Texas (n=72). Results revealed that IWS had an inverse association with body appreciation and a positive association with disordered eating behaviors. No significant associations were found when adjusting for age and ethnicity. These findings highlight the possible impact of weight stigma on body image and disordered eating behaviors in those of historically marginalized groups. Further studies should explore the impacts of IWS on CHWs and promotore/as, which may translate into the care they provide.Family and Consumer Science