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ELEVATING THE VOICES AND ROLES OF PARAPROFESSIONALS IN INCLUSIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSROOMS
No full textThe purpose of the participatory action and activist research (PAAR) project was to engage in iterative cycles of inquiry to understand how a school-based team could shift the role of instructional assistants (IAs) to provide students with disabilities support for independence within inclusive classroom environments. The primary methodology for the study was participatory action and activist research (PAAR) (hunter et al., 2013) using qualitative analysis processes in three cycles of inquiry (Saldaña, 2016). We relied on Community Learning Exchange (CLE) axioms and processes to engage two teams – a co-practitioner researcher (CPR) team and an instructional assistant professional learning group (PLG) -- in authentic dialogue to examine practices related to instructional assistants shifting from a 1:1 role to a classroom assistant (CA) role. In sharing personal stories and fostering relationships, we cultivated a dedication to equity and inclusion for IAs. In consultation and collaboration with instructional assistants, we analyzed and supported their experiences, skills, and needs as primary factors in changing our approach to inclusion and changing how paraprofessionals fully engage with teachers and leaders to support students in inclusive classrooms. Actively listening to instructional assistants enhanced their sense of belonging within the adult school community as evidenced by their participation in the professional learning. Secondly, the people who became anchors of the work and acted as bridges accelerated the change effort. As a result, the instructional assistant role shifted from isolated to integral and included collaboration time, resources, and access to information to facilitate inclusion and empowerment. Key individuals emerged as pivotal leaders in this change process, bridging the initiatives of the IA
PLG and CPR group and advancing a systemic approach to integrating instructional assistants in the school community and in classrooms to better provide support for students. The findings of the study offer a roadmap for other schools and districts to rethink the roles of paraprofessionals. The power of the collaborative work and the processes are replicable in other contexts
THE EFFECTS OF FATIGUE AND VISUAL PERTURBATION ON POSTURAL CONTROL IN HEALTHY POPULATIONS
No full textThe sensorimotor system is crucial in maintaining postural control. This study looked at it. Many studies have looked at how muscular fatigue and visual perturbation affect the sensorimotor system using a force plate to collect center of pressure (CoP) data. This study sought to look at the combined effects of fatigue and visual perturbation using virtual reality (VR) to evaluate changes in non-linear CoP measures using Novel Pedar technology. CoP data was collected for six healthy young adults using a Bertec force plate and the Novel Pedar X insole pressure system in quiet stance. This was done in a non-VR condition (NVR) and a VR condition (YVR) where participants were placed into a moving room. These measures were taken before and after a muscular fatigue task that involved walking on a treadmill at a gradually increasing incline. Sum of CoP path, 95% ellipse area (EA), virtual time-to-contact (VTC) minima, and VTC minima coefficient of variation (VTC min COV) were taken and compared for pre- and post-fatigue, NVR and YVR, and the interaction between the two. Results showed a significant decrease VTC min COV (p < 0.05) as a result of fatigue. The YVR condition was able to create a significant increase in the sum of CoP path and VTC min. When looking at the interactions, it was determined that fatigue increased the VTC min for the NVR condition and decreased it for the YVR condition. It also showed a significant increase in the sum of CoP path, given pre- and post-fatigue. The results showed that both fatigue and visual perturbation created a change in postural control that increased CoP movement but allowed it to be more controlled. The force plate and Pedar data varied greatly, and usually only one collection technique detected significant differences between the main effects. Overall, gave varying results on how they affected postural control
Evaluating Rural Healthcare Disparities and Applying Public Health Interventions
No full textMany people in the United States of America live in rural areas. Out of the 330 million people that live in the United States 65 million live in rural districts (Leider et al., 2020). This is why it is important to address the existing health disparities in regions where large populations are being affected and have poorer health than urban residents. For instance, rural residents’ mortality and morbidity rate is higher no matter the economic status compared to urban residents. There have been many studies performed that have determined factors of why the mortality rate is higher. The results are barriers in geographic dispersion, cost and insurance, and provider shortage. These barriers affect the quality of care and access for occupants causing them to be sicker and not recover from illness compared to urban occupants. However, the discipline of public health has different strategies to protect communities’ health status. This paper will discuss different public health solutions, such as Medicaid programs, expanding telehealth, Public Health Departments, using the Health in All Approach, and implementing partnerships in rural communities. These possible solutions will hopefully close the gap and allow many people to benefit from the strategies, not just one person. Scholarly articles were used to gather information about rural healthcare and understand how public health strategies can benefit rural communities. These sources also suggested solutions and helped with the process of coming up with new ways to approach barriers. This paper will hopefully lead people in the right direction to address disparities and better health outcomes for rural populations
Ender
No full textThe first five chapters of a Southern Gothic NA novel titled "Ender." The main character struggles to reconcile what they believe is right with what their family believes is right and morally acceptable to do with magic
Physical Activity Levels in Pregnant Black and White Women Who are Participating in An Exercise Intervention
No full textPhysical Activity Levels in Pregnant Black and White Women Who are Participating in An Exercise Intervention
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The primary purpose of this study is to investigate whether there are differences in physical activity levels between White and Black women during early and late pregnancy. A second purpose is to explore the attrition rates of White and Black women who participated in an exercise intervention during pregnancy. Methods: Healthy pregnant women between 18-40 years old, ≤16 weeks' gestation were recruited to participate in a supervise exercise clinical trial. The current study used a portion of data from this larger clinical trial. Participants wore an activity monitor (ActiGraph Link) on their non-dominate wrist for 7 consecutive days to measure physical activity. The women wore the activity monitor when they enrolled in the study (early pregnancy, ≤16 weeks), prior to but before the intervention started and during late pregnancy (36 weeks). The activity monitors were removed during any exercise sessions for the late pregnancy time point. Thus, the data reflects all non-intervention physical activity. Data were analyzed to determine daily minutes per day (min/d) spent in sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous-intensity physical activity. T-tests were used to compare the time spent per day in different physical activity intensities between races at the early and late pregnancy time points. Attrition for this study was determined for those who dropped out before and during the intervention. More specifically, those who dropped out before the intervention were quantified as anyone whose gestation length was ≤ 16 weeks and who did not start any intervention sessions. The attrition occurring during the intervention was defined as women who no longer regularly attended the intervention sessions (.05). Black and White pregnant women spent about 1 hour per day in sedentary behaviors, 9 hours a day in light physical activity, and about 4 hours per day in moderate intensity. In late pregnancy time point, there were 47 pregnant women (6 Blacks and 41 Whites) with physical activity data. On average, participants were 30.87 ± 4.39 years old with an obese BMI of 33.65 ± 10.27 kg/m2 and wore the Link for 13 hours/day. White and Black women spent similar amount of time during the day in sedentary behaviors and light-intensity physical activity (p>.05). The amount of time spent in sedentary behaviors were 5.45 ± 117.78 m/d, 46.04 ± 48.60 m/d and for light intensity physical activity it was 520.74 ± 118.88 m/d and 543.67 ± 101.31 m/d in the White and Black women, respectively. In contrast, during late pregnancy the White women spent more time in moderate-intensity physical activity during the day than the Black women during late pregnancy (White: 287.40± 83.59 min/d, Black: 205.71 ± 59.36 min/d; p=.02). Racial differences for vigorous-intensity physical activity were not examined during early and late pregnancy since only one participant engaged in this type of physical activity. Lastly, the attrition rates of the women participating in the exercise intervention were determined. Of the 99 women, 27% of the participants dropped out of the exercise intervention. When examining attrition rates by race, more Black women (42%) dropped out of the study than White women (23%). Attrition rates were highest between the 17 to 24-week gestation time point (52%), followed by the enrollment time point (33%). The main reason for discontinuing the intervention was time commitments (44%). Discussion: The findings of this study show that the intensity and amount of physical activity are similar between the two racial groups in early pregnancy. In contrast, during late pregnancy the time spent in moderate-intensity physical activity is lower in Black than White women, but it is similar for sedentary and light intensity. Attrition rates also show that overall that almost a third of the women stopped participating in the exercise intervention; however, more Black than White women dropped the study. The most common reason for discontinuing study participation is time commitments. Future research should examine physical activity levels in White and Black women through all trimesters of pregnancy to determine if they remain stable. Moreover, additional research is needed to examine the factors, impacting exercise intervention attrition rates in White and Black women
Exploring the Path to Employee Well-Being: The Role of Inclusivity Policies and Diversity Climate in the Workplace
No full textWithin the current study, we aimed to assess the relationship between employees’ perceptions of inclusivity policies and employee well-being (i.e., psychological well-being, job satisfaction, turnover rates, social support, and work-life balance). We also examined diversity climate as a potential mediator of this relationship. Diversity climate pertains to an employee’s perceptions of how well their organization demonstrates support and promotion to diverse employees. The conceptualization of diversity climate is rooted in social identity theory, the interactional model of cultural diversity (IMCD), and organizational justice theory. The study sample consisted of 361 faculty and staff from a large Southeastern university. The findings revealed that positive perceptions of inclusivity policies were associated with a more positive diversity climate which, in turn, influenced certain well-being outcomes such as: psychological well-being, job satisfaction, turnover rates, and work-life balance. However, the relationship between diversity climate and social support was not significant. These results highlight the importance of not only implementing inclusive policies, but also ensuring employees perceive them as fair and effective. The findings also suggest that organizations should implement and engage in workplace interventions to foster an inclusive work environment. Fostering an inclusive work environment can help strengthen the organization’s diversity climate, which can ultimately improve employee health and well-being
The production and comprehension of reversible dative and benefactive sentences
No full textIndividuals with agrammatic aphasia often have comprehension deficits, especially on complex sentence structures that are reversible, meaning either participant in the sentence could plausibly perform the action of the verb or have the action of the verb done to them (e.g., The boy is chased by the girl). Comprehension of these sentences is impaired in agrammatic aphasia because their comprehension requires an understanding of the syntactic structure of the sentence. Virtually all prior research in this area has investigated reversible sentences with two arguments (subject, object). In our study, we expand this investigation to reversible sentences with three arguments using dative verbs (give, send) and benefactive verbs (find, get). We examined these sentences in two structures (prepositional object: The matchmaker sent a bride to the groom; double object: The matchmaker sent the groom a bride). The primary purpose of this study is to create a set of materials we can use to examine this kind of sentence comprehension in participants with aphasia. We created 3 online questionnaires to examine the judgment, comprehension, and production (sentence completion) of these reversible sentences. Results from the judgment test revealed that both structures for both verb types were all similarly acceptable. Results from the comprehension test revealed that the prepositional object sentences were easier to understand than the double object sentences, similarly for dative and benefactive verbs. Results from the production (completion) test, indicate the first object is typically interpreted as the recipient of the thing sent, rather than someone who is being sent. This same pattern was found for dative and benefactive verbs. Further research will use these sentences with temporally sensitive methods examining real-time comprehension in participants with aphasia. This will begin to offer more valuable insight for understanding syntactic deficits in this disorder and how to address them with this population
IMPACTS OF FOOT STRUCTURE, TASK DEMAND, FLOORING, AND FOOTWEAR ON METATARSOPHALANGEAL JOINT CONTACT FORCES AND METATARSAL BONE STRESS
No full textForefoot injuries in athletes and tactical athletes commonly include metatarsalgia, sesamoiditis, Morton’s neuroma, and metatarsal stress injuries that occur due to the accumulation of tissue damage from repetitive cyclic loading during training and competition. The high incidence of forefoot injuries and metatarsal bone stress injuries (BSI) among athletes and tactical athletes is a concerning issue in need of further study. Hence, the overarching goal of this dissertation project was to investigate the role of internal as well as external modifiable factors on forefoot bone and joint forces, the proximate cause of tissue damage and injury, using a novel musculoskeletal modelling approach.
When we examined the effects of exertion during prolonged walking and rucking tasks on the second metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint loading and second metatarsal bone stresses, the peak MTP JCF reduced after exertion due to a reduction in peak toe flexor force. However, there was a compensatory increase in the bending moment with exertion that prevented the reduction of metatarsal stresses. As a result, the reduction of muscle forces with exertion increased loading on the static structures like bones, increasing the injury risk.
The effects of task demand, flooring surface, and arch stiffness on the second MTP JCF and metatarsal stresses were also observed. The JCF and the bone stresses increased with increasing task demands, with the highest forces and stresses observed during sprinting, followed by running, and then by walking. The cushioned sports-court flooring reduced the metatarsal stresses only during sprinting, while there was no reduction in the JCF. Lastly, the arch stiffness did not show any association with higher bone stresses. This suggests that the individuals participating in activities with higher task demand are at a higher risk of getting forefoot injuries, irrespective of their arch stiffness. Furthermore, participating in such activities on a sports-court flooring may lower the peak bone stresses at the 2nd metatarsal.
Finally, the effects of footwear, running speed, and dynamic arch function on 2nd MTP JCF and 2nd metatarsal stresses were observed in the last study. Consistent with previous findings, running at faster speeds increased the MTP JCF and the metatarsal bone stresses with the highest peak stresses and JCF observed at 40% faster running speeds, followed by 20% faster speed, and then at the preferred running speed. The carbon-fiber shoes reduced peak metatarsal stresses as well as peak MTP JCF during running at all speeds. Additionally, consistent with a previous study, there was no correlation between arch rise and peak dorsal stresses. This suggested that stiffer arches do not reflect increased peak metatarsal stresses.
In conclusion, forefoot injury prevention efforts should target athletes and tactical athletes participating in prolonged, repetitive gait tasks and at faster speeds. This includes military service members, cross-country runners, as well as marathon runners. Furthermore, muscle endurance training, training over cushioned sports-court flooring, and use of stiffer shoes with advanced footwear technology could have a place in forefoot injury prevention and treatment efforts
Does AI Pass the Smell Test? Evaluating Artificial Intelligence Applications in Rhinology Patient Education
No full textIntroduction: Rhinologic procedures and the management of rhinological conditions require a deep understanding of intricate anatomy and complex decision-making. To address the need for a patient learning tool and a resource to answer common rhinology-related questions, we explored the utility of ChatGPT, a state-of-the-art language model to assist in patient education on common rhinologic questions and procedures. We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of ChatGPT's responses, comparing them with a panel of expert reviewers and explored its potential applications in the field of rhinology.
Methods: ChatGPT was utilized to generate responses to common questions related to rhinology and rhinologic procedures. Topics for evaluation included reasons for a stuffy nose, explaining chronic rhinosinusitis, applications and indications for sinus surgery, and post-surgical expectations and associated risks of sinus surgery. These responses were meticulously recorded and subsequently incorporated into a survey for evaluation. The survey was distributed to a panel of experienced rhinologists, who were tasked with evaluating the quality of responses. Evaluation criteria included an overall quality score of the responses, identifying errors or missing information if applicable, and recognizing any aberrant medical advice. Rhinologists were asked to assess the correspondence of ChatGPT's responses with their current medical standard.
Results: We performed a systematic literature review to identify current use cases of artificial intelligence in rhinology. This review highlighted the evolving role of AI in diagnosing, treatment planning, radiographic interpretation, and post-operative monitoring in rhinological cases. AI-based tools have demonstrated promise in automating repetitive tasks, enhancing diagnostic accuracy, and aiding in surgical planning. Very few centered on the patients' experience or education so we sought to address this gap by evaluating publicly available tools to answer commonly asked questions from patients.
To do this, a panel of experienced rhinologists evaluated ChatGPT's responses to provided prompts. The evaluation revealed that ChatGPT's responses varied in quality, with a mix of accurate information, minor errors, and occasionally suboptimal advice. While ChatGPT's responses demonstrated potential as an educational tool, they often lacked the depth of understanding and context that experienced rhinologists possess. Despite some pitfalls in the responses, rhinologists scored the responses on average 8.17 out of a maximum of 10. The responses were found to be valuable in addressing many common questions but less reliable in complex decision-making scenarios.
Conclusion: ChatGPT offers a valuable resource for educating patients and providing quick answers to common rhinological inquiries. However, its limitations become evident when addressing intricate, multifaceted issues or complex medical decision-making. Further developments in AI, specifically tailored to rhinology, hold potential for improving patient education, diagnostics, and surgical planning in this specialized medical field. The integration of AI tools in rhinology has the potential to enhance patient care, but careful consideration of their limitations and the need for expert oversight is essential in their implementation