9547 research outputs found
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Improving Health Outcomes for People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
No full textAbstract Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. COPD accounts for 900 million spent on emergency department (ED) visits. Inadequate health literacy and disorganized care coordination exacerbate ED utilization and subsequent hospitalizations. At a primary care clinic in northern Vermont, no standardized educational resources or care coordination guidelines existed for patients with COPD. This project aimed to improve care coordination and health education. Participants (n=29) received health education toolkits and subsequent calls to assess knowledge around their health condition and needs. Eleven (n=11) participants chose to review the health education materials which included a health education checklist, corresponding toolkit, and home action plan. Chart reviews indicated 21% of participants experienced an ED visit or hospitalization in the past year. Despite 24% of participants continuing to smoke, only 3% of these smokers had acute care utilization within the past year. Education desired included home action plans (100%), home monitoring equipment (91%), and breathing techniques (64%). Following intervention, 82% expressed intent to use the acute action plan at home. Interventions improved participant engagement and knowledge, fostering self-management strategies. Future initiatives should explore long-term impacts on acute care utilization and expand standardized care pathways for patients with COPD. Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, primary care, care coordination, health education, self-management, hospitalization prevention, health literacy, quality improvement
Evaluating the Effect of a Weight-Inclusive Approach in an Introductory Nutrition Course
No full textObjective: Determine how undergraduate students enrolled in Fundamentals of Nutrition, an introductory nutrition course, exhibit weight-normative and weight-inclusive thinking throughout the semester-long course. Methods: Student responses to eight weekly question submissions and one end-of-semester survey were collected and analyzed using qualitative data analysis methods, including template analysis and thematic analysis. Results: Themes observed and discussed include that diet culture permeates students' prior understanding of nutrition, students were curious about new perspectives regarding weight inclusivity, there was some difficulty reconciling weight-normative ideas with new weightinclusive content, and weight-inclusive topics were top interests over the entire semester. Conclusions and Implications: Students are receptive to weight-inclusive topics, and incorporating weight inclusivity into dietetics, nutrition, and health-related programs is important to mitigate harms of anti-fat bias, diet culture, and eating disorder development.Nutrition & Food Science
Advancing non-destructive analysis of sub-ice sediments to reconstruct Greenland’s ice-free past
No full textUndergraduateMy research improves methods for extracting paleoenvironmental data from sub-ice sediments, focusing on the Camp Century ice-core’s four meters of sediment. Using cryo- X-ray micro-CT scanning, a non-destructive imaging technique, I analyze sediment shape, size, and microstructures, which help determine key parameters like ice-to-sediment ratio and depositional changes, revealing past environmental conditions when Greenland was ice-free. By enhancing ice-core analysis, my work advances our understanding of Greenland’s climate history and improves predictions of ice sheet responses to future warming
Disturbances, Resilience, And The Role Of Calcium Bearing Minerals Weathering In Northeastern Forests
No full textThe Critical Zone (CZ) is a complex and dynamic system where rock, water, and organisms interact to sustain essential life-supporting services. Disturbances can threaten this capacity if the CZ cannot resist or recover (i.e., if it lacks resilience), but CZ responses vary depending on both its structure and the type of disturbance. For example, subsurface weathering provides critical nutrients such as calcium for plant health; however, disturbances such as logging and past acid deposition can deplete calcium reserves. This study systematically investigated how varying levels of disturbance influence weathering through a combined field and laboratory approach across four forested sites in Vermont and New Hampshire. These sites differ in subsurface calcium availability due to differences in bedrock and glacial till composition, as well as in logging history, though all have been impacted by historic acid deposition. Building on a previous study that employed mesh-bag experiments—where powdered mineral samples were buried in mineral soils to weather under present-day conditions—I analyzed a subset of samples left in-situ for two years using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). My results show differences in visible weathering features in minerals among sites and minerals, with the most pronounced weathering indicators for calcite grains at a site with intermediate levels of logging and lower amounts of calcium minerals. SEM images showed presence of fungal hyphae, indicating a possible bioweathering contribution. To complement these in-situ experiments, I conducted soil core experiments to analyze soil solution chemistry characteristics of these sites. My findings suggest that upper soil layers buffer pH while also introducing substantial amounts of organic material into the subsurface. I used a geochemical model for speciation and determination of saturation indices to investigate the propensity for weathering. Saturation indices were generally below zero, indicating undersaturation and thermodynamically favorable weathering for most mineral phases, a finding that aligned with the observed weathering features of select samples from mesh-bag experiments with the SEM. However, certain minerals, such as the aluminum hydroxide gibbsite, occasionally reached supersaturation. I further extended the soil core experiments to simulate historical conditions by using a laboratory mixed acid rain simulant as inflow solution to my soil cores. Results indicated upper soil layers buffering pH, possibly protecting the subsurface from the most extreme impacts. Overall, my results demonstrate that responses to disturbances are coupled and complex. Bioweathering played a key role in the mesh-bag experiments, modulating expected responses in ways that the geochemical model could not fully predict. Generally, sites with low logging disturbance and high subsurface calcium exhibited the least weathering response.GeologyMaster of Science (MS
Barriers to youth neuroimaging research participation: Insights from the CARES Study
No full textUndergraduateUnderrepresentation of youth from diverse backgrounds is a widespread issue in developmental neuroscience. Specifically, research methods that employ neuroimaging techniques have increased barriers to participation that can limit representation. In this study, we conducted focus groups with adolescents in Vermont to understand specific concerns and barriers surrounding research participation. This analysis was part of a larger qualitative study, Conversations Around Resilience and Early-life Stress (CARES), in which we evaluated youth perspectives on the stress they face, their resilience, and their mental health. Our analysis identified key barriers to research participation, including transportation, time, caregiver involvement, and safety
Red Banner and Black Tryzub: The Rise and Fall of the Ukrainian Nationalist Left
No full textNationalism is not inherently tied to any specific political persuasion or tradition. Nationalism can be liberal, socialist, conservative, or reactionary. Ukrainian nationalism need only be defined by the view that Ukrainians constitute a distinct people from the other East Slavic nations. This thesis, a project in intellectual and political history, seeks to develop a narrative explaining the shift in ideological hegemony from socialist and liberal Ukrainian nationalism in the late Russian Empire and revolutionary period towards reactionary ethnic nationalism in post-revolutionary Ukraine. The “Ukrainian Nationalist Left” is defined as the intellectual tradition and political milieu that emerged from the social conditions of Ukraine in the 18th century. People adhering to these articles of faith organized themselves into political parties and societies dedicated to someday realizing their goal of the national liberation of Ukraine, and indeed, all of the peoples of the Russian Empire. These groups also identified the Ukrainian struggle for national liberation as part and parcel of an international movement to liberate humanity from the evils of economic and social dictatorship, ignorance, and cruelty and establish a new world defined by socialism, radical democracy, and ethical humanism. For almost a century this coalition grew and developed, and enjoyed almost uncontested hegemony over national thought in Ukraine. This hegemony was tested by the cataclysmic inferno of war and revolution, which dragged the 19th century world through a maelstrom of blood, steel, and tears into the 20th century. In this time of change, the Ukrainian people rose their voice, and the Ukrainian Nationalist Left attempted to realize their ideological project of an authentically Ukrainian democratic republic. This project, which began with tremendous optimism, idealism, and joy, ended with the feelings of bitterness, resentment, and anger. After the defeat of their efforts and their exile into Europe, the national movement in Ukraine was faced with an existential reckoning for how to reconcile their desire for a Ukrainian state with the changed post revolutionary and post war world. In the face of such catharsis and trauma, disillusioned elements of the national movement became attracted to new ideologies and methods for accomplishing their aims, reshaping the ideological project entirely. This gave way to the rise of a new nationalist idea that embraced class collaborationism over class struggle, Social Darwinism over ethical humanism, and racial ultranationalism over democratic pluralism. It would be these groups that would claim the common banner of “Ukrainian nationalism” in the 1930s and 40s, and who would seek to define it in stark terms of blood and soil.Histor
Updated Guidelines for Pre-Op Exams by the PCP
No full textThis project involved developing and distributing educational materials on the 2024 Guideline for Perioperative Cardiovascular Management for Noncardiac Surgery. By providing key updates to staff, the initiative aimed to enhance provider awareness and support evidence-based perioperative decision-making
Are we there yet? Navigating EV charging emissions in Vermont
No full textUndergraduateElectric vehicles (EVs) are often regarded as a way to reduce the CO2 emissions impact of the transportation sector, and many individuals looking to reduce their carbon footprint turn to an EV as the solution. However, there is insufficient research on the emissions impact of EV charging, which is highly dependent on driving behavior, time of charge, and location. This research seeks to understand the cost and carbon impacts of EV charging specifically in Vermont using marginal operational emissions rates (MOER) for Vermont’s grid. Furthermore, the added carbon benefits of solar photovoltaics (PV) and at-home battery storage are quantified. The results highlight the emissions trade-offs of these technologies, offering insight into how time-restricted charging, rooftop solar adoption, and energy storage can reduce EV charging emissions. These findings seek to enable more informed decisions about carbon reduction in the transportation sector
