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On Inspiration
No full textIn this creative conversation, we three artist-researchers at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ponder inspiration in education and in our own creative practices from a range of perspectives. Each of us offers a provocation on “inspiration” from our own field of practice-research, to each other, to our colleagues, and to our community. This document presents the conversation that ensues. Drawing on our collective experiences of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, doctoral supervision across a range of performing arts and interdisciplinary fields, teaching body-centred practices such as yoga and pranayama, peer-to-peer mentoring of both academic and practice-based research, practice research methodologies, and our own arts practices (which between the three of us include music, dance, creative and non-fiction writing, theatre, visual arts, and durational performance), we discuss the ways that “inspiration,” both literal and metaphorical, permeates our work. We suggest that literal inspiration (breathing) and metaphorical inspiration (influence, insight, passion) are in fact deeply intertwined. Connection with our living, breathing, inspiring selves enables us to access artistic inspiration, while connection with artistic inspiration enables us to more fully inhabit our living, beathing, inspiring bodies
Is There an Association Between Living in a Rural Area and the Incidence of Postoperative Complications or Hospital Readmissions Following Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) Implantation, Compared to Urban LVAD Recipients? A Systematic Review.
Full text linkBACKGROUND: Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are utilized as a therapeutic option for patients with end-stage heart failure. While LVAD implantation can enhance survival rates and quality of life, the procedure has its risks, and postoperative complications are common. This review aims to investigate whether there is an association between living in a rural area and the incidence of postoperative complications or hospital readmissions following LVAD implantation, compared to urban LVAD recipients.
METHODS: A comprehensive literature review examined studies that compared postoperative outcomes between rural and urban LVAD recipients. Data on adverse events, hospitalizations, and mortality rates were extracted, focusing on the impact of geographic location on these outcomes.
RESULTS: The review found that rural LVAD recipients may be at a higher risk for certain complications, including gastrointestinal bleeding, ventricular arrhythmias, LVAD complications, and stroke. Rural patients also exhibited higher instances of emergency department visits and hospital readmissions. Despite these challenges, survival rates and heart transplantation outcomes at 1 year were similar between rural and urban recipients. However, rural patients exhibited a higher driveline infection rate at 1 year.
CONCLUSION: The findings of this review suggest that rural residency may be associated with an increased risk of certain postoperative complications and hospital readmissions following LVAD implantation. These results highlight the need for healthcare strategies to address the challenges faced by rural LVAD recipients. Further research is necessary to understand the relationship between geographic location and LVAD outcomes and to develop interventions that can improve postoperative care for this vulnerable population
Empathy and Education-Integrating Trauma Informed Care into the College Experience
Full text linkThe connection between first-generation students and trauma has been a well-known topic for quite some time. First-generation students may not only face stressors such as financial stress, low self-esteem, cultural displacement, and lack of academic preparation and guidance, but research has also shown first-generation students to report higher scores of adverse childhood experiences (ACES). As college staff and faculty it is our duty to integrate trauma-informed care into first-generation students experience. By approaching our daily interactions with a trauma-informed lens it can promote their mental well-being, and ultimately support their academic success
Empowering First-Generation Graduate Students: Creating Connections at Rowan and Beyond
Full text linkFirst-generation graduate students face unique challenges in navigating the academic and social complexities of advanced education. In Spring 2024, a listening session at Rowan University shed light on their needs, sparking the creation of a recognition program tailored to celebrate and support these students. Our interactive presentation will share updates on data collected from this initiative and outline the steps Rowan has taken to foster inclusion and engagement for first-generation graduate students. Additionally, we will highlight innovative approaches from other institutions to provide a broader perspective on best practices. By focusing on both targeted supports for first-generation graduate students and strategies that benefit the broader graduate community, this session aims to inspire collaborative action and share scalable ideas. Participants will engage in discussions to identify gaps, propose solutions, and collectively envision the next steps for empowering first-generation graduate students in higher education
Daily Pain Experiences and Coping Approaches among Women in Midlife with Elevated Risk for Cardiovascular Disease
Full text linkMillions of adults experience significant pain each year, costing individuals and our economy millions of dollars in lost productivity and negatively impacting quality of life. Pain is more common among women than men and is a known barrier to women’s physical activity (PA) engagement. Yet, PA helps manage pain and buffer against conditions such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). For women in midlife with CVD risk factors (e.g., hypertension), little is known about daily pain fluctuation and the coping skills employed to manage pain. The current study examined daily pain and pain coping experiences among women ages 40-60 with one or more CVD risk conditions, using reports at the end of the day for 7 consecutive days (N = 60). They completed a baseline survey and 7 days of daily data collection that included validated measures of coping behaviors and pain experiences (occurrence, severity, location). The majority of participants (64.8%) reported pain at least once during the study and more than a third (34.5%) reported pain at multiple locations per day. On days with pain, 49% of variability in pain intensity was attributable to within-person fluctuation (and error). At the day level, the most common coping behavior was medication use, representing avoidant coping (vs. problem- or emotion- focused coping; 14.8%). No baseline coping score significantly predicted pain experiences at the day level (ps \u3e 0.01). These results provide additional insight into the pain experiences of an at-risk group and sheds light on skills that may be particularly useful for coping with their pain in daily life
COMPARISON OF A TERRESTRIAL AND HANDHELD 3D LASER SCANNER IN AS-BUILT BUILDING INFORMATION MODEL (BIM) CREATION
No full textAdvances in computer processing have allowed mobile 3D laser scanners to begin to rival terrestrial scanners in terms of accuracy and scanning speed. While terrestrial scanners are the established instrument used in BIM creation for existing buildings, their cost, immobility, and size warrants a comparison to mobile scanners. This evaluation used scans created with both scanner types, the resulting point clouds, and 3D models created by tracing these point clouds to compare the BIM models and resulting floorplans, which were checked against direct on-site measurements. Because terrestrial scanners are considered state-of-the-art, the evaluation focused primarily on comparing mobile scanner and terrestrial scanner results. The two scanners produced point clouds that differed due to: (1) the accuracy of the scanners, which degrades with distance; (2) mobile scanner drift; and (3) room objects that block the terrestrial scanner from capturing model boundaries. Mobile scanners should be avoided when capturing large or featureless areas. Mobile scanners produced better results than terrestrial scanners in areas with many objects that block boundaries. Mobile scanners were faster in areas where terrestrial scanners required multiple scans. Differences between the 3D models produced by the two scanners appeared mostly due to mobile scanner drift. However, both scanners produced model floorplans that differed unacceptably from direct measurements. This result was unexpected and needs to be explored further
Elevating First-Generation Student Voices: A Collaborative Approach to Student Success
Full text linkNew York Institute of Technology has supported and celebrated its first-generation students for over 4 years through programs and events hosted by a standing body of students, faculty and staff. Recently, we have committed to institutionalize this initiative by moving from a taskforce model to a campus-wide committee inclusive of students, staff, administrators, and faculty representing each of the 5 schools/colleges of the university. As a First-Gen Scholars Network member, we have worked to increase the collaborative support for first-generation students through programming and starting two first-generation student clubs (one on each of our New York campuses). This session will explore the lessons learned from moving from a taskforce to an institutional committee and we will share innovative and engaging programs to support first-generation student success
STEP into First-Generation Support
Full text linkFirst Generation students are growing in numbers, but support and necessary resources are not matching the influx of students who require it. At American University we use our STEP Experience to bridge the gap of Higher Education to our First-Generation population to maximize the support and resources that allow First-Generation students to be retained at a high retention rate and find success during and after they confer their degree
GENERATING REAL-TIME SYNTHETIC DATASETS TO IMPROVE AERIAL OBJECT DETECTION
Full text linkThe widespread use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across civilian and military applications has necessitated the advancement of real-time drone detection and tracking capabilities. Machine Learning (ML) addresses these requirements, however, to train a robust and generalizable model requires large and diverse video datasets. Curating these real-world datasets is often time-consuming and cost-prohibitive. Here, we present DyViR, a real-time customizable rendering application capable of automatically generating highly realistic synthetic, multi-modal video of aerial objects, digital environments, and automatic generation and labeling of bounding boxes. Synthetic data, coupled with real-world training sets, augment the ML training process, leading to increased performance and detection accuracy. DyViR is designed to enable non-technical users to generate datasets containing 47 different aerial objects, 4 flight patterns, and 8 environments. To verify the benefits of using synthetic data to augment existing real-world datasets, the YOLOv7-tiny model was employed to evaluate a fully real-world dataset and one augmented with synthetically generated data from DyViR, resulting in a 60.4% increase in mean average precision. This research demonstrates the potential of synthetic datasets, especially when it would be impossible or cost-prohibitive to obtain, opening the door to broader applications where data acquisition is challenging