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Screening For Depression and Anxiety in Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
Full text linkBackground: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a multifaceted endocrine disorder that affects up to 20% of women of reproductive age and is associated with an increased prevalence of psychiatric conditions, particularly depression and anxiety. Despite international guidelines recommending routine screening for these mental health conditions in women with PCOS, consistent implementation in clinical practice remains limited.
Methods: This quality improvement (QI) pilot project aimed to address this gap by developing and implementing a standardized screening protocol for depression and anxiety within a suburban concierge OB-GYN clinic specializing in women’s reproductive and sexual health using validated tools—the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). This QI project aimed to identify and refer women with PCOS who exhibited symptoms of depression and anxiety. Utilizing a prospective descriptive observational design, this project assessed adult female patients diagnosed with PCOS.
Results: Five participants (N = 5) were screened over four months, resulting in two psychiatric referrals. While the small sample size limited generalizability and statistical significance, the project successfully demonstrated the feasibility of integrating routine mental health screenings into standard PCOS care.
Implications for Practice: The findings did not align with current literature due to the small sample size. However, they emphasize the significance of routine psychological screening in improving the quality of care for the PCOS population. This pilot project provides a model for future implementation in broader and more diverse clinical settings to improve the identification and treatment of the co-occurring psychiatric symptoms in women with PCOS and support evidence-based practice
District Impact on State-wide Charter School Policy: Has Normandy Schools Collaborative Punctuated the Equilibrium? Charter School Policy Analysis of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Full text linkAbstract
Punctuated Equilibrium Theory, as applied by Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) to the study of species evolution, examined the infrequency of morphological change or stasis discontinuity.1 While groundbreaking in the field of Paleontology and the study of fossil change, the theory has been well-fitting to the decision sciences as introduced by Baumgartner and Jones2, in their 1993 and 2010 publications. Recognizing typical, incremental policy change, its use in this research looks at how stasis, stagnant policy can be punctuated by changes in political or societal views. This study examines the impact of heightened problem discussion for agenda setting and state-wide education policy, asking if a single school district could influence state-level decisions. Looking specifically at charter school policy, can the urgent need evidenced by the non-accredited Normandy Schools Collaborative impact the state agenda, and create space for resuscitating a previously unapplied policy? My italicized reference to the “non-accredited” Normandy Schools Collaborative reflects the status change from unaccredited to a blank slate, granted by the Missouri Department of Education after its takeover and the impact of Breitenfeld. As both Normandy and the neighboring Riverview Gardens School District were unaccredited, Breitenfeld vs. the School District of Clayton, (Hoerner, 2015)5 required that they finance both tuition and transportation
for students transferring to accredited districts. Would recovery be possible for Normandy? While looking at the district’s demise, this study also considers the additional weight imposed by the Wellston-Normandy merger, a decision under the tenure of Chris Nicastro, Commissioner of Education for DESE during the tenure of the decisions discussed here. Regarding this a direly impractical decision, Dr. Stanton Lawrence, former Superintendent of the Normandy School District, described the improbability of recovery, (Stanton Lawrence: How Missouri Killed the Normandy School District, 2014).6 While a more reasonable choice would have been to merge Wellston with a better-assessed, better-resourced district, it seemed that Normandy was tasked with making brick out of straw. Using district and state-wide achievement data, accreditation status in parallel with charter policy, and the heightened conversation over the impact, I look at indications for charter school appeal - Wellston’s impact on Normandy, Normandy’s failure and need for revival, and during unaccreditation, the deeper imposition of sending Normandy’s students to surrounding districts. As also defined by the policy process, the timely existence of a policy entrepreneur carries weight during the window of opportunity. This research looks at the probability of that window being raised by accreditation status and by Breitenfeld, and whether an entrepreneurial presence existed as a catalyst for statewide policy change. If Missouri charter school policy is revisited regarding the Normandy Schools Collaborative, would this single district have become the medium
Variable Importance, Knockoff Filters, and Improving False Discovery and False Negative Rates
Full text linkTree ensemble methods such as Random Forests and Boosted Trees have introduced a range of variable importance statistics, offering powerful tools for feature selection. The advent of knockoff filters marked a significant advancement by combining the use of these variable importance statistics with the ability to control the False Discovery Rate (FDR). However, achieving a low FDR frequently comes at the cost of a high False Negative Rate (FNR), limiting the power of such approaches. In this work, we propose a novel method for leveraging knockoff variables to keep both FDR and FNR low. While this method does not have a specific mechanism to control the FDR, for many data sets the method produces results with lower FDR and FNR. Our approach builds upon established techniques for knockoff variable construction and incorporates a comparative analysis of variable importance measures derived from tree ensemble models. We introduce a new variable selection strategy and demonstrate its performance relative to existing methods. We call this strategy the Positive Difference Algorithm
Depression Screening in the Adult Inpatient Oncology Population
Full text linkRoutinely screening oncology patients for depression is recommended due to the higher rates of depression in this population as well as the negative impact of untreated depression. The goal of this QI project is to implement a standard depression screening protocol for patients admitted to this hospital, where there is currently no standard screening protocol. There were 110 patients included in this study, and 67 (60.91%) of patients received a PHQ-9 screening. Of the patients who completed the PHQ-9, 21 (19.09%) had a positive screening, which was a score of seven or higher. While there were high rates of provider notification (n = 18, 85.71%) and moderate rates of social work notification (n = 12, 59.09%) when patients screened positive, rates of treatment initiated were lower (n = 6, 27.27%). Having the EMR prompt nurses to perform PHQ-9 screenings and prompt providers when patients have a positive screening may increase the rate of patient treatment. Improving access to mental health treatment for oncology patients is important for the health of this population, and this project represents an important step in the right direction
Habitat Disturbance and Biodiversity in Glade Habitats
No full textThe Ozark glades are home to a variety of reptiles, amphibians, rodents, and invertebrates such as tarantulas and scorpions. Glade inhabitants face challenges like habitat fragmentation and degradation, but they could be facing even bigger challenges as outdoor recreation becomes more popular. People looking for wildlife to photograph or collect often look under rocks without leaving them how they were found. This study focused on monitoring rock disturbance at two protected glades- Shaw Nature Preserve and a more accessible undisclosed glade in Jefferson County. Disturbing the glade habitat to look for wildlife is prohibited at both sites. Twenty rocks at each site were chosen at random and monitored from June to October of 2024. During each visit we measured the amount of displacement and biodiversity under each rock. The rocks were all left in the positions they were found. At the end of the study, we determined that the biodiversity under disturbed rocks was less than undisturbed rocks. This could mean that wildlife prefers rocks that have not been displaced. In addition, the glade in Jefferson County had a higher percentage of rocks moved by the end of the study than at Shaw Nature Preserve. Disturbance was evident at both sites, indicating that people are looking under the rocks without replacing them correctly, regardless of local rules. Visitors to the glades might not realize the impact they could have on wildlife when they disturb these rocky habitats
How the Allies Won World War Two
No full textEverybody knows the story of the Allied Powers Defeating the Axis Powers, along with the major operations, however, not many know the details or the forgotten people who made that victory possible. These are just a few of those
The Residual Impact of Slavery on How Enslaved Black Females Defined and Made Meaning of Sexual Violence: A Content Analysis
No full textThompson-Miller & Picca (2016) and Feimster (2023) argued that enslaved African American women, and even free African Americans after the Civil War were victims of non-consensual sexual activity and rape. The NISVS report revealed that before the age of 18 years old, 35.5% of African American women experienced contact sexual violence, 29.5% experienced non-contact unwanted sexual encounters, and 20.7% experienced rape (Basile et al., 2022). Researchers of slave scholarship have made the case for the importance of including discourse on slavery and enslaved Black females’ experiences when discussing present day sexual violence among Black women in the US today (Balfour, 2005; Broussard, 2013; Hine, 1989; Jones, 2000; King, 2014; McGuire, 2010; Oduwobi, 2017; Slatton & Richard, 2019; Tanis et al., 2018; White, 1999). There exists a need to hear in their own words and voices enslaved Black females’ personal accounts of their experiences of sexual violence and how they defined and made meaning of the events that transpired. The purpose of this qualitative content analysis study was to bring to the forefront the language and voice of Black female slaves and examine their experiences of sexual violence as depicted by their personal accounts in slave narratives and early slave literature. Black Feminist Theory and Thought (BFTT) and Trauma Theory (TT) provided a convincing argument and foundation for the necessity of this study. Four themes were discovered and discussed through the lens of BFTT and TT: a) Indirect expression of prevalent sexual violence, b) Fate of female slaves, c) Resistance meant survival and strengthened resilience, and d) The legacy of traumatic experiences and generational trauma. This study has implications for the legal, educational, medical, and mental health professions and faith-based communities.
Keywords: slavery, Black female voice, sexual violence, trauma, content analysi
Building Bridges: Co-Producing Philanthropic Public-Private Partnerships for the United States National Park System
No full textThe sustainability of America\u27s National Park System increasingly relies on public–private partnerships that leverage private philanthropy. While the National Park Foundation provides national support, local Park Partner nonprofit organizations, like the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, are key to community-level fundraising and advocacy. This qualitative study of the St. Louis Arch grounds renovation examines how this public–private partnership structure influences donor motivation, trust, and engagement. Guided by Social Exchange Theory and Resource Dependency Theory, this research explores the relational and structural dynamics of this philanthropic co-production including reciprocal donor motivations and interdependence among public, private, and nonprofit partners. Fifteen semi-structured interviews with individual and corporate donors revealed five major themes. Findings indicate that philanthropy to the St. Louis Arch is both relational and interdependent. Locally governed nonprofit organizations, partnered with national foundations, can enhance donor engagement through transparency and authentic community connection. The study concludes that this localized philanthropic co-production model is an important factor in the success of major National Park campaigns
The Effects of Learning Environment Resources and PsyCap on Student Burnout and Outcomes
No full textThis study examined links between learning environmental resources (i.e., social support and feedback environment), burnout, and student outcomes (i.e., satisfaction and academic performance) among 198 graduate healthcare students. The study also investigated whether Psychological Capital (PsyCap) moderated these relationships. Social support and feedback did not predict overall burnout, but both were significantly linked to the burnout dimensions, specifically: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and academic efficacy. PsyCap did not moderate most relationships, yet it was consistently associated with lower levels of burnout and higher satisfaction. One exception emerged—for social support and depersonalization, PsyCap served as a compensatory resource, where students with lower PsyCap benefited more from social support. Burnout dimensions were negatively related to satisfaction. Their associations with academic performance were mixed, suggesting different motivational and coping pathways. These results stress the need for a multidimensional approach to studying burnout and highlight PsyCap as a key resource for well-being and engagement in rigorous academic settings