Improving Diabetes Self-Management Developing a Patient Decision Aid to Improve Patient Education

Type 2 diabetes is a complex disease that affects a large population of people. It is imperative that efforts are made to develop more effective and inclusive treatment strategies for patients with this condition. A promising approach being studied is the utilization of community pharmacists to individualize and implement diabetes self-management training and education. The objective of this study is to develop a preliminary version of a patient decision aid (PDA) designed to evaluate patient knowledge and behavior towards diabetes self-management for use in the community pharmacy setting. The study design used to achieve this objective was a cross-sectional survey applying a modified Delphi-procedure. The survey consisted of 59 questions and asked participants to rank the difficulty of each question, to determine whether the item should be included or removed, and to include any additional comments or recommendations for further development of the PDA. It was completed by faculty members at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and practicing community pharmacists throughout the region. Most respondents felt that the proposed questions should be retained, especially after the implementation of the recommended edits given by respondents. It was found that the difficulty rankings were relatively balanced between “Low”, “Medium”, and “High” difficulty; however, it is noted that more “High” difficulty questions should be created in the future in order to assess a broader scope of the patient’s knowledge. Additionally, it was concluded the PDA could become more patient-friendly through the re-wording of questions in future versions of the PDA. Overall, the assessment of the developed PDA provides the momentum necessary for the further improvement of patients’ self-management of diabetes

Mathematics Majors in Medical School Admissions: A Comparative Evaluation of MCAT and GPA Performance

Choosing a major as an incoming undergraduate student can be very stressful. This study investigates the differences in success that come with choice of undergraduate major, particularly focusing on the performance of mathematics majors. A large majority of medical school applicants come from a biological sciences background. Despite this preference, there is evidence that students from nontraditional majors produce higher Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and superior grade point averages (GPAs). Utilizing data visualization and analysis through R programming, this research examines public data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to understand the benefits of pursuing a math-focused education. Additionally, qualitative information was gathered through interviews with mathematics faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This information was used to help understand how mathematical skills might be useful for admissions to medical school and overall preparedness. The findings revealed that students majoring in mathematics consistently show greater MCAT scores and GPA performance than all other majors. Furthermore, interviews with professors gave insight as to why a mathematics background contributes to enhanced critical thinking and problem-solving strategies. They also emphasized the benefits of rigorous mathematical studies for success in medical school or a future in healthcare

Bullying Differences Between Girls and Boys

Precis for research on bullying in adolescence.Human Development and Family Science

Regulations or Delegations?: How Congress Delegated Its War Powers to the President Through Discretionary AUMFs

My thesis examines the expansion of U.S. presidential war power, under the lens of congressionally enacted authorizations for use of military force (AUMFs), since the founding. Whereas most academic scholarship has been dedicated to unauthorized presidential war making, my research analyzes the impact of AUMFs and their potential to delegate constitutional powers to the President through vague language, highly discretionary provisions, and the non-inclusion of specific regulatory measures. Two relevant analytical legal doctrines apply: void-for-vagueness and legislative non-delegation. No scholar has previously applied these two legal doctrines to scrutinize AUMFs and their potential to unconstitutionally empower the President. I draw from historical precedents, specifically U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning executive power, separation-of-powers, and war powers. These cases are critical in understanding the difference between general versus limited wars. By applying legal doctrines and judicial precedents, I argue that AUMFs were originally intended to regulate the President as commander-in-chief. Yet, historically enacted AUMFs have violated these two legal doctrines, unconstitutionally delegating broad war powers to the President. Consequently, presidents execute AUMFs in a highly arbitrary fashion, as the vague language provides discretion to wage virtually unrestricted warfare. My thesis is structured chronologically, with case studies that investigate specific conflict AUMFs. The historical chapters cover the period from the U.S. founding to the Korean War (1789-1950). The case studies include: the 1955 Formosa Resolution and 1957 Middle East Resolution, 1964 Tonkin Gulf Resolution, 1991 Persian Gulf War AUMF, and the 2001 AUMF. My research draws from archival documents and personal interviews conducted with U.S. judges, law professors, historians, and other scholars of U.S. politics

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationSuppose G is an arithmetic group defined over a global field K, that the K-type of G is An with n at least 2, and that the ambient semisimple group that contains G as a lattice has at least two noncocompact factors. We use results from Bestvina-Eskin-Wortman and Cornulier-Tessera to show that G has a polynomially bounded Dehn function

The provision of distance education within the HE sector - some areas for concern

This paper presents a summary of the findings of a recent survey of the way in which UK higher education institutions (HEIs) are offering distance education (DE) courses, the types of courses being offered, and their modes of delivery. From analysis of the findings of this survey, it is apparent that the emphasis of HEIs is very much on the exploitation of available teaching technology in the delivery of DE courses. However, teaching at a distance is quite different from face-toface teaching, and the evidence suggests that many HEIs fail to implement any meaningful academic staff training for the new role of DE tutor. The authors consider the difficulties this presents to academic staff who are required to move from face-to-face teaching to online facilitating. The paper concludes with an examination of the current provision of staff development and training within UK HEIs and suggests the type of academic staff training required if DE courses are to become truly core activities

Wait and See : You\u27ll Want Me Back

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/3427/thumbnail.jp

Increasing the Health Outcomes of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Oklahomans Through Tobacco Awareness and Cessation Support

As a consequence of limited access to health information, Deaf and hard of hearing (Deaf/ hh)’ individuals may be at higher risk for health complications and tobacco-related diseases. To address this issue, Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) of Oklahoma sought funding from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust to implement the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Tobacco Use and Cessation Program. The five-year project began in 2006; it was the first major health education initiative in the state that focused on the Deaf community. Prevalence rates and demographic information were collected regarding tobacco use among Deaf/hh participants. In addition, tobacco education and cessation programs were provided, and the changes in participants\u27 knowledge and attitudes toward tobacco use were tracked over a three-year period. At the end of the project, in-depth interviews were conducted to gather additional information from tobacco users. This article provides prevalence and demographic information regarding Deaf/hh individuals\u27 tobacco use in Oklahoma and outcomes of educational programs

Correcting for Systematic Error and Estimating Uncertainties of Alpha-ejection Corrections and EU Values for the Zircon (U/Th)/He Method

Zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) is a thermochronologic technique that can record thermal histories associated with processes such as exhumation and erosion. Calculating an accurate (U-Th)/He date requires accounting for the fraction of He atoms lost due to alpha-particle ejection. Effective uranium concentrations (eU) are also critical for ZHe data interpretation because eU can be a proxy for radiation damage, which influences the zircon temperature sensitivity. Alpha-ejection corrections and volumes used to compute concentrations are typically estimated using grain measurements made under an optical microscope and assuming idealized grain geometries. This study assesses the possible systematic error due to these geometric assumptions and estimates uncertainty associated with alpha-ejection corrections and eU values for zircon using nano-CT technology. I performed a size analysis of &gt;700 zircon grains analyzed in our lab from 2017-2018 to determine an appropriate distribution of representative grain sizes. I then evaluated a diverse set of samples to capture the range of typically analyzed sizes, morphologies, and radiation damage levels. The 7 selected samples used in our work encompass this spectrum and include four igneous samples with ages ranging from Archean to Oligocene, two detrital samples, and one metamorphic sample. This work builds upon the work of Zeigler et al. (2020) and follows a similar workflow. I first developed a Grain Evaluation Matrix, then acquired nano-CT data for 226 grains to accurately determine zircon volumes and geometries, and calculated alpha-ejection corrections directly from their actual shapes using Monte Carlo techniques. I then compared these "true" measurements to those determined with more traditional methods to better understand the accuracy and precision of zircon alpha-ejection corrections and eU estimates. This study has calculated correction equations and defined uncertainties for Ft values and volumes. For Ft, corrections are 0.4-3% and uncertainties are 2-3% depending on grain size and geometry. For volume, corrections are 3-13% and uncertainties are 14-21%, again depending on the size and geometry of the grain.</p