SUICIDE ASSESSMENT IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS: AN EXAMINATION OF CLINICIAN STRESS, COPING AND PERCEPTIONS OF CONTEXTUAL VARIABLES

Underserved populations have the higher risk to die by suicide. When patients are suffering from suicidal ideation, patients are directed to the emergency department. In order to investigate the experiences of emergency department (ED) clinicians when assessing underserved population patients who present to the ED, three research articles were completed: (a) systematic review of literature of this topic; (b) hermeneutical phenomenological study designed to best grasp the lived experience of ED clinicians assessing patients that are part of underserved populations (c) policy brief of recommendations about how to better provide care for patients who present to the ED with suicidal ideation (SI). The systematic review demonstrated the lack of studies about how ED clinicians assess and perceive patients who presented to the ED with SI. The phenomenological study results in four emergent themes of the lived experience of ED clinicians assessing patients with SI: (1) ED clinicians' interest in environment variety; (2) ED clinicians expressed lack of clarity of their ED role with patients presenting with SI; (3) ED clinicians observed disjointed care resulting in inappropriate placement of patients with SI to ED, and (4) ED clinicians experience contextual variables. The policy brief suggested the need for change in the way patients who present with SI and identify in underserved populations are cared for in the ED. Recommendations are made for more psychiatric EDs as well as more education for clinicians

Computer-Based Scaffolding In Computer Science Education

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/reu/1002/thumbnail.jp

Open Science Practices are on the Rise: The State of Social Science (3S) Survey

Has there been meaningful movement toward open sci-ence practices within the social sciences in recent years? Discussions about changes in practices such as posting data and pre-registering analyses have been marked by controversy—including controversy over the extent to which change has taken place. This study, based on the State of Social Science (3S) Survey, provides the first com-prehensive assessment of awareness of, attitudes towards, perceived norms regarding, and adoption of open science practices within a broadly representative sample of scholars from four major social science disciplines: economics, political science, psychology, and so-ciology. We observe a steep increase in adoption: as of 2017, over 80% of scholars had used at least one such practice, rising from one quarter a decade earlier. Attitudes toward research transpar-ency are on average similar between older and younger scholars, but the pace of change di˙ers by field and methodology. According with theories of normal science and scientific change, the timing of increases in adoption coincides with technological innovations and institutional policies. Patterns are consistent with most scholars underestimating the trend toward open science in their discipline

Annotation of Children's Oral Narrations: Modeling Emergent Narrative Skills for Computational Applications

We present an annotation method for developing a model of children’s comprehension that differentiates between their recall for the objective content of a story and inferred content. We apply the annotation method to a corpus of retellings, in which children retell the same story on three successive days. Our results indicate differences over time: on Day three, children have a more evenly distributed recall of events through- out the story, and include significantly more inferences. The results suggest a cognitive bootstrapping effect. We discuss the potential for application to diagnostic assessment of children’s narrative skills and tutorial applications

Collaborative Composition of Impressionist Music by 19th-century French Composers

Throughout the nineteenth century in Paris, various philosophers, authors, musicians, and other thinkers often met together in Montmartre to discuss their innovative ideas. These artists worked in an unorthodox atmosphere and defied the expectations of artistic conventions. In this Bohemian atmosphere, composers freely experimented with harmonies, rhythms, scales, and instrumental color that had never been heard before. This eventually led to the development of Impressionist Music. Composers such as Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, and Maurice Ravel led this new musical movement. Some of them collaborated and were inspired by other artists of the century. For example, Debussy worked closely with the poet Stéphane Mallarmé and translated some of his poems into musical works. The most famous of these is Mallarmé’s poem “L\u27Après Midi d’un Faune” (Afternoon of a Faun) and Debussy’s musical prelude with the same title. My thesis discusses the techniques used by all of these artists and the fact that they were all connected through a background of working in the cabarets and cafés in Montmartre. I set out to prove that the ideals and atmosphere of the Bohemian life in this neighborhood inspired the composers of impressionist music to develop their talent and creativity without limits, and that ultimately contributed to their reputations as serious composers in France and throughout the world

Exploring the role of Rapgef6 in neuropsychiatric disorders

Schizophrenia is highly heritable yet there are few confirmed, causal mutations. In human genetic studies, we discovered CNVs impacting RAPGEF6 and RAPGEF2. Behavioral analysis of a mouse modeling Rapgef6 deletion determined that amygdala function was the most impaired behavioral domain as measured by reduced fear conditioning and anxiolysis. More disseminated behavioral functions such as startle and prepulse inhibition were also reduced, while locomotion was increased. Hippocampal-dependent spatial memory was intact, as was prefrontal cortex function on a working memory task. Neural activation as measured by cFOS levels demonstrated a reduction in hippocampal and amygdala activation after fear conditioning. In vivo neural morphology assessment found CA3 spine density and primary dendrite number were reduced in knock out animals but additional hippocampal measurements were unaffected. Furthermore, amygdala spine density and prefrontal cortex dendrites were not changed. Considering all levels of analysis, the Rapgef6 mouse was most impaired in hippocampal and amygdala function, brain regions implicated in schizophrenia pathophysiology at a variety of levels. The exact cause of Rapgef6 pathology has not yet been determined, but the dysfunction appears to be due to subtle spine density changes as well as synaptic hypoactivity. Continued investigation may yield a deeper understanding of amygdala and hippocampal pathophysiology, particularly contributing to negative symptoms, as well as novel therapeutic targets in schizophrenia

Investigating Star Formation Feedback Through Gas Kinematics in Nearby Galaxies

Many stages of the stellar life cycle release energy and momentum into the surrounding interstellar medium within a galaxy. This feedback can have profound effects on the host galaxy. This thesis investigates the role of stellar feedback in star-forming galaxies in the local Universe through multiwavelength observations of gas kinematics. First, I study extraplanar diffuse ionized gas (eDIG) which is thought to be produced by gas ejected from the midplane by repeated supernova explosions. By comparing molecular and ionized gas rotation curves derived from a sub-sample of intermediate inclination star-forming galaxies from the EDGE-CALIFA Survey, I find that ~75% of my sample galaxies have smaller ionized gas rotation velocities than the molecular gas. I suggest and show that the lower ionized gas rotation velocity can be attributed to a significant contribution from eDIG in a thick disk which rotates more slowly than gas in the midplane. As a direct follow up to this study, I use a sample of edge-on galaxies selected from the CALIFA survey to directly investigate the prevalence, properties, and kinematics of eDIG. I find that 60% of these galaxies show a decrease in the ionized gas rotation velocity as a function of height above the midplane. The ionization of the eDIG is dominated by star-forming complexes. These studies reveal the pervasiveness and importance of this phase in local star-forming galaxies. Next, I study stellar feedback in the extreme environment of the nuclear starburst in the nearby galaxy NGC 253. Using ALMA observations with 0.5 pc resolution, I detect blueshifted absorption and redshifted emission (P-Cygni profiles) in multiple spectral lines towards three of the super star clusters (SSCs). This is direct evidence for outflows of dense molecular gas from these SSCs. Through a comparison of the outflow properties with predictions from simulations, I find that the outflows are most likely powered by dust-reprocessed radiation pressure or O-star stellar winds. The observed outflows will have very substantial effects on the clusters' evolution. Finally, I find that the arrangement of the SSCs may be morpho-kinematically consistent with a ring or crossing streams from the larger-scale gas flows which fuel the starburst