University Of South Florida Research Articles

Assessing the Efficacy of a Meditation Intervention on Dispositional Mindfulness Among Medical Students and Resident Physicians

Introduction: Dispositional mindfulness is the act of paying attention to one’s thoughts and feelings with an open and non-judgemental attitude. Medical students and resident physicians are under immense pressure and stress daily, and they need effective tools to help increase their dispositional mindfulness. This project examined the impact of a meditation intervention on medical students’ dispositional mindfulness. Methods: In 2020, medical students and resident physicians at the University of South Florida were given the option to practice daily meditation for thirty days; time spent on the practice varied depending on comfort with the practice. Dispositional mindfulness levels were assessed using the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) before and after the thirty-day intervention. Results: Eighty-three students, residents, and fellows completed the 30-day program, including the baseline and follow-up measures. Overall levels of mindfulness significantly increased among medical students (p < 0.001). Higher MAAS scores were associated with a longer duration of meditation (10-20 days: p = 0.046, >20 days: p = 0.006). MAAS scores also significantly increased in female participants (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our intervention demonstrates that a 30-day meditation program may aid in fostering dispositional mindfulness among medical students while potentially promoting better wellness outcomes amongst physician learners.

Proceedings of the Human Biology Association 47th annual meeting, Sheraton Denver Downtown, Denver, Colorado, March 22–25, 2022

American Journal of Human BiologyVolume 35, Issue 2 e23863 PROCEEDINGS OF THE HUMAN BIOLOGY ASSOCIATION 47TH ANNUAL MEETING Proceedings of the Human Biology Association 47th annual meeting, Sheraton Denver Downtown, Denver, Colorado, March 22–25, 2022 Elizabeth M. Miller, Corresponding Author Elizabeth M. Miller emm3@usf.edu Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA Correspondence Elizabeth M. Miller, Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. Email: emm3@usf.eduSearch for more papers by this author Elizabeth M. Miller, Corresponding Author Elizabeth M. Miller emm3@usf.edu Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA Correspondence Elizabeth M. Miller, Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. Email: emm3@usf.eduSearch for more papers by this author First published: 15 January 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23863Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume35, Issue2February 2023e23863 RelatedInformation

Is the reading crisis associated with an academic language crisis?

Is the reading crisis associated with an academic language crisis? Educators across the globe are trying to solve the reading crisis, as 4th-grade reading scores seem to change annually. Trina D. Spencer, PhD, BCBA-D, an Associate Professor at Rightpath Research &amp; Innovation Center, University of South Florida noticed that reading improvements are rarely observed. Looking at efforts needed to target academic language, two broad repertoires are needed to achieve skilled reading, and both are related to language. First, the phonological aspects of language and second, the broad repertoire is related to the meaning of language. Language that is understood when spoken is easier to understand when it is in written form. Meaning listening comprehension precedes and leads to reading comprehension. Although the science of reading evidence is clear that oral language skills are critical for reading and writing, there is a paucity of guidance on how to teach language in ways that benefit later reading comprehension. Without more attention on classroom-based oral language instruction, educators will continue to focus their attention on teaching word recognition to the neglect of the meaning aspects of language...and the reading crisis will undoubtedly endure.

Three Decades of Research Guiding Policy and Policy Guiding Research: Academic Efforts Concerning Aging and Public Policy.

Ten days after Hurricane Irma struck Florida in 2017 with the power to knock out electrical service nearly statewide and prompt millions of people to evacuate, Dr. Kathryn Hyer sat before Senator Susan Collins’ Special Senate Committee on Aging. A professor in the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida (USF), she urged the panel to pay more attention to the effects of disasters on older adults, require greater oversight of disaster planning in long-term care, and invest more in geriatric education (Disaster Preparedness and Response, 2017). Her statement reflected more than a decade of research that began with a string of hurricanes that traversed Florida in the summer of 2004 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated parts of Louisiana and Texas in 2005. This work linked the USF School of Aging Studies and health service researchers at Brown University on a National Institute on Aging–funded grant that aimed to examine what happens to residents of nursing homes (NHs) in the path of a major hurricane. Among their findings: these residents are more likely to die or be hospitalized in the weeks and months after a hurricane, even up to 90 days afterward, and their risks are greater if they are evacuated (Dosa et al., 2012).

Abstracts Teaching Kitchen Research Conference Los Angeles, California October 18–19, 2022

Abstracts Teaching Kitchen Research Conference Los Angeles, California <i>October 18–19, 2022</i>

Commentary: Impact of Very Small Aneurysm Size and Anterior Communicating Segment Location on Outcome After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, Florida, USA Correspondence: Kunal Vakharia, MD, Department of Neurosurgery, University of South Florida, 2 Tampa General Circle, Tampa33607, FL, USA. Email: [email protected]

Ethics and Moral Agency for a Postpandemic Era: Beyond the Storm.

Laura Lee (Dolly) Swisher, PT, MDiv, PhD, FAPTA, the 53rd Mary McMillan Lecturer, is professor emerita and former director of the school of physical therapy and rehabilitation sciences at the University of South Florida in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Dr Swisher received a bachelor of arts degree from Wilson College and is a 1986 physical therapy graduate of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis. She received the M.Div. from Andover Newton Theological School and a doctoral degree in public administration from Tennessee State University. Dr Swisher is a highly regarded expert on professionalism, ethics, and interprofessional education and has been a featured speaker at local, state, and national conferences. She is the coauthor of Rehabilitation Ethics for Professional Practice, Professionalism in Physical Therapy and Legal and Ethical Issues in Physical Therapy and is a lead author or coauthor of multiple peer reviewed articles and individual book chapters. She served as a member and chair of the Commission on Accreditation for Physical Therapy Education, was former chair and member of the APTA Ethics and Judicial Committee, and served as co-chair of the Task Force to Revise the Core Ethics Documents. Dr Swisher served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Physical Therapy Education and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation. She is the recipient of APTA's Lucy Blair Service Award and the Polly Cerasoli Lecture Award and is a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA.

Gynecologic Surgical Training: Current and Future Perspectives

Gynecologic Surgical Training: Current and Future Perspectives

Computational Estimates of Pitch Height and Pitch Strength in Dysphonic Voices

<h3>Research Objectives</h3> To evaluate the utility of automated computational estimates of pitch height and pitch strength in characterizing dysphonic voices that have glottal (i.e., true vocal folds) and supraglottal (e.g., false vocal folds), vibratory sources (GVS and SGVS). Furthermore, the utility of such pitch-based measures (Zwicker & Fastl, 1990) in characterizing and differentiating these voice signals that vary in periodicity (Type I, II, and III) was also tested (Titze, 1994). <h3>Design</h3> Repeated measures. <h3>Setting</h3> University. <h3>Participants</h3> Dysphonic voice samples (sustained /a/ and sentence) from 30 adults with GVS (10 per signal type) and 30 adults with SGVS (10 per signal type) were selected from a large database through stratified-random sampling. Pitch height and pitch strength were estimated from Auditory-Sawtooth Waveform Inspired Pitch Estimator Prime (Aud-SWIPE', Camacho, 2012) algorithm and compared with conventional fundamental frequency (f0) estimates from PRAAT software (Boersma, 2022). <h3>Interventions</h3> Not Applicable. <h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3> It is hypothesized that dysphonic voices with SGVS will have lower pitch height and pitch strength than GVS due to the inherent differences in anatomical structures of vibration and their associated physiological properties (Alipour & Karnell, 2014; Schwarz et al., 2011). It is also hypothesized that there will be a significant difference in pitch height and pitch strength between the Type I, II, and III voice signals varying in periodicity (Anand et al., 2021). <h3>Results</h3> Pitch height and pitch strength were higher in GVS compared to SGVS. Estimates of pitch height and f0 from were highly correlated and were in close agreement for Type I signals compared to other signal types where PRAAT was unable to provide f0 trace for some voices. Pitch strength was highest for Type I signals and lowest for Type III signals. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Pitch height and pitch strength can be measured in all dysphonic voices irrespective of signal periodicity. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> Supraja Anand receives salary from the University of South Florida.

The Influence of Cognitive Load on Voice Production: A Scoping Review

<h3>Objective(s)</h3> The purpose of this review was to (a) identify and evaluate tasks used to assess changes in voice production secondary to cognitive loads of varied complexity/difficulty, (b) investigate the effects of cognitive loading on acoustic measures of voice, and (c) detect knowledge gaps to further high-quality research in understanding the role of cognition on voice production. <h3>Data Sources</h3> A systematic review was conducted using five computerized databases, additional websites, citation reviews, and author search. Published and unpublished literature from 1992 to 2022 were examined. Key words used in the search included voice, cognitive load/demand/effort/flexibility, dual task, and speech production/motor. <h3>Study Selection</h3> In total, 9 articles met criteria for inclusion: completed within 30 years, healthy adults, and native English speakers. Studies whose primary dependent variables were linguistic were included if voice acoustics (e.g., fundamental frequency, intensity) were measured and described. <h3>Data Extraction</h3> Articles were coded by the primary investigator with focus on sample size and demographics, voice acoustic measures, and type and description of cognitive tasks completed. <h3>Data Synthesis</h3> Statistical analysis was not completed secondary to nature of data extracted from literature. Review revealed the most commonly reported voice measures were fundamental frequency, intensity, and cepstral peak prominence (Cohen et al., 2015; Dromey & Bates, 2005; Macpherson et al. 2017). Cognitive load tasks were varied and frequently consisted of selective attention or dual tasks including a linguistic and nonlinguistic visuomotor task. For example, sentence level stroop tasks (Abur et al., 2021; Dahl & Stepp, 2021; Macpherson et al., 2017) and complex span recall while reading (Heaton et al. 2020). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Existing literature on the influence of cognitive load on voice production is limited and results are varied. Limitations include inconsistencies in task type, acoustic measures, and measurement of individual reaction to cognitive load changes. Further research is needed to examine how increased cognitive load affects voice production with implications for clinical voice rehabilitation. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> Mary Pyfrom, MA, CCC-SLP, MT-BC: Receives salary from University of South Florida Supraja Anand, PhD: Receives salary from University of South Florida

Factors That "Nudge People towards the Healthier" Snacks-A Qualitative Study with Student, Faculty, and Staff Leaders and Decision Makers.

(1) College campuses pose numerous public health challenges for students, faculty and staff. The healthfulness of the snacks available on campuses is lacking, and there is a desire for change among the students and staff. The objective of this study is to understand the perspectives of the students, staff, and decision makers regarding the college campus food environment and the perceived facilitators and barriers to improving it. (2) In-depth interviews were conducted (n = 15) with decision makers in food, policy development, wellness, and nutrition at a large Hispanic-Serving University in South Florida. (3) The key stakeholders shared that educational campaigns, student buy-in, raising awareness around obesity and chronic disease, and the university's position within the community would all help to facilitate improvements to the snack food environment. However, the participants noted that the complex nature of what is considered to be healthy and what divergent consumers want are significant barriers to improving the snack food environment along with concerns over lost revenue and the corporate structure. (4) These results inform potential focal points for multi-level interventions and inform policy discussions focused on improving the snack food environment at minority-serving universities. Taking strategic actions to improve the snack food environment may aid the students and staff of the university to enhance their diet quality.

ASHP-Association of Black Health-System Pharmacists Joint Leadership Award.

Angela Massey Hill, PharmD, CPh, RPh, is the 2022 recipient of the ASHP–Association of Black Health-System Pharmacists (ABHP) Joint Leadership Award. The award was established in 2009 to recognize people whose exceptional leadership has helped reduce racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare. Hill is associate dean and professor of pharmacy at the University of South Florida (USF) Health Taneja College of Pharmacy in Tampa. Her clinical work focuses primarily on neuropsychiatric conditions and gerontology. She has worked throughout her career to improve the care of people with dementia and to educate patients, clinicians, and caregivers about dementia and other memory disorders. She practices as a clinician at Reliance Medical Centers, where she provides medication therapy management and works with the organization’s Brain Health Awareness Program. She is also a consultant for the USF Neuroscience Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute. Hill was the 2004 recipient of a research endowment from Delta Sigma Theta Inc. for the investigation of biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease in African Americans. The award launched and continues to drive her research agenda.

Pancreatic cancer in a patient with vague abdominal pain.

Jingtao Chen is an instructor at University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, Fla. John Jacobs is an associate professor at University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, Fla. Rene Gomez-Esquivel is an associate professor at University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, Fla. The authors have disclosed that they have no financial relationships related to this article.

University enters into voluntary resolution agreement

Case name: Letter to: University of South Florida, No. 04‐21‐2192 (OCR 09/27/21).

Hybrid rebalancing with dynamic hubbing for free-floating bike sharing systems

For managing the supply-demand imbalance in free-floating bike sharing systems, we propose dynamic hubbing (i.e., geofencing areas varying from one day to another) and hybrid rebalancing (combining user-based and operator-based strategies) and solve the problem with a novel multi-objective simulation optimization approach. Given historical usage data and real-time bike GPS location information, the basic concept is that dynamic hubs are determined to encourage users to return bikes to desired areas towards the end of the day through a user incentive program. Then, for the remaining unbalanced bikes, an operator-based rebalancing operation will be scheduled. The proposed modeling and optimization solution algorithm determines the number of hubs, their locations, the start time for initiating the user incentive program, and the amount of incentive by considering two conflicting objectives, i.e., level of service and rebalancing cost. In this study, for free-floating bike sharing, the level of service is represented by the walking distance of users for locating a usable bike, which is different from level of service metrics commonly used by station-based bike sharing, and the rebalancing cost is weighted incentive credits plus operator-based rebalancing cost. We implemented the proposed method on the Share-A-Bull free-floating bike sharing system at the University of South Florida. Results show that a hybrid rebalancing and dynamic hubbing strategy can significantly reduce the total rebalancing cost and improve the level of service. Moreover, taking the advantage of crowd-sourcing (or job-sharing) reduces negative impacts—energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions—of the operation of rebalancing vehicles and makes bike sharing a more promising environmentally friendly sharing transportation mode.

Establishing Safety Policies and Procedures for Fitness Assessments

JoAnn M. Eickhoff-Shemek, Ph.D., FACSM, FAWHP, professor emeritus, Exercise Science, at the University of South Florida and president of the Fitness Law Academy, LLC, is an internationally known author and speaker. For more than 35 years, her teaching and research have focused on fitness safety, legal liability, and risk management issues. Dr. Eickhoff-Shemek is the lead author of a comprehensive legal/risk management text, Law for Fitness Managers and Exercise Professionals, and is the coauthor of another textbook, Rule the Rules of Workplace Wellness Programs, published in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Disclosure:The author declares no conflict of interest and does not have any financial disclosures.

Virtual Microscopy Tagging and Its Benefits for Students, Faculty, and Interprofessional Programs Alike.

BackgroundOver the years, due to technological innovations in medical education, virtual microscopy has become a popular tool used to teach histology. The Virtual Microscopy Project is a faculty and student collaborative project at the University of South Florida (USF) Health to transfer and update online histology slides from an outdated viewer to a completely new viewer.MethodologyThe project goal is to better facilitate the educational experience for students and faculty through the implementation of updated technology and features.ResultsAt USF Health, multiple programs use the online histology slide viewer to teach normal histology. The previous website’s organization and lack of additional features severely hindered opportunities for personalized education; users could not write any notes, circle or point to important features, or easily search for specific organs or tissue. An updated website user interface and additional instructional features will improve the students’ accessibility and overall quality of their learning. The updated viewer will be more integrated into the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM) curriculum, providing faculty with organized and readily available material. USF MCOM has faculty integration directors to create a balanced curriculum that can be reviewed by faculty for consistency and accuracy. Adding this same organizational structure to the online microscopy viewer will assist directors in forming and modifying the curriculum and may also provide them with additional resources for their education delivery.ConclusionThe Virtual Microscopy Project hopes to produce an accessible, user-friendly online microscopy viewer that is beneficial to students for learning, to faculty for teaching/curriculum planning, and to medical education as a whole.

Editorial introductions.

Editorial introductions.

Call for Papers: Journal of Gynecologic Surgery

Journal of Gynecologic SurgeryVol. 38, No. 4 Call for PapersFree AccessCall for Papers: Journal of Gynecologic SurgeryEditor-in-Chief: Mitchel S. HoffmanEditor-in-Chief: Mitchel S. HoffmanMoffitt Cancer Center, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:11 Aug 2022https://doi.org/10.1089/gyn.2022.29006.cfpAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Dear Colleagues:I am pleased to share some important information for anyone considering submission of a gynecologic surgical article to our high-quality peer-reviewed journal, Journal of Gynecologic Surgery (www.liebertpub.com/gyn).Journal of Gynecologic Surgery has a unique focus on gynecologic surgery, unlike other journals broadly covering OB-GYN topics. Each issue appears in print and online, and there is no submission fee. The journal is devoted to publishing relevant surgical articles that will both enhance the surgical education of our readers and further the field of gynecologic surgery through new information.At this time, we are especially interested in submissions focused on surgical outcomes research, quality improvement related to surgical complications, innovations in gynecologic surgical practice, gynecologic surgical education, and the surgical challenges of obesity.The submission process is extremely user friendly, and the editorial staff is committed to working closely and responsively with authors. The peer-review process is prompt and efficient: our average time from submission to first decision is 27 days. We also accept and encourage supplementary videos to enhance submissions involving surgical techniques. A dedicated medical artist is available to work with authors to illustrate surgical content in an impactful way. If you have a gynecologic surgical manuscript that is still in progress, I encourage you to submit it to Journal of Gynecologic Surgery. Please take a look at the information below for more details about the journal and submission process.Sincerely,Mitchel S. Hoffman, MDEditor-in-Chief, Journal of Gynecologic SurgeryABOUT THE JOURNALJournal of Gynecologic Surgery is the only journal providing an essential peer-reviewed forum for clinical articles dealing with all aspects of operative gynecology. The journal provides the most current research on cutting-edge techniques and advances in gynecologic surgery from world-renowned experts. A special topic of interest to gynecologic surgeons is covered in a section of each issue. The journal also has a focus on residents, fellows, and new practitioners in a section titled “Trainee's Perspective.”The journal is under the editorial leadership of Editor-in-Chief Mitchel S. Hoffman, MD, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, and other leading investigators. View the entire editorial board at www.liebertpub.com/gyn.Journal of Gynecologic Surgery coverage includes: Open gynecologic surgeryVaginal surgeryLaparoscopyRobotic surgeryHysteroscopyPelvic reconstructive surgeryFemale urologySurgery related to reproductive medicineGynecologic cancer surgeryHealth care economics related to gynecologic surgeryBenefits of publishing in Journal of Gynecologic Surgery:Open access options availableIndexed in PubMed Central, Scopus, BenchSci, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, and Web of Science Emerging Sources Citation IndexAverage time to first decision: 27 daysFast and user-friendly electronic submissionEfficient and constructive peer reviewPrompt online publicationHigh global visibility: accessible in 170 countries worldwideVisit the journal website to view more information for authors including manuscript guidelines, information on available author services, and publication costs.Visit the Instructions for Authors:www.liebertpub.com/gynSubmit your paper for peer review online:https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/gynFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 38Issue 4Aug 2022 InformationCopyright 2022, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishersTo cite this article:Editor-in-Chief: Mitchel S. Hoffman.Call for Papers: Journal of Gynecologic Surgery.Journal of Gynecologic Surgery.Aug 2022.257-258.http://doi.org/10.1089/gyn.2022.29006.cfpPublished in Volume: 38 Issue 4: August 11, 2022Online Ahead of Print:July 29, 2022PDF download

Interactive Mapping: A Method for Engaged Community Assessment

The Florida Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) Impact Project focuses on improving the developmental health of infants and young children by supporting place-based community initiatives through a Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (CoIIN) approach. The CoIIN is a multidisciplinary team that fosters collaboration and coordination among agencies and community residents. A team at the University of South Florida conducted an independent evaluation of the ECCS Impact Project in Liberty City (LC), Miami, Florida, starting with a community assessment to gain a better understanding of local assets, needs and priorities. This community assessment was completed in collaboration with LC ECCS. Across the first two years of the initiative, the community assessment included methods such as geographic information system mapping; attending and planning meetings; conducting focus groups with parents, residents, and community providers; engaging in virtual and walking tours; and hosting interactive mapping workshops. The multimethod approach contributed to a community assessment that was comprehensive and holistic and that encompassed multiple perspectives. Results of the process included authentic engagement across community sectors and levels of influence and learning and reflection on community strengths, resources, and priorities to facilitate organization for positive change.