UMBC Staff Collection
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Item Examining the Intersection of Graduate Student Funding, Mentoring and Training as a Mechanism of Success for Peer Mentors and their Mentees(ASEE, 2013-06-23) Carter-Johnson, Frances; Ordóñez, Patricia; Tull, Renetta; Nino, Miguel AlfonsoExamining the Intersection of Graduate Student Funding, Mentoring and Training as a Mechanism of Success for Peer Mentors and their MenteesSession Topic Preferences:-Issues in recruiting, building, and enabling diversity in engineering graduate education-Benefits in participating in federally-funded scholarship/fellowship programs that targetunderrepresented groupsMentoring and training in graduate school, most often considered the role that faculty andadministrators should have with students, is evolving to include graduate student peer mentoringrelationships. Peer mentoring, whether resulting from formal or informal programs, providesadditional support for talented students to successfully complete graduate degrees in engineering,especially PhDs for which the national completion rate is consistently around 50% according tothe Council of Graduate School’s PhD Completion Project. Specifically, for underrepresentedgraduate students (women, ethnic minorities, and citizens with disabilities) in engineering, whohave lower completion rates than their male, White, and international counterparts, applying forand receiving fellowships (e.g., National Science Foundation Graduate Research FellowshipProgram (NSF GRFP)) to fund their graduate education can increase the chance that thesestudents actually complete their degrees. While peer mentoring most often addresses traditionalgraduate student needs such as navigating one’s department and choosing a research advisor,some graduate schools also support more innovative examples, such as underrepresentedfellowship winners training burgeoning graduate students to apply for fellowships. In this paperwe present an example of a workshop series through which graduate student peer mentorscontributed to the engineering advanced degree pipeline by mentoring promising graduatestudents to successfully apply for and win prestigious graduate fellowships.The University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) has notably created a program ofgraduate student support and professional development known as Success Seminars that includesannual graduate funding workshops sustained and expanded since 2007. The Success Seminarsand other programs are largely funded by NSF’s PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for GraduateEducation and the Professoriate (AGEP). Recent PhD recipients who were PROMISE peermentors while in their PhD programs uniquely led the funding workshops. In addition toencouraging fellowship applicants to use their research mentors and peers for applicationfeedback, the workshop facilitators served as experienced fellowship recipients and had the 1 opportunity to train and mentor promising students by reviewing applicants’ personal andresearch statements.Pre-and post-surveys implemented in 2012 and five years of participant testimonials providequantitative and qualitative data to evaluate workshop effectiveness and any increases inparticipants’ abilities to successfully apply for graduate funding. While several workshopparticipants have received NSF GRFs and other awards, our empirical analysis provides furtherevidence of the importance of this unique type of intervention. We also consider enhancementsin professional development for both participants and facilitators by increasing knowledge of andengagement within each student’s respective academic discipline, and improving overall writing,presentation, and proposal/grant writing abilities. In summary, this study assesses an emergingexample of how to increase success amongst all engineering graduate students as well as broadenparticipation of underrepresented minorities through sustained peer mentoring and training.However, not only does the study address increasing graduate student academic success, we alsodiscuss the capacity of interventions of this type to enable peer mentors to begin their legacy ofsuccess in mentoring and training early in their careers.Item Assistive technology research as a mechanism to broaden the participation of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities(LACCEI , 2013-10-01) Ordóñez, Patricia; Krishnaswamy, Kavita; Tull, Renetta; Ding, Dan; Goldberg, MaryThis paper examines the field of assistive technology and its potential as a “catalyst for change” for diversity in science and engineering. We will discuss programs in the Quality of Life Technology Center (QoLT) at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, and in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras that are using assistive technology to attract underrepresented students to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. We will also discuss how collaboration with such programs can help introduce research in assistive technology at other schools by highlighting the collaboration between the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the QoLT. Underrepresented students in STEM include women, Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans, Hawaiian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and students with disabilities. Involving students from these populations in assistive technology research can contribute to the students’ sustained interest in STEM fields, and can lead to the development of a new generation of innovators who will contribute assisted and independent living solutions to problems that can enable people with disabilities to engage in society more completely, and for longer periods of time.Item Active Learning, New Occupancy Models, and Collaborative Research Enhance Interdisciplinary Science(Tradeline, 2013-02-01) Carbasho, Tracy; Cuddy, Dennis P.; LaCourse, WilliamThe University of Maryland in Baltimore County (UMBC) is surpassing expectations for student retention, faculty recruitment, and productivity by using active learning, pioneering research models, and new building occupancy criteria in its Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building (ILSB). The 130,000-gsf building, which opened in 2019, provides 70,000 nasf of flexible research and education space to accommodate current and future students and faculty in the life sciences and biotechnology programs.Item In “Heinsight”: Breaking Ground on Advocacy for Academic Library Database Trials Using HeinOnline(The Journal of Creative Practice, 2025-03-02) Lee, Joe; Shumaker, JasmineHeinOnline is a legal research database much like NexisUni or Westlaw. HeinOnline is a commercial legal research database used for searching case law, law review articles, proceedings, government documents and more. The Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery (AOK), which is the heart of the research campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), which, at the time of writing this piece, subscribed to 446 databases, only one of which covered legal research. Though not a law library, AOK had been formerly using NexisUni from July 2017 to June 2023. The two authors, a faculty librarian and a library services specialist–decided to address this deficit by closely documenting the onboarding process of HeinOnline from trial to acquisition. At their institution, there has been little to no documentation recorded that outlined the necessary steps and checkpoints needed for a database trial. The Reference team noted that the previous database, NexisUni, was not only costly (especially at a university without a law program), but that the user interface and search functions could be improved. The authors recognized that, by closely documenting the process of offering a new database and measuring faculty and student engagement, they could establish the groundwork for standardizing database trials as well as provide insights for other librarians as they consider evaluating or adding new databases.Item Action Research at Educare: Shifting Focus to the Learner for the 21st Century(The International Academic Forum, 2020-09-15) Vandarakis, Anthony; Farmer, Frederick; Wood, ElizabethA new small-school, Educare or Edu2 (pronounced edu-car-ai; from the Latin word meaning "to draw out") opened its doors in Montreal, Canada, in September 2019. Edu2 has launched an innovative educational environment to address the challenges of preparing students to live meaningful and fulfilling lives in the 21st century. In order to achieve that, Edu2 has engaged in the challenging work of rethinking how schools should organize and what constitutes worthwhile knowledge. Edu2 sees the need for school to foster a supportive community, promote a healthy and happy learning environment, advance digital and traditional literacies, and view learner-generated knowledge as essential. The Action Research at Educare: Shifting Focus to the Learner for the 21st Century research team is led by professor Elizabeth Wood. We are investigating, in partnership with the founder-educators of Edu2, the extent to which the school’s vision has materialized. An ongoing focus of the partnership research is community building, educational technology, and student-centered pedagogy: Edu2 is committed to these core tenets while meeting the global academic standards of the Quebec Education Program (QEP). Our research team is committed to chronicling Edu2’s first year of operation through the (voices) experiences of all community members - teachers, students, parents, and researchers. This presentation will explore the experiences of both students and teachers as they engage with the various opportunities, challenges and feelings of belonging to this unique community during the initial year.Item Key Governance Practices That Facilitate the Use of Remote Sensing Information for Wildfire Management: A Case Study in Spain(MDPI, 2025-2-14) Prados, Ana; Allen, MackenzieWe present results from a comprehensive analysis on the use of Earth Observations (EO) in Spain for wildfire risk management. Our findings are based on interviews with scientists, firefighters, forest engineers, and other professionals from government and private sector organizations in nine autonomous regions in Spain. Our aim is to identify the key governance practices facilitating or hindering the use of remote sensing (RS) information and to provide recommendations for improving their integration into landscape management and fire suppression activities to reduce wildfire risk. We share several case studies detailing activities and institutional arrangements facilitating the translation of satellite science and research into decision-making environments, with a focus on how this knowledge flows among the various stakeholder categories. Among the barriers faced by fire management teams in Spain, we identified institutional silos, lack of technical skills in satellite data processing and analysis, and the evolving acceptance of satellite data by decision makers.Item Introduction to Correlation and Regression Analysis(SAS Institute, 2008) Stockwell, IanSAS® has many tools that can be used for data analysis. From Freqs and Means to Tabulates and Univariates, SAS can present a synopsis of data values relatively easily. However, there is a difference between what the data are, and what the data mean. In order to take this next step, I would like to go beyond the basics and introduce correlation and hypothesis testing using regression models. A brief statistical background will be included, along with coding examples for correlation and linear regression.Item International Service Learning 3.0: Using Technology to Improve Outcomes and Sustainability(World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2020) Vandarakis, AnthonyToday’s International Service Learning practices require an update: modern technologies, fresh educational frameworks, and a new operating system to accountably prosper. This paper describes a model of International Service Learning (ISL), which combines current technological hardware, electronic platforms, and asynchronous communications that are grounded in inclusive pedagogy. This model builds on the work around collaborative field trip learning, extending the reach to international partnerships across continents. Mobile technology, 21st century skills and summitbasecamp modeling intersect to support novel forms of learning that tread lightly on fragile natural ecosystems, affirm local reciprocal partnership in projects, and protect traveling participants from common yet avoidable cultural pitfalls.Item Estimating the Costs to Mississippi Medicaid Attributable to Tobacco Using Paid Amounts to Providers for Tobacco-Related Illnesses(The Hilltop Institute, 2019-06-03) Woodcock, Cynthia; Stockwell, Ian; Middleton, Alice; Idala, David; Betley, CharlesResearch Objective: Estimating the costs of tobacco-related illness incurred by...Item Cost-Effective Care Coordination for People With Dementia at Home(Oxford University Press, 2020-05-01) Willink, Amber; Davis, Karen; Johnston, Deirdre M.; Black, Betty; Reuland, Melissa; Stockwell, Ian; Amjad, Halima; Lyketsos, Constantine G.; Samus, Quincy M.People with dementia (PWD) represent some of the highest-need and highest-cost individuals living in the community. Maximizing Independence (MIND) at Home is a potentially cost-effective and scalable home-based dementia care coordination program that uses trained, nonclinical community workers as the primary contact between the PWD and their care partner, supported by a multidisciplinary clinical team with expertise in dementia care.Cost of care management services based on actual time spent by care management personnel over first 12 months of MIND at Home intervention was calculated for 342 MIND at Home recipients from Baltimore, Maryland and surrounding areas participating in a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) funded Health Care Innovation Award demonstration project. Difference-in-differences analysis of claims-based Medicaid spending of 120 dually-eligible MIND at Home participants with their propensity score matched comparison group (n = 360).The average cost per enrollee per month was $110, or $1,320 per annum. Medicaid expenditures of dually-eligible participants grew 1.12 percentage points per quarter more slowly than that of the matched comparison group. Most savings came from slower growth in inpatient and long-term nursing home use. Net of the cost of the 5-year MIND at Home intervention, 5-year Medicaid savings are estimated at $7,052 per beneficiary, a 1.12-fold return on investment.Managed care plans with the flexibility to engage community health workers could benefit from a low-cost, high-touch intervention to meet the needs of enrollees with dementia. Limitations for using and reimbursing community health workers exist in Medicare fee-for-service, which CMS should address to maximize benefit for PWD.Item Reporting Requirements Matter (A Lot): Evidence From Arkansas's Medicaid Work Requirements(Health Affairs, 2025-03-03) Henderson, Morgan; Spicer, Laura; Middleton, AliceWe reexamine enrollment data from Arkansas Works, the state’s Medicaid work requirement program. As the only real-world instance of the implementation of Medicaid work requirements in a preexisting Medicaid expansion population, it is a valuable source of data for understanding the impacts of reporting requirements on enrollment.Item Exploring the Relationship Between Nursing Staff and Family Members' Appraisal of Resident Care in Nursing Homes: The Role of Facility Ownership(MDPI, 2025-02-11) Millar, Roberto; Diehl, Christin; Kusmaul, Nancy; Stockwell, IanBackground/Objectives: To address long-standing staffing challenges and elevating care standards in the United States, new legislation will require a minimum of 0.55 h per resident day (HPRD) of registered nurse (RN) care, 2.45 HPRD of certified nursing aide (CNA) care, and a combined total of 3.48 HPRD across any combination of nursing staff. We examine differences in family members? views of care quality between facilities meeting the minimum staffing requirements and those that do not and whether there is any difference in those associations by facility ownership. Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized public data from 218 Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing facilities in Maryland, collected in 2023. We used regression analyses to examine the association between staffing requirements and quality of care ratings, considering facility ownership status as a potential moderator. Results: Compared to facilities with CNA staffing levels below the cut off, facilities that met the CNA staffing requirement were rated more favorably by family members in overall quality and across the subdomains of staffing, care, activities, and security. In contrast, meeting the RN 0.55 cut off was not associated with family ratings across any quality domain. A facility for-profit status did not moderate the relationship between staffing and family ratings. Conclusions: These results suggest that CNA staff time is a significant driver of care quality and that non-profit facilities may already be closer to meeting new federal requirements. These findings highlight the need for regulations that support the minimum nursing staffing requirements to enhance care quality. Future research should identify the specific factors contributing to higher quality care in non-profit facilities and explore ways to implement these practices in for-profit settings.Item Behavioral, Cognitive, and Functional Risk Factors for Repeat Hospital Episodes Among Medicare-Medicaid Dually Eligible Adults Receiving Long-Term Services and Supports(Sage, 2024-09-26) Fakeye, Oludolapo; Rana, Prashant; Han, Fei; Henderson, Morgan; Stockwell, IanRepeat hospitalizations adversely impact the well-being of adults dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid in the United States. This study aimed to identify behavioral, cognitive, and functional characteristics associated with the risk of a repeat hospital episode (HE) among the statewide population of dually eligible adults in Maryland receiving long-term services and supports prior to an HE between July 2018 and May 2020. The odds of experiencing a repeat HE within 30 days after an initial HE were positively associated with reporting difficulty with hearing (adjusted odds ratio, AOR: 1.10 [95% confidence interval: 1.02-1.19]), being easily distractible (AOR: 1.09 [1.00-1.18]), being self-injurious (AOR: 1.33 [1.09-1.63]), and exhibiting verbal abuse (AOR: 1.15 [1.02-1.30]). Conversely, displaying inappropriate public behavior (AOR: 0.62 [0.42-0.92]) and being dependent for eating (AOR: 0.91 [0.83-0.99]) or bathing (AOR: 0.79 [0.67-0.92]) were associated with reduced odds of a repeat HE. We also observed differences in the magnitude and direction of these associations among adults 65 years of age or older relative to younger counterparts.Item Behind the Curtain: Comparing Predictive Models Performance in 2 Publicly Insured Populations(Wolters Kluwer Health, 2024-11) Sun, Ruichen; Henderson, Morgan; Goetschius, Leigh; Han, Fei; Stockwell, IanIntroduction: Predictive models have proliferated in the health system in recent years and have been used to predict both health services utilization and medical outcomes. Less is known, however, on how these models function and how they might adapt to different contexts. The purpose of the current study is to shed light on the inner workings of a large-scale predictive model deployed in 2 distinct populations, with a particular emphasis on adaptability issues. Methods: We compared the performance and functioning of a predictive model of avoidable hospitalization in 2 very different populations: Medicaid and Medicare enrollees in Maryland. Specifically, we assessed characteristics of the risk scores from March 2022 for the 2 populations, the predictive ability of the scores, and the driving risk factors behind the scores. In addition, we created and assessed the performance of an “unadapted” model by applying coefficients from the Medicare model to the Medicaid population. Results: The model adapted to, and performed well in, both populations, despite demographic differences in these 2 groups. However, the most salient risk factors and their relative weightings differed, sometimes dramatically, across the 2 populations. The unadapted Medicaid model displayed poor performance relative to the adapted model. Conclusions: Our findings speak to the need to “peek behind the curtain” of predictive models that may be applied to different populations, and we caution that risk prediction is not “one size fits all”: for optimal performance, models should be adapted to, and trained on, the target population.Item RNA-Puzzles Round V: blind predictions of 23 RNA structures(Springer Nature, 2024-12-02) Bu, Fan; Adam, Yagoub; Adamiak, Ryszard W.; Antczak, Maciej; de Aquino, Belisa Rebeca H.; Badepally, Nagendar Goud; Batey, Robert T.; Baulin, Eugene F.; Boinski, Pawel; Boniecki, Michal J.; Bujnicki, Janusz M.; Carpenter, Kristy A.; Chacon, Jose; Chen, Shi-Jie; Chiu, Wah; Cordero, Pablo; Das, Naba Krishna; Das, Rhiju; Dawson, Wayne K.; DiMaio, Frank; Ding, Feng; Dock-Bregeon, Anne-Catherine; Dokholyan, Nikolay V.; Dror, Ron O.; Dunin-Horkawicz, Stanisław ; Eismann, Stephan; Ennifar, Eric; Esmaeeli, Reza; Farsani, Masoud Amiri; Ferré-D’Amaré, Adrian R.; Geniesse, Caleb; Ghanim, George E.; Guzman, Horacio V.; Hood, Iris V.; Huang, Lin; Jain, Dharm Skandh; Jaryani, Farhang; Jin, Lei; Joshi, Astha; Karelina, Masha; Kieft, Jeffrey S.; Kladwang, Wipapat; Kmiecik, Sebastian; Koirala, Deepak; Kollmann, Markus; Kretsch, Rachael C.; Kurciński, Mateusz; Li, Jun; Li, Shuang; Magnus, Marcin; Masquida, BenoÎt; Moafinejad, S. Naeim; Mondal, Arup; Mukherjee, Sunandan; Nguyen, Thi Hoang Duong; Nikolaev, Grigory; Nithin, Chandran; Nye, Grace; Pandaranadar Jeyeram, Iswarya P. N.; Perez, Alberto; Pham, Phillip; Piccirilli, Joseph A.; Pilla, Smita Priyadarshini; Pluta, Radosław ; Poblete, Simón; Ponce-Salvatierra, Almudena; Popenda, Mariusz; Popenda, Lukasz; Pucci, Fabrizio; Rangan, Ramya; Ray, Angana; Ren, Aiming; Sarzynska, Joanna; Sha, Congzhou Mike; Stefaniak, Filip; Su, Zhaoming; Suddala, Krishna C.; Szachniuk, Marta; Townshend, Raphael; Trachman, Robert J.; Wang, Jian; Wang, Wenkai; Watkins, Andrew; Wirecki, Tomasz K.; Xiao, Yi; Xiong, Peng; Xiong, Yiduo; Yang, Jianyi; Yesselman, Joseph David; Zhang, Jinwei; Zhang, Yi; Zhang, Zhenzhen; Zhou, Yuanzhe; Zok, Tomasz; Zhang, Dong; Zhang, Sicheng; Żyła, Adriana; Westhof, Eric; Miao, ZhichaoRNA-Puzzles is a collective endeavor dedicated to the advancement and improvement of RNA three-dimensional structure prediction. With agreement from structural biologists, RNA structures are predicted by modeling groups before publication of the experimental structures. We report a large-scale set of predictions by 18 groups for 23 RNA-Puzzles: 4 RNA elements, 2 Aptamers, 4 Viral elements, 5 Ribozymes and 8 Riboswitches. We describe automatic assessment protocols for comparisons between prediction and experiment. Our analyses reveal some critical steps to be overcome to achieve good accuracy in modeling RNA structures: identification of helix-forming pairs and of non-Watson–Crick modules, correct coaxial stacking between helices and avoidance of entanglements. Three of the top four modeling groups in this round also ranked among the top four in the CASP15 contest.Item Astronomers Observe Real-time Formation Of Black Hole Jets For The First Time(UMBC News, 2025-01-13) Hansen, Sarah; Demond, MarlaynaItem Nursing Facility Characteristics Are Differentially Associated With Family Satisfaction and Regulatory Star Ratings(Southern Gerontological Society, 2025-01-08) Millar, Roberto J.; Diehl, Christin; Kusmaul, Nancy; Stockwell, IanResearch suggests that nursing facility structural characteristics are important contributors toward residents’ quality of care. We use 2021 data from 220 Maryland nursing facilities to examine associations between two different quality-of-care metrics: family satisfaction and Care Compare five-star quality ratings. We used descriptive statistics to explore differences in quality metrics across facility ownership (for-profit vs. non-profit), geographic location (urban vs. rural), and resident census (1–60, 61–120, and 121+). Relationships were examined across overall ratings, as well as across subdomains of the two frameworks (e.g., staffing). Family members of residents in non-profit, rural, and low-census facilities rated facilities higher. Non-profit and low-resident census facilities were more likely to be rated four or five stars, while no significant association was observed across geographic location, or interactions across structural factors. Findings emphasize the need for comprehensive quality-of-care frameworks that explore quality care across stakeholders and types of facilities.Item Synthetic anti-RNA antibody derivatives for RNA visualization in mammalian cells(Oxford, 2024-12-31) Banna, Hasan Al; Berg, Kimberley; Sadat, Tasnia; Das, Naba Krishna; Paudel, Roshan; D'Souza, Victoria; Koirala, DeepakAlthough antibody derivatives, such as Fabs and scFvs, have revolutionized the cellular imaging, quantification and tracking of proteins, analogous tools and strategies are unavailable for cellular RNA visualization. Here, we developed four synthetic anti-RNA scFv (sarabody) probes and their green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusions and demonstrated their potential to visualize RNA in live mammalian cells. We expressed these sarabodies and sarabody–GFP modules, purified them as soluble proteins, characterized their binding interactions with their corresponding epitopes and finally employed two of the four modules, sara1-GFP and sara1c-GFP, to visualize a target messenger RNA in live U2OS cells. Our current RNA imaging strategy is analogous to the existing MCP-MS₂ system for RNA visualization, but additionally, our approach provides robust flexibility for developing target RNA-specific imaging modules, as epitope-specific probes can be selected from a library generated by diversifying the sarabody complementarity determining regions. While we continue to optimize these probes, develop new probes for various target RNAs and incorporate other fluorescence proteins like mCherry and HaloTag, our groundwork results demonstrated that these first-of-a-kind immunofluorescent probes will have tremendous potential for tracking mature RNAs and may aid in visualizing and quantifying many cellular processes as well as examining the spatiotemporal dynamics of various RNAs.Item Leveraging the Medicaid Current Beneficiary Survey to Estimate Undercounting in Claims Data during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency(2024-06-29) Gill, Christine; Blake, Elizabeth; Roll, MelissaItem Leveraging State Data Sources to Improve Analysis of Medicaid Participant Race and Ethnicity(2024-06-29) James, Parker; Woodcock, Cynthia; Middleton, Alice; Idala, David; Smirnow, Alexis