UMBC Staff Collection

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/7733

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Key Governance Practices That Facilitate the Use of Remote Sensing Information for Wildfire Management: A Case Study in Spain
(MDPI, 2025-01) Prados, Ana; Allen, Mackenzie
We 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.
Exploring the Relationship Between Nursing Staff and Family Members' Appraisal of Resident Care in Nursing Homes: The Role of Facility Ownership
(MDPI, 45699) Millar, Roberto; Diehl, Christin; Kusmaul, Nancy; Stockwell, Ian
Background/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.
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, Ian
Repeat 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.
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, Ian
Introduction: 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.
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, Zhichao
RNA-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.
Astronomers Observe Real-time Formation Of Black Hole Jets For The First Time
(UMBC News, 2025-01-13) Hansen, Sarah; Demond, Marlayna
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, Ian
Research 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.
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, Deepak
Although 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.
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, Melissa
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
Hilltop Hospital Pricing Work Featured in New State of Reform Article
(The Hilltop Institute, 2022-09-23) The Hilltop Institute; Henderson, Morgan; Mouslim, Morgane
Hilltop’s newly funded National Science Foundation (NSF) project on hospital pricing behavior is featured in a new article by State of Reform, an organization focused on conversations that bridge the gap between health care and the policy that governs it. Hilltop researchers Morgan Henderson, PhD, and Morgane Mouslim, DVM, ScM, will collect, clean, document, and synthesize a sample of pricing data posted by hospitals in response to a 2021 federal rule mandating that hospitals disclose previously confidential data on the prices they charge. The resulting data set and documentation will be made available to other researchers. Drs. Henderson and Mouslim will also conduct two studies on the relationship between payer mix and hospital pricing behavior.
Healthcare Upside/Down: Pricing Impacting Financially Vulnerable Populations w/ Henderson & Mouslim
(Healthcare NOW Radio Podcast Network, 2022-11-16) Henderson, Morgan; Mouslim, Morgane
S2E2: Healthcare Cash Price Variability Impacting Financially Vulnerable Populations with Morgan Henderson, Principal Data Scientist and Morgane Mouslim, Health Policy Analyst at The Hilltop Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and host Dr. Nick. As we move clearly into a transparent and fair system of healthcare service that offers economic, affordable, and accessible healthcare to everyone it is important to take account of all the groups and find an appropriate path for every member of our community. Self-pay patients are an understudied yet important and financially vulnerable population of emergency room users and as you will hear the Emergency Room facility fees may be a key cost driver in patient ER bills. Depending on your facilities status it may be that the ER fee is tied to economic drivers and fixed costs and is hard to adjust. Your better pill to swallow is to consider alternative delivery options until health policy catches up and addresses these issues identifying alternative approaches for these groups that offer a lower cost more economic option would start to address the inequities and failures of our existing system.
Health Service Utilization of Medicaid Beneficiaries Receiving Supportive Housing Services
(2024-07-002) Mood, MaryAnn
Foad Hamidi Launches New Projects To Expand Technology-rich Learning Opportunities For Youth In Baltimore
(UMBC News, 2024-12-17) Meyers, Catherine
Foad Hamidi, an assistant professor in the Department of Information Systems, has won funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support two new projects offering technology-rich informal learning opportunities to diverse populations in Baltimore and beyond.
Data Supporting Evidence-Based Decisions
(The Hilltop Institute, 2024-04-10) Middleton, Alice
Data Sharing Success: HIV Surveillance and Maryland Medicaid
(The Hilltop Institute, 2023-10-12) James, Parker
Cross-Validation of Insurer and Hospital Price Transparency Data
(AJMC, 2024-08-06) Henderson, Morgan; Mouslim, Morgane
Given recent congressional interest in codifying price transparency regulations, it is important to understand the extent to which newly available price transparency data capture true underlying procedure-level prices. To that end, we compared the prices for maternity services negotiated between a large payer and 26 hospitals in Mississippi across 2 separate price transparency data sources: payer and hospital. The degree of file overlap is low, with only 16.3% of hospital–billing code observations appearing in both data sources. However, for the observations that overlap, pricing concordance is high: Corresponding prices have a correlation coefficient of 0.975, 77.4% match to the penny, and 84.4% are within 10%. Exact price matching rates are greater than 90% for 3 of the 4 service lines included in this study. Taken together, these results suggest that although administrative misalignment exists between payers and hospitals, there is a measure of signal amid the price transparency noise.
Comparison of Hospital Online Price and Telephone Price for Shoppable Services
(American Medical Association, 2023-11-01) Thomas, Merina; Flaherty, James; Wang, Jiefei; Henderson, Morgan; Ho, Vivian; Cuban, Mark; Cram, Peter
Importance US hospitals are required to publicly post their prices for specified shoppable services online. However, the extent to which a hospital’s prices posted online correlate with the prices they give to a telephone caller is unknown. Objective To compare hospitals’ online cash prices for vaginal childbirth and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with prices offered to secret shopper callers requesting price estimates by telephone. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study included cash online prices from each hospital’s website for vaginal childbirth and brain MRI collected from representative US hospitals between August and October 2022. Thereafter, again between August and October 2022, simulated secret shopper patients called each hospital requesting their lowest cash price for these procedures. Main Outcomes and Measures We calculated the difference between each hospital’s online and phone prices for vaginal childbirth and brain MRI, and the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between the online and phone prices for each procedure, among hospitals able to provide both prices, Results A total of 60 representative US hospitals (20 top-ranked, 20 safety-net, and 20 non–top-ranked, non–safety-net hospitals) were included in the analysis. For vaginal childbirth, 63% (12 of 19) of top-ranked hospitals, 30% (6 of 20) of safety-net hospitals, and 21% (4 of 19) of non–top-ranked, non–safety-net hospitals provided both online and telephone prices. For brain MRI, 85% (17 of 20) of top-ranked hospitals, 50% (10 of 20) of safety-net hospitals, and 100% (20 of 20) of non–top-ranked, non–safety-net hospitals provided prices both online and via telephone. Online prices and telephone prices for both procedures varied widely. For example, online prices for vaginal childbirth posted by top-ranked hospitals ranged from $0 to $55 221 (mean, $23 040), from $4361 to $14 377 (mean $10 925) for safety-net hospitals, and from $1183 to $30 299 (mean $15 861) for non–top-ranked, non–safety-net hospitals. Among the 22 hospitals providing prices both online and by telephone for vaginal childbirth, prices were within 25% of each other for 45% (10) of hospitals, while 41% (9) of hospitals had differences of 50% or more (Pearson r = 0.118). Among the 47 hospitals providing both online and phone prices for brain MRI, prices were within 25% of each other for 66% (31) of hospitals), while 26% (n = 12) had differences of 50% or more (Pearson r = −0.169). Among hospitals that provided prices both online and via telephone, there was a complete match between the online and telephone prices for vaginal childbirth in 14% (3 of 22) of hospitals and for brain MRI in 19% (9 of 47) of hospitals. Conclusions and Relevance Findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that there was poor correlation between hospitals’ self-posted online prices and prices they offered by telephone to secret shoppers. These results demonstrate hospitals’ continued problems in knowing and communicating their prices for specific services. The findings also highlight the continued challenges for uninsured patients and others who attempt to comparison shop for health care.
Care Compare Star Ratings and Family Satisfaction in Maryland Nursing Facilities: A Comparison by Facility Structure
(2024-02-22) Millar, Roberto; Diehl, Christin; Kusmaul, Nancy; Stockwell, Ian
These findings were presented at the Gerontological Society of America’s (GSA) 2023 meeting in Tampa, Florida. Part of a Center and Institute Departmentally-Engaged Research (CIDER) award, this is part of several studies focused on examining quality of care in Maryland nursing facilities.
Utilization Trends in Medicaid-Reimbursed Doula Services and Out-of-Pocket Cost Savings in Maryland
(2024-06-30) Goetschius, Leigh

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