Browsing by Author "Seidel, Richard W."
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- The Association between Engineering Students' Perceptions of Classroom Climate and Fundamental Engineering Skills: A Comparison of Community College and University StudentsHankey, Maria Stack (Virginia Tech, 2016-05-24)In this dissertation, the focus was on the classroom climate of engineering students in the context of either their community college or their four-year university. Previous research on the classroom climate for STEM majors suggests that women and minorities may experience a "chilly climate" and find the classroom unwelcoming; this negative climate may in turn have an impact on a student's success or persistence in attaining a degree. The purpose of this study was to examine engineering students' perceptions of their classroom climate and how these perceptions are related to fundamental skills in engineering. Data from a 2009 National Science Foundation sponsored project, Prototype to Production: Processes and Conditions for Preparing the Engineer of 2020 (P2P), which contains information from students in 31 four-year colleges and 15 pre-engineering community college programs, were examined. After establishing measures for classroom climate and fundamental skills related to engineering through an exploratory factor analysis, results indicated that university students had higher perceptions of their fundamental engineering skills as compared to community college students. Community college engineering students, on the other hand, perceived their classroom climates as warmer than university engineering students. In order to explore differences in student perceptions by individual characteristics and by institution, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used. Results indicated that for both community college and university engineering students, a warmer perception of classroom climate was associated with a higher perception of fundamental engineering skills. For the community college data, there was significant but low variation between schools, suggesting that student level characteristics may explain more of the variation. At the individual level, the interaction terms for gender and race were significant, indicating that the association between gender and perceptions of fundamental engineering skills depends on race. For the university students, only gender was significant, with male students reporting higher perceptions of their fundamental engineering skills. Almost all of the engineering disciplines were significant, which led to an additional HLM analysis with engineering program as the highest nested unit. Results from this model indicated that the highest percentage of variation in fundamental skills in engineering was at the program level.
- Beginning A Patient-Centered Approach in the Design of A Diabetes Prevention ProgramSeidel, Richard W.; Pardo, Kimberlee A.; Estabrooks, Paul A.; You, Wen; Wall, Sarah S.; Davy, Brenda M.; Almeida, Fabio A. (MDPI, 2014-02-01)
- Examining Ways to Improve Weight Control Programs' Population Reach and Representativeness: A Discrete Choice Experiment of Financial IncentivesYou, Wen; Yuan, Yuan; Boyle, Kevin J.; Michaud, Tzeyu L.; Parmeter, Chris; Seidel, Richard W.; Estabrooks, Paul A. (2021-11-10)Background Both theoretical and empirical evidence supports the potential of modest financial incentives to increase the reach of evidence-based weight control programs. However, few studies exist that examine the best incentive design for achieving the highest reach and representativeness at the lowest cost and whether or not incentive designs may be valued differentially by subgroups that experience obesity-related health disparities. Methods A discrete choice experiment was conducted (n = 1232 participants; over 90% of them were overweight/obese) to collect stated preference towards different financial incentive attributes, including reward amount, program location, reward contingency, and payment form and frequency. Mixed logit and conditional logit models were used to determine overall and subgroup preference ranking of attributes. Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data sample weights and the estimated models, we predicted US nationally representative participation rates by subgroups and examined the effect of offering more than one incentive design. External validity was checked by using a completed cluster randomized control trial. Results There were significant subgroup differences in preference toward incentive attributes. There was also a sizable negative response to larger incentive amounts among African Americans, suggesting that higher amounts would reduce participation from this population. We also find that offering participants a menu of incentive designs to choose from would increase reach more than offering higher reward amounts. Conclusions We confirmed the existence of preference heterogeneity and the importance of subgroup-targeted incentive designs in any evidence-based weight control program to maximize population reach and reduce health disparities.
- Insulin resistance is associated with epigenetic and genetic regulation of mitochondrial DNA in obese humansZheng, Louise D.; Linarelli, Leah E.; Liu, Longhua; Wall, Sarah S.; Greenawald, Mark H.; Seidel, Richard W.; Estabrooks, Paul A.; Almeida, Fabio A.; Cheng, Zhiyong (2015-06-10)Background Mitochondrial alterations have been observed in subjects with metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. Studies on animal models and cell cultures suggest aberrant glucose and lipid levels, and impaired insulin signaling might lead to mitochondrial changes. However, the molecular mechanism underlying mitochondrial aberrance remains largely unexplored in human subjects. Results Here we show that the mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAn) was significantly reduced (6.9-fold lower, p < 0.001) in the leukocytes from obese humans (BMI >30). The reduction of mtDNAn was strongly associated with insulin resistance (HOMA-IR: −0.703, p < 0.05; fasting insulin level: −0.015, p < 0.05); by contrast, the correlation between fasting glucose or lipid levels and mtDNAn was not significant. Epigenetic study of the displacement loop (D-loop) region of mitochondrial genome, which controls the replication and transcription of the mitochondrial DNA as well as organization of the mitochondrial nucleoid, revealed a dramatic increase of DNA methylation in obese (5.2-fold higher vs. lean subjects, p < 0.05) and insulin-resistant (4.6-fold higher vs. insulin-sensitive subjects, p < 0.05) individuals. Conclusions The reduction of mtDNAn in obese human subjects is associated with insulin resistance and may arise from increased D-loop methylation, suggesting an insulin signaling-epigenetic-genetic axis in mitochondrial regulation.
- Managing Depression: Stories of Patients and Their Families Pursuing Mental Health after Psychiatric HospitalizationThorne, Catherine B. (Virginia Tech, 2002-04-02)This qualitative research study was designed to follow-up with ten participants in a relapse prevention program at an inpatient psychiatric unit with a diagnosis of major depression for the purpose of determining their experiences post-discharge in practicing relapse prevention and in pursuing and maintaining wellness in their mental health. It relied upon narrative theory, theories of self-efficacy, and theories of depression to guide the research process as well as the field of knowledge about rehospitalization, relapse prevention, depression, and self-efficacy. Participants described depression associated with loss, feeling helpless, powerless, overwhelmed and suicidal. They increased in their confidence of depression management as their depression got better and they actively managed it. During the interviews participants expressed themes of connection, with participants feeling disconnected from themselves and others, wanting to be listened to, but feeling unheard or hiding their own voice, a loss of self with healing occurring through use of self, learning cognitively and experientially to manage their depression using specific self-efficacy skills and identifying the things that interfered with depression management. A relational theory of depression management, based on attachment theory is proposed and several suggestions for research and treatment are made.
- Mitochondrial Epigenetic Changes Link to Increased Diabetes Risk and Early-Stage Prediabetes IndicatorZheng, Louise D.; Linarelli, Leah E.; Brooke, Joseph; Smith, Cayleen M.; Wall, Sarah S.; Greenawald, Mark H.; Seidel, Richard W.; Estabrooks, Paul A.; Almeida, Fabio A.; Cheng, Zhiyong (Hindawi, 2016-04-26)Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by mitochondrial derangement and oxidative stress. With no known cure for T2D, it is critical to identify mitochondrial biomarkers for early diagnosis of prediabetes and disease prevention. Here we examined 87 participants on the diagnosis power of fasting glucose (FG) and hemoglobin A1c levels and investigated their interactions with mitochondrial DNA methylation. FG and A1c led to discordant diagnostic results irrespective of increased body mass index (BMI), underscoring the need of new biomarkers for prediabetes diagnosis. Mitochondrial DNA methylation levels were not correlated with late-stage (impaired FG or A1c) but significantly with early-stage (impaired insulin sensitivity) events. Quartiles of BMI suggested that mitochondrial DNA methylation increased drastically from Q1 (20 < BMI < 24.9, lean) to Q2 (30 < BMI < 34.9, obese), but marginally from Q2 to Q3 (35 < BMI < 39.9, severely obese) and from Q3 to Q4 (BMI > 40, morbidly obese). A significant change was also observed from Q1 to Q2 inHOMA insulin sensitivity but not in A1c or FG. Thus, mitochondrial epigenetic changes link to increased diabetes risk and the indicator of early-stage prediabetes. Further larger-scale studies to examine the potential of mitochondrial epigenetic marker in prediabetes diagnosis will be of critical importance for T2D prevention.
- START NOW: An Effective Mental Health InterventionTrestman, Robert L.; Truong, Albert Y.; Kablinger, Anita S.; Hartman, David W.; McNamara, Robert S.; Seidel, Richard W.; Hartman, Cheri W.; Sylvester-Johnson, Anders (Scientia, 2021-10-28)Dr. Robert Trestman, at the Carilion Clinic and Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, has co-developed START NOW, a successful group psychotherapy intervention specifically targeting mental health issues in prisoners. It combines elements of cognitive behavioral therapy to form skills-based learning. Furthermore, START NOW is easily accessible, cost-effective, and designed for use in settings with limited resources. Due to its success within correctional institutions, START NOW is being adapted for use in fields such as adolescent conduct issues and opioid misuse.