Scholarship & Research
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Item Women’s longitudinal social media behaviors and experiences during a global pandemic(Informa UK Limited, 2023-03) Vaterlaus, J. Mitchell; Spruance, Lori A.; Patten, Emily V.This longitudinal mixed-methods study explored women’s (n = 124) lived experiences with social media in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women completed surveys at two points in time (March 2020 and April 2021). Follow-up interviews were also conducted with 33 women in April 2021. A longitudinal qualitative approach was used to identify three themes: (a) social media “works as an echo chamber,” (b) connection and community, and (c) information and misinformation overload. Women significantly decreased their social media behaviors focused on connecting with others, active engagement with COVID-19 content (e.g., creating a personal post, liking a post), and passive engagement with COVID-19 content (e.g., reading a post) between March 2020 and April 2021.Item Optimizing patient flow, capacity, and performance of COVID-19vaccination clinics(Taylor & Francis, 2022-04) Valladares, Leonardo; Nino, Valentina; Martínez, Kenneth; Sobek, Durward; Claudio, David; Moyce, SallyMass vaccination plays an important role in increasing immunization against COVID-19 and decreasing morbidity. Drive-through and traditional walk-through centers have been set up in most cities in the United States and other countries to vaccinate large numbers of people in a short period of time. This article focuses on a pair of mass vaccination clinics conducted on a mid-sized, public university campus. Applying tools from Industrial Engineering, including time study, flow charts, and Queuing Theory, the team identified improvements that resulted in a 40% reduction in the duration of the second clinic while vaccinating almost the same number of patients with no increases in overall staffing. The work resulted in a model for designing mass vaccination clinics in the future and demonstrates that engineers have the ability to support healthcare personnel to increase the performance of the vaccination centers. The inclusion of engineering in the planning and execution of these vaccination clinics can help maximize clinic capacity, reduce the staff and resources needed, and reduce the patients’ waiting time.Item An ADAM17-Neutralizing Antibody Reduces Inflammation and Mortality While Increasing Viral Burden in a COVID-19 Mouse Model(Frontiers Media SA, 2022-06) Hedges, Jodi F.; Snyder, Deann T.; Robison, Amanda; Grifka-Walk, Heather M.; Blackwell, Karlin; Shepardson, Kelly; Kominsky, Douglas; Rynda-Apple, Agnieszka; Walcheck, Bruce; Jutila, Mark A.Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the primary cell entry receptor for SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 viruses. A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17) is a protease that cleaves ectodomains of transmembrane proteins, including that of ACE2 and the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α, from cell surfaces upon cellular activation. We hypothesized that blockade of ADAM17 activity would alter COVID-19 pathogenesis. To assess this pathway, we blocked the function of ADAM17 using the monoclonal antibody MEDI3622 in the K18-hACE2 transgenic mouse model of COVID-19. Antibody-treated mice were healthier, less moribund, and had significantly lower lung pathology than saline-treated mice. However, the viral burden in the lungs of MEDI3622-treated mice was significantly increased. Thus, ADAM17 appears to have a critical anti-viral role, but also may promote inflammatory damage. Since the inflammatory cascade is ultimately the reason for adverse outcomes in COVID-19 patients, there may be a therapeutic application for the MEDI3622 antibody.Item Seasonal farm labor and COVID ‐19 spread(Wiley, 2022-09) Charlton, DianeThe COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused unprecedented shocks to agricultural food systems, including increased risk to worker health, labor-related input costs, and production uncertainty. Despite employer precautions, there were numerous worksite outbreaks of COVID-19. This paper examines the relationship between month-to-month variation in historical agricultural employment and changes in the incidence of confirmed COVID-19cases and deaths within U.S. counties from April to August 2020. The results show that employment of100 additional workers in fruit, vegetable, and horticultural production was associated with 4.5% more COVID-19 cases within counties or an additional 18.65 COVID-19 cases and 0.34 additional COVID-19 deaths per 100,000individuals in the county workforce.