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Title: Intraoperative blood glucose management : a quality improvement project
Creator: Baker, Jake (Nurse)
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Perioperative hyperglycemia is associated with a myriad of post-surgical complications including an increased incidence of surgical site infections and prolonged hospital stays. The use of an evidence-based perioperative blood glucose management protocol reduces morbidity and mortality in adult patients undergoing surgical procedures. The project team describes a cost-effective quality improvement initiative aimed at improving protocol adherence by integrating an easy-to-use protocol...
Show morePerioperative hyperglycemia is associated with a myriad of post-surgical complications including an increased incidence of surgical site infections and prolonged hospital stays. The use of an evidence-based perioperative blood glucose management protocol reduces morbidity and mortality in adult patients undergoing surgical procedures. The project team describes a cost-effective quality improvement initiative aimed at improving protocol adherence by integrating an easy-to-use protocol algorithm, order sets, and practice reminders into an existing electronic health record system.
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Title: Improving pediatric influenza vaccination rates in the primary care setting
Creator: Kositzke, Channan M. (Channan Marie)
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Background and Significance: Caregiver vaccine hesitancy (VH) is a barrier to pediatric health. Current pediatric vaccination rates nationwide fall below the national recommendations. Understanding contributors to individualized hesitancy while employing motivational interviewing (MI) techniques can reduce caregiver hesitancy, improve influenza vaccination rates, decrease pediatric disparities, improve community health, and reduce healthcare costs. Purpose: The purpose of this quality...
Show moreBackground and Significance: Caregiver vaccine hesitancy (VH) is a barrier to pediatric health. Current pediatric vaccination rates nationwide fall below the national recommendations. Understanding contributors to individualized hesitancy while employing motivational interviewing (MI) techniques can reduce caregiver hesitancy, improve influenza vaccination rates, decrease pediatric disparities, improve community health, and reduce healthcare costs. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to reduce caregiver influenza vaccine hesitancy through provider education and the use of MI techniques with the MOTIVE-Flu (Motivational Interview Tool to Improve Vaccination Adherence) algorithm point of care tool. The intended outcome goal was to increase seasonal influenza vaccination rates by 10% when comparing the participating providers 2020 (without the intervention) to the 2021 (with the intervention) vaccination acceptance rate. Methods: A literature review guided the selection of the tools and techniques selected, which substantiated the effectiveness of MI within the pediatric population in the primary care setting. De-identified aggregate data was reviewed and provided by the organizational data manager and the participating Medical Assistant (MA). Statistical analysis was provided via Michigan State University (MSU). To assist with MI techniques and the MOTIVE-Flu tool use education was completed by the participating MA's, provider, and nurse practitioner student. Implementation: Implementation occurred from October 2021 to December 2021 within peak influenza vaccine administration season. The intervention occurred during all pediatric primary care visits for children aged six months through seventeen years. The Knowledge into Action Framework guided the development and monitoring process with bi-weekly clinical staff progress, evaluation, and support. Implications: Practical implications include reducing pediatric influenza morbidity and mortality, reducing the spread of influenza within the community, and decreasing healthcare costs. Keywords: Vaccine, Hesitancy, Motivational Interviewing, Pediatric, Primary Care.
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Title: Utilization of a transitional care team for medication reconciliation in geriatric primary care
Creator: Brooks, Tanya
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Background and Significance: According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), medication-related errors lead to mortality and adverse effects such as allergic reactions, avoidable side effects, drug interactions, and unnecessary cost (IOM, 2000). Even with the predominant use of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and clinical decision support systems (CDSS), medication discrepancies are still problematic today. There is substantial evidence available to demonstrate the benefits of using a...
Show moreBackground and Significance: According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), medication-related errors lead to mortality and adverse effects such as allergic reactions, avoidable side effects, drug interactions, and unnecessary cost (IOM, 2000). Even with the predominant use of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and clinical decision support systems (CDSS), medication discrepancies are still problematic today. There is substantial evidence available to demonstrate the benefits of using a transition of care (TOC) team for timely, appropriate medication reconciliation (MR) utilizing multiple intervention modalities. Purpose: This quality improvement (QI) project attempted to determine if the implementation of a TOC team utilizing a telephone-based MR system in a geriatric primary care setting improved identification of medication discrepancies and improved seven-day follow-up (FU) appointments following an inpatient admission. Methods: The TOC team at the geriatric primary care clinic was educated about the improved MR intervention tool and data collection process via a PowerPoint presentation. The data was collected via an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed for improvement upon identified medication errors and follow-through with timely FU appointments. The plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycle was utilized for implementation. Results: A QI project was implemented in a geriatric primary care setting including 74 patients, 18 of which received the intervention. The implementation was carried out over a total of 12 weeks. Error identification increased from 0.71 errors per patient in the control group to 1.22 in the intervention group. Of the patients contacted via MR phone calls, 88.8% scheduled FU appointments; only 38.8% were within the goal time frame of seven days. The average time to FU during the implementation period was 9.1 days. Conclusion: The TOC team utilizing a telephonic MR improved identification of medication errors and overall FU rates. However, the TOC team did not positively impact the seven-day FU during MR from an inpatient hospitalization visit back to the outpatient setting. Results also indicated an improvement in the time spent per phone call. Keywords: care transition, transition of care team, medication reconciliation, seven-day follow-up, outpatient/ambulatory primary care.
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Title: A quality improvement project for post-COVID-19 patients through reminder phone calls
Creator: Sweeney, Danielle
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Background and Review of Literature: COVID-19 is a devastating illness that has detrimental health, financial and emotional consequences. Healthcare providers are utilizing questionnaires such as the PROMIS-29 form to help guide management of long term symptoms. Calling patients prior to their appointment as a reminder to complete their forms has proven to increase patient compliance with form completion. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase the PROMIS-29...
Show moreBackground and Review of Literature: COVID-19 is a devastating illness that has detrimental health, financial and emotional consequences. Healthcare providers are utilizing questionnaires such as the PROMIS-29 form to help guide management of long term symptoms. Calling patients prior to their appointment as a reminder to complete their forms has proven to increase patient compliance with form completion. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase the PROMIS-29 form response rate prior to the COVID-19 recovery care appointment, in hopes of improving care for patients living with post-COVID-19 conditions. Methods: This project was implemented at a large Midwest healthcare organization's primary care clinics. The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students called patients within 72 hours prior to their appointment, to remind them to complete the PROMIS-29 form on their MyChart portal. Implementation Plan/Procedure: The DNP students completed HIPAA training and utilized a script provided by the large Midwest healthcare organization when calling patients. A weekly report was provided by the community partner that includes a list of patients who needed to be called, according to the "post COVID follow up" visit type. The DNP students traveled to the large Midwest healthcare organization's administration building to conduct phone calls. Pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys were sent to the providers to determine the success of the intervention. Implications/Conclusion: Various project limitations impeded the ability to determine the success of the intervention however, the project proved helpful in determining that other reminder modalities may be of benefit to explore in the future. Keywords: Patient, Remind, Phone, Text, Email, Call, Form, Paperwork.
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Title: Assessment of self-care and education in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Creator: Monroe, Kristen M. (Kristen Mae)
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Background and Significance: The annual cost of diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) in the United States is $327 billion, with individuals with DM2 spending 2.3 times more on health care than individuals without DM2. Education, such as Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) programs, and self-care support, utilizing tools such as the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) Measure, are the cornerstones of improving care and outcomes for patients with DM2. Purpose...
Show moreBackground and Significance: The annual cost of diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) in the United States is $327 billion, with individuals with DM2 spending 2.3 times more on health care than individuals without DM2. Education, such as Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) programs, and self-care support, utilizing tools such as the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) Measure, are the cornerstones of improving care and outcomes for patients with DM2. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement a standardized self-care assessment and educational intervention for a mid-Michigan internal medicine clinic's adult patient population over 18 years of age with DM2 and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) greater than 9% and improve patient self-care. Methods: The Plan, Do, Act, Study (PDSA) Cycle and the Chronic Care Model were used as a framework to guide the project. Eligible participants were identified by clinic staff and received self-care education. Evaluation: The validated SDSCA tool was utilized to assess self-care pre- and post- educational intervention. A two-tailed paired t-test was then performed to compare pre- and post-intervention scores. Outcomes: Of 25 eligible patients in the clinic, 13 patients participated in the initial phase with 3 patients lost to follow-up, leaving 10 patients included in data analysis. A statistically significant improvement was seen in DM2 self-care with mean scores increasing from 4.1 days/week to 4.8 days/week (t = -6.5, p < 0.01). Implications/Conclusion: Identification of specific areas of patient educational needs can improve self-care in patients with DM2 and improve their overall health outcomes.
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Title: Reducing pediatric pain during immunizations
Creator: Bradley, Paul (Paul Michael)
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Background: Immunizations are often associated with pain and fear in the pediatric population. These negative emotions can have lasting effects on a patient's willingness to receive future medical care, including immunizations. Therefore, it is important to attempt to minimize the amount of pain and fear during all vaccination encounters. Purpose: A small West Michigan rural clinic had no formal process or tools for reducing pediatric pain during vaccinations. After an extensive literature...
Show moreBackground: Immunizations are often associated with pain and fear in the pediatric population. These negative emotions can have lasting effects on a patient's willingness to receive future medical care, including immunizations. Therefore, it is important to attempt to minimize the amount of pain and fear during all vaccination encounters. Purpose: A small West Michigan rural clinic had no formal process or tools for reducing pediatric pain during vaccinations. After an extensive literature review, it was decided to implement Buzzy®, a thermomechanical device, into the clinic's standardized practice for all pediatric immunizations. The goal was to improve the pediatric vaccination experience within the clinic. Methods: Using the PDSA model, two DNP students provided an in-service to the medical assistants on the use of the device. Education was also provided on the data collection tool that included an unvalidated survey assessing the parent/guardian's perception of their child's past and current vaccination experience, as well as the patient's pain level using one of three validated pain scales. Participants between the ages of 0-18 years and their parents/guardians had to be willing to use the Buzzy® device in order to enroll. Data was collected from October 2021 to January 2022. Results: Forty-five participants agreed to participate in this evidence-based practice (EBP) project. Participants' average pain score was mild with the use of Buzzy® at 2.9 out of 10. The average experience with Buzzy® was found to be significantly higher than the previous average vaccination encounter (p=.04). Finally, 95% of participants recommended continued use of Buzzy®. Conclusion: The implementation of Buzzy® during pediatric immunizations improved the immunization experience in a rural West Michigan clinic. These significant results support the continued use of Buzzy® at the clinic.
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Title: Improving perioperative nausea and vomiting prophylaxis protocol compliance
Creator: Franz, Allison
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a significant concern in anesthesia practice. Evidence-based guidelines have sought to provide recommendations on identifying patients at risk for PONV and mitigating its effect with multimodal antiemetic strategies. An anesthesia department within a large teaching hospital uses the Anesthesiology Performance Improvement and Report Exchange guidelines to identify and manage patients at risk for PONV. These guidelines are intended to integrate best...
Show morePostoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a significant concern in anesthesia practice. Evidence-based guidelines have sought to provide recommendations on identifying patients at risk for PONV and mitigating its effect with multimodal antiemetic strategies. An anesthesia department within a large teaching hospital uses the Anesthesiology Performance Improvement and Report Exchange guidelines to identify and manage patients at risk for PONV. These guidelines are intended to integrate best practices into anesthetic care and improve overall surgical outcomes. The anesthesia department currently has a PONV protocol in place that aligns with the guidelines but has not achieved their compliance benchmark. This evidence-based quality improvement project describes interventions proposed to increase compliance with the PONV protocol. To address poor PONV compliance, an anonymous survey was developed to assess anesthesia provider's current familiarity with the new PONV guidelines and identify misconceptions. A visual feedback system was implemented using a preliminary confidential list that anonymizes staff. This allowed individual providers to identify their own performance in relation to their peers in a non-punitive way. The results of this quality improvement project demonstrate that the proposed interventions increased departmental compliance.
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Title: Development and implementation of an enhanced recovery after surgery protocol for women undergoing a mastectomy
Creator: Braun, Michael
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: This evidenced-based practice initiative includes the development and implementation of an evidence-based enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) guideline with a specific focus on the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and opioid administration in the postoperative setting. The clinical question was in adult women, age 18 years or greater, undergoing a mastectomy procedure, does the implementation of an ERAS guideline lower the incidence of PONV and reduce morphine...
Show moreThis evidenced-based practice initiative includes the development and implementation of an evidence-based enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) guideline with a specific focus on the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and opioid administration in the postoperative setting. The clinical question was in adult women, age 18 years or greater, undergoing a mastectomy procedure, does the implementation of an ERAS guideline lower the incidence of PONV and reduce morphine milligram equivalent (MME) requirements in a post-anesthesia care unit (PACU)? Patients undergoing breast cancer surgery have multiple risk factors and the reported incidence of PONV reaches up to 80%. Over half of post-surgical breast cancer patients develop neuropathic pain syndromes. A mastectomy ERAS guideline was developed then applied to the perioperative course of 22 patients. It was found that following an ERAS guideline reduced the incidence of PONV by 17% and reduced the average MME by 13.5 equivalents. Project implications include potential cost savings, reduced PACU length of stay, and improved patient outcomes.
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Title: Increasing point of care testing for glycated hemoglobin A1c levels in a family health clinic
Creator: Wielgos, Elizabeth
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Background: Adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) have and continue to increase significantly within the United States (U.S.). The current recommended glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) goal for a nonpregnant healthy adult is a value of 7% to lower the risk of DM-related complications (American Diabetes Association [ADA], 2021). Because a goal of 7% may not be feasible in many cases due to other variables, each person with diabetes should have an individualized goal and treatment plan based...
Show moreBackground: Adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) have and continue to increase significantly within the United States (U.S.). The current recommended glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) goal for a nonpregnant healthy adult is a value of 7% to lower the risk of DM-related complications (American Diabetes Association [ADA], 2021). Because a goal of 7% may not be feasible in many cases due to other variables, each person with diabetes should have an individualized goal and treatment plan based on their health history and age (ADA, 2021). Compared to a lab draw, which can take hours to days before the provider can see the results, point of care testing (POCT) is more convenient because it produces results in minutes. Purpose: The goal of this quality improvement project was to enhance patient outcomes by introducing an algorithm to ensure that patients with diabetes were effectively managed according to the American Diabetes Association's current recommendations using POCT. Results: The data were subjected to Chi-square and T-tests, but no statistical significance was found. However, analysis of the data revealed many findings consistent with clinical significance. Conclusion: After analysis of the data from this quality improvement (QI) project, findings showed there was a positive correlation between POCT for HbA1c and an increase in values <9%. It was recommended staff continue to apply the algorithm to analyze the long-term outcomes of utilizing POCT for HbA1c in the family medicine clinic.
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Title: A quality improvement project addressing perioperative glycemic guideline adherence
Creator: Caldwell, Samuel Q.
Date: 2021
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: A quality improvement project was conducted within the surgical department of a mid-Michigan hospital following concerns for lack of adherence to current protocols regarding perioperative glycemic management and not meeting statistical expectations. Project stakeholders and initiators configured protocol simplification and educational meetings in hopes to improve protocol adherence and statistical improvement for preoperative glycemic management. Literature synthesis and evidence-based...
Show moreA quality improvement project was conducted within the surgical department of a mid-Michigan hospital following concerns for lack of adherence to current protocols regarding perioperative glycemic management and not meeting statistical expectations. Project stakeholders and initiators configured protocol simplification and educational meetings in hopes to improve protocol adherence and statistical improvement for preoperative glycemic management. Literature synthesis and evidence-based directives drove the project implementation and goals. A three month implementation period was tracked and data was queried with the assistance of stakeholders at the project site and overall comparisons and attributions were drawn. Post-implementation and data collection, data was compiled into a formal conclusive presentation to both the project site as well as the Michigan State University College of Nursing addressing successes and short-falls of the overall project. Retrospective conclusions were drawn and recommendations for future quality improvement projects regarding this topic were discussed in order to continue the quality improvement process.
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Title: Increasing breast cancer self-awareness and screening in a vulnerable population through faith-based community outreach
Creator: Carpenter, Lauren J.
Date: 2021
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Breast cancer is one of the leading cancer diagnoses for women in the United States. Certain vulnerable populations are at an increased risk for breast cancer mortality, including homeless and African American women. Providing healthcare navigation, cancer education, and connecting with faith-based communities has shown to increase cancer screening rates and knowledge in these vulnerable populations. The purpose of this QI project was to provide breast cancer screening education and access to...
Show moreBreast cancer is one of the leading cancer diagnoses for women in the United States. Certain vulnerable populations are at an increased risk for breast cancer mortality, including homeless and African American women. Providing healthcare navigation, cancer education, and connecting with faith-based communities has shown to increase cancer screening rates and knowledge in these vulnerable populations. The purpose of this QI project was to provide breast cancer screening education and access to care with the goal of increasing breast cancer screening rates and breast self-awareness among at-risk women in a midwestern Michigan community attending faith-based organizations. The project was implemented at three different faith-based communities, including a community soup kitchen serving homeless people and two predominantly African American churches. An educational presentation was created to deliver tailored breast cancer information. Participants were also provided the opportunity to be enrolled for a free mammogram. The intervention was delivered virtually via a PowerPoint presentation on a secure zoom session. Enrollment forms were provided for eligible participants to be screened with a mammogram. Participant's attitudes, knowledge, and confidence towards breast cancer screening were measured before and after the intervention with surveys. A statistically significant increase in participant's knowledge regarding breast cancer screening was found among the 15 total participants. This project demonstrates that education in conjunction with faith-based communities can increase breast cancer knowledge and screening in vulnerable populations to reduce breast cancer mortality.
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Title: Improving advance care planning and advance directive rates in primary care through a multidisciplinary approach
Creator: Johnson, Vanessa N. (Vanessa Nichole-Castillo)
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Background and Review of Literature: Lack of advance care planning (ACP) leads to unwanted treatments and suffering for patients, along with increased healthcare costs. Certain vulnerable populations are at increased risk for unnecessary suffering, including those with high emergency department (ED) utilization rates and one-year prognoses. Providing ACP education to providers and utilization of the multidisciplinary team has been shown to increase ACP and advance directive (AD) rates in...
Show moreBackground and Review of Literature: Lack of advance care planning (ACP) leads to unwanted treatments and suffering for patients, along with increased healthcare costs. Certain vulnerable populations are at increased risk for unnecessary suffering, including those with high emergency department (ED) utilization rates and one-year prognoses. Providing ACP education to providers and utilization of the multidisciplinary team has been shown to increase ACP and advance directive (AD) rates in these vulnerable populations within primary care. Purpose: The purpose of this QI project was to increase the percentage of robust ACP conversations and the completion and documentation of ACP/ADs in the electronic medical record (EMR). Methods: The project was implemented at a primary care clinic in a midwestern Michigan community. DNP students attended an informational meeting regarding the organization's EMR-based ACP tool. An educational session regarding robust ACP was held for providers, a decision tree was developed to both guide ACP appointments with a specialist and ensure proper documentation into the EMR, and scripting was created to help guide ACP conversations. Implementation Plan/Procedure: Members of the multidisciplinary team utilized the intervention. Data collection included the percentage of empaneled patients with a durable power of attorney for healthcare (DPOAH) on file, the total number of robust ACP conversations completed, and the number of patients on the population health targeting list were collected. Post-intervention, an online survey was used to assess the provider's attitudes, knowledge, and confidence towards the decision tree. Implications/Conclusion: The intervention produced positive outcomes, which included an increase in completed and documented ACP/AD and provider knowledge regarding ACP.
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Title: Perinatal depression screening program evaluation
Creator: Murphy, Maeghan
Date: 2022
Collection: Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects
Description: Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are extremely common and can occur unpredictably during and after pregnancy. If left untreated, PMADs can be detrimental to the long-term health of both mothers and infants. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is an effective and well-accepted screening method for identifying PMADs. The findings from a literature review emphasized the clinical importance of screening as well as the value of a quality improvement approach. The objective...
Show morePerinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are extremely common and can occur unpredictably during and after pregnancy. If left untreated, PMADs can be detrimental to the long-term health of both mothers and infants. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is an effective and well-accepted screening method for identifying PMADs. The findings from a literature review emphasized the clinical importance of screening as well as the value of a quality improvement approach. The objective of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to analyze the PMAD screening practices at a busy women's health clinic in Metro Detroit by conducting an in-depth chart review. Data gathered from this evaluation was utilized by clinic leadership to better serve patients by addressing current screening deficits within the practice. Specific areas of improvement identified by this evaluation included the need to increase the percentage of EPDS screens completed at the initial obstetric (OB) visit and ensuring behavioral health referrals were being made when patients have a positive screen.
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Title: Challenges to agricultural financing in Mali
Creator: Konare, Kadidia
Date: 2001
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: In Mali, like in many Sub-Saharan countries, inadequate access to credit has remained a central concern for farmers and a key constraint to the modernization and diversification of their activities. The commercial banks' limited participation in agricultural financing and the hard terms and conditions for obtaining individual loans have penalized many smallholders and small traders. The vast majority of these people have little to no access to financial services, limiting their productivity,...
Show moreIn Mali, like in many Sub-Saharan countries, inadequate access to credit has remained a central concern for farmers and a key constraint to the modernization and diversification of their activities. The commercial banks' limited participation in agricultural financing and the hard terms and conditions for obtaining individual loans have penalized many smallholders and small traders. The vast majority of these people have little to no access to financial services, limiting their productivity, income, investment and overall quality of life. Inadequate regulatory/legal frameworks, monetary policies, inappropriate agricultural loan evaluations and threats to sound microfinance activities are constraining agricultural financing in Mali.
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Title: Characteristics and use of first lactation records in young sire evaluation
Creator: Powell, Rex Lynn
Date: 1968
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Title: Comparative effects of colchicine and various nucleic acid salts upon somatic mitosis
Creator: Powell, Shirley Susan
Date: 1951
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Title: Inactivation of infectious bronchitis virus infectivity by para-chloromercuribenzoate
Creator: Powers, Charles Donald
Date: 1965
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Title: Staff development of case workers in the Ingham County Bureau of Social Aid, Michigan, from 1944 to 1954
Creator: Pollard, Rhoda Beatrice
Date: 1955
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Title: Minimum embedding dimension from the perspective of persistent homology
Creator: Sukhu, Christopher Lloyd
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "We investigate the use of 1-dimensional persistence diagrams to determine minimum embedding dimension. In particular, we test the claim that persistence diagrams look qualitatively the same once the correct dimension is reached. In some cases, this appears to not be true so we turn to a quantitative measure, the bottleneck distance, to see if the persistence diagrams are close once the minimum embedding dimension is attained. In some instances, we see that the persistence diagrams fail to...
Show more"We investigate the use of 1-dimensional persistence diagrams to determine minimum embedding dimension. In particular, we test the claim that persistence diagrams look qualitatively the same once the correct dimension is reached. In some cases, this appears to not be true so we turn to a quantitative measure, the bottleneck distance, to see if the persistence diagrams are close once the minimum embedding dimension is attained. In some instances, we see that the persistence diagrams fail to converge experimentally under the bottleneck distance. The main issue appears to be that it is difficult to explicitly characterize the persistent homology of delay embeddings of arbitrary time series. Instead we restrict to periodic time series where there exists such an explicit characterization. We apply Fourier analysis to see that that number of peaks in the frequency spectrum of a delay embedded time series is related to the minimum embedding dimension. Moreover, we give a method to filter out less significant peaks while not altering the persistent homology much, with respect to the bottleneck distance."--Page ii.
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Title: The effectiveness of mirror imitation training on the generalization of imitation skills for children with autism spectrum disorder
Creator: Galimberti, Anjela Janai
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "The ability to imitate is a foundational skill related to multiple aspects of social, play, and language development in children. However, many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not imitate as effectively as their typically developing peers and therefore need direct instruction to acquire imitative repertoires. The current study investigated the effectiveness of Mirror Imitation Training: a relatively novel instructional procedure which uses a mirror as a tool to teach...
Show more"The ability to imitate is a foundational skill related to multiple aspects of social, play, and language development in children. However, many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not imitate as effectively as their typically developing peers and therefore need direct instruction to acquire imitative repertoires. The current study investigated the effectiveness of Mirror Imitation Training: a relatively novel instructional procedure which uses a mirror as a tool to teach imitation skills. Three children with autism spectrum disorder who did not demonstrate a generalized imitation repertoire despite exposure to conventional imitation training methods were selected for participation. For all three participants, mirror imitation training was effective at producing skill acquisition across two sets of imitation targets and increased responding to the remaining untrained sets of imitation targets. Supplemental findings also showed 2 of the 3 participants required fewer sessions to criteria on set 2 after meeting criterion for their set 1 with MIT. These findings identify mirror imitation training as a promising teaching method to promote generalized imitation skills in children with ASD who do not demonstrate generalized imitation skills when taught with more traditional methods of imitation instruction."--Page ii.
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