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The Role Of A Highly Conserved Eubacterial Ribosomal Protein In Translation Quality Control, Anusha Naganathan Jan 2015

The Role Of A Highly Conserved Eubacterial Ribosomal Protein In Translation Quality Control, Anusha Naganathan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The process of decoding is the most crucial determinant of the quality of protein synthesis. Ribosomal protein L9 was first implicated in decoding fidelity when a mutant version of L9 was found to increase the translation of a T4 phage gene. Later studies confirmed that the absence of L9 leads to increased translational bypassing, frameshifting, and stop codon readthrough. L9 is part of the large subunit of the prokaryotic ribosome and is located more than 90 Å from the site of decoding, making it difficult to envision how it might affect decoding and reading frame maintenance. Twenty years after the …


Proteomic Analysis Delineates The Signaling Networks Of Plasmodium Falciparum, Brittany Pease Jan 2015

Proteomic Analysis Delineates The Signaling Networks Of Plasmodium Falciparum, Brittany Pease

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium parasites that are spread through the bites of infected mosquito vectors. It is a worldwide pandemic that threatens 3.4 billion people annually. Currently, there are only a few validated Plasmodium drug targets, while drug resistance continues to rise. This marks the urgency for the development of novel parasite-specific therapeutics. Plasmodium falciparum diverges from the paradigm of the eukaryotic cell cycle by undergoing multiple rounds of DNA replication and nuclear division without cytokinesis. A better understanding of the molecular switches that coordinate the progression of the parasite through the intraerythrocytic developmental stages will …


Pre And Post Implementation Evaluation Of An Emergency Department Severe Sepsis Alert And Practice Protocol, Darleen Williams Jan 2015

Pre And Post Implementation Evaluation Of An Emergency Department Severe Sepsis Alert And Practice Protocol, Darleen Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Severe sepsis kills an estimated 1,400 people worldwide every day. This often fatal infectious process accounts for an estimated 215,000 deaths in the United States (US) annually. The main goal of this project was to evaluate the impact of the Emergency Department Severe Sepsis Alert and Practice Protocol (EDSSAPP) post implementation, on time to first antibiotic administration, length of stay, and mortality in patients admitted via the ORMC ED with severe sepsis. This study evaluated the time to first antibiotic administration, total ED and hospital length of stay (LOS) and mortality of severe sepsis patients either with a severe sepsis …


Family Care Giver Knowledge, Patient Illness Characteristics, And Unplanned Hospital Admissions In Older Adults With Cancer, Patricia Geddie Jan 2015

Family Care Giver Knowledge, Patient Illness Characteristics, And Unplanned Hospital Admissions In Older Adults With Cancer, Patricia Geddie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Unplanned hospital admissions (UHA) in older adult populations are a recurring problem in older adults with cancer. Older adults comprise approximately 60% of cancer diagnoses and receive the majority of cancer treatment. However, little is known about why older adults under treatment for cancer experience a high number of unplanned hospital admissions. A review of the literature provided few study findings and a gap in the current knowledge was identified regarding the factors associated with unplanned hospital admissions in older adults under treatment for cancer. A conceptual framework based on the literature and this researcher's clinical experienced guided this study. …


Rapid Response Teams Versus Critical Care Outreach Teams: Unplanned Escalations In Care And Associated Outcomes, Valerie Danesh Jan 2015

Rapid Response Teams Versus Critical Care Outreach Teams: Unplanned Escalations In Care And Associated Outcomes, Valerie Danesh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The incidence of unplanned escalations during hospitalization is undocumented, but estimates may be as high as 1.2 million occurrences per year in the United States. Rapid Response Teams (RRT) were developed for the early recognition and treatment of deteriorating patients to deliver time-sensitive interventions, but evidence related to optimal activation criteria and structure is limited. The purpose of this study is to determine if an Early Warning Score-based Critical Care Outreach (CCO) model is related to the frequency of unplanned intra-hospital escalations in care compared to a RRT system based on staff nurse identification of vital sign derangements and physical …


Development Of Cytotoxic Natural Killer Cells For Ovarian Cancer Treatment, Veethika Pandey Jan 2015

Development Of Cytotoxic Natural Killer Cells For Ovarian Cancer Treatment, Veethika Pandey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ovarian cancer is a leading cause of gynecological malignancy. Cytoreductive surgery and frontline platinum/taxane-based chemotherapy provides good initial efficacy in the treatment, but poor long-term patient survival. This is mainly caused by tumor relapse due to intraperitoneal spreading and ineffective alternate therapies to treat these resistant tumors. The challenge in the field is to develop strategies that would prove effective in these patients and extend overall survival. Over the years, various treatments have been developed for the treatment of cancer amongst which, adoptive cell immunotherapy has shown promising results. But despite the efficacy seen in the clinic, there are concerns …


Diabetes Phenotypes In Transgenic Pancreatic Cancer Mouse Models, Toya Albury-Warren Jan 2015

Diabetes Phenotypes In Transgenic Pancreatic Cancer Mouse Models, Toya Albury-Warren

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Protein Kinase B/AKT, a serine/threonine kinase with three isoforms (AKT1-3), is downstream of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), and signals through the phosphorylation and subsequent activation or inhibition of downstream substrates, such as mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) or glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3?), respectively. The AKT1 isoform is predominantly recognized for regulation of cell survival, growth, and proliferation, due to its constitutive activation in pancreatic cancers (e.g., islet cell carcinoma and pancreatic adenocarcinoma). The progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most lethal common cancer, is initiated by activation mutations of the KRas oncogene. This leads to additional …


Perceived Social Support And Self-Care In Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure, Lyne Chamberlain Jan 2015

Perceived Social Support And Self-Care In Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure, Lyne Chamberlain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Problem: Heart failure is the most frequent cause for hospital readmissions in Medicare recipients, with an estimated annual cost of $12 billion. Heart failure hospitalizations are also an independent risk factor for increased mortality. Self-care, thought to be enhanced by perceived social support, is key to managing this syndrome, and up to 50% of readmissions are considered the result of inadequate self-care. Purpose: To evaluate perceived social support and self-care characteristics of patients hospitalized with an exacerbation of heart failure, and to compare these characteristics with a study of ambulatory patients with heart failure. In addition, to assess the relationship …


The Impact Of Relational Coordination And The Nurse On Patient Outcomes, Fanya Dejesus Jan 2015

The Impact Of Relational Coordination And The Nurse On Patient Outcomes, Fanya Dejesus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare quality remains a significant issue due to fragmentation of care in our complex U.S. healthcare systems. While coordination of care is foundational to healthcare quality as well as identified as a National Priority, fragmentation and uncoordinated care continues to afflict our systems. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between relational coordination and adverse nurse sensitive patient outcomes, namely hospital acquired pressure ulcers, patient falls with injury, catheter- associated urinary tract infection, and central line-associated blood stream infection. A retrospective correlational survey design using cross sectional data was used to conduct this quantitative study. An electronic …


Nurse Managers, Work Environment Factors And Workplace Bullying, Joy Parchment Jan 2015

Nurse Managers, Work Environment Factors And Workplace Bullying, Joy Parchment

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore relationships between authentic leadership style, global social power, job demand, job control, and workplace bullying of nurse managers in acute care settings across the United States. Over 30 years of workplace bullying research exists. Consequences are linked to intent to leave, turnover, and harmful emotional and physical effects. Published studies identifying nurse managers as targets of workplace bullying and work environment factors that contribute to nurse managers being recipients of workplace bullying either, downward from their leaders, horizontally from their nurse manager peers, and upwards from their clinical nurses were not identified. …


The Ct20 Peptide As An Agent For Cancer Treatment, Rania Bassiouni Jan 2015

The Ct20 Peptide As An Agent For Cancer Treatment, Rania Bassiouni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to cancer recurrence and the development of drug resistance, metastatic breast cancer is a leading cause of death in women. In the search for a new therapeutic to treat metastatic disease, we discovered CT20p, an amphipathic peptide based on the C-terminus of Bax. Due to inherent properties of its sequence and similarity to antimicrobial peptides, CT20p is a promising cytotoxic agent whose activity is distinct from the parent protein (e.g. does not cause apoptosis). CT20p is not membrane permeable but can be introduced to cells using polymeric nanoparticles, a method that promotes efficient delivery of the peptide into the …


Unicondylar Knee Arthroplasty In The Inpatient Vs Outpatient Setting: Impact On Process Time, Quality Outcomes, And Patient Satisfaction, Ibrahim Zeini Jan 2015

Unicondylar Knee Arthroplasty In The Inpatient Vs Outpatient Setting: Impact On Process Time, Quality Outcomes, And Patient Satisfaction, Ibrahim Zeini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The implications of rising healthcare expenditures are of great concern nationally and internationally. Performing procedures in the outpatient setting can be one solution to this crisis. However, there is a lack of research on systematic approaches for transitioning procedures to the outpatient setting. Unicondylar knee arthroplasty (UKA) presents an opportunity, as it is already in the early stages of transitioning to the outpatient setting. The key step in facilitating an effective transition to the outpatient setting is comparing outpatient UKAs with inpatient UKAs with a focus on process time, quality outcomes, and patient satisfaction. This study retrospectively compares 400 UKA …


Overexpression Of Human Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase In Mice; The Effect Of Increase Superoxide Scavenging On Autonomic Control Of The Heart., Jeffrey Hatcher Jan 2015

Overexpression Of Human Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase In Mice; The Effect Of Increase Superoxide Scavenging On Autonomic Control Of The Heart., Jeffrey Hatcher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dysregulation of the autonomic cardiovascular control is a complication of diseases including diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, and aging. A common factor in these conditions is an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) in neural, cardiac, and endothelial tissues. Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) is an intracellular anti-oxidant enzyme that catalyzes dismutation of the superoxide anion (O2.-) to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Expression and function of this enzyme are diminished in pathologies that impair cardiovascular autonomic control. This study employed mice overexpressing a transgene for human SOD1 (hSOD1) to determine if its overexpression would alter autonomic regulation of BP, HR, and BRS in …


A Faith-Based Primary Diabetes Prevention Intervention For At-Risk Puerto Rican Adults: A Feasibility Study, Sylvia Torres-Thomas Jan 2015

A Faith-Based Primary Diabetes Prevention Intervention For At-Risk Puerto Rican Adults: A Feasibility Study, Sylvia Torres-Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Diabetes is a serious health threat that disproportionately affects Hispanics of Puerto Rican heritage. Current evidence supports diabetes prevention programs to change health behaviors in people who are at risk and thus prevent the development of type 2 diabetes. However, few interventions exist for Hispanics, and even fewer have been designed for Puerto Rican adults. A literature review of community-based diabetes prevention programs involving at-risk Hispanics was conducted using a cultural sensitivity framework to determine the state of the science and identify gaps in knowledge regarding diabetes prevention for Puerto Ricans. An integrated theoretical framework was developed using constructs from …


Helping Mothers Defend Their Decision To Breastfeed, Kandis Natoli Jan 2015

Helping Mothers Defend Their Decision To Breastfeed, Kandis Natoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States has established breastfeeding as an important health indicator within the Healthy People agenda. Healthy People target goals for breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity remain unmet. The US Surgeon General's Office reports that lack of knowledge and widespread misinformation about breastfeeding are barriers to meeting Healthy People goals. Breastfeeding mothers are vulnerable to messages that cast doubt on their ability to breastfeed. Very little research has examined specific approaches to help people resist negative messages about health beliefs and behaviors. The objective of this quasi-experimental study was to test an intervention designed to help mothers defend their breastfeeding …


Timp-1 Activates A Unique Cardiac Stem Cell Population, Cd63+Ve/C-Kit+Ve, Thereby Enhancing Cardiac Differentiation, And Protects The Heart From Adverse Cardiac Remodeling Following Myocardial Infarction, Latifa Abdelli Jan 2015

Timp-1 Activates A Unique Cardiac Stem Cell Population, Cd63+Ve/C-Kit+Ve, Thereby Enhancing Cardiac Differentiation, And Protects The Heart From Adverse Cardiac Remodeling Following Myocardial Infarction, Latifa Abdelli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We previously demonstrated that embryonic stem (ES) cells over-expressing tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) have increased potential to engraft and differentiate into cardiac myocytes following transplantation into the infarcted heart. However, the ability of TIMP-1 to activate endogenous stem cells and enhance their differentiation into cardiac regenerative cell types is still unknown. We postulate that TIMP-1 may additionally activate a stem cell population that enhances cardiac cell type differentiation in the infarcted myocardium. To prove this hypothesis, we isolated c-kit+ve cells from four weeks old C57BL/6 mice and cultured them in vitro in presence of ES conditioned media (ESCM), ES-TIMP-1-CM …


Impact Of Interruption Frequency On Nurses' Performance, Satisfaction, And Cognition During Patient-Controlled Analgesia Use In The Simulated Setting, Kristi Campoe Jan 2015

Impact Of Interruption Frequency On Nurses' Performance, Satisfaction, And Cognition During Patient-Controlled Analgesia Use In The Simulated Setting, Kristi Campoe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Problem: Interruption during medication administration is a significant patient safety concern within health care, especially during the administration of high risk medications in nursing. Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) devices are frequently associated with adverse events and have a four-fold increased risk of patient injury compared to non-PCA related adverse events. While the nature and frequency of interruptions have been established for nurses* medication processes, the impact of interruption frequency on nurses* PCA interaction has not been fully measured or described. Purpose: The purposes of this study were to quantify the impact of interruption frequency on registered nurses* (RN) performance, satisfaction, and …


Is Conflict A Factor In A Population's Quality Of Life? A Comparative Study Of University Students In The Palestinian Territories And Jordan, Yara Asi Jan 2015

Is Conflict A Factor In A Population's Quality Of Life? A Comparative Study Of University Students In The Palestinian Territories And Jordan, Yara Asi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As nearly one third of the world's population lives in an area that is in some way touched by war, researchers have long been interested in the varied impacts of conflict on civilians. Many indicators, measuring both physical and mental constructs, have been assessed in war-torn populations from around the world, one of which is health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt) are one region in which copious research on health indicators has been undertaken in an effort to understand how long-term conflict manifests itself in noncombatant populations. However, existing studies focus primarily on indicators within the …