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The Examination Of The Function Of The Cofactor Schnurri In The Cyst Stem Cells Of The Drosophila Melanogaster Testis Niche, Jade Koretko
The Examination Of The Function Of The Cofactor Schnurri In The Cyst Stem Cells Of The Drosophila Melanogaster Testis Niche, Jade Koretko
Master's Theses
The study of adult stem cells in modern day research provides pertinent information about the development of organisms, how they grow, and how tissue is maintained. Drosophila melanogaster provide an ideal model for in vivo stem cell research, with one of the best-characterized niches in the testis. The testis stem cell niche consists of a hub that provides signals to the local stem cells, germline stem cells (GSCs), and cyst stem cells (CySCs). The CySCs produce cyst cell lineage that will provide support for the GSC daughter cells, which differentiate into sperm. Previously, Matunis, et al. determined the function of …
Characterizing The Role Of Tumor Suppressors Merlin And Expanded In The Stem Cell Niche Of Drosophila Testes, Bryan Johnson
Characterizing The Role Of Tumor Suppressors Merlin And Expanded In The Stem Cell Niche Of Drosophila Testes, Bryan Johnson
Master's Theses
The ability of adult organisms to maintain tissue homeostasis and repair tissue in response to injury is mediated by small groups of partially differentiated cells called adult stem cells that support the tissue they reside in. Adult stem cell maintenance is highly regulated by signals from the surrounding microenvironment referred to as the stem cell niche. A better understanding of this process will have important implications for the fields of both regenerative medicine and cancer biology. Due to the complexity of most niche environments in mammals, we turned to the less complex model organism Drosophila and the well-characterized niche in …
A Description Of Lichen Community Structure And The Impacts Of Spruce Beetle Disturbance In Northwestern Colorado, Anna Freundlich
A Description Of Lichen Community Structure And The Impacts Of Spruce Beetle Disturbance In Northwestern Colorado, Anna Freundlich
Master's Theses
Spruce beetle disturbance has affected millions of acres of forest throughout North America and Europe, but thus far little research has investigated how this disturbance influences lichen communities. To address this problem, we studied lichen communities and habitat characteristics within 44 plots across a chronosequence of spruce beetle damage spanning 1996–2017 in northwestern Colorado. We found 82 species of lichens, few habitat differences among spruce beetle disturbance classes, and only the most recently affected plots (2012–2017) had significantly different lichen community structure relative to remaining areas. Two primary gradients explained the majority of variation of lichen community structure within our …
Characterizing The Susceptibility And Type I Interferon Response Of Primary Mammalian Cells During Zika Virus Infection, Douglas Petty
Characterizing The Susceptibility And Type I Interferon Response Of Primary Mammalian Cells During Zika Virus Infection, Douglas Petty
Master's Theses
Zika virus (ZIKV), a member of the genus Flavivirus, has become a major public health concern since 2007. During the most recent 2015 outbreak, ZIKV rapidly spread from South America to over 84 countries and territories across the world in two years. ZIKV has also been associated with previously uncharacterized neurological manifestations during the 2013 and 2015 outbreaks. The novel manifestations include Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in adults and Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS) in newborns. GBS is a progressive paralysis caused by damage to the peripheral nervous system; while CZS is an all-encompassing term for the severe neurological and developmental complications …
Alternative Conceptions, Initial Knowledge, And Self-Efficacy Of The Novice And Expert Geologist Regarding Mineral Identification, Amanda Manzanares
Alternative Conceptions, Initial Knowledge, And Self-Efficacy Of The Novice And Expert Geologist Regarding Mineral Identification, Amanda Manzanares
Master's Theses
Research shows the novice geologist begins an introductory geology course with alternative conceptions about minerals and other geoscience concepts. Students use their prior understanding of these concepts as the basis for future learning. If students’ frameworks include alternative conceptions about foundational geoscience concepts, these could hinder their ability to learn more factual and complicated ideas and facts in the future. It takes time to change these alternative conceptions. For this reason, instructors need to understand their students’ prior understandings of geoscience concepts at the beginning of the courses to move students to a better understanding of the material. Moreover, the …
The Influence Of Job Motivation On Nurse Retention: A Study Of Vietnamese Private Hospital., Hoa Thi Ngoc Nguyen
The Influence Of Job Motivation On Nurse Retention: A Study Of Vietnamese Private Hospital., Hoa Thi Ngoc Nguyen
Master's Theses
For years, the concept of motivation has been a popular topic of discussion among various researchers and practitioners. Nowadays, managers are continuously challenged to perceive the motivated factors in their employees in order to promoting the retention of the motivated workforce. Healthcare worker retention is critical for health system functionality; however, the key issue is how to best motivate and retain health care professionals. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of literature on measuring motivation of health workers in Vietnam especially among nurses. For this reason, the study was conducted to survey the influence of job motivation on nurse retention in …
Assess Knowledge And Practice Eye Care For Patients Of Intensive Care Unit Nursing Staff, Le Hong Liem
Assess Knowledge And Practice Eye Care For Patients Of Intensive Care Unit Nursing Staff, Le Hong Liem
Master's Theses
Eye care for intensive care unit (ICU) patients is still flawed as surface eye diseases are reported to be frequent in these patients. As nurses focus on saving patients, this process has been easily overlooked. This researcher proceeded with this study to initially evaluate the current knowledge and practice of ICU nursing care and create a proposal to develop a standardized procedure for eye care for patients in the ICU. The sample in this study consisted of 14 female nurses working at Becamex International Hospital. The data collection took place during a one-week period. The educational program was conducted twice …
Patient Knowledge About Disease Self-Management Of Cirrhosis, Thuy Xuan Trinh
Patient Knowledge About Disease Self-Management Of Cirrhosis, Thuy Xuan Trinh
Master's Theses
This study aimed to define the level of understanding of self-management for patients with liver cirrhosis. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. Thirty cirrhotic patients (14 females and 16 males) in the Gastroenterology Department of University Medical Center, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam participated in answering the questionnaire to evaluate their knowledge about liver disease self-management. The majority of cirrhotic patients had an unsatisfactory level of knowledge regarding self management of their disease, particularly in terms of recognizing and preventing complications from hepatic encephalopathy, monitoring for liver cancer, and awareness of medications they should not use. Implications of the …
An Investigation Of Factors Affecting The Work Motivation Of Nurses Working At University Medical Centers, Quynh Duc Nguyet Nguyen
An Investigation Of Factors Affecting The Work Motivation Of Nurses Working At University Medical Centers, Quynh Duc Nguyet Nguyen
Master's Theses
The study was conducted to investigate factors affecting the work motivation of nurses working at University Medical Center. The study also examined the correlation between factors that might affect work motivation such as demographic characteristics (age, gender, job position, work unit, educational level, etc.). Determination of the importance of motivational factors is essential for managers and would help them develop appropriate solutions to enhance motivation for nurses. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. One hundred and forty (N = 140) nurses working at University Medical Center participated in answering a questionnaire to determine the importance of motivational factors. In addition, …
Improving The Knowledge Of Port-A-Cath Care For Nurses, Hoa Thi Nguyen
Improving The Knowledge Of Port-A-Cath Care For Nurses, Hoa Thi Nguyen
Master's Theses
The purpose of this research project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program to improve the knowledge of port-a-cath care for staff nurses. The main objectives were to assess staff nurses’ knowledge of the port-a-cath care process before the training program and measure knowledge of the device and the procedures associated with the use and maintenance of the device after training. The study used a one group pretest and posttest design. Simple random sampling was done in Hoan My Sai Gon Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (N = 90). The study instrument was a questionnaire that consisted …
Evaluation Of Nurses' Perceptions Before And After Applying "I Pass (The) Baton", Tran Thanh Long
Evaluation Of Nurses' Perceptions Before And After Applying "I Pass (The) Baton", Tran Thanh Long
Master's Theses
The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses’ perceptions before and after applying “I Pass (The) Baton” at University Medical Center at Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Hand-off relates to transmission of patient information across clinical teams. This process required a standardized communication framework to avoid medical gaps related to the loss of vital information and emphasize patient safety. The quasi experimential method with an educational intervention to explore nurses’ awareness was evaluated by the TeamSTEPPS Perception Questionaire (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2012). This questionnaire included items on the Team Strucutre, the Leadership, the Situation Monitoring, …
Exploring School Employee Physical Activity Behaviors And Perceptions, Ann Pulling Kuhn
Exploring School Employee Physical Activity Behaviors And Perceptions, Ann Pulling Kuhn
Dissertations
Employee involvement in physical activity (PA) while at school has been understudied and is relatively unknown (Chen & Gu, 2018; Hunt & Metzler, 2017). The purposes of this dissertation study were to (a) describe school employees’ PA behaviors while at school, and (b) explore school employees’ perceptions of the feasibility of school employee PA interventions found to be effective in published research. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used to collect school employee self-reported PA behaviors and district/school demographic information via an electronic survey from 488 school employees in northern Colorado. Data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis H test, …
The Effects Of Kefir And Exercise On Immune Function And Gut Health, Peter Royal Smoak
The Effects Of Kefir And Exercise On Immune Function And Gut Health, Peter Royal Smoak
Dissertations
Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases affecting society today, and the number of newly diagnosed cases increases every year. Unresolved inflammation is an important underlying cause of cancer and chronically elevated concentrations of inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP) are positively related to cancer incidence and progression. Cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy can impair beneficial gut microbes that help to protect against pathogens and modulate immunity. Physical activity and exercise regimens improve chronic inflammation and gut microbes in cancer survivors but relatively few studies have explored the potential …
An Assessment Of Conceptual Understanding Of Metabolic Pathways, Amani Atiyalla Abdugadar
An Assessment Of Conceptual Understanding Of Metabolic Pathways, Amani Atiyalla Abdugadar
Dissertations
Researchers have previously studied misconceptions of biochemistry topics such as photosynthesis, protein structure, and ATP-production. However, no studies have reported on students’ misconceptions regarding major metabolic pathways. Since learning metabolism builds on students’ prior knowledge, new material being learned will be affected by the presence of any misconceptions. Some of these misconceptions will be robust and thus hard to be replaced by the correct concepts. Thus, if students are to learn new material, these misconceptions must be diminished. This dissertation focused on the origins of these misconceptions, investigated what misconceptions students had on metabolism, and why students developed misconceptions instead …
The Influence Of Asymmetry On The Metabolic Cost Of Locomotion, Shane Patrick Murphy
The Influence Of Asymmetry On The Metabolic Cost Of Locomotion, Shane Patrick Murphy
Dissertations
In this dissertation, the measurement and impact of asymmetrical locomotion were investigated. In the first study, ten able-bodied individuals were asked to run on a treadmill from which interlimb symmetries of joint level kinematics and kinetics were measured. To obtain a stable measure of interlimb symmetry, an average of 15 strides were needed. However, no differences were found between averages from bins of consecutive and inconsecutive strides. Further, no differences were noted between the average interlimb symmetry and interlimb symmetries calculated from the first, middle, or last, strides. Although there were differences between symmetry calculations, neither measure required a greater …
Addressing Health Literacy Needs Of The Older Adult Focused On Improving Medication Adherence: An Online Education Program For Nurse Practitioners, Angela Pickerel
Addressing Health Literacy Needs Of The Older Adult Focused On Improving Medication Adherence: An Online Education Program For Nurse Practitioners, Angela Pickerel
Dissertations
As healthcare providers, nurse practitioners are tasked with assuring patients have a clear understanding of their medical health, know how to navigate the healthcare system, and recognize the need to develop self-care skills. Several populations are known to be at risk for the effects of inadequate health literacy; however, the older adult population is at greater risk because of increased burdens related to negative effects of aging on cognitive skills and increased prevalence of chronic disease requiring complex medication regimens. Inadequate health literacy has been linked to increased risk of hospitalizations, emergency room visits, adverse drug reactions and interaction, and …
The Impact Of Social And Cultural Factors On Minority Students’ Participation In An International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, Elizabeth Scott-Janda
The Impact Of Social And Cultural Factors On Minority Students’ Participation In An International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, Elizabeth Scott-Janda
Dissertations
Although concern about mathematical achievement inequities has become widespread, even in well-funded, high-performing high schools, unequal outcomes for minority and disadvantaged students can seem persistent and difficult to change despite strong efforts. This project reports on an ethnographic study that examined how social environments within schools can affect students’ choices of whether or not to attempt advanced coursework in mathematics, especially among marginalized groups like Hispanic minorities, low socio-economic status (SES) and rural populations. It considered how social and peer environments affect students’ approaches to schooling, and decisions they make that will have long-term implications for their futures. In particular, …
Motivational Interviewing For Weight Loss In Primary Care, Hannah Brumbaugh
Motivational Interviewing For Weight Loss In Primary Care, Hannah Brumbaugh
Capstones & Scholarly Projects
Obesity is prevalent in this country and leads to many preventable deaths and chronic illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes, and various types of cancers. “Obesity is prevalent in the western world and leads to reduced life expectancy due to increased risk of chronic illness such cardiovascular disease” (Hardcastle, Taylor, Bailey, Harley, & Hagger, 2013, p. 2) It also has been established in the literature that even a small amount of weight loss, as little as 5% of a patient’s total body weight, has statistically meaningful risk reductions, especially those that relate to cardiovascular health. Behavioral interventions such as motivational interviewing …
Perinatal Mental Health: Improving The Quality And Consistency Of Health Care Delivery In Kootenai County, Leanne Elisha
Perinatal Mental Health: Improving The Quality And Consistency Of Health Care Delivery In Kootenai County, Leanne Elisha
Capstones & Scholarly Projects
Elisha, Leanne. Perinatal Mental Health: Improving the Quality and Consistency of Health Care Delivery in Kootenai County. Unpublished Doctor of Nursing Practice scholarly project, University of Northern Colorado, 2019. Perinatal mental health issues including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, mania, and psychosis occur frequently during pregnancy and after delivery; these issues have potentially devastating impacts on mothers, infants, other family members, and communities. Despite increasing awareness of perinatal mental health issues and formal recommendations to implement universal screening and ensure access to appropriate follow-up, there is wide variation in clinical practice across regions and providers. Inconsistent screening, paired with limited …
Screening For Melanoma For At-Risk Population: A Practice Guide, Sapana Shakya
Screening For Melanoma For At-Risk Population: A Practice Guide, Sapana Shakya
Capstones & Scholarly Projects
Melanoma is a lethal skin cancer that kills one American every hour (American Academy of Dermatology, 2018b). The incidence and prevalence rate of melanoma is on the rise and continues to affect people, increasing the mortality and morbidity rate and financial burden of the disease. In 2016, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that there was insufficient evidence to assess the balance of benefits and harms of visual skin examination by a clinician to screen for skin cancer in adults. However, this recommendation was only applicable to the patients who were asymptomatic. The routine skin cancer screening has shown …
Improving Mammography Adherence In The Primary Care Setting, Mckenzee Kemper
Improving Mammography Adherence In The Primary Care Setting, Mckenzee Kemper
Capstones & Scholarly Projects
Despite exhaustive efforts over the past several decades aimed at prevention, early detection, and improved treatment regimens, breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women and is nearly the deadliest; it is second only to lung cancer in mortality (American Cancer Society [ACS], 2019; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018a; National Cancer Institute [NCI}, 2018). Women of average risk carry a 12% or 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime. Most recent estimates reveal 270,000 new breast cancer cases and over 42,000 breast cancer related deaths will occur in 2019 (ACS, 2019). …
Addressing Health Literacy Needs Of The Older Adult Focused On Improving Medication Adherence: An Online Education Program For Nurse Practitioners, Angela D. Pickerel
Addressing Health Literacy Needs Of The Older Adult Focused On Improving Medication Adherence: An Online Education Program For Nurse Practitioners, Angela D. Pickerel
Capstones & Scholarly Projects
As healthcare providers, nurse practitioners are tasked with assuring patients have a clear understanding of their medical health, know how to navigate the healthcare system, and recognize the need to develop self-care skills. Several populations are known to be at risk for the effects of inadequate health literacy; however, the older adult population is at greater risk because of increased burdens related to negative effects of aging on cognitive skills and increased prevalence of chronic disease requiring complex medication regimens. Inadequate health literacy has been linked to increased risk of hospitalizations, emergency room visits, adverse drug reactions and interaction, and …
The Impacts Of Rock Climbing On The Selection Of Roosts By Bats And The Influence Of These Mammals On The Biodiversity And Nutrient Influx Of Cliff-Face Ecosystems, Ashley Kay Wilson
The Impacts Of Rock Climbing On The Selection Of Roosts By Bats And The Influence Of These Mammals On The Biodiversity And Nutrient Influx Of Cliff-Face Ecosystems, Ashley Kay Wilson
Dissertations
Humans have an un-matched ability to alter the environment, which often has detrimental effects on other species, from tiny microbes to enormous plants and animals. Bats are the second-largest order (Chiroptera) of mammals with ca. 1,300 described species, many of which have declining populations due to human disturbances of ecosystems. Being the only mammals capable of flight, bats exploit numerous ecosystems and are known to roost in various habitats including caves, trees, mines, bridges, barns, etc. Although the roosting ecology of bats in ecosystems such as caves and forests has been well documented, no study has yet examined the relationship …
Give The Fans What They Want: A Market Segmentation Approach To Sport Fans’ Social Media Usage, Kerry Dale Fischer
Give The Fans What They Want: A Market Segmentation Approach To Sport Fans’ Social Media Usage, Kerry Dale Fischer
Dissertations
The purpose of this study was to construct a model that segments fans of professional sport based on the type of social media platform they preferred to use as well as their social media usage motivations. In addition, the current study sought to investigate whether previously identified motives like escape and socialization, have transformed into more selfish motives such as narcissism. Convenience and snowball sampling techniques were used to collect data from fans of professional sport who specifically used social media to consume sport, resulting in a total sample size of 176. The online survey instrument was comprised of items …
Effects Of English Proficiency On Nursing Student Empowerment And Intent To Leave The Program, Nadja James
Effects Of English Proficiency On Nursing Student Empowerment And Intent To Leave The Program, Nadja James
Dissertations
Individual (learner) empowerment plays an important role in the learning environment. A more empowered student is more likely to be academically successful and complete their program of study. The findings of this study showed nursing students who felt less empowered had a greater intent to leave their nursing program. Many prelicensure nursing programs struggle with high attrition rates, especially minority students, including students from a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background. Since effective communication is crucial in the learning environment, students with lower English proficiency tend to struggle in that area. Communication issues affect CALD students’ sense of empowerment and …
“You Never Know What You’Re Gonna Get!”: The Lived Health Care Experience Of Individuals Who Identify As Transgender, Joyce Lyn Cole
“You Never Know What You’Re Gonna Get!”: The Lived Health Care Experience Of Individuals Who Identify As Transgender, Joyce Lyn Cole
Dissertations
This study used descriptive phenomenological investigation to explore the lived health care experience of individuals who identify as transgender. Results gleaned from the study provide a resource for nurse educators to employ when preparing future nurses to practice in an increasingly diverse environment. Eighteen adult members of the transgender community who had experienced health care completed virtual face-to-face, in-depth interviews. The data provided a rich description of the experiences, and analysis yielded the identification of themes that illuminate the essence of the lived healthcare experience. Findings from the data indicate that the transgender health care experience can be unpredictable and …
Assessing Concussion Recovery With Dynamic Stability Methodologies, Kurt Otto Buchholz
Assessing Concussion Recovery With Dynamic Stability Methodologies, Kurt Otto Buchholz
Dissertations
The overarching purpose of this dissertation was to investigate methods and measures of dynamic stability with the final application being assessment within a concussed population. Of the three studies presented, the focus of the first two studies was on development of a new measure of dynamic postural stability, comparing it to traditional methods, and determining how it performed relative to traditional methods. In the first study, participants performed a forward hop while kinematic and kinetic data were collected. Comparison of the kinetic estimation of the center of mass to the kinematic estimation showed moderate to strong agreement. This allowed the …
Psychometric Evaluation Of The Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey, Kathryn C. Casey
Psychometric Evaluation Of The Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey, Kathryn C. Casey
Dissertations
Graduate nurses experience stress transitioning from the role of nursing student to practicing professional nurse. Understanding the graduate nurse’s role transition experience is important because excessive and unrelieved stress might influence job satisfaction and contribute to high turnover. Measuring and improving the role transition experience for graduate nurses has become important for healthcare organizations due to concerns regarding retention. A valid and reliable instrument was needed to assess the graduate nurse’s role transition experience. The Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey (Casey, Fink, Krugman, & Propst, 2004) is the most commonly used instrument to measure the stressors, fears, and challenges experienced …
Monocyte Phenotype And Whole Blood Immune Response In Physically Active Chronic Cannabis Users And Non-Users, Jonathon K. Lisano
Monocyte Phenotype And Whole Blood Immune Response In Physically Active Chronic Cannabis Users And Non-Users, Jonathon K. Lisano
Dissertations
Some physically active individuals are now advocating for the use of cannabis with exercise for its potential to optimize the immune response. Yet, it remains to be seen whether the chronic use of cannabis products is linked to alterations in immune characteristics, such as monocyte phenotype and function in physically active individuals. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess resting concentrations of c-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), monocyte phenotype and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated production of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) following pre-treated with synthetic cannabinoid 2 (CB2) receptor agonist and antagonist in physically active individuals using cannabis products at least …
Development Of A Clinical Guideline And Algorithm To Enhance Self-Efficacy In Non-Compliant Chronic Disease Patients, Karen Alexander
Development Of A Clinical Guideline And Algorithm To Enhance Self-Efficacy In Non-Compliant Chronic Disease Patients, Karen Alexander
Capstones & Scholarly Projects
This scholarly project was a nonexperimental quality improvement project to create a practice care guideline and algorithm with the intention of enhancing self efficacy in non-compliant chronic disease patients within the primary care setting. The objectives of the clinical guideline and algorithm were to assist primary care providers in identifying low self-efficacy in chronic disease patients, provide guidance in selection of interventions to develop or improve self-efficacy in patients, and promote better disease management. The guideline outlines tools and techniques to give primary care providers the information and skills needed to improve strategies to counsel patients to become more active …