Digital Commons Network^™

Prevalence Of Rats And Rodent Borne Pathogens Across Post-Katrina New Orleans, Bruno Marco Ghersi

Doctoral Dissertations

Disasters are happening at an increasingly higher rate and intensity a trend that is expected to continue as more humans migrate to coastal urban areas. Disasters, and as importantly, disaster recovery can affect how native and pest populations will recover. My aim was to improve understanding of disease risk by evaluating the socioecological conditions that have shaped commensal rat recovery and distribution, as well as the pathogens they carry, across New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I first estimated relative abundance and distribution of commensal rats from rodent trapping conducted between mid-2014 and early-2017 across 96 sites in 10 areas of …

A Review Of Horticultural Therapy And Horticultural Therapy Education In The United States: Addressing Challenges And Opportunities, Derrick R. Stowell

Doctoral Dissertations

The Horticultural Therapy (HT) profession has been formally organized in the United States since 1973. Despite the long history of horticulture being used as therapy, the profession of HT in the United States has not advanced as quickly as other allied healthcare professions. This study will review the current challenges and opportunities for HT and HT education in the United States.

A qualitative study of the status of the profession was conducted to determine what challenges and opportunities the profession of HT currently has and how the profession can meet those challenges and opportunities. The study sample was recruited from …

Emerging Zoonotic Pathogens At The Human-Wildlife Interface In Protected Areas: Game In The Southeastern United States And Bushmeat In Northern Uganda, Breeanna M. Dell

Doctoral Dissertations

The emergence of zoonotic pathogens through contact with animal reservoirs is a well-documented phenomenon and growing concern for public health. Particularly in light of the ongoing Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the coronavirus pandemic, the need to understand mechanisms of contact and disease transmission at the human-wildlife interface and to understand which infectious agents may reside within wildlife reservoirs crucial. In this project, we investigated the potential introduction of zoonotic cestode Echinococcus canadensis to public lands in Tennessee subsequent to elk translocation effort and aimed to identify whether a transmission cycle was established in this …

Fall Risk Factors Among Hospitalized Older Adults With Alzheimer’S Disease And Related Dementias, Jean Bettencourtt Sconza

Doctoral Dissertations

Falls are a common and devastating complication of hospital admission for older adults. Falls are especially significant for those with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD) as they are at high risk to fall and to suffer injuries from falling. Despite the large body of research on falls in hospitals, less is known about fall risk factors among patients with ADRD. The purpose of this retrospective case-control study was to determine which risk factors are predictors of falls among hospitalized older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) by comparing those who fell with those who did not fall. …

The Lived Resettlement Experience For Single Refugee Mothers From The Democratic Republic Of Congo, Lauren Michelle Mefford

Doctoral Dissertations

At least 72% of the 50,000 Congolese refugees resettled in the USA in the last 5 years are women and children. Many are single refugee mothers (SRM) disadvantaged by obstacles (i.e., childcare) that hinder them from becoming self-sufficient within the required timeframe post-resettlement. Published research on resettlement has focused general challenges, but an understanding of the unique needs and perspectives of SRMs is lacking. This phenomenological, qualitative study provides insight into the lived resettlement experience for SRMs from the Democratic of Congo (DRC). Participants (n=7) were recruited from a refugee resettlement agency in East Tennessee and partook in open-ended, unstructured …

Comparison Of Three Rapid Commercial Canine Parvovirus Antigen Detection Tests With Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (Qpcr), Niloofar Khajeh-Kazerooni

Masters Theses

ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of three commercial ELISA rapid tests in comparison with qPCR for the diagnosis of canine parvovirus infection using fecal samples.

Background: Canine parvovirus-2 (CPV-2) infection is an acute, life-threatening, and highly contagious viral disease. The infected dogs shed virus in their stool and a variety of diagnostic methods have been developed for the diagnosis of the infection using fecal samples. Rapid ELISA tests are commonly used in veterinary practices. However, the accuracy of the results of rapid tests has been questioned in many reports and a low sensitivity has been reported for …

Assessment Of The Use Of Low Molecular Weight Diblock Copolymers For The Formation Of Stable, Tunable Droplet Interface Bilayers, Joseph Tawfik

Masters Theses

This thesis presents the use of diblock copolymers, poly(butadiene)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PB_m PEO_n) and poly(isoprene)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PI_mPEO_n), as amphiphilic molecular building blocks for the formation of synthetic polymer bilayer membranes using the droplet interface bilayer (DIB) technique. The DIB technique makes use of the self-assembly of amphiphilic macromolecules along oil-water droplet interfaces that can then be physically connected for the construction of liquid supported macromolecular bilayers at the droplet interface. These bilayer membranes are capable of hosting both naturally occurring and synthetic protein channels. This technique has been used to form synthetic bilayer membranes …

Exploring The Geography Of Neighborhood Mental Health Vulnerability In The Context Of Racial/Ethnic Residential Segregation, Donghee Koh

Doctoral Dissertations

Mental health matters because it affects all aspects of our lives. There is a growing body of literature about neighborhood effects on mental health. These studies argue that individuals living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to suffer from mental illnesses due to the higher prevalence of chronic stressors and their inability to cope with such problems. A neighborhood, however, is much more than just the sum of its socioeconomic characteristics, and I argue that there are many other important contextual factors that need to be considered to better understand the impact of neighborhood environment on mental health. Hence, …

Examination And Validation Of The Fundamental Lower Extremity Mobile Testing System, And Identification Of Best Practice To Mount Synthetic Turf To A Force Platform, Sean Quisenberry

Doctoral Dissertations

Annually, over 4 million high school and college athletes participate in competitive sports played on turf surfaces. Since the introduction of synthetic turf in the 1970s, it has become a common alternative to natural grass playing surfaces. However, athletes playing on synthetic turf has been found to have an increased incidence of lower extremity injury compared to natural grass.

Mechanical surface testing has found that synthetic turf exhibits significantly higher rotational and translational tractions compared to natural grass. The cleat-turf interface is often examined using a force platform, an instrument commonly used in a biomechanical laboratory. Mobile surface testing instruments …

Examining The Physical Activity Levels Of Youth With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities During Physical Education And Recess, Vincenzo Nocera

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: It is currently believed that children with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) are less physically active than their peers. The school setting may offer a promising solution to allow children with and without IDD to engage in physical activity (PA). However, the current school-based PA levels of this population remain unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to compare the PA levels and related context of youth with and without IDD during the total school day, physical education, and recess. Methods: A total of 13 children (n = 3 with IDD) enrolled in first- and second grade participated …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Health Related Quality Of Life As Well As Cognitive Decline In Adult Population In Tennessee, Pragya Poudel

Doctoral Dissertations

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to increased risk of negative health outcomes in later life. At least half of the population in Tennessee experience one ACE. Further, Tennessee ranks amongst the top five states in terms of cognitive decline in adult populations age 45 and above. To our knowledge, there is yet no study that has explored ACEs and adult health outcomes (health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and cognitive decline) in Tennessee.

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between ACEs [by overall, individual, type/domain, and dose-response effect of ACE] and HRQOL as well as …

Relationship Between Social Media Use And Sleep Quality Of Undergraduate Nursing Students At A Southeastern University, Stephen B. Nowell, Kathleen Thompson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Attitudes And Beliefs Of Nursing Student Towards Patients With Eating Disorders Before And After Participating In A Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Course, Kayla N Hindle

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Role Of Income Inequality In The Impact Of Natural Disasters In Lower Middle-Income Countries, Madison L. Graham

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Physician Preparedness In Relation To Religious Diversification: Examination Of Policy, Education, Training, And Experience, Austin P. Hoffarth

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Relationship Between Type Of Health Insurance, Frequency Of Clinic Visits, And Clinic Income, Shelby M. Delille

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Centro Hispano's Role In Community Health, Annabeth Vannucci

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Comparing Hpv Vaccination Rates Between Rural And Urban Female Undergraduate Students At The University Of Tennessee, Knoxville, Brynn J. Seaton

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Oncolytic Viruses: Cancer Treatment Going Viral, Rhianna N. Bronson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Emergency Eye Simulation Model, Gavin L. Warrington, Christopher Forsyth, Lexus Morris, Natalie Ledezma

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.