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All ETDs from UAB

2023

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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Advanced Applications Of Existing Technology And Their Influence On Quality Outcomes In Federally Qualified Health Centers, Ali Riza Demirbas Jan 2023

Advanced Applications Of Existing Technology And Their Influence On Quality Outcomes In Federally Qualified Health Centers, Ali Riza Demirbas

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Increasing competition in the healthcare industry is compelling organizations to adopt new strategies to obtain and/or maintain a competitive advantage. To obtain a competitive advantage, healthcare organizations may need either more efficient processes or offer new or improved products and services through the utilization of these strategies. In competitive market environments, technological innovations can be a key competitive advantage to reduce expenses, improve quality, attract more customers, or a combination of all. All healthcare organizations can benefit from technological innovations, especially those with limited resources. One type of healthcare organization that highlights the disparity in resources is the Federally Qualified …

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Increasing Patient Safety By Reducing Falls Among In-Hospital Community-Dwelling Patients 65 Years Old Or Older By Using A Shift Change Fall Safety Checklist, Janice Isaac Brooks Jan 2023

Increasing Patient Safety By Reducing Falls Among In-Hospital Community-Dwelling Patients 65 Years Old Or Older By Using A Shift Change Fall Safety Checklist, Janice Isaac Brooks

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This manuscript is designed to promote and improve healthcare safety, quality, efficiency, and lower medical costs for hospitals and patients. Falls, fall injuries, and their devastating consequences are rising, yet falls are preventable even among senior patients. Search Engines and Key Terms SciWheel was used to save the literature and eliminate duplications. Key terms were used in the Boolean strings: elderly fall prevention, senior fall safety, in-hospital fall prevention, falls in the aging, and fall prevention tools. The CINAHL Plus yielded 58. PubMed search yielded 121. And Google Scholar yielded 32. The total of all three searches was 211. Thirteen …

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The Effect Of Weather Events On Dengue Fever In Brazil 2014-2022, Maryclare Gabel Jan 2023

The Effect Of Weather Events On Dengue Fever In Brazil 2014-2022, Maryclare Gabel

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Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that is spread through the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito. Half the world's population lives in a dengue fever risk zone. There are an estimated 100 million symptomatic dengue fever cases each year, with 40,000 deaths reported. Brazil reports the highest annual dengue fever cases in Latin America. In 2022, Brazil recorded 2.36 million dengue fever cases, the highest number of cases ever recorded in the country. We designed a retrospective ecological study to evaluate the temporal trends and the association between weather events and dengue fever incidence …

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Understanding The Impact Of Hospital Price Transparency Initiatives On Consumer Decision-Making To Purchase Healthcare Services, Neel Pathak Jan 2023

Understanding The Impact Of Hospital Price Transparency Initiatives On Consumer Decision-Making To Purchase Healthcare Services, Neel Pathak

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This study examined the influence of hospital list price information on individuals' decision-making to purchase healthcare services. The study collected quantitative data from 550 individuals by administering a hospital price transparency survey. Findings indicate that awareness of hospital list prices and quality outcomes metrics was high, but utilization rates were relatively low among survey participants. Demographic variations were explored with respect to the awareness and utilization of hospital list prices. Quality outcomes and recommendations from friends, family, and physicians emerged as the most important attributes influencing decision-making to purchase healthcare services whereas hospital list prices and social media had a …

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Mediation Analysis Using Marginalized Zero-Inflated Poisson Model, Andrew Sims Jan 2023

Mediation Analysis Using Marginalized Zero-Inflated Poisson Model, Andrew Sims

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Mediation analysis has become exponentially more popular over the last decade as researchers are interested in establishing mechanistic pathways for intervention. Standard statistical methods emphasize quantifying and testing whether a specific exposure impacts a particular health outcome. Mediation analysis addresses the question ‘How is the exposure causing the outcome?’ by examining the extent to which an intermediate variable, called a mediator, influences the relationship between an exposure and an outcome. While multiple mediation strategies exist, the counterfactual approach to mediation allows for mediation effects to be estimated directly with nonlinearities and interactions. The counterfactual approach allows for the effect of …

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Towards Minimally Invasive Genetically Targeted Control Of Neural Activity Using X-Rays, Kelli Cannon Jan 2023

Towards Minimally Invasive Genetically Targeted Control Of Neural Activity Using X-Rays, Kelli Cannon

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X-genetics aims to replace visible light stimulation in optogenetics with X-radiation, offering improved bone penetration, minimal scattering, and enhanced targeting capabilities. This eliminates the need for surgical optic fiber implantation, reducing invasiveness and minimizing off-target effects. Discovering a receptor protein sensitive to X-rays or their byproducts is pivotal for advancing X-genetics.Two genetically encoded X-ray receptors (GEXRs) were investigated for X-genetics application: rhodopsin, historically associated with X-ray responses, and LITE-1, an unexpected candidate. Rhodopsin, when expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells, demonstrated robust cAMP decreases upon visible light stimulation but remained unresponsive to moderate and high-dose X-rays, suggesting it may …

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Challenges And Opportunities In Glioblastoma And Immunovirotherapy With Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1, Dagoberto Estevez-Ordonez Jan 2023

Challenges And Opportunities In Glioblastoma And Immunovirotherapy With Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1, Dagoberto Estevez-Ordonez

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This dissertation covers data from published and pre-published studies exploring challenges and opportunities in the treatment of malignant glioma with emphasis in glioblastoma and oncolytic immunovirotherapy with an oncolytic herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) designed to induce expression of IL-12, M002 (murine IL-12) and M032 (human IL-12).It starts with the report of a study that uncovered important racial and socioeconomic disparities experienced by patients with glioblastoma treated in Alabama. Notable results also include the unexpected finding of increased survival in African American patients with glioblastoma even after controlling for factors associated with survival and socioeconomic disparities. The implications of …

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Time-Restricted Feeding Attenuates Obesity-Induced Muscle Dysfunction Through Energy Metabolism And Microbiota Modulation, Chris Livelo Jan 2023

Time-Restricted Feeding Attenuates Obesity-Induced Muscle Dysfunction Through Energy Metabolism And Microbiota Modulation, Chris Livelo

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Obesity is a global epidemic that affects countless numbers of people caused by genetic and environmental factors including circadian disruption, which poses significant health risks to skeletal muscle physiology and other tissues. While a feeding fasting intervention known as time-restricted feeding (TRF) has been shown to mitigate obesity-related muscle dysfunction, the underlying mechanisms remain a subject of investigation. In this study, we delve into potential mechanisms underlying TRF's protective effects on muscle physiology in the context of diet- and genetic-induced obesity using Drosophila models. Our findings reveal that TRF triggers the upregulation of key genes involved in glycine production (Sardh …

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Accuracy Of "Reading" Untraced Lateral Cephalometric Radiographs Among Practicing Orthodontists, Shannon Rea Jan 2023

Accuracy Of "Reading" Untraced Lateral Cephalometric Radiographs Among Practicing Orthodontists, Shannon Rea

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Objective: To determine if orthodontic clinicians are able to ascertain diagnostic information from untraced lateral cephalometric radiographs. Materials and Methods: A survey consisting of 5 cases was presented to practicing orthodontists. Each case presented a lateral cephalometric radiograph and included ten questions requiring the respondent to make clinical judgments and approximations of the following variables: skeletal classification, maxilla and mandibular skeletal relationship, SNA, SNB, ANB, vertical skeletal classification, FMA, molar relationship, maxillary incisor proclination, and mandibular incisor proclination. 46 responses were collected and analyzed. Results: Case 3, the normodivergent, Skeletal Class I patient had the highest percentage of correct answers …

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Comparison Of Flexural Strength, Fracture Toughness, And Color Stability Of Cad/Cam 3d-Printed Denture Base Materials To Milled And Conventional Heat-Polymerized Materials: An In Vitro Study, Yamen Safadi Jan 2023

Comparison Of Flexural Strength, Fracture Toughness, And Color Stability Of Cad/Cam 3d-Printed Denture Base Materials To Milled And Conventional Heat-Polymerized Materials: An In Vitro Study, Yamen Safadi

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Digitalization of the design and manufacturing of complete dentures streamlines the clinical and laboratory processes and provides increased efficiency and enhanced denture quality.[1, 2] The two most common CAD/CAM techniques for denture base manufacturing are additive (3D-printing) and subtractive (milling) manufacturing. Milled denture bases have been proven to be comparable in their physical and mechanical properties to conventional heat-polymerized denture bases,[3-6] and in many studies found to be superior to 3D-printed denture bases.[7-13] However, 3D-printing offers many advantages over milling that appeal to both clinicians and dental technicians related to investment and operational costs, maintenance, speed of manufacturing, diversity of …

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Comparison Of Radiological Signs To Clinical Symptoms In Children With Jia. A Pilot Study, Shubham Sharma Jan 2023

Comparison Of Radiological Signs To Clinical Symptoms In Children With Jia. A Pilot Study, Shubham Sharma

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JIA, which stands for juvenile idiopathic arthritis, is a group of chronic inflammatory joint diseases that usually occur in children under the age of 16 and last for at least six weeks1–5. It is one of the most common chronic joint diseases in childhood1 and affects up to 150 out of every 100,000 children worldwide6. This condition has no identifiable cause and is different from adult rheumatoid arthritis. Unfortunately, JIA can have a significant negative impact on the lives of these young children, causing disability and impairing their daily activities. TMJ involvement is more common than previously believed in JIA …

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The Influence Of Proximity On Patient Outcomes For Differently Structured Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Wendy Michelle Smith Jan 2023

The Influence Of Proximity On Patient Outcomes For Differently Structured Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Wendy Michelle Smith

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THE INFLUENCE OF PROXIMITY ON PATIENT OUTCOMES FOR DIFFERENTLY STRUCTURED AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTERSWENDY SMITH HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ABSTRACT This study examines the complication rates and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for total hip and knee replacement surgeries conducted in one of two differently structured ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) with varying interprofessional surgical teams. There is an ongoing shift from in-hospital total joint replacement surgeries to ASCs. Additionally, there is specialization occurring within ASCs. In this study, we compare single specialty ASCs designed to perform solely TJR surgeries with one orthopedic group and interprofessional team, with multi-specialty ASCs that perform an array …

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The Impact Of Diabetes On At-Fault Motor Vehicle Collisions In Older Adults: Visual Function, Medication, And Crash Characteristics, Thomas A. Swain Jan 2023

The Impact Of Diabetes On At-Fault Motor Vehicle Collisions In Older Adults: Visual Function, Medication, And Crash Characteristics, Thomas A. Swain

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Older drivers represent one of the fastest growing age groups of drivers in the United States. Crash risk among older adults, who have the highest prevalence of vision impairment, has been shown to be related to worse visual function. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic health condition affecting more than 23.1 million Americans, and one in three have pre-diabetes. Persons with diabetes are at increased risk of conditions which cause vision loss. Research indicates those with diabetes have higher rates of MVCs. Despite the increased MVC risk among each of these groups, work has yet to evaluate if diabetes modifies the …

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Social Vulnerability And Trust Associated With African American Secondary Syphilis Cases Reported In Alabama, United States, 2020-2022, Givanta Tribit Jan 2023

Social Vulnerability And Trust Associated With African American Secondary Syphilis Cases Reported In Alabama, United States, 2020-2022, Givanta Tribit

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Introduction: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that can cause serious health problems, including neurological disorders, blindness, and fetal abnormalities. Routine STI screenings can help prevent its spread. Despite effective treatments, syphilis cases have risen sharply in the last decade, particularly among marginalized communities. Understanding the ecological and contextual factors contributing to syphilis incidence could inform prevention efforts and improve healthcare outcomes for all. Methods: Retrospective secondary data analyses, at the county level, from 2020 to 2022, were conducted to assess for mean differences among social vulnerability index (SVI) scores, SVI scores by four primary categories, Black Belt regional …

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Modifiable Risk Factors And Subsequent All-Cause And Cause-Specific Late Mortality After Blood Or Marrow Transplanta-Tion (Bmt), Nora Balas Jan 2023

Modifiable Risk Factors And Subsequent All-Cause And Cause-Specific Late Mortality After Blood Or Marrow Transplanta-Tion (Bmt), Nora Balas

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The objective of this dissertation was to examine the association between modifiable risk factors and subsequent all-cause and cause-specific late mortality among blood or marrow transplantation (BMT) recipients. I analyzed data for participants who were ≥18 years (y) at study participation from the BMT Survivor Study (BMTSS). BMTSS (U01 CA213140, PI: Bhatia) is a cohort study designed to examine the long-term outcome of individuals who survived ≥2y after undergoing BMT between 1974 and 2014, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, City of Hope, or University of Minnesota. BMTSS also examines outcomes in an unaffected comparison group drawn from the …

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Temporal Trends In Tularemia Incidence In The United States From 2010 To 2020. Are Age And Sex Associated With These Changing Trends?, Carla V. Brooks Jan 2023

Temporal Trends In Tularemia Incidence In The United States From 2010 To 2020. Are Age And Sex Associated With These Changing Trends?, Carla V. Brooks

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Background: Tularemia or Rabbit Fever was discovered in 1911 in a plague-like outbreak among rodents in Tulare County, California. Tularemia in the US has expanded from rural to more metropolitan areas, which may be potentially correlated with the escalating exposure of humans to animal vectors. There has not been a recent study evaluating trends in Tularemia, especially one that has evaluated if the trends in Tularemia over time differ by demographic characteristics. Methods: This is an ecological study to evaluate the temporal trends and if trends Tularemia incidence over time differs by age and sex in the United States from …

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