Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Advanced Prognostic Modeling For Breast Cancer Patients: Leveraging Data-Driven Approaches For Survival Analysis, Theophilus Gyedu Baidoo

Theses and Dissertations

Breast cancer is the second most prevalent form of cancer in women in the United States. Each year, about 264,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women and of this number, about 42,000 women lose their lives as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Early detection and effective treatment are crucial for improving survival rates and reducing mortality. This study aimed to explore the influential factors that may risk the survival of women with the disease and compare their predictive abilities using several error and performance metrics. The study uses a dataset from the National Cancer …

The Emergence And Predictive Utility Of Early Markers Of Social Anxiety In Young Children With Fragile X Syndrome, Conner James Black

Theses and Dissertations

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a monogenic neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by elevated rates of intellectual disability, autism, and anxiety. Social anxiety affects approximately 60 percent of individuals with FXS and is cited as one of the most impairing comorbid disorders in FXS; however, little is understood about the developmental patterns of social anxiety markers in young children with FXS. The current study investigates cardiac and behavioral markers of social anxiety across the first five years of life and tests the predictive utility of these variables on social anxiety symptomatology. Participants included 80 children with FXS and 50 neurotypical controls. Participants …

Laboratory Management Models In Core Facilities, Karmen Michael Owen

Theses and Dissertations

Core biotechnology facilities are often defined as laboratories that house shared resources for research. These laboratories are of great importance to research communities because a large portion of scientific research data is generated at these facilities. Different investigators can use core facilities to help further their research. In a university setting, there are several management strategies from small cores that house a specific type of instrument, to large cores that house many different technologies. Funding strategies also differ significantly, from those that are funded by a small group of well-funded investigators, to cores managed by a specific department or school, …

Differential Levels Of Nutrients And Heavy Metals In Tilapia Collected From Drains In Egypt, Emily Burch

Theses and Dissertations

Tilapia is one of the most widely cultivated and consumed fish globally. In terms of human health, tilapia is an excellent source of protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and micronutrients. Tilapia and other aquatic species have become increasingly susceptible to contamination, as anthropogenic activities have been increasing around the world. Anthropogenetic activities often introduce high levels of contaminants, including heavy metals, into the marine environment. These contaminants often do not biodegrade, and they are absorbed by aquatic species. Contaminants can bioaccumulate and proceed in biomagnification up the fish food chain putting consumers at an increased risk of exposure. Heavy metals can …

Global Health Governance And Its Role In Health Equity: The Case Of Covid-19, Wafa Abu El Kheir-Mataria

Theses and Dissertations

In the globalized world, we are living in, health became the joint responsibility of individuals, their governments, and the global health governance system. Moreover, based on the right to health, health equity is increasingly in demand, and adopting it to a global level has become an even more complex task to realize. This thesis is focuses on health equity at a global level. The main research questions addressed are: Is health equity present at an intercountry /global level? how is it related to Global Health Governance (GHG)? Is GHG performing well in achieving health equity? what are the reasons behind …

Atomistic Assessment Of Drug-Phospholipid Interactions Consequent To Cancer Treatment: A Study Of Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity, Yara Elsayed Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Despite being one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents developed to date, Anthracyclines are notorious for their cardiotoxicity. Their clinical use is frequently limited both in dosage and in prescription due to the severe cardiac damage they cause. The mechanism of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity is not yet fully understood. However, it is hypothesized that interactions with the myocardial membrane play an important role in imparting cardiotoxicity. In this study, we use molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations to study the anthracycline drug molecules and the interactions that they have with the myocardial membrane. We construct a myocardial membrane model …

Inoculation For Neutralizing Misinformation: Replication Of An Experiment On The Effect Of The Fake Experts’ Strategy In Climate Change Communication’S Context, Joseph Abdalla

Theses and Dissertations

Low acceptance of climate change and low support for its mitigation efforts can be due to public misconceptions towards climate change. Climate skeptics use a communication strategy of fake experts to spread misinformation through spokespersons who are not experts in the field. Inoculation can be a protective approach for tackling the misinformation’s effect. Previous research was conducted in the United States and Germany and was never conducted in Africa. This study aimed to complement the previous research findings with results for Egypt by replication an experiment by Cook et al. with a 2 × 2 between-subjects design. A total of …

Association Of Health Literacy With Demographic Features, Health-Related Behaviors, And Health Risk Indicators Among Egyptian Adults: Online Cross-Sectional Study, Rana Gamal Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

Health literacy is recognized as a significant determinant of health. Limited health literacy is a growing issue worldwide. It has a significant role facing the rising trends of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) through improving its modifiable risk factors. Therefore, studying the association between health literacy and different health-related behaviors is very important to guide both healthcare professionals and policy makers to set up the proper interventions. Our study aims to a) examine the health literacy levels among Egyptian adults, b) investigate the association of health literacy relative to socio-demographic features, health related behaviors, and self-reported health status. This is a cross-sectional …

Assessing The Correlation Between The Socioeconomic Level And Cognitive Function Among Older Adults In Egypt, Macy Abougabal

Theses and Dissertations

The number of older adults is increasing worldwide at an unprecedented rate. Some countries began to understand the challenges of aging, while others are still at the stage of comprehending the true dimensions of the situation. There is a global focus on aging research to appropriately mitigate the negative impact of aging and cognitive decline. Not only that dementia add economic pressure on governments, it also increase the psychological and physical burden of the caregivers. Scholars have previously studied socioeconomic level in three variables, namely work, education, and income, and their relationship with cognitive function. It was concluded that the …

Chemical And Polymer Characterization Of The Potential Modes Of Degradation Of An Injectable Nucleus Pulposus Replacement Device, Antonio G. Abbondandolo

Theses and Dissertations

HYDRAFIL™ is a poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(ethylene glycol)-based hydrogel nucleus pulposus replacement device that is injected in situ and has demonstrated efficacy in lowering the prevalence and pain associated with back. In this work, we developed a method to analyze HYDRAFIL™ polymer composition using (TGA) and characterized intermolecular bonding interactions within the hydrogel through (FTIR). To function as a permanent implant for nucleus pulposus replacement, HYDRAFIL™ must be stable when exposed to a multitude of degradation pathways, namely, thermal, chemical, and mechanical. We subjected HYDRAFIL™ to accelerated thermal and chemical degradation pathways and described compositional, physical and chemical property changes using a …

Artemisinin And Its Derivatives Reactions: Characterization Of The Reaction Products Using Lc/Tof Ms, Kogila Vijayan

Theses and Dissertations

Artemisinin (ART) is a sesquiterpene lactone and a popular malaria drug with potential anticancer properties. In this work, LC/TOF MS was used to investigate the reaction of ART with DNA bases and estradiol. ART-deoxyadenosine and ART-deoxycytidine interactions were studied in the presence of Fe (II) ions. ART-deoxyadenosine and ART-deoxycytidine reaction mixtures gave chromatographic signatures that remained unchanged at room temperature but grew after incubation at 37°C. The change in temperature from room temperature to 37°C was the main driver of adduct formation in these reactions. ART was found to react with Fe (II) ions as observed from several new chromatographic …

Contingency Management For Opioid Use Disorder: Early Treatment Adherence And Mood, Shelby Renee Goodwin

Theses and Dissertations

Opioid use results in potentially devastating consequences, but medications for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine, serve as effective ways to curb cravings and withdrawal, helping an individual reduce their use. Unfortunately, around half of patients discontinue buprenorphine treatment within 30 days and co-occurring conditions such as mood symptoms may serve as additional barriers and decrease engagement. This study sought to examine contingency management (CM; incentives for meeting behavioral goals) as a potential intervention to increase early treatment engagement, as well as the role of total depression, anxiety, and stress (mood) severity in the efficacy of contingency management. New patients …

The Impact Of The Tobacco-Free Policy On The Auc New Cairo Campus, Fatimah Badawy

Theses and Dissertations

In 2019, the American University in Cairo (AUC) conducted a research study on campus attitudes towards tobacco use and smoking behaviors within their community, in light of the then newly enforced tobacco-free policy. They found most campus members in support of the policy, with higher rates of disapproval from the smoking community. In 2021, this research aimed to follow-up on changes in attitudes towards the policy as well was smoking behaviors. It hypothesized that over time, levels of support to the policy would increase, smoking habits would be positively impacted and that positive health behaviors would correlate with policy support. …

Identifying Barriers To Data Use On U.S. Beef Cow-Calf Operations And Developing Solutions To Improve Cow-Calf Record-Keeping, William Isaac Jumper

Theses and Dissertations

Cattle health and production records (CHPR) are data collected by cattle producers and veterinarians in the form of measurements, observations, counts of events over time, and physiologic attributes that describe individual and group-level health and production. These data are useful to both veterinarians and cattle producers for making evidence-based decisions on cow-calf operations. Currently, there are no uniform, industry-wide methods of capturing and recording CHPR in the U.S. cow-calf industry. Although many cow-calf producers in the U.S. are thought to collect some form of CHPR, it is believed that relatively few are doing so in an electronic manner that facilitates …

Evolution And Epidemiology Of Channel Catfish Virus (Ccv), Arun Venugopalan

Theses and Dissertations

Channel catfish virus disease (CCVD) is the principal viral disease in the United States catfish industry. The CCVD is caused by channel catfish virus (CCV), with mortality reaching up to 100% in fingerlings. CCV is assigned taxonomically to the family Alloherpesviridae, genus Ictalurivirus, species Ictalurid herpesvirus 1 (IcHV-1). To date, virulence, immunogenicity, and genome plasticity of the CCV field isolates have not been investigated. Three genotypes of CCV (IcHV-1A, IcHV-1B, and BCAHV) were identified using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Virulence assessment of three representative isolates of RFLP groups suggests that IcHV-1B (pooled survival [mean ± SE]: 58.3% ± …

Data Science For Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship, Saikou Jawla

Theses and Dissertations

Antibiotics are widely used to treat bacterial infections, but their misuse leads to antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today. Antibiotic resistance leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality. Antimicrobial stewardship is an approach to measure and improve the appropriate use of antibiotics in healthcare settings. Data science has the potential to support these programs by providing insights into antibiotic prescribing patterns, identifying areas for improvement, and predicting patient outcomes. We explored the role of data science in hospital antibiotic stewardship programs, including statistical methods …

Educational Environments And Children's Physical Activity And Sedentary Behaviors, Nathan R. Tokarek

Theses and Dissertations

Children and adolescents spend the majority of their day engaged in sedentary behaviors (SB), while also not meeting physical activity (PA) recommendations. The failure to develop and maintain health enhancing behaviors from a young age may impact an individual throughout their life. With children and adolescents spending a large proportion of their waking hours in a school setting, the educational environment presents an opportunity in which children and adolescents’ PA and SB can be positively influenced. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to explore how children and adolescent’s school time PA and SB are associated with the educational setting, …

From “Cowardice” To “Shellshock”: The Definition And Treatment Of Mental Health In The United States Marine Corps During The Age Of The Great War, Itzel Marquez

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of my master’s thesis is to study how the United States’ Marine Corps recognized, defined, and treated mental health issues during the Great War and how this translated into the treatment of Marines by their peers and commanding officers. Similar to other countries that fought in the Great War, also referred to as World War I, the United States witnessed intense discussions about the psychological effects of war. The question of whether and how modern warfare affected troops’ mental health was addressed by all branches of the United States’ military. Yet, the issue of mental health in the …

Attitudes And Compassion Of Student Counselors-In-Training Toward Individuals Who Are Homeless, Kristine R. Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

With the increased numbers of homeless individuals over the past several years, it is important to consider factors that contribute to chronic homelessness, including barriers to service delivery that impede one’s ability to exit homelessness. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the attitudes and compassion among student counselors-in-training (SCITs) toward individuals experiencing homelessness as these students represent future mental health providers who will be serving the homeless, a highly marginalized population. A total of 162 graduate students from two southwestern Hispanic-serving institutions were recruited for the study. A correlational analysis, independent t-tests, and one-way ANOVAs were conducted …

Quality Of Life Among Caregivers Of Individuals With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome And Intellectual Disability, Sandra Garza Ochoa

Theses and Dissertations

Caregiving for a person with 22q11.2 chromosome deletion syndrome (22q) often entails dealing with medically life-threatening complications and is significantly compounded when the care recipient has comorbid 22q and intellectual disability (ID). The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of support, spirituality, and resiliency on the quality of life (QOL) of caregivers of individuals with comorbid 22q/ID to ascertain if these protective factors would reduce their caregiving burden. Study participants consisted of 469 caregivers of persons with 22q/ID who were recruited through 22q social advocacy groups. Correlational analyses, analyses of variance, and multiple regression analysis were used …

Non-Fatal Strangulation During Sexual Assault: A Retrospective Review, Brooke E. Stacey

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Non-fatal strangulation (NFS) is a life-threatening event in cases of sexual assault. The incidence of NFS during sexual assault is increasing on a global scale. NFS is a gendered crime as most victims are women and most assailants are men and is more common in intimate partner violence. Strangulation victims only have visible neck injuries around 50% of the time, but visible injuries are not a reliable indicator of the severity of the assault. NFS can cause neurological damage from lack of blood flow to the brain and result in physical and psychological trauma. NFS indicates a high degree …

A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Infectious Causes Of Congenital Morbidity And Mortality In Central America: Torch, El Salvador, Mary Katherine Lynn

Theses and Dissertations

The primary goal of this dissertation was to understand the prevalence of the most regionally salient TORCH pathogens among a group of perinatal women from a highly vulnerable region of El Salvador at the time of parturition. TORCH pathogens, that cause TORCH congenital syndromes, are classically defined as Toxoplasma gondii, other infectious causes of concern (Zika virus, malaria, human immunodeficiency virus, etc), Rubella virus, Cytomegalovirus(CMV), and Herpes Simplex Viruses. These infections can be passed from mother to fetus through the placenta or other perinatal routes and cause severe maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. This dissertation sought to understand perinatal …

Targeting Of Mediator Kinases For Cancer Therapy And Resistance Prevention, Zachary Thomas Mack

Theses and Dissertations

Estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancers make up 70% of all breast cancer incidences in the US. Cell cycle progression of ER-positive breast cancer is highly dependent on cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) 4 and 6, the G1/S checkpoint kinases. Inhibitors of CDK4/6 have become a major addition to the clinical arsenal against ER-positive breast cancers. CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib (IBRANCETM) has been approved for the treatment of ER-positive breast cancers. However, palbociclib treatment eventually fails due to the development of resistance. Laboratory studies revealed several diverse mechanisms of palbociclib resistance, making universal re-sensitization difficult to achieve. However, prevention of the adaptive process that …

Volume Change Measurements Of Cancer Cells In A Microfluidics Platform, Yukuan Yu

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the function of aquaporins in transcellular transport is vital for homeostasis, pathophysiology, and translational potential in AQP-based diagnostics and therapeutics. Microfluidics device has the potential to evaluate the function of aquaporins with precise control and manipulate micro-scale fluid due to good optical quality and short processing distance. This work has two parts: cell culture in a microfluidic chip to characterize aquaporins’ function and visualization of single cell volume change under osmotic pressure shock in a homemade imaging dish. For the first part, we established a microfluidics platform for future modification and measurement of the dynamic volume change of biological …

Substance Use Disorder Treatment Among African American Men Living In The Rural South Of The United States, Serge Raoul Wandji

Theses and Dissertations

Substance use disorders (SUD) affect more than 40 million Americans. African American (AA) men are disproportionally affected by the negative health and social consequences of SUD, and men in rural areas may be particularly at risk due to disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions and persistent race-related stressors such as perceived discrimination. The overall purpose of this study is to advance the understanding of factors associated with SUD treatment acceptance and relapse potential among Southern rural AA men.

This purpose was achieved by determining differences in treatment acceptance and relapse potential by race and gender among rural residents admitted in a SUD treatment …

Food Insecurity In Youth And Young Adults With Diabetes: Prevalence And Association With Health Behaviors, Lauren Helene Martini

Theses and Dissertations

Given the life-long impact of diabetes(1-5), it is important to engage in behaviors that promote health and wellness to delay or prevent negative health outcomes(3, 6-10). Despite this, youth and young adults with diabetes generally do not adhere to nutritional(11-17) or physical activity(18, 19) recommendations. In households experiencing financial difficulties, especially those who are having difficulty providing sufficient food to all of its members, adhering to recommendations may be even more difficult.

The purpose of this dissertation is to better understand and contextualize food insecurity among youth and young adults (YYA) with youth-onset T1DM and T2DM. The first aim addresses …

Exploration Into The Relationship Between Colitis And Depression: A Potential Role For The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor, Kasie Lynn Roark

Theses and Dissertations

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a group of chronic gastrointestinal disorders with unclear etiology comprised of two defined disorders – Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). IBD leads to chronic pain, socially isolating symptoms, and an overall reduction in patient quality of life. There is currently no cure for IBD. Due to decreased mucous production and weakening of the colonic epithelial lining, gut-microbiota and their metabolites can invade the intestinal lamina propria and circulate systemically, a term known as “leaky gut”. Recent studies show a relationship exists between peripheral inflammation, such as IBD, and depression. The gut-brain axis (GBA) …

Nurse Perceptions Of Caring And Professional Governance, Lan Angela Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Caring, a characteristic of an effective work environment, and clinical nurse control over the professional governance of nursing practice results in higher nursing retention and better patient outcomes. Although the concepts of caring and professional governance of nursing practice, and their discrete associations with patient outcomes, are widely studied, little to no research is published on the nature of the relationship between caring and professional governance of nursing practice. Without understanding this relationship, it is challenging to explore the impact of this relationship on nursing practice and patient outcomes.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to describe nurse …

Substance Use Disorders And The Behavioral Effects Of Novel And Existing Compounds, Sarah Uribe

Theses and Dissertations

These investigations aimed to study the effects of experimental compounds for use in treating and preventing substance use disorders, particularly opioid use disorder (OUD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Identifying and testing potential medications for these two diseases is critical since current FDA-approved medications are only modestly effective, and addiction continues to spread. We previously demonstrated that co-administration of morphine and MP-III-024 produced synergistic effects in hot plate and von Frey assays. This study evaluated whether MP-III-024 also produced synergistic effects in behavioral tests sensitive to the side effects of morphine. Our findings suggest that co-administration of morphine and MP-III-024 …

Cross Cultural Adaptation And Validation Of A Self-Reporting Tool To Assess Health-Related Quality Of Life For Egyptians With Extremity Bone Sarcomas In Childhood Or Adolescence, Nesma Farid

Theses and Dissertations

Validated self-reporting tools are required to evaluate the functional outcome and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for Egyptians who had extremity bone sarcomas in their childhood or adolescence. Thus, we pursued cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the pediatric Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (pTESS) and Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) to assess the physical function of children and adult survivors following surgeries of extremity bone sarcomas. Modified versions of pTESS and TESS, which contain additional mental domains, were developed to allow the evaluation of HRQOL using a specific instrument for childhood bone cancer. The internal consistency of the original pTESS and …