Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Use Of Mindfulness Meditation To Increase The Efficacy Of Mirror Visual Feedback For Reducing Phantom Limb Pain In Amputees, Nicolas Sebastian Mills

Doctoral Dissertations

Phantom limb pain is a chronic pain condition that negatively impacts the lives of over half of amputees, and results in considerable morbidity. Currently, there is no gold standard for treatment for phantom limb pain. However, a frequently used intervention is the use of mirror visual feedback, in which the amputee watches the reflection of the adjacent non-amputated limb move and exercise. In the last few decades, mindfulness-based interventions have been increasingly used with individuals living with different types of chronic pain. This study attempts to discover if the addition of a mindfulness-based intervention, such as guided meditation, will augment ...

Utilizing A Stress And Coping Model Into A Preventive Abusive Head Trauma Parent/Caregiver Educational Program, Camile Williams

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Abusive head trauma (AHT) is a serious form of child maltreatment that is the primary cause of fatal head injuries in children younger than 24 months and is the cause for over 50% of severe or fatal traumatic brain injury incidences. These injuries can be caused by impact, shaking, or the combination of shaking and impact. These multi-factorial injuries can cause intracranial and spinal damage, retinal hemorrhages, and fractures of ribs and other bones. The age and severity of injuries will be used to assess the diagnosis of AHT. When AHT occurs, it is often tied to the behavior from ...

U.S. Military Veterans’ Attitudes And Perceptions Of Mental Healthcare, Bridget Milam

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research project is to measure whether U.S. military veterans experience any stigma related to mental healthcare and if this is associated with age, length of service, and military branch. U.S. military veterans are a high-risk group for developing mental illnesses. It is believed social stigma and personal attitudes, perceptions and beliefs of mental healthcare may influence whether a veteran will pursue mental healthcare. This cross-sectional study was conducted as an online survey via Qualtrics resulting in 75 total responses. 21 responses were excluded from the analysis due to incompletion or failure to pass the ...

The Study Of High Intensity Interval Training's Effect On Enjoyment, Keali Mari

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This study assessed participant’s level of enjoyment in high-intensity training over moderate intensity-training. High intensity interval training is defined as short bouts of exercise performed at a near-maximal effort with rest periods or light activity in between. High intensity interval training involves repeatedly exercising at a high intensity for 30 seconds to several minutes, separated by 1-5 minutes of recovery. This type of exercise has sparked the interest of many active people due to its decreased time commitment and the benefits it elicits. The results of this study show that high intensity interval training induces a higher enjoyment rate ...

Mitochondrial Aspects Of Neuronal Pathology In Triple-Transgenic Alzheimer’S Disease Mice, John Zachary Cavendish

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a fatal, progressive neurodegenerative disease afflicting millions of people in the United States alone and is the only one of the top leading causes of morbidity and mortality with no effective disease-modifying therapies. It is the most common form of dementia, affecting one in three people over the age of 85. While the hallmarks of the disease include accumulation of beta-amyloid-based extracellular plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau-based intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, treatment strategies centered on removing or mitigating these components of AD have all failed in humans. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been increasingly recognized as an early and ...

Neural Stem Cell Metabolic Changes In The Presence Of Interferon-Gamma, Dylan Mckibben

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Spinal cord injury results in significant disability and health care costs due to an inability of the mature central nervous system to regenerate. One potential therapy would be implantation of neural stem cells to the injury site and stimulation of their differentiation to mature neurons. Previous work has shown that the cytokine interferon-gamma can promote this process; however, the signaling pathways induced in neural stem cells have not been well-defined. This proposal examines neural stem cell metabolic responses to signaling induced by interferon-gamma. Two questions will be answered: i) What specific metabolic pathway is activated to guide neural stem cell ...

The Relationship Between Optimism And Bmi In Generation Z – An Exploratory Investigation., Allison Tucker

University Honors Program Theses

Optimism is defined as explaining and expecting the future in a positive manner (Seligman, 2017). Biber and Czech (2015) have shown a significant negative correlation between optimism and overall BMI. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine differences between Optimism and Healthy, Overweight and Obese Generation Z university students. METHODS: This study is classified as aquantitative, quasi-experimental, cross-sectional descriptive study. There were 2287 participants- 986 male and 1285 female who were all aged 18-22. Participants attended a southeastern University and were enrolled in a required physical activity course. These students were classified in the Generation Z. Participants self-reported ...

Observational Measurement Of Attachment In Toddlers With Disruptive Behavior Using The Strange Situation Procedure And Attachment Q-Set, Corey C. Lieneman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Child-caregiver attachment is an important factor in healthy child development and is often targeted by early intervention programs. To assess the efficacy of these interventions, attachment must be accurately measured across the toddler years in populations referred for treatment of externalizing behavior problems. The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP; Ainsworth et al., 1978) and Attachment Q-Set (AQS; Waters, 1987) are empirically-validated measures of child-caregiver attachment, each with unique strengths and weaknesses. Previous research has reached mixed conclusions on relations between the observer-report AQS and SSP, depending on sample and study characteristics, and a review of the literature did not produce any ...

Charge Nurse Orientation, Angela Zafke

Nursing Capstones

Traditional undergraduate training focuses heavily on clinical skills with minimal emphasis on leadership. In practice, a nurse with clinical prowess is often promoted to the charge nurse position. Taking on the leadership role of a charge nurse can be a stressful experience without proper training and preparation that leads to burnout and turnover. With more experienced nurses facing retirement, now is the time to prepare future nursing leaders. This starts with adequately preparing a nurse to lead within the unit in the charge nurse role. A comprehensive literature review was conducted regarding charge nurse orientation. Charge nurse competencies were not ...

Oral Chemotherapy: Safe Handling In The Home, Cynthia Huff

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Background: According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (2016), oral anticancer agents (OAC) are hazardous drugs (HD) and require the same safe handling interventions in the home setting as in controlled health care environments. The use of a safe handling checklist for OAC administration is a way nurses can provide safe handling education to patients and caregivers and assess for understanding and competency for critical tasks. Effective home management strategies outlining caregiver protections, proper storage, administration of OACs, spill clean-up, and waste disposal could reduce exposure risks to toxic agents.

Objective: To present a safe-handling checklist and ...

Usp Compliance: A Hazardous Drug Safe Handling Ppe Toolkit For Infusion Nurses, Cynthia Huff

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Problem: Safety concerns have existed for more than 40 years about how hazardous drug (HD) exposure contributes to long- and short-term adverse health outcomes for healthcare workers (HCWs). Careless handling may cause toxic residues to infiltrate hospital environments and patient care areas, and can even be traced to patients’ homes. New government regulations will require healthcare organizations to minimize exposure risks to HCWs by fully implementing the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) Convention Chapter 800: Hazardous Drugs: Handling in Healthcare Settings (USP, 2016) on December 1, 2019. According to Polovich and Olsen (2017), “The implementation of the USP <800> Standards will represent ...

Improving Nurse Engagement Through Unit Practice Councils: A Literature Review, Pavna Sloan

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Problem: According to The Advisory Board Company, nurses are the least engaged group of healthcare employees (The Advisory Board Company, 2014). This finding concerns healthcare organizations because those with a high percentage of disengaged nurses have increased nurse turnover rates and decreased patient satisfaction and safety scores (Kutney-Lee et al., 2016). Shared governance, in the form of the Unit Practice Councils (UPC), is a model healthcare organizations implement to increase nurse engagement. A review of the current literature is needed to evaluate if the model is effective.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive literature review ...

Differential Diagnosis Of Exercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction And Exercise-Induced Asthma, Allison Lyman, Allison Lyman

Honors College Theses

Sensations of shortness of breath and difficulty breathing are not uncommon, especially among athletes and those who regularly engage in aerobic activities. Often, athletes will seek treatment for their respiratory symptoms and may be diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma. Doctors prescribe inhalers to these individuals to help alleviate their symptoms; however, there are occasions in which inhalers fail to lessen the severity of breathing difficulties. This is because asthma is not the only condition that can cause shortness of breath, also known as dyspnea. There exists another condition which affects the vocal folds but not the lungs and bronchioles as is ...

Voice Therapy Techniques For Male-To-Female Versus Female-To-Male Transgender Individuals And Stereotypical Gender Beliefs That Affect These Techniques, Bailey Lyman

Honors College Theses

This research was conducted to determine the differences and similarities between the therapeutic techniques used with male-to-female versus female-to-male transgender voice clients resulting from their existing and potentially changing anatomy and physiology. It was also conducted to determine the potential impacts of gender stereotyping on therapeutic techniques and a client’s therapeutic course. A review of the literature suggests that although there are quite a few similarities between the therapeutic techniques of male-to-female and female-to-male voice clients, there are crucial differences in these techniques that must also be considered. A few of the differences include considering a degree of change ...

Voice Therapy Techniques For Male-To-Female Versus Female-To-Male Transgender Individuals And Stereotypical Beliefs That Affect These Techniques, Bailey Lyman

Honors College Theses

This research was conducted to determine the differences and similarities between the therapeutic techniques used with male-to-female versus female-to-male transgender voice clients resulting from their existing and potentially changing anatomy and physiology. It was also conducted to determine the potential impacts of gender stereotyping on therapeutic techniques and a client’s therapeutic course. A review of the literature suggests that although there are quite a few similarities between the therapeutic techniques of male-to-female and female-to-male voice clients, there are crucial differences in these techniques that must also be considered. A few of the differences include considering a degree of change ...

The Effects Of Music On Dairy Production, Anneliese Kemp

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this research is to find which genre of music dairy cows produce the most milk to in order to aid dairy farmers in yielding maximum product while also keeping their cattle as comfortable as possible. During each lactation a different genre of music will play, basic vital signs, and behavioral observations of the cows will be taken, then the amount of milk produced during that genre will be measured. First, no music will be played, base line vitals will be taken, and milk yield will be measured. This will give an estimate to how positively or negatively ...

The Effects Of Moderate-Severe Plaque Psoriasis On Patient Well-Being And Prevention Of Flares, Glenn Devera

Nursing | Senior Theses

Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition that is indicated by red, patchy and scaly skin that can be painful when irritated. Patients with psoriasis have an increased risk for a number of chronic diseases. Despite the expansion of treatments for moderate-to-severe psoriasis over the last decade, patients may still find that treatment strategies are not as successful, leaving them dissatisfied with their treatments. A relationship built upon trust between the nurse and the patient diagnosed with psoriasis may serve to help ensure optimal care. A comprehensive literature review was performed and found that best practices for patient management need to ...

The Youthful Pandemic, Brook Sahlemariam

Nursing | Senior Theses

This paper attempts to examine the neurological, physical, and societal effects of e-cigarette use among youth and young-adults in North America. Furthermore, the paper investigates the parallels between e-cigarette users, tobacco users, and dual users in regard to behavioral patterns, reasons for use, and age of initiation.

Apneic Oxygenation: An Adjunctive Therapy For Laryngoscopy During Anesthesia Induction, Yaro Hoffman

Doctoral Projects

Endotracheal intubation is an essential component within the skill set of anesthesia providers. Rapid arterial desaturation remains a primary risk factor during laryngoscopy and intubation. The risk for hypoxemia exists because during endotracheal intubation, patients are apneic or hypo-ventilating (Wong et al., 2017). Apneic oxygenation (AO) has been advocated to attenuate hypoxemia during endotracheal intubation (Pavlov et al., 2017).

The aim of this project was to assess for any knowledge deficits regarding AO among anesthesia providers and assess the willingness of these providers to include AO into their current practice. The project investigator conducted an education session involving the evidence-based ...

The Effects Of Increasing Running Speed On Vgrf And Asymmetry, Kaela M. Hierholzer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biomechanical and physiological parameters related to running performance are usually studied separately. However, evaluating both aspects together could be beneficial in improving athletic performance. The purpose of this study was to observe the change in peak vGRF and asymmetry as speed increases, while observing physiological responses during a O_2maxtest. Data from athlete monitoring of 12 cross-country and triathlon athletes were analyzed. The athlete monitoring protocol included three unweighted countermovement jumps and a O_2maxtest performed by the athletes. The athletes had an average O_2maxof 53.4 ± 7.7 mL/kg/min, while their average vGRF ...

"A Comparison Of Variable Selection Methods Using Bootstrap Samples From Environmental Metal Mixture Data", Paul-Yvann Djamen 4785403, Paul-Yvann Djamen

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

In this thesis, I studied a newly developed variable selection method SODA, and three customarily used variable selection methods: LASSO, Elastic net, and Random forest for environmental mixture data. The motivating datasets have neuro-developmental status as responses and metal measurements and demographic variables as covariates. The challenges for variable selections include (1) many measured metal concentrations are highly correlated, (2) there are many possible ways of modeling interactions among the metals, (3) the relationships between the outcomes and explanatory variables are possibly nonlinear, (4) the signal to noise ratio in the real data may be low. To compare these methods ...

Medical Cannabis In New York State, David Steven Younger

Dissertations and Theses

Background: In July 2014, New York State became the 23rd state to legalize marijuana (“cannabis”) for medical consumption under the New York State Medical Marijuana Program (“Program”). Three years later, during his Executive budget address, the NYS Governor, Honorable Cuomo, directed the Department of Health in consultation with other NYS agencies, to evaluate the experience, consequences and effects of legalized marijuana in neighboring states and territories, and to review the health, criminal justice and economic impacts of regulating marijuana use. That report concluded that the positive effects of a regulated marijuana market outweighed the potential negative impacts.

Objective: This dissertation ...

Psychosocial Impacts And Employment Preparedness Of Participating In An Hiv Peer Program: Implications For Tailoring A Vocational Counseling Model For Plwh, Erin R. Mckinney-Prupis

Dissertations and Theses

Background:

Medical advancements in HIV care should have reduced barriers to employment for PLWH, yet in 2017 only 47.7% of PLWH reported being employed, as compared to 62.9% in the general population. Employment is a significant social determinant of health, it impacts a variety of factors related to health, including earned income, access to healthcare, and social connectedness. Quantitative and qualitative studies have identified several concerns PLWH have about entering the workforce; the most pressing being fear of losing benefits. Targeted work readiness programs for PLWH is an important approach to help PLWH overcome their unique barriers to ...

An Assessment Of Potential Causal Pathways Between Two Autoimmune Diseases: Mendelian Randomization Studies Of Rheumatoid Arthritis And Crohn’S Disease; And A Phenome-Wide Association Study To Assess Potential New Targets For Tocilizumab, An Interleukin-6 Inhibitor, Staci Abramsky Risman

Dissertations and Theses

Background

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Crohn’s disease (CD) are two among a group of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). These diseases are common, collectively affecting as many as two million Americans and as many as 28 million people worldwide. They have different clinical presentations but may have a common pathogenesis. An over-expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) have been proffered as a causal factor for IMIDs. These and other IMIDs may co-occur in patients, and it has been shown that patients with one IMID may have an increased risk of another IMID. What is not clear is ...

An Evaluation Of A Web-Based Tool To Improve Feeding Practices And The Home Environment Among Parents Of Low-Income Minority Preadolescents At-Risk For Childhood Obesity, Katrina F. Mateo

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Web-based/mHealth interventions may be an engaging approach to promote positive dietary-related behaviors among parents of youth at-risk for childhood obesity. Importantly, childhood obesity research highlights the role of parents as a key support mechanism in improving child dietary outcomes. Intervention INC is a childhood obesity intervention that comprises a unique, interactive web-based child nutrition comic aimed at improving dietary behaviors among urban Black/African American (AA) and Latino preadolescents, and also weekly online parent newsletters (with feeding tips, healthy printable recipes, links to coupons to support healthy eating/feeding and health-promoting local/community events, and access to the ...

An Evaluation Of Respiratory Exacerbation In New York City Given Current Trends In Climate Variability And Predictive Sociodemographic Factors, Sarah L.R. Kuril

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Within the last century, the massive increase in emissions due to economic growth has made climate variability a major problem for many of the industrialized countries and an emerging problem for the rest of the world. With an increasing number of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, cold fronts, floods, heavy rain, and storms, individuals with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma remain a vulnerable population, placing them at highest risk of respiratory exacerbation. This dissertation aims to contribute to our understanding of how climate variability, which can influence patterns of rainfall, temperature and other variables on ...

Social-Ecological And Protective Factor Approach To Managing Parental Incarceration, Jacquelyn Harris

Dissertations

Mass imprisonment does not only impact the incarcerated individual; it also affects approximately five million children in the United States. Researchers identified and compare the impact of parental incarceration on child development. They acknowledged the protective factors across the lifecycle from a social-ecological perspective and specifically related to parental incarceration. The comprehensive literature review inspired an innovative model, the social-ecological and protective factor approach to managing parental incarceration. The primary goal of this model is to combat the detrimental effects of parental incarceration by identifying protective factors across the lifecycle and throughout the microsystem, mesosystem, and exosystem. This model is ...

The Impact Of Childhood Music Experience On Speech Perception And Processing: A Systematic Review, Erika Lanham

All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Objective: The purpose of this investigation was to conduct a systematic review of the literature that addresses the impact of childhood musical experience on speech perception and processing abilities. Specifically, this review assessed how musical training impacted scores on both objective and behavioral tests of speech perception/processing in children. This analysis contributes to a better understanding of the effects of individual musical experience in childhood on our ability to perceive and process speech in a variety of listening conditions. This analysis also determined the clinical implications of such findings.

Methods: A comprehensive search utilizing the Web of Science database ...

Exploration Of Physician Attitudes About Self-Care And Personal Mental Health: Possible Barriers To Physician Well Being, Candich Farrar

Dissertations

The present study was designed to examine physicians’ mental health, attitudes, and behaviors toward self-care and the utilization of mental health services. As the medical field can be very demanding and exhausting, it is believed that many physicians suffer from mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. However, it was theorized that many physicians do not engage in adequate self-care regimes or seek support and suppress their symptoms, which may further exacerbate their illnesses. A thorough literature review was performed to explore the following: possible barriers to physicians seeking mental health services to address high rates of mental illnesses, physicians ...

Overcoming Challenges In The Assessment And Treatment Of Problem Behavior In Adults With Autism, Julia A. Iannaccone

All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Problematic behaviors, such as self-injurious behavior or aggression, demonstrated by adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), create many significant life complications, some life-threatening. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is established as an evidence-based approach to treat problem behavior for children with ASD and shows promise as an effective treatment for adults, yet little research has been conducted within the adult population. Assessment and treatment of problem behavior with adults is often challenging due to funding limitations, increased severity and complexity of problem behavior, and underqualified staff. The purpose of the present study was to overcome these challenges by (1) identifying a ...