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Comparison Of The Pervasive Developmental Disorders Screening Test And Modified Checklist For Autism In Toddlers: Which Is The Better Predictor Of Autism In Toddlers?, Vanessa Marie Fessenden

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has significant impact on children and families. Early intervention optimizes long-term diagnosis for children with ASD. Unfortunately, many children with ASD are not diagnosed until after age three and often receive services from a local school district rather than through early intervention services. However, many of the symptoms of ASD can be hard to identify because symptoms during infancy may be more difficult to detect or may present differently than manifestations of the symptoms at older ages. Despite the difficulty in identifying symptoms of ASD in young children, there are certain …

A Home-Based Exercise Program For The Foot And Ankle To Improve Balance, Muscle Performance And Flexibility In Community Dwelling Older Adults: A Pilot Study, Laurel Long, Kurt Jackson, Lloyd L. Laubach

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Background and purpose: Strength and range of motion of the foot and ankle have been shown to be related to measures of balance and fall risk in older adults. The primary purpose of this pilot investigation was to evaluate the feasibility of a 6-week home-based exercise program focusing on the foot and ankle and any associated changes in balance, muscle performance and range of motion in older adults. Methods: This single-group repeated measures study involved a convenience sample of 21 healthy communitydwelling older adults age 60-90. Nineteen participants completed all phases of the testing and training. The intervention was a …

Lessons Learned From Training Of Promotores De Salud For Obesity And Diabetes Prevention, Erica T. Sosa, Lesli Biediger-Friedman, Zenong Yin

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background: Promotores de Salud are impactful in reducing health disparities for Hispanic communities. The purpose of this paper is to present the training process and fidelity of study protocol implementation using a promotora model for community-based diabetes prevention.

Methods: Five Hispanic bilingual promotores were recruited from a Community Health Worker program and received intensive 30-hour promotora training on how to recruit participants, lead group sessions, and support participants making behavior changes. Evaluation of the training included a survey and focus group to assess promotores’ feedback, a post-training knowledge test to assess knowledge acquired during the training and an observational assessment …

Self-Management And Self-Management Support On Chronic Low Back Patients In Primary Care, Jennifer Kawi

Interdisciplinary Research Scholarship Day

• Chronic low back pain (CLBP) afflicts 28.5% of adults costing $100-200 billion dollars.
• In response, the Institute of Medicine (2011) strongly recommended self-management (SM) to engage patients to care for themselves adequately.
• Healthcare professionals are also urged to provide effective self-management support (SMS) to empower patient’s ability to self-manage.
• SM and SMS have shown success in improving other chronic disease outcomes; current knowledge base are insufficient in non-malignant CLBP

Coping With Pediatric Cancer: Conversational Methods Utilized By Parents And Children When Dealing With Pediatric Cancer, Chelsi Morgan Walls

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

This thesis sought to analyze how parents communicate with their child regarding pediatric cancer treatments. When dealing with pediatric cancer, it is vital that parents and their child communicate about the illness in order to effectively cope with the cancer. Using Uncertainty Management Theory, along with sub-concepts of the theory (i.e., appraisals, inferences, and illusions), this thesis sought to discover which coping mechanism (i.e., affect-management or buffering) would be chosen to manage the illness. Under UMT, appraisals were assessed, resulting in positive and negative appraisal, which indicated whether the individual handled the issue with either an inference based on general …

A Systematic Review Of Ptsd Prevalence And Trajectories In Dsm-5 Defined Trauma Exposed Populations: Intentional And Non-Intentional Traumatic Events, Patcho N. Santiago, Robert J. Ursano, Christine L. Gray, Robert S. Pynoos, David Spiegel, Roberto Lewis-Fernandez, Matthew Friedman, Carol S. Fullerton

Dartmouth Scholarship

Objective: We conducted a systematic review of the literature to explore the longitudinal course of PTSD in DSM-5-defined trauma exposed populations to identify the course of illness and recovery for individuals and populations experiencing PTSD.

Methods: We reviewed the published literature from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2010 for longitudinal studies of directly exposed trauma populations in order to: (1) review rates of PTSD in the first year after a traumatic event; (2) examine potential types of proposed DSM-5 direct trauma exposure (intentional and non-intentional); and (3) identify the clinical course of PTSD (early onset, later onset, chronicity, remission, …

Hyper-Arousal Decreases Human Visual Thresholds, Adam J. Woods, John W. Philbeck, Philip Wirtz

Neurological Surgery Faculty Publications

Arousal has long been known to influence behavior and serves as an underlying component of cognition and consciousness. However, the consequences of hyper-arousal for visual perception remain unclear. The present study evaluates the impact of hyper-arousal on two aspects of visual sensitivity: visual stereoacuity and contrast thresholds. Sixty-eight participants participated in two experiments. Thirty-four participants were randomly divided into two groups in each experiment: Arousal Stimulation or Sham Control. The Arousal Stimulation group underwent a 50-second cold pressor stimulation (immersing the foot in 0–2° C water), a technique known to increase arousal. In contrast, the Sham Control group immersed their …

Converging Evidence For The Processing Costs Associated With Ambiguous Quantifier Comprehension., Corey T Mcmillan, Danielle Coleman, Robin Clark, Tsao-Wei Liang, Rachel G Gross, Murray Grossman

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

Traditional neuroanatomic models of language comprehension have emphasized a core language network situated in peri-Sylvian cortex. More recent evidence appears to extend the neuroanatomic network beyond peri-Sylvian cortex to encompass other aspects of sentence processing. In this study, we evaluate the neuroanatomic basis for processing the ambiguity in doubly-quantified sentences. For example, a sentence like "All the dogs jumped in a lake" can be interpreted with a collective interpretation (e.g., several dogs jumping into a single lake) or a distributive interpretation (e.g., several dogs each jumping into a different lake). In Experiment 1, we used BOLD fMRI to investigate neuroanatomic …

Com Outlook Spring 2013, College Of Osteopathic Medicine

COM Outlook

No abstract provided.

Oncolog, Volume 58, Number 04, April 2013, Kathryn L. Hale, Sunni Hosemann

OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians (All issues) Archives

• Preventing and Treating Graft-Versus-Host Disease After Stem Cell Transplantation: Each year, thousands of patients with hematologic malignancies undergo allogeneic (donor) stem cell transplantation (SCT), which offers a chance at cure. Graft-versus-host disease (GHVD) is a potentially deadly complication of this therapy and occurs in 25%-60% of patients. However, clinicians and researchers are continually working to reduce the rate of GVHD occurrance and improve patient outcomes
• Compass: Breast cancer Risk Reduction: Women at increased risk have multiple options
• HOUSE CALL: Benefits of In-Person Support Groups- Face-to-face contact helps people cope with chronic illness

Neuroinflammation And Psychiatric Illness, Souhel Najjar, Daniel M. Pearlman, Kenneth Alper, Amanda Najjar, Orrin Devinsky

Dartmouth Scholarship

Multiple lines of evidence support the pathogenic role of neuroinflammation in psychiatric illness. While systemic autoimmune diseases are well-documented causes of neuropsychiatric disorders, synaptic autoimmune encephalitides with psychotic symptoms often go under-recognized. Parallel to the link between psychiatric symptoms and autoimmunity in autoimmune diseases, neuroimmunological abnormalities occur in classical psychiatric disorders (for example, major depressive, bipolar, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorders). Investigations into the pathophysiology of these conditions traditionally stressed dysregulation of the glutamatergic and monoaminergic systems, but the mechanisms causing these neurotransmitter abnormalities remained elusive. We review the link between autoimmunity and neuropsychiatric disorders, and the human and experimental evidence …

Les Enfants Dans Les Coins: Une Comparaison D’Autisme En France Et Aux Etats Unis, Danya J. M. Rubin

Scripps Senior Theses

The year 2012 was a year of great controversy surrounding autism in France. Thus it is an ideal time for an investigation of the treatment of and attitudes about autism in France, specifically in comparison with the United States. This investigation encompass several specific categories, and the Freudian psychoanalytic method against the behavior modification method, the French education system and the identification of autism, "Maternal Madness" - the connection between sexism and autism, the philosophy of humanity and the history of medical experimentation and psychiatry in France. This paper questions how is it that all these categories influence the opinions …

Alteration In Corticospinal Excitability, Talocrural Joint Range Of Motion, And Lower Extremity Function Following Manipulation In Non-Disabled Individuals, Todd E. Davenport, Stephen F. Reischl, Somporn Sungkarat, Jason Cozby, Lisa Meyer, Beth E. Fisher

School of Pharmacy Faculty Articles

Background: Clinical outcomes of manual therapy procedures, including manipulation, have been studied. However, mechanisms underlying observed improvements remain unclear.

Objective: To determine the effect of ankle joint manipulation on corticospinal excitability, ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (DF ROM), and lower extremity functional behavior in nondisabled individuals.

Method: Six nondisabled individuals (age range: 31-50 years) received the main outcomes measurements of this study, before and after long axis distraction manipulation of the talocrural joint. Main outcomes measures were motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude of gastrocnemius (GN) and tibialis anterior (TA) using transcranial magnetic stimulation, ankle DF ROM with the knee flexed …

Prevalence And Correlates Of Depression Among Chronic Kidney Disease Patients In Taiwan, Hsin-Hung Chiang, Hanoch Livneh, Mei-Ling Yen, Tsai-Chung Li, Tzung-Yi Tsai

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive disease that causes a permanent impairment of renal function and premature mortality. The associated prognosis may result in serious psychological distress to the affected individual. However, there are limited data on the psychological correlates, and in particular depression, in Chinese CKD patients. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of depression, as well as the influence of other psychosocial factors on depression, among Taiwanese CKD patients.

Methods: We used a cross-sectional research design to recruit 270 CKD patients who were not undergoing dialysis treatment at a hospital in southern Taiwan during 2011. …

Health-Related Resource Use And Costs In Elderly Adults With And Without Mild Cognitive Impairment, Carolyn Zhu, Peter J. Whitehouse, Marian B. Patterson

Faculty Scholarship

Objectives To assess differences in resource use and cost between older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) over time. Design Multicenter, longitudinal study. Setting Sixty-eight Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) sites in the United States. Participants Two hundred fifty-nine individuals diagnosed with MCI and 107 cognitively normal elderly adults followed annually for 3 years. Measurements The Resource Use Instrument (RUI) was used to capture medical and nonmedical care use. Generalized linear latent and mixed models were used to estimate differences in resource use and costs in older adults with and without MCI after controlling for clinical and demographic …

Pathogen-Specific Risk Of Chronic Gastrointestinal Disorders Following Bacterial Causes Of Foodborne Illness, Chad K. Porter, Daniel Choi, Brooks Cash, Mark Pimentel, Joseph Murray, Larissa May, Mark S. Riddle

Emergency Medicine Faculty Publications

Background

The US CDC estimates over 2 million foodborne illnesses are annually caused by 4 major enteropathogens: non-typhoid Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Shigella spp. and Yersinia enterocoltica. While data suggest a number of costly and morbid chronic sequelae associated with these infections, pathogen-specific risk estimates are lacking. We utilized a US Department of Defense medical encounter database to evaluate the risk of several gastrointestinal disorders following select foodborne infections.

Methods

We identified subjects with acute gastroenteritis between 1998 to 2009 attributed to Salmonella(nontyphoidal) spp., Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp. or Yersinia enterocolitica and matched each with up to 4 …

Oncolog, Volume 58, Number 03, March 2013, Sarah Bronson, Zach Bohannan, Bryan Tutt

OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians (All issues) Archives

• Advances in Pulmonary Medicine Facilitate Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment: The lungs present unique challenges in cancer diagnosis and treatment-navigating a maze of bronchi to find and sample tissue that will lead to an accurate diagnosis of lung cancer, for example, or deciding whether to proceed with treatment for cancer in the presence of concomitant lung disease
• New Drugs Increase Treatment Options for Patients with Imatinib-Resistant Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: In the past year, several new targeted drugs have been approved as second-line treatments for imatinib-resistant chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). These drugs include the second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor bosutinib and the third-generation tyrosine …

The Young And Suicide, Hatim A. Omar, Joav Merrick

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Functional Improvement In Older Adults After A Falls Prevention Pilot Study, Pei-Fen J. Chang, Yong-Fang Kuo

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Falls are a costly, disabling, and life-threatening risk in the elderly. Improvements in physical function, balance, lower extremity strength, and health-related quality of life are hypothesized to help mitigate fall risk. In this pilot study, six women and men with an average age of 81 years participated in a 6-week exercise and education program created to reduce risk of falls. Evaluations were made at baseline and at 6 weeks on four tests: the Functional Status Questionnaire, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Six-minute Walk Test, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life–BREF 26-question test. Scores indicated significant improvement in …

Diagnosis, Assessment And Evaluation For Seizures, John W. Margraf Md

Neurology Update for the Non-Neurologist

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Importance Of Implementing Spiritual Assessment And Care Of Patients In Clinical Settings, You Na Park

CwiC-PH

Health professionals need to take care of patients’ spirituality, evaluate various spiritual approaches from both professional and public voices, and address concerns and potential conflicts in meeting the patients’ spiritual needs. There is a number of strategies and solutions to addressing the concerns of spiritual assessments and management of the patients in clinical setting.

The Contribution Of Schizophrenia To Homelessness: Analysis Of The Housing First Model And Possible Prevention Of Serious Mental Illness, Elijah Grillo

CwiC-PH

The Problem

• 2.6 million schizophrenics in the US accounting for more inpatient treatment days than any other medical illness (national cost: $62 billion/year).

• 6% (~160,000) are homeless or live in shelters

• Make up 36% of the 700,000 homeless individuals in the US.

Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention For Substance Craving., Katie Witkiewitz, Sarah Bowen, Haley Douglas, Sharon H Hsu

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Craving, defined as the subjective experience of an urge or desire to use substances, has been identified in clinical, laboratory, and preclinical studies as a significant predictor of substance use, substance use disorder, and relapse following treatment for a substance use disorder. Various models of craving have been proposed from biological, cognitive, and/or affective perspectives, and, collectively, these models of craving have informed the research and treatment of addictive behaviors. In this article we discuss craving from a mindfulness perspective, and specifically how mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) may be effective in reducing substance craving. We present secondary analyses of data …

Oncolog, Volume 58, Number 02, February 2013, Bryan Tutt, Jill Delsigne

OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians (All issues) Archives

• Chronic Viral Hepatitis in Cancer Patients Requires Personalized Management: Chronic viral hepatitis is life-threatening for many patients but curable or manageable for others. But in patients who have both viral hepatitis and cancer, cancer treatment may exacerbate the viral infection and lead to other complications, such as liver failure or even death
• Managing Sleep Disorders in Cancer Patients: Quality sleep is essential to healing, to proper immune function, and even to mental health. Conversely, lack of sleep has been associated with depression, anxiety, and decreased cognitive function. In cancer patients, poor sleep reduces quality of life; nevertheless, most cancer patients …

Association Of Impaired Linear Growth And Worse Neurodevelopmental Outcome In Infants With Single Ventricle Physiology: A Report From The Pediatric Heart Network Infant Single Ventricle Trial., Chitra Ravishankar, Victor Zak, Ismee A. Williams, David C. Bellinger, J William Gaynor, Nancy S. Ghanayem, Catherine D. Krawczeski, Daniel J. Licht, Lynn Mahony, Jane W. Newburger, Victoria L. Pemberton, Richard V. Williams, Renee Sananes, Amanda L. Cook, Teresa Atz, Svetlana Khaikin, Daphne T. Hsu, Pediatric Heart Network Investigators, Girish S. Shirali

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVES: To describe neurodevelopmental outcomes in infants with single ventricle (SV) physiology and determine factors associated with worse outcomes.

STUDY DESIGN: Neurodevelopmental outcomes for infants with SV enrolled in a multicenter drug trial were assessed at 14 months of age using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II. Multivariable regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with worse outcomes.

RESULTS: Neurodevelopmental testing was performed at 14 ± 1 months in 170/185 subjects in the trial. Hypoplastic left heart syndrome was present in 59% and 75% had undergone the Norwood operation. Mean Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI) and mental developmental index (MDI) …

The Biodiversity Hypothesis And Allergic Disease: World Allergy Organization Position Statement., Tari Haahtela, Stephen Holgate, Ruby Pawankar, Cezmi A. Akdis, Suwat Benjaponpitak, Luis Caraballo, Jeffrey Demain, Jay M. Portnoy, Leena Von Hertzen, Wao Special Committee On Climate Change And Biodiversity

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Biodiversity loss and climate change secondary to human activities are now being associated with various adverse health effects. However, less attention is being paid to the effects of biodiversity loss on environmental and commensal (indigenous) microbiotas. Metagenomic and other studies of healthy and diseased individuals reveal that reduced biodiversity and alterations in the composition of the gut and skin microbiota are associated with various inflammatory conditions, including asthma, allergic and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), type1 diabetes, and obesity. Altered indigenous microbiota and the general microbial deprivation characterizing the lifestyle of urban people in affluent countries appear to be risk factors …

The Stigma Of Migraine, William B. Young, Jung E. Park, Iris X. Tian, Joanna Kempner

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

Background

People who have a disease often experience stigma, a socially and culturally embedded process through which individuals experience stereotyping, devaluation, and discrimination. Stigma has great impact on quality of life, behavior, and life chances. We do not know whether or not migraine is stigmatizing.

Methods

We studied 123 episodic migraine patients, 123 chronic migraine patients, and 62 epilepsy patients in a clinical setting to investigate the extent to which stigma attaches to migraine, using epilepsy as a comparison. We used the stigma scale for chronic illness, a 24-item questionnaire suitable for studying chronic neurologic diseases, and various disease impact …

Lifelong Bilingualism Maintains Neural Efficiency For Cognitive Control In Aging, Brian T. Gold, Chobok Kim, Nathan F. Johnson, Richard J. Kryscio, Charles D. Smith

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

Recent behavioral data have shown that lifelong bilingualism can maintain youthful cognitive control abilities in aging. Here, we provide the first direct evidence of a neural basis for the bilingual cognitive control boost in aging. Two experiments were conducted, using a perceptual task-switching paradigm, including a total of 110 participants. In Experiment 1, older adult bilinguals showed better perceptual switching performance than their monolingual peers. In Experiment 2, younger and older adult monolinguals and bilinguals completed the same perceptual task-switching experiment while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed. Typical age-related performance reductions and fMRI activation increases were observed. However, …

The Institutional Context That Supports Team-Based Care For Older Adults, Anna Foucek Tresidder

Dissertations and Theses

The aging population in the U.S. is dramatically increasing; it is predicted that not only will individuals live longer but also that they will live with multiple chronic diseases that could require high levels of medical and social resources. While the aging population increases, the number of health care providers choosing to specialize in caring for the elderly is decreasing just as dramatically. Teams are believed to be a possible response to more efficiently use the providers available, take advantage of alternative provider types, and integrate a range of health and social services to meet patient needs more effectively. Interdisciplinary …

Synchronous And Asynchronous Theta And Gamma Activity During Episodic Memory Formation., John F Burke, Kareem A Zaghloul, Joshua Jacobs, Ryan B Williams, Michael R Sperling, Ashwini D Sharan, Michael J Kahana

Department of Neuroscience Faculty Papers

To test the hypothesis that neural oscillations synchronize to mediate memory encoding, we analyzed electrocorticographic recordings taken as 68 human neurosurgical patients studied and subsequently recalled lists of common words. To the extent that changes in spectral power reflect synchronous oscillations, we would expect those power changes to be accompanied by increases in phase synchrony between the region of interest and neighboring brain areas. Contrary to the hypothesized role of synchronous gamma oscillations in memory formation, we found that many key regions that showed power increases during successful memory encoding also exhibited decreases in global synchrony. Similarly, cortical theta activity …