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The Role Of Alternative Payment Models In Pharmaceutical Services And Outcomes, Matthew G. Parker Jan 2022

The Role Of Alternative Payment Models In Pharmaceutical Services And Outcomes, Matthew G. Parker

All ETDs from UAB

A persistent challenge within the healthcare sector is balancing cost containment for health services and the quality of care associated with these services. This challenge has reinvigorated interest in alternative payment models (i.e., risk-sharing, shared savings, capitation), arrangements between payers and healthcare providers that structure reimbursement for services based on health outcomes. Although much research has assessed the association between these payment models and financial outcomes for medical services, there is a paucity of research that has likewise assessed pharmaceutical outcomes (i.e., electronic prescribing, evidence-based prescribing, medication adherence). The papers comprising this dissertation contribute to this limited body of research …

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A Case Study Of Classroom Practices For Additional Strategies In First Grade, Lori Stclair Rhodes Jan 2022

A Case Study Of Classroom Practices For Additional Strategies In First Grade, Lori Stclair Rhodes

All ETDs from UAB

This study addresses first graders’ conceptual knowledge exhibited in addition strategies in relation to instructional practices and teachers’ beliefs in a suburban Alabama school. To address the purpose of the study, the central question was “What is the nature of the relationship between curricular practices and beliefs and students’ advanced strategy use for addition in first grade?” The study employs a case study design to obtain a deeper and more comprehensive view of students’ conceptual understanding exhibited in advanced addition strategies in the context of the first-grade classroom. Student addition strategies were compared to instructional practices and teachers’ beliefs to …

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Superhero Media And Risk-Taking: Is Superhero Play A Risk Factor For Unintentional Injury In Preschool-Aged Children?, Casie H. Morgan Jan 2022

Superhero Media And Risk-Taking: Is Superhero Play A Risk Factor For Unintentional Injury In Preschool-Aged Children?, Casie H. Morgan

All ETDs from UAB

The preschool years represent a time of rapid human development, hallmarked by exploring one’s environment through gross and fine motor movement, touching and tasting physical objects, and imaginative pretend play. This exploration is developmentally appropriate, but also presents risks. Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for preschool-aged children, and common injuries reflect exploration and risk-taking exhibited during play. Pretend play may be particularly risky if children imitate risky models like superheroes. Superhero media is extremely popular among young children, leading many children to identify closely with superheroes. Frequent exposure and subsequent identification with superheroes is concerning because media …

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Examining Family Health Through Family-Centered Care Within An Organizational Context, Bria Kathryn Morgan Jan 2022

Examining Family Health Through Family-Centered Care Within An Organizational Context, Bria Kathryn Morgan

All ETDs from UAB

Introduction: Family health is characterized as a multi-dimensional process that is shaped by a number of social determinants. Similar to individual health, various domains work in conjunction and intersect to produce family health. Family-centered care is one of the many ways that healthcare providers can support health, however, little is known about if and how it is beneficial for family health. Considering the relevance of an organizational context, this study seeks to understand the delivery of care within an organization and providers’ perceptions of family-centered care. Data/Methods: Using the case of the Ronald McDonald House, this study integrates qualitative content …

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Synergy Between Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia And Pseudomonas Aeruginosa During Polymicrobial Airway Infections, Melissa Skye Mcdaniel Jan 2022

Synergy Between Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia And Pseudomonas Aeruginosa During Polymicrobial Airway Infections, Melissa Skye Mcdaniel

All ETDs from UAB

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a Gram-negative bacillus that can act as an opportunistic pathogen in patients with respiratory diseases, including cystic fibrosis (CF) and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Infection with S. maltophilia is associated with worse lung function, but it remains unclear if this organism contributes directly to lung function decline. Lung infections are often polymicrobial, and S. maltophilia can be isolated from the lung with the key pulmonary pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In the first half of this work, we investigated the pathogenicity of S. maltophilia alone and during polymicrobial infection with P. aeruginosa. We used respiratory infections in mice to assess persistence …

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Nutrition Practices And Body Composition In Infants Born Preterm, Maggie Jerome Jan 2022

Nutrition Practices And Body Composition In Infants Born Preterm, Maggie Jerome

All ETDs from UAB

Adequate nutrition and optimal growth are critical goals of clinical care for premature infants in the NICU due to rapid brain growth and development that occur during this time. Emerging evidence suggests that body composition in preterm infants is predictive of neurodevelopmental and metabolic outcomes later in childhood. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate factors affecting premature infant growth and body composition, including high enteral protein supplementation, nutrition during the first two weeks of life, and race of infants born at 22-32 weeks gestational age admitted to the UAB NICU. In a pilot study, 56 preterm infants were …

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Evaluation Of A Living Shoreline Technique On A Southeastern United States Reservoir, Eric V. Muth Jan 2022

Evaluation Of A Living Shoreline Technique On A Southeastern United States Reservoir, Eric V. Muth

All ETDs from UAB

The impoundment of rivers in the southeastern United States has led to the creation of reservoirs that have seen the riparian zone become heavily developed with residential real estate. As the hybrid river/lake systems started forming new shorelines, property owners reacted by attempting to reduce their losses. This has been done in a variety of ways, with the majority falling into the bulkhead category. The use of vertical hard armament has resulted in a loss of ecological function and an increase in erosion of the lakebed at the toe or escarpment. In response to this, the idea was proposed by …

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Molecular Imaging Of Cancer For Detection And Monitoring Of Response To Combination Therapy, Tiara S. Napier Jan 2022

Molecular Imaging Of Cancer For Detection And Monitoring Of Response To Combination Therapy, Tiara S. Napier

All ETDs from UAB

Imaging is a primary component of cancer care and aids in diagnosing, response assessment, and monitoring. Molecular imaging techniques provide visualization of unique tumor biology that can be used to personalize treatment. Key features of an effective biomarker are sensitivity, specificity, and ability to provide clinical value beyond that of other types of information already available at the time of diagnosis. For particularly heterogeneous cancer subtypes, such as glioblastoma (GBM) and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), reliable biomarkers can be challenging to identify and there are few tar-getable receptors for therapy. Our findings demonstrate that quantifying tumor EGFR (panitumumab-IRDye800CW), granzyme …

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Restoring The Sphingolipid Balance In Glioblastoma, Cyntanna C. Hawkins Jan 2022

Restoring The Sphingolipid Balance In Glioblastoma, Cyntanna C. Hawkins

All ETDs from UAB

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive brain tumor with a median survival of 15 months even with standard of care—surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Two of the key characteristics contributing to this malignancy are its highly invasive phenotype and resistance to the chemotherapy, temozolomide (TMZ). We, and others, have identified the sphingolipid balance as a driver of these phenotypes with dysregulated sphingolipid metabolism seen in GBM patient samples. The ceramidases, specifically acid ceramidase (ASAH1), mediate the balance between ceramides and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). ASAH1 breaks down ceramides ultimately forming S1P. While ceramides induce cell death, S1P promotes migration and cell survival. …

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Cell Type-Specific Diurnal Variation In Hippocampus Physiology, Lacy Kathryn Goode Jan 2022

Cell Type-Specific Diurnal Variation In Hippocampus Physiology, Lacy Kathryn Goode

All ETDs from UAB

Circadian rhythms are biological processes that cycle across 24 hours. Driven endogenously by widely expressed and highly conserved clock genes that compose the circadian molecular clock, circadian rhythms are exhibited in numerous facets of physiology across nearly every tissue throughout the body. Diurnal rhythms in cognition, long-term potentiation (LTP), and the expression of clock genes in hippocampus subfields support a role for circadian regulation of hippocampus physiology. However, little is known regarding the circadian molecular clock and diurnal rhythms in neurophysiology at the cellular level. Here, we characterized diurnal differences in spatial memory, LTP, excitability of and synaptic transmission onto …

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Resonant Solutions To Gross-Pitaevskii Equation With Periodic Potential, Arien Duaibes Jan 2022

Resonant Solutions To Gross-Pitaevskii Equation With Periodic Potential, Arien Duaibes

All ETDs from UAB

Over the years, many methods have been used for solving the Gross-Pitaevskii equation which is also known as a nonlinear Schrodinger equation. In this thesis, we study a nonlinear polyharmonic equation with a periodic potential and quasi-periodic boundary conditions in dimensions higher than one. A special case of the equation, in two dimensions, is the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. This thesis aims to find solutions close to combinations of two plane waves at high energy. To start with, we use a technique similar to that known for the linear case. Then, we construct a method of successive approximations. We obtain the desired …

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The Use Of Vesgen For Analysis Of Retinal Vasculature In Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Mariana Desiree Dupont Jan 2022

The Use Of Vesgen For Analysis Of Retinal Vasculature In Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Mariana Desiree Dupont

All ETDs from UAB

Pulmonary artery hypertension is a chronic and progressive disease leading to right heart failure and, ultimately, death if untreated. The goal of the studies in this dissertation was to determine if fluorescein angiography (FA), and color fundus angiography (CF) imaging could be used to garner critical information about retinal changes in individuals with pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). VESsel GENerational Analysis (VESGEN) is a noninvasive computer program that assigns branching generation to large and small vessels. VESGEN was utilized to investigate vascular alterations in FA, and CF imaging investigating disease progression in PAH. This dissertation demonstrated that PAH patients had aberrant …

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Exploring The Influence Of Psychosocial Stress And Inflammatory Properties Of The Diet On Cardiometabolic Risk And Gut Microbiome Health Among Young Adult Women Of Birmingham, Alabama, Rachel Olivia Knight Jan 2022

Exploring The Influence Of Psychosocial Stress And Inflammatory Properties Of The Diet On Cardiometabolic Risk And Gut Microbiome Health Among Young Adult Women Of Birmingham, Alabama, Rachel Olivia Knight

All ETDs from UAB

Concerning trends for obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, and obesity-related cancers, or cardiometabolic disease (CMD), are developing within the emerging and young adult/adulthood (EYA) population. Evidence supports the concept that chronic stress leads to physiologic dysregulation, reduced mental health, chronic diseases, and reduced longevity; however, these are not inevitable outcomes, and resilience or vulnerability is determined by interacting environmental and biobehavioral factors. Although CMD manifests clinically in older adulthood, disease pathophysiology begins earlier, and thus, EYA is a critical time for observation and intervention. Growing evidence indicates inflammation is a major risk factor in CMD development and may be exacerbated by …

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Predicting Change In Quality Of Life In Patients With Advanced Cancer And Family Caregivers Using Gps Data, Kyungmi Lee Jan 2022

Predicting Change In Quality Of Life In Patients With Advanced Cancer And Family Caregivers Using Gps Data, Kyungmi Lee

All ETDs from UAB

Patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers often experience poor quality of life. Measuring patient and caregiver physical and mental quality of life is typically performed using participant reported outcome measures, especially validated questionnaires. However, this self-report approach has several limitations, including recall bias, respondent burden, and social desirability bias. One potential solution to these limitations may be to use passive data collected by personally owned smartphones (e.g., GPS data) to model and assess the quality of life in family caregivers and patients with advanced cancer. Yet, there is no evidence to date that passively collected smartphone data is …

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Spectrum-Efficient High-Density Data Communication For Wireless Sensor Networks, Md. Kamal Hossain Jan 2022

Spectrum-Efficient High-Density Data Communication For Wireless Sensor Networks, Md. Kamal Hossain

All ETDs from UAB

Spectrum-efficient data telemetry is critically important in high-density wireless sensor networks. The rapid expansion of the sensor network has generated a large volume of data on the limited bandwidth and brought new challenges, including transmission bottlenecks, latency, and congestion. The existing wireless technologies cannot support the proliferation of sensor devices for the limitations of spectrum and resources, including computational power, memory, and feature size that hinder the deployment of sophisticated signal processing. To overcome these limitations, orthogonal pulse-based telemetry provides an excellent alternative with reduced complexity, data compression, and efficient transmission. However, the number of data channels also limits the …

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Palliative Care Experiences And Educational Needs Of Healthcare Interprofessionals In Jamaica: A Mixed Methods Study, Rebecca L. Edwards Jan 2022

Palliative Care Experiences And Educational Needs Of Healthcare Interprofessionals In Jamaica: A Mixed Methods Study, Rebecca L. Edwards

All ETDs from UAB

Universal access to palliative care (PC) is a human right that much of the world has not accomplished and educating a PC workforce is critical to PC advancement. Higher PC disparities exist in low-and-middle income countries, such as Jamaica. The World Health Organization Public Health Model and the International PC Initiative’s PC roadmap emphasize the importance of PC education. The purpose of this mixed methods dissertation study was to investigate the PC experiences and educational needs of healthcare interprofessionals who provide care for patients with late-stage serious illnesses in Jamaica. Three specific aims incorporated quantitative investigation of physicians’, nurses’, and …

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Intrinsically-Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells And Their Functional Roles, Kevin Q. Chang Jan 2022

Intrinsically-Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells And Their Functional Roles, Kevin Q. Chang

All ETDs from UAB

This project was conducted in Old World monkeys and focused on characterization of the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) as they pertain to the pupillary light reflex, as well as on the neuroanatomical and electrophysiological characterization of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus as it pertains to circadian rhythms. A custom antibody was developed against the human melanopsin gene. We validated the antibody using western blot and immunohistochemistry. The functional role of ipRGCs in driving pupillary responses was investigated through immunotoxin-induced ablation in Rhesus macaques with the antibody conjugated to saporin. As hypothesized, the pupillary light reflex and …

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Health Disparities In Cardiometabolic Risk Among African American And European American Adults, Catharine A. Couch Jan 2022

Health Disparities In Cardiometabolic Risk Among African American And European American Adults, Catharine A. Couch

All ETDs from UAB

African American (AA) individuals are disproportionately burdened by cardiometabolic disease, including type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD), and associated risk factors. The objective of this dissertation research was to investigate pathophysiological and lifestyle contributors to racial disparities in cardiometabolic disease including beta-cell dysfunction, ectopic fat, the natriuretic peptide system, and diet. These first three risk factors, beta-cell dysfunction, ectopic fat, and the natriuretic peptide system, were explored in a cross-sectional study of young AA and European American (EA) adults. The fourth risk factor, diet, was explored in a large, national cohort of black and white adults. First, we …

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Longitudinal Investigation Of Financial Capacity And Driving Performance In Mild Cognitive Impairment, Tyler P. Bull Jan 2022

Longitudinal Investigation Of Financial Capacity And Driving Performance In Mild Cognitive Impairment, Tyler P. Bull

All ETDs from UAB

Previous research has shown that Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is an intermediary between normal aging and dementia that is associated with declines in financial capacity and driving performance, two important instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Both financial capacity and driving performance have been studied cross-sectionally within an MCI population, but there is limited information on the changes in performance over time. The present study utilized data from a recent longitudinal clinical trial of speed of processing training to further examine changes in driving performance and financial capacity over time. Participants included seventy-five older adults with MCI who completed an …

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Il-22 Mediated Host Defense During Attaching-Effacing Pathogen Infection, Baiyi Cai Jan 2022

Il-22 Mediated Host Defense During Attaching-Effacing Pathogen Infection, Baiyi Cai

All ETDs from UAB

Intestinal infections are a cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and remain a public threat. Interleukin (IL)-22 is central to host immune responses in the intestine during infection and inflammation. IL-22 can be produced by both innate and adaptive immune cells, yet their relative contributions to host protection remain unclear. Here we demonstrated the specific role and mechanism for IL-22 from innate and adaptive sources to protect the host. Using the Citrobacter rodentium (C.r) model, we found that IL-22 from innate cell, protect the host during early infection. IL-22 induces epithelial production of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) recruiting chemokine CXCL1, CXCL2 …

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Self-Efficacy In Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Erica Anderson Jan 2022

Self-Efficacy In Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Erica Anderson

All ETDs from UAB

the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a major contributor of morbidity and mortality. The disease is characterized by chronic irritation and inflammation of the airways. The most common symptoms include chronic cough and shortness-of-breath. Pulmonary rehabilitation is a comprehensive exercise and education program for people with lung disease. It is well-established as an intervention to improve symptoms and other qualityof- life outcomes in people with COPD. Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s own abilities. It is recognized by the American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society as an integral part …

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Distinct Clinical Manifestations Associated With Autoantibodies And Cytokines In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Fatima K. Alduraibi Jan 2022

Distinct Clinical Manifestations Associated With Autoantibodies And Cytokines In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Fatima K. Alduraibi

All ETDs from UAB

Objective: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by production of autoantibodies (autoAbs) and cytokines. Moreover, lupus nephritis (LN) occurs in approximately 50% of SLE patients. AutoAb and cytokine levels produced by B and T cells are high in LN patients, although their relationship with histological patterns requires investigation. Methods: We analyzed the relationship between B cell cytokines and major T cell cyto-kines, including their association with autoAbs, and the clinical manifestations of SLE, especially LN. We also analyzed endogenous intracellular interferon beta (IFNβ) expression in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells and serum circulating nephritogenic autoAbs from …

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Documenting Covid-19 At Uab: A Library’S Role In Preserving Accounts Of The Coronavirus Pandemic, Margaret Wood Balch, Anna Kaetz Jan 2022

Documenting Covid-19 At Uab: A Library’S Role In Preserving Accounts Of The Coronavirus Pandemic, Margaret Wood Balch, Anna Kaetz

Libraries Professional Work

In August of 2020, UAB Libraries of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) launched the Documenting COVID-19 at UAB project, seeking the stories of UAB students, faculty, staff, and health care workers navigating life during COVID-19 to preserve them in a born-digital collection. Since then, ninety-five items have been added to the collection, including photographs, video/audio productions, news items, and personal written accounts. This article discusses the planning and creation of the Documenting COVID-19 at UAB collection and highlights several submissions that provided uniquely insightful information about the pandemic. It also addresses how libraries play a key role in …

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Dialing Through The Surges: Covid Contact-Tracers Face Burnout But Stay Motivated, Matt Windsor Dec 2021

Dialing Through The Surges: Covid Contact-Tracers Face Burnout But Stay Motivated, Matt Windsor

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No abstract provided.

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Turning New Year's Exercise Resolutions Into Realistic, Long-Term Habits, Alicia Rohan Dec 2021

Turning New Year's Exercise Resolutions Into Realistic, Long-Term Habits, Alicia Rohan

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No abstract provided.

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Matalon Selected As Corresponding Member For The Academy Of Athens, Anna Jones Dec 2021

Matalon Selected As Corresponding Member For The Academy Of Athens, Anna Jones

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No abstract provided.

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Robinson Appointed In Nih Advisory Committee For Research On Women's Health, Staff Dec 2021

Robinson Appointed In Nih Advisory Committee For Research On Women's Health, Staff

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Setting Boundaries With Loved Ones: Why It Is Important And How To Do It, Alicia Rohan Dec 2021

Setting Boundaries With Loved Ones: Why It Is Important And How To Do It, Alicia Rohan

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Aeiva Has You Covered For Art Entertainment In Early 2022, Staff Dec 2021

Aeiva Has You Covered For Art Entertainment In Early 2022, Staff

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Robinson Is First At Uab To Receive Prestigious Idd Scholarship, Staff Dec 2021

Robinson Is First At Uab To Receive Prestigious Idd Scholarship, Staff

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