Digital Commons Network^™

A Comparison Of Vertebral Osteoarthritis Between Archaic And Mississippian Populations And Its Relation To Subsistence Activities : An Examination Of The Burials At The Perry Site (1lu25) And Moundville (Msm) Sites, Jessica Johns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Fungi-Derived Natural Products With Binding Affinities For Human Opioid Or Cannabinoid Receptors, Jiangtao Gao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Both opioid and cannabinoid receptors belong to the large superfamily of GPCRs and play an important role in a variety of processes including pain, craving, neurodegeneration, metabolic regulation, anxiety and immune function. Therefore, recent advances and discoveries in opioid and cannabinoid receptors have paved the way for a very exciting future for opioid and cannabinoid receptors-based therapies to potentially treat a variety of conditions. However, the growing realizations of the complexity of these two receptors regulation in physiological and pathological conditions have discouraged the development of new therapeutics. So, it is important for us to identify new chemical scaffolds which …

Clinical Trial Of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy To Reduce Antiretroviral Side Effects In Hiv Patients, R. Eric Doerfler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background & Purpose: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS has led to significant improvements in survival and a reduction in AIDS-related morbidity. Adherence to regimens is vital, yet clinical observations and research have suggested that side effects are a significant reason for non-adherence. This randomized, controlled clinical trial was a pilot study sought to determine if a brief exposure cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) could reduce side effect symptoms in HIV/AIDS patients on ART.

Methods: 33 participants were randomized to standard adherence education alone or adherence education plus three sessions of CBT over a period of three months.

Results: Completing the study were …

Assessing The Learning Needs Of South Carolina Nurses By Exploring Their Perceived Knowledge Of Emergency Preparedness, Anne Elizabeth Mckibbin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Problem: Nurses are first responders to natural or man made disasters and increasing awareness of the central role nurses play in disaster response may prompt nurses to sharpen existing skills and develop new skills needed to competently respond to disaster events.

Purpose: To assess South Carolina nurses' learning needs by exploring their perceived knowledge of emergency preparedness in order to gain a better understanding of nurses' emergency preparedness learning needs and prioritize training efforts based on these needs.

Design and Methods: Boone's Programming Model's concept of planning provided the framework for this study which utilized a descriptive correlational design. The …

The Impact Of Pre-Operative Mupirocin Prophylaxis On Surgical Site Infections In Same-Day Admission Open Heart Patients, Joanna Gerry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The CDC estimates that one in 20 patients admitted to the hospital is a carrier of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Staphylococci are commonly found on the skin and mucous membranes within the anterior nares, which provides the principle reservoir for this organism. These organisms can go on to cause surgical site infections in hospitalized patients. Mupirocin is an effective topical medication used to eliminate nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Based on Level A evidence, the 2007 Society of Thoracic Surgeons has made a Class I recommendation for the use of mupirocin for all patients undergoing cardiac surgery in …

Using Modeling And Simulation To Evaluate Disease Control Measures, Tracy Atkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation introduced several issues concerning the analysis of diseases by showing how modeling and simulation could be used to assist in creating health policy by estimating the effects of such policies. The first question posed was how would education, vaccination and a combination of these two programs effect the possible outbreak of meningitis on a college campus. After creating a model representative of the transmission dynamics of meningitis and establishing parameter values characteristic of the University of Central Florida main campus, the results of a deterministic model were presented in several forms. The result of this model was the …

Toward A Real-Time Celestial Body Information System, Brian Mitchell Guise

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration maintains a challenging schedule of planned and on-going space exploration missions that extend to the outer reaches of our galaxy. New missions represent a huge investment, in terms of actual costs for equipment and support infrastructure, and personnel training. The success of a mission is critical considering both the monetary investment, and for manned missions, the lives which are put at risk. Tragedies involving Challenger, Columbia, Apollo 7, and the near tragedy of Apollo 13 exemplify that space exploration is a dangerous endeavor, posing extreme environmental conditions on both equipment and personnel. NASA, the …

A Fractal Analysis Of The Binding And Dissociation Kinetics Of Analyte-Receptor Systems On Biosensor Surfaces, Ifejesu Eni-Olorunda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Modeling Mortuary Behavior Based On Secondary Burial Data From Carson Mound Group, Coahoma County, Mississippi, Jenna Leigh Anne James

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Incidence And Epidemiologic Factors Of Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Skin And Soft Tissue I, Ivonne Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a serious public health problem nationwide, threatening to develop into an epidemic. Many of these patients are presenting to their primary care clinics with skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). The CDC has reported that in 2005, MRSA was responsible for an estimated 94,000 life-threatening infections and 16,650 deaths. The purpose of this study is to estimate the incidence of CA-MRSA within a specific family practice in Florida and to identify epidemiologic factors, classify antibiotic susceptibility patterns, and evaluate patient education in regard to disease management and prevention. This study was a descriptive, epidemiologic, three-year …

Paleopathology In Ancient Eygpt: Evidence From The Sites Of Dayr Al-Barsha And Sheikh Said, Cindy Malnasi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For centuries, people have been fascinated with how the ancient Egyptians lived, and particularly how they died. Although Egyptologists in the past had a greater interest in the treasures that accompanied the dead, there has now been a shift in focus on the actual ancient Egyptians themselves and their ways of life. Recognizing the health and disease status of ancient Egyptians has become particularly important. The aim of this research project is to document the paleopathology of the individuals from the sites of Dayr al-Barsha and Sheikh Said encompassing the Old Kingdom (2686 - 2160 BC), the First Intermediate Period …

Source Representation And Framing In Childhood Immunization Communication, April Raneri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has indicated a strong interest in knowing who is being represented and how information is being represented in the communication about childhood immunization. This study uses a two-part analysis to look at source representation and framing in childhood immunization communication. A quantitative analysis of articles from the New York Times and USA Today were examined for their source representation, their use of fear appeals, through the Extended Parallel Processing Model (EPPM), and the use of frames, through the application of Prospect Theory. A qualitative semiotic analysis was conducted on 36 images that appeared on www.yahoo.com and www.google.com to find …

Magnetic Nanosensors For Multiplexed Bacterial Pathogenesis Identification, Charalambos Kaittanis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developing diagnostic modalities that utilize nanomaterials and miniaturized detectors can have an impact in point-of-care diagnostics. Diagnostic systems that (i) are sensitive, robust, and portable, (ii) allow detection in clinical samples, (iii) require minimal sample preparation yielding results quickly, and (iv) can simultaneously quantify multiple targets, would have a great potential in biomedical research and public healthcare. Bacterial infections still cause pathogenesis throughout the world (Chapter I). The emergence of multi-drug resistant strains, the potential appearance of bacterial pandemics, the increased occurrence of bacterial nosocomial infections, the wide-scale food poisoning incidents and the use of bacteria in biowarfare highlight the …

The Role Of The Feral Pig (Sus Scrofa) As A Disturbance Agent And Seed Disperser In Central Florida's Natural Lands, Camille Rose Brescacin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Feral pigs (Sus scrofa) are considered to be among the world’s worst invasive species due to their successful invasion and ecological and economic impact to native and agricultural plants and animals around the world. Feral pigs are significant disturbance agents that destroy plant communities, change soil characteristics, alter nutrient cycling, and create open sites for colonization of both native and non-native plant species through their foraging behavior called rooting. In contrast to native animal disturbances, rooting is a striking feature in the landscape that varies in space, seasonal timing, frequency (number of times rooted), and intensity (depth of rooting). During …

Anticipatory Grief In The Context Of Dementia Caregiving., Caitlin Holley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated the nature of anticipatory grief in a sample of dementia caregivers, and examined the relationship between anticipatory grief and caregiver burden. Anticipatory grief can be described as one's reaction to the impending death of a loved one, in addition to responses to other previously endured, ongoing, and anticipated losses. Interest in anticipatory grief has been inconsistent, and has typically focused on terminal diseases such as cancer. However, the issues involved in anticipatory grief are unique in the context of dementia due to the progressive deterioration of both cognitive and physical abilities. A total of 80 informal …

Mapping The Dorsal Skin Pigmentation Patterns Of Two Sympatric Populations Of Ambystomatid Salamanders, Ambystoma Opacum And A. Maculatum From Northeast Tennessee., Lok Raj Pokhrel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Because of growing concern of habitat fragmentation and its adverse effects on salamander communities in Appalachian region, sympatric populations of ambystomatid salamanders A. opacum and A. maculatum were studied in Northeast Tennessee to address a number of questions: i) the extent of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in both species, ii) what traits influence the dorsal skin pigmentation and how, iii) whether gender differences in developmental stability occur, and iv) the extent of phenotypic variation within each species. The findings of this study revealed SSD in both species of salamanders. The most parsimonious statistical model was developed that explained the influence …

The Burden Of Fetching Water: Using Caloric Expenditure As An Indicator Of Access To Safe Drinking Water—A Case Study From Xieng Khouang Province, Lao Pdr, Jeff La Frenierre

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Millennium Development Goals measure ‘access to improved drinking water’ using an indicator that defines access as the presence of an improved water source within 1 kilometer of a person’s dwelling. This purely linear measurement has significant shortcomings, including a lack of consideration for the difficulty of the terrain being traversed and the weight of the loads being carried. This paper examines in detail the human energy costs associated with fetching water, first using two Lao villages as case studies, then applying a predictive energy expenditure model to measure the potential caloric effect of variations in the age and gender …

Nectin-1 Is Degraded In Chlamydia Trachomatis-Infected Genital Epithelial Cells And Is Required For Herpes Simplex Virus Co-Infection-Induced C. Trachomatis Persistence., Jingru Sun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common bacterial STD agent in the US. This bacterium has a unique biphasic developmental cycle in which the infectious elementary body (EB) infects a host mucosal epithelial cell and differentiates into the replicative form (the reticulate body or RB) within a modified vacuole called an inclusion. The RB later divides and develops back into an EB and is released, perpetuating the infectious cycle. When developing chlamydiae are exposed to unfavorable environmental conditions, they deviate from the normal developmental cycle into a non-infectious but viable state termed persistence. Previous data from our …

The Isolation And Structural Determination Of Two Sterol Sulfates That Reverse Efflux Pump-Mediated Fluconazole Resistance In Candida Albicans From A Marine Sponge Topsentia Sp., Jessica Ann Digirolamo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Modulation Of Dendritic Cells With The Interleukin-10 Gene On Polycation-Modified Polymeric Particles, Liang Jia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gene therapy has emerged as a field to modulate cell functions by introducing genes of interest to target cells. An emerging focus in this field is to employ non-viral vectors to deliver immunosuppressive cytokines to dendritic cells (DCs) to attenuate damaging immune responses. DCs serve as potential targets for suppression of T cell responses. In this work, we investigated the ability of polycation-modified polymeric particles complexed with interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene to modulate DCs. The delivery systems (designated as PSO10H6 and PLGAO10H6) were formed by coating cationic peptide O10H6 (O: ornithine; H: histidine) on the polystyrene (PS) and poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) …

Consumer Perspectives Of Health During Prenatal Care In The Usa And Iceland: An Exploratory Study, Claudia Wiseman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Prenatal care (PNC) is the healthcare service most often provided to women of childbearing age throughout the world. Poorly understood and defined, based on culture, and expensive for any healthcare system, PNC remains a target for change and improvement. The purpose of this cross-national qualitative research study using narrative inquiry methods was to explore consumer perspectives of individual health and routine PNC in the USA and Iceland. Methods: A purposive sampling technique was used to identify study participants (n = 32) from the United States (n = 16) and Iceland (n = 16). Data were collected via a semi …

Digital Research Cycles: How Attitudes Toward Content, Culture And Technology Affect Web Development., Edward Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It has been estimated that one third of the world's population does not have access to "adequate" health care. Some 1.6 billion people live in countries experiencing "concentrated" acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemics. Many countries in Africa--and other low-income countries--are in dire need of help providing adequate health care services to their citizens. They require more hands-on care from Western health workers--and training so more African health workers can eventually care for their own citizens. But these countries also need assistance acquiring and implementing both texts--the body of medical information potentially available to them--and technology--the means by which that …

Characterization Of The Genes Involved In Biosynthesis And Transport Of Schizokinen, A Siderophore Produced By Rhizobium Leguminosarum Iari 917., David Jack Hammond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Iron is the 4th most abundant metal on the earth's crust and is required by most organisms as a cofactor for many enzymes; however, at physiological pH and aerobic conditions iron forms insoluble ferric oxyhydroxide polymers. Siderophores are low molecular weight compounds that scavenge ferric ions, bind with high affinity, and transport it into the cell via multicomponent transport systems. Rhizobia are soil dwelling organisms that form symbiotic relationships with host plants and fix atmospheric nitrogen, while the bacteria receive nutrients. R. leguminosarum IARI 917 produces a siderophore characterized as 'schizokinen'. In the present study, we have characterized the binding …

Community Involvement Among Liberians In Johnson City, Tennessee: An Exploratory Pilot Study., Zon Gangbayee Quewea

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined predictors of community involvement among Liberians in Johnson City, Tennessee. This study was exploratory in nature and used a social survey employing closed-ended questions. Using cross-tabulation analysis, results derived from a random sample (n = 62) of respondents indicate that persons who were older, married with children, employed, more religious, members of the Mande Fu ethnic group, and/or tended toward very liberal or conservative views had the highest rates of community participation. Predictors of types of community participation were also analyzed, the most significant of which was the higher prevalence of males in leadership roles and females …

Antigen Trafficking Within Chlamydia Trachomatis-Infected Polarized Human Endometrial Epithelial Cells., David Kelley Giles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chlamydia trachomatis serovars D-K are the leading cause of bacterially-acquired sexually transmitted infections in the United States. As an obligate intracellular pathogen, C. trachomatis infects columnar epithelial cells of the genital mucosae and can cause deleterious sequelae such as pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. Several chlamydial antigens reach the host cell cytosol prior to the natural release of chlamydiae at the end of the developmental cycle. While some of these extra-inclusion antigens traffic to the host cell surface, others remain intracellular where they are proposed to influence vital host cell functions and antigen trafficking and presentation. The research …

Reliability And Validity Of Ems Dispatch Code-Based Categorization Of Emergency Patients For Syndromic Surveillance., Matthew Raymond Groenewold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A retrospective study involving the secondary analysis of public health surveillance records was undertaken to characterize the reliability and validity of an EMS dispatch data-based scheme for assigning emergency patients to surveillance syndromes in relation to two other schemes, one based on hospital ED clinicians' manual categorization according to patients' chief complaint and clinical presentation, and one based on ICD-9 coded hospital ED diagnoses. Comparisons of a sample of individual emergency patients' syndrome assignments according to the EMS versus each of the two hospital categorization schemes were made by matching EMS run records to their corresponding emergency department patient encounter …

Bent Bones: The Pathological Assessment Of Two Fetal Skeletons From The Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Darcy Cope

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study evaluates two fetal individuals (B532 and B625) from the Kellis 2 cemetery (Roman period circa A.D. 50 A.D. 450), Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, that display skeletal anomalies that may explain their death. Both individuals exhibit bowing of the long bones in addition to other skeletal deformities unique to each individual. To assess these pathologies a differential diagnosis based on the congenital occurrence of long bone bowing is developed. Long bone bowing is selected because it is the more prevalent abnormality in the paleopathological literature and the other abnormalities are not as easily identifiable in the literature. For the …

Cis-Regulatory Analysis Of The Pigment Cell Differentiation Gene Polyketide Synthase, David Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The analysis of Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs) is essential to understanding the complete process of embryo development. Elucidating every gene regulatory circuit from maternal regulatory inputs all the way to the activation of differentiation gene batteries is an important step in increasing our understanding of developmental biology. In this work I study the cis-regulatory architecture of a pigment cell differentiation gene, polyketide synthase (SpPks) in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. SpPks encodes an enzyme that is responsible for the biosynthesis of the sea urchin pigment echinochrome in larval pigment cells. The analysis of the promoter of a differentiation gene will …

Art Therapy Treatment With Incarcerated Women, Bonnie Erickson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of art therapy in decreasing symptoms of trauma and psychological distress in women who were incarcerated in county jails in the Southeastern United States. In order to protect the integrity of the study, control subjects were in different dormitories from the treatment subjects. While the dormitories were randomly assigned to treatment or control, the subjects were not. The dependent measures were paper and pencil tests, the Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45.2) and the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) given at pretest and posttest. A demographic questionnaire was completed in the first session to better characterize the participants. In …

Modeling Transmission Dynamics Of Tuberculosis Including Various Latent Periods, Tracy Atkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The systems of equations created by Blower et al. (1995) and Jia et al. (2007) designed to model the dynamics of Tuberculosis are solved using the computer software SIMULINK. The results are first employed to examine the intrinsic transmission dynamics of the disease through two models developed by Blower et al. (1995). The "simple transmission model" was used primarily to give insight to the behavior of the susceptible, latent, and infectious groups of individuals. Then, we consider a more detailed transmission model which includes several additional factors. This model captures the dynamics of not only the susceptible, latent and infectious …