Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Diabetes On Colorectal Cancer Outcomes, Neel A. Shah

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic comorbid condition seen in elderly CRC patients. Outcomes of CRC patients with diabetes specifically stage at diagnosis, emergency condition for CRC surgery, survival, and mortality have been insufficiently explored. The aims of the study were to investigate the association between diabetes and stage at diagnosis of CRC in elderly Medicare beneficiaries; to check the association of diabetes with presenting as an emergency condition for CRC surgery in the elderly and; to explore the effect of diabetes on survival of elderly Medicare beneficiaries with CRC. Using the SEER-Medicare data from 2003-2005, patients newly …

Mindfully Teaching In The Classroom: A Literature Review, Nicole J. Albrecht, Patricia M. Albrecht, Marc Cohen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The practice of mindfulness is being used with increased frequency in schools around the world. In the current literature review we outline some of the core concepts and practices associated with mindfulness and discuss studies analysing the process of mindfulness teacher training. Preliminary research in this emerging field suggests that mindfulness has the potential to improve classroom management, teacher-student relationships and instructional strategies. Mindfulness instructors recommend that before teachers can feel comfortable and effectively teach mindfulness in the classroom they need to embody and practice mindfulness in their own lives. It is proposed that in order to improve our knowledge …

Development And Validation Of Sunlight Exposure Measurement Questionnaire (Sem-Q) For Use In Adult Population Residing In Pakistan, Quratulain Humayun, Romaina Iqbal, Iqbal Azam, Aysha Habib Khan, Amna Rehana Siddiqui, Naila Baig Ansari

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background: Vitamin D deficiency has been identified as a major public health problem worldwide. Sunlight is the main source of vitamin D and its measurement using dosimeters is expensive and difficult for use in population-based studies. Hence, the aim of this study was to develop and validate questionnaires to assess sunlight exposure in healthy individuals residing in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: Two questionnaires with seven important items for sunlight exposure assessment were developed. Fifty four healthy adults were enrolled based on their reported sunlight exposure (high = 17, moderate = 18, low = 19) from Aga Khan University, Karachi. Over four …

Assessment Of The Impact Of Integrated Simulation On Critical Thinking And Clinical Judgment In Nursing Instruction, Rita Allen Meyer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of using simulation and didactic instruction on critical thinking and clinical judgment with student nurses enrolled in a fall semester medical-surgical class. Specifically, it was of interest to compare the performance of these fall semester nursing students with the performance of nursing students enrolled in a spring semester class who received only didactic instruction.

The study consisted of 18 participants who were nursing students enrolled in the senior level Adult Medical-Surgical 111, the third medical-surgical class in the curriculum. There were two non-randomized groups. The experimental group received the intervention, …

Cross Practitioner Inter-Rater Variability: Grading Of Adverse Skin Reactions After Radiation Therapy, Carleen A. Evans

Education Doctoral

This study estimated the inter-rater variability for adverse event grades for skin reactions related to radiation therapy among nurses and physicians. Currently, there appears to be a gap in literature on the reliability of severity grades across grading systems. Physicians and nurses conducted a retrospective review of photographs of skin reactions of patients with a diagnosis of breast cancer who received cancer therapy. Rater participants rated the condition(s) seen in each photograph on a scale of Grade 0 to Grade 5. This inter-rater reliability study used quantitative methods to estimate initer-rater agreement and inter-rater reliability of severity grades by comparing …

Understanding The Tradeoff Between Safety And Food Quality In A Mammalian Herbivore Specialist, The Pygmy Rabbit, Jamie Lyn Utz

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Conserving a sensitive animal species requires understanding the simultaneous tradeoffs between food and shelter within a landscape. Most management approaches only consider single factors like percent cover at landscape spatial scales. Quantifying the synergy between cover and food quality at a scale relevant to a foraging animal could better reveal the forces that shape habitat use. To better understand habitat use components, I investigated tradeoffs between predation risk and diet quality in a sagebrush endemic, the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis). This species is a rare example of a specialist herbivore that relies almost entirely on sagebrush for cover …

Fiberoptic Intubation In A Paediatric Patient With Severe Temporomandibular Joint (Tmj) Ankylosis, Ali Asghar, Faisal Shamim, Asiyah Aman

Department of Anaesthesia

Craniofacial abnormalities are associated with mandibular hypoplasia, reduced mandibular space with overcrowding of soft tissues and maxillary hypoplasia. Decreased mouth opening and limitation in jaw protrusion are independent predictors of difficult airway in such patients. The relative difficult problem becomes even graver in the paediatric age group because of their small mouth opening and un-cooperativeness. A child with severe temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ankylosis presented with negligible mouth opening and required surgical correction under general anaesthesia. Successful intubation was performed with endotracheal tube size 5.5 mm using an adult 4.3 mm fiberoptic bronchoscope under inhalational as well as topical anaesthesia.

Sociosexuality, Mate Preferences, And Sex Steroid Hormone Levels Among Breastfeeding Women In Manila, Michelle Escasa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project investigates the influence of lactation on female sociosexuality and mate preferences in urban Manila, a population with long-term breastfeeding, low contraceptive use, and quick return to ovulatory cycling. Physiological and evolutionary considerations suggest that lactating women face important life history allocation trade-offs between mating and parenting effort that may be manifest in their sociosexual behavior and mate preferences. Breastfeeding (n=155) and control (n=105) women were recruited to provide a saliva sample (for testosterone and estradiol analyses), complete a questionnaire, and complete a face and voice preference task to determine preferences for masculinity. Breastfeeding women reported differences in commitment …

Strategies To Maximize Feed Quality And Poultry Performance, Kelley G. S. Wamsley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The majority of the research in this dissertation was conducted specifically to benefit a local turkey integrator, Virginia Poultry Grower's Cooperative, which has turkey growers in both West Virginia and Virginia. All of the research presented in this dissertation is applied in nature and may be directly implemented in the commercial poultry industry to improve production. Many commercial feed mills utilize low mixer-added fat (MAF) to increase ingredient binding opportunities and pellet quality, but this technique may decrease feed nutrient digestibility. In Chapter 2, two experiments were conducted in order to determine the best feed manufacture technique (MTECH) to maximize …

Epipathogenesis Of Caries: Analyses Of Family Structure, Fear, And Fatalism Upon World Health Organization Decayed, Missing, And Filled Teeth Severity In Appalachia West Virginia And Pennsylvania, R. Constance Wiener

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Appalachian has many social, economic, and biologic factors impacting dental health over the life-course.;Purpose: This study examined dental caries experience and family structure, dental fear, and fatalism in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.;Method: Using a cross-sectional study design, 2002-2009 Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia data were analyzed utilizing the World Health Organization definitions for caries experience, dichotomized into low and high. Three groups were studied: 1) children, 11-13 years (N=237); 2) adolescents, 14-17 years (N=191); and 3) adults, 18 years and above (N=1125). For multivariable model development, generalized estimating equations with exchangeable working structures accounted for family clusters.;Results. For …

Switchgrass Potential On Reclaimed Surface Mines For Biofuel Production In West Virginia, Michael A. Marra

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The high cost and environmental risks associated with non-renewable energy sources has caused an increased interest in, and development of renewable biofuels. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), a warm season perennial grass, has been investigated as a source of biofuel feedstock due to its high biomass production on marginal soils, its tolerance of harsh growing conditions, and its ability to provide habitat for wildlife and soil conservation cover. West Virginia contains vast expanses of reclaimed surface mine lands and could potentially benefit from the production of switchgrass as a biofuel feedstock. Furthermore, switchgrass production could satisfy Surface Mining Reclamation and Control …

The Ozark Historical Review, V. 41, 2012 Entire_Issue

The Ozark Historical Review

No abstract provided.

Mrp4 Is A Crucial Regulator Of Testosterone Biosynthesis, Jessica Ann Morgan

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The physiological role of multidrug resistance protein 4 (Mrp4) in the testes is unknown. It was discovered that Mrp4 is expressed primarily in mouse and human Leydig cells; however, there is no current evidence that Mrp4 regulates testosterone biosynthesis. The role of Mrp4 was investigated in Leydig cells where testosterone production is regulated by cAMP, an intracellular second messenger formed when the luteinizing hormone (LH) receptor (Lhr) is activated. As Mrp4 regulates cAMP, we compared testosterone levels in our Mrp4 WT and KO mice. Prepubertal KO mice had significantly reduced testicular testosterone, impaired gametogenesis, and disrupted cAMP homeostasis, resulting in …

The Health Of Rural Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Kimberly Y. Robitaille

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Introduction: Grandparents are becoming increasingly responsible for raising their grandchildren. Previous studies have noted physical and mental health limitations for custodial grandparents. Grandparents face numerous challenges in raising grandchildren and consequently, experience high stress levels. However, coping and social support have been found to mediate grandparent stress. Rural custodial grandparents have been an understudied population. Using the Stress Process Model, this study extends the knowledge of rural grandparents raising grandchildren by describing the relationships among physical and mental health, stressors, coping, and social supports for custodial grandparents living in Western Kentucky.

Methods: A mixed methods approach was used to examine …

Nanotherapies For Treating Prostate Cancer, Michael Danquah

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Current prostate cancer treatment remains ineffective primarily due to ineffectual therapeutic strategies and numerous tumor-associated physiological barriers which hinder efficacy of anticancer agents. Therefore, the focus of this study was to investigate a new combination therapy approach for treating prostate cancer and develop polymeric nanocarriers to facilitate anticancer drug and nucleic acid delivery.

It was hypothesized that simultaneously targeting androgen-androgen receptor (AR) and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) signaling pathways would be effective in treating prostate cancer. The effect of bicalutamide (antiandrogen) and embelin (XIAP inhibitor) on the growth of prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo was …

Customer Satisfaction Of Self-Serve Concepts In The Food Industry, Mayuka Abe

General Human Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore customer satisfaction levels in a Self-serve frozen dessert establishment. The target population for this study was guests at a commercial frozen dessert operation in Northwest Arkansas. Over 200 useable samples were collected via direct data collection method. The results showed the attributes that the consumers in this study found important for patronage and customer satisfaction. The results also indicated consumers’ preferred frozen dessert establishments. Attributes such as product quality, cleanliness, quick service, value, and product quantity were highly ranked.

Parenteral Nutrition Additive Shortages: The Short-Term, Long-Term And Potential Epigenetic Implications In Premature And Hospitalized Infants., Corrine K. Hanson, Melissa Thoene, Julie Wagner, Dean Collier, Kassandra Lecci, Ann Anderson-Berry

Journal Articles: Medical Nutrition

Nutrition support practitioners are currently dealing with shortages of parenteral nutrition micronutrients, including multivitamins (MVI), selenium and zinc. A recent survey from the American Society of Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition (ASPEN) indicates that this shortage is having a profound effect on clinical practice. A majority of respondents reported taking some aggressive measures to ration existing supplies. Most premature infants and many infants with congenital anomalies are dependent on parenteral nutrition for the first weeks of life to meet nutritional needs. Because of fragile health and poor reserves, they are uniquely susceptible to this problem. It should be understood that shortages …

Effect Of Nitrogen On Safflower Physiology And Productivity, Sj Mohamed, Aj Jellings, Mp Fuller

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an oil-crop suitable for semi-arid agriculture, but its physiological response to agronomic inputs has yet to be fully evaluated. The effect of fertiliser on the physiology and production of safflower grown in pots filled with standard grade perlite inside a semi-controlled glass house was studied. Plants were initially irrigated with 20-100 ml standard hydroponic solution and then one month after germination plants were irrigated using 50-200 ml complete Hoagland’s solution, supplemented with one of eight levels of nitrogen (0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 kg N ha-1) in the form of ammonium nitrate. …

Early Experience Can Change The Structure Of The Body, Beth Burritt

All Current Publications

Why do animals eat certain foods and live in certain locations? Your first thought might be that they are born that way or it’s in their genes. While it is true that every animal is born with a set of genes that helps determine how it looks and what it needs to survive, genetics are only part of the story.

Structure, Quality, And Skills Interact To Influence Forage Intake, Beth Burritt

All Current Publications

In general, the more livestock eat, the more weight they gain or milk they produce. Thus, forage intake is key to animal performance. Agronomists manage for plant density and height to ensure livestock maximize intake.

Meat-Wise Eating Habits, Jenna Haycock, Kelly Anderson, Roslynn Brain

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.

Neuronal Protection By A Variant Of Gapdh Pseudogene P44 In Ad, Sara O. Mason, Christopher S. Theisen, Norbert W. Seidler

Faculty and Staff Publications

GAPDH is a conserved enzyme that binds diverse proteins, such as Siah during apoptotic nuclear translocation. There is one somatic GAPDH gene, but over 60 pseudogenes, the expression of which is nebulous. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the GAPDHP44 pseudogene exhibits a beneficial allele in AD. The objective of this study was to examine the P44 gene and to propose a mechanism for the putative protein and its impact on AD. We examined the sequences in the putative coding region of the human GAPDHP44 gene and the upstream genetic elements using a bioinformatics approach. We compared the amino acid …

Evaluation Of The Recombination Efficiencies Of Flp Proteins, Linh Duy Nguyen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Site-specific recombination systems are powerful tools for genetic modification. They have been used to integrate a transgene into a pre-defined locus and to remove marker genes from a transgene locus. Two of the most widely used site-specific recombination systems in plants are the Cre/lox system from the bacteriophage P1 and the FLP/FRT system from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The Cre/lox system is well-characterized and is the first choice in application of site-specific recombination system. However, some applications such as marker-free site-specific gene integration require the use of two recombination systems. In addition, the availability of alternative recombination systems can offer …

The Associations Of The Level Of School Wellness Policy Implementation And School Nurse Activities To Weight Status Of School Children In Massachusetts, Mary Jane F. O'Brien

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The increase in prevalence of childhood obesity has prompted child health authorities to propose mandates focusing on population health efforts that may be implemented in public schools. In 2010, the federal government passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, reinforcing the 2004 regulations to guide school districts in development and implementation of school wellness policies.

The purpose of this secondary data analysis was an examination of the association between implementation of the school wellness policy and school nurse activities to the absolute change in percent of students with body mass index in the obese weight category between the school years 2005-2006 …

Dissociation Of The Role Of The Prelimbic Cortex In Interval Timing And Resource Allocation: Beneficial Effect Of Norepinephrine And Dopamine Reuptake Inhibitor Nomifensine On Anxiety-Inducing Distraction, Alexander R. Matthews, Olivia H. He, Mona Buhusi, Catalin V. Buhusi

Psychology Faculty Publications

Emotional distracters impair cognitive function. Emotional processing is dysregulated in affective disorders such as depression, phobias, schizophrenia, and PTSD. Among the processes impaired by emotional distracters, and whose dysregulation is documented in affective disorders, is the ability to time in the seconds-to-minutes range, i.e. interval timing. Presentation of task-irrelevant distracters during a timing task results in a delay in responding suggesting a failure to maintain subjective time in working memory, possibly due to attentional and working memory resources being diverted away from timing, as proposed by the Relative Time-Sharing model. We investigated the role of the prelimbic cortex in the …

Response Of Broiler Chickens To Variation In Dietary Nutrient Content, Sarah Diane Goodgame

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rising feed costs, environmental pollution concerns targeted at animal agriculture, a worldwide focus on sustainability and the never ending battle to improve production and efficiency within the poultry industry challenges nutritionists to focus on products to improve nutrient digestibility and decrease feed costs while at the same time maximizing performance. The research presented in this dissertation focuses on improving nutrient utilization of protein sources with protein liberating enzymes currently available commercially. The research also conducted addresses the addition of crystalline amino acids valine and isoleucine and their effect on improving efficiency of broilers.

The first research project compared the efficacy …

Community Structure And Ecological Specialization In Plant-Ant Interactions, Paola Barriga

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Positive associations among species have contributed to the maintenance of biodiversity. These interactions are typically studied in pairwise fashion where two interacting organisms are the focus. This dissertation uses network theory to analyze positive plant-ant associations in three Neotropical forests. Obligate plant-ant mutualisms were used, where plants host the ants in domatia and provide food bodies while the ants protect the plants and can feed them. A network approach was used to depict all obligate plant-ant interactions within a community. The main questions asked at the community level were: 1) Do network structure and levels of specialization change geographically and, …

Social And Adversarial Varieties Of Democracy: Which Produces Fewer Criminals?, Devin K. Joshi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article explores the relationship between two prominent varieties of democracy and the size of a country’s prison population. Theoretically, it proposes that social democracies increase social and economic equality which reduces both the “demand for crime” and the number of criminals. Adversarial democracies, on the other hand, generate higher levels of inequality and insecurity that lead to higher levels of crime. Utilizing a structured, focused comparison of Nordic social democracies and Anglo-American adversarial democracies complemented by cross-sectional multiple regression analysis of twenty industrialized democracies, I find empirical support for both of these conjectures. A major implication of this study …

Breeding For Modified Seed Composition In Soybean: Selection Of Genotypes, Yield Stability, And Environmental Effects, Luciano Miguel Jaureguy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The development of cultivars with modified seed composition represents an excellent alternative to cope with the world's need for more nutritious food. Understanding the genetic and environmental factors controlling crop seed quality traits is of crucial importance for such an endeavor. The objectives of this study were: a) to evaluate the efficiency of phenotype and marker-assisted selection for low stachyose and low phytate soybean breeding lines, and their yield stability, b) to study the effect of management practices planting date and delayed harvest on soybean seed composition, and c) to study the potential association between soil properties and leaf chemical …

Effects Of Felled Shortleaf Pine (Pinus Echinata Mill.) Moisture Loss On Oviposition Preferences And Survival Of Sirex Nigricornis F. (Hymenoptera: Siricidae), Jessica Hartshorn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The European woodwasp, Sirex noctilio F. (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) utilizes pine as its host during larval development. Females drill through pine bark to deposit eggs, a symbiotic fungus, Amylostereum, and phytotoxic mucus into the tree. In their native range, these insects are not viewed as primary pests because they attack dead or dying trees. Over the last century, this woodwasp has been accidentally introduced into several countries in the southern hemisphere. Some regions have incurred millions of dollars in damage to large plantations of the widely planted pine species, radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don). Sirex noctilio was discovered …