Digital Commons Network^™

Increasing Hpv Vaccination Rates Using Social Marketing Strategies, Sharon Wilson Catledge

Doctoral Projects

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually-transmitted infection (STI). Approximately 20 million Americans between the ages of 15 and 49 years currently have HPV with > 6.2 million new HPV infections estimated to occur each year. Yet, HPV vaccination rates remain relatively low. More than 40 strains of HPV are transmitted through genital contact during vaginal, anal, or oral sex and can infect males and females. In addition to causing genital warts, HPV is associated with cervical, vulvar, vaginal, anus, penile, and oropharyngeal cancers. In women, the most prominent type of cancer is cervical with > 12,000 diagnoses each year …

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Workforce Development In Behavioral Healthcare Settings In Rural Mississippi, Arlen Davis Cooper

Doctoral Projects

Description and Significance of the Problem: The United States is facing a significant rural mental healthcare workforce shortage and an uneven distribution of mental healthcare professionals. The psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) may increase access to mental healthcare in rural underserved regions (NRHA, 2012). However, little is known regarding their distribution. The lack of uniform and consistent data collection methods regarding the number and the geographic distribution of PMHNPs in rural areas, specifically in rural Mississippi, exists. The importance of better data collection and improving infrastructure through collaboration with state licensing boards and state nursing workforce centers is …

An Evaluation Of Fall Prevention Interventions Among Older Adults In A Long Term Care Facility, Courtney Anita Bennett

Doctoral Projects

Falls are serious unwanted events that are a common occurrence among older adults in long term care facilities (LTC). Fall prevention in LTC facilities requires the efforts of an interprofessional team that promotes safety within an organization. The purpose of this capstone project is to implement and evaluate evidence-based fall prevention interventions at a LTC facility. Specific objectives of the project include: (a) providing education to healthcare professionals on evidence-based practices to recognize, assess, and prevent falls among older adults in a long term care facility and (b) replacing the existing fall prevention policy and program with a falls and …

Evaluating The Perceptions Of Quality Of Life In Informal Caregivers Caring For Hospice Patients, Rashandra Fisher Laws

Doctoral Projects

Maintaining or improving quality of life for informal caregivers is important as they endure the burden of providing care to terminally ill loved ones on a daily basis. Caregivers are at a greater risk for depression, deteriorating physical health, financial difficulties, and premature death than demographically similar non-caregivers (Demiris et al., 2010). The goal of this capstone project was to determine the effectiveness of the creativity, optimism, planning, and expert information (COPE) intervention, which address specific needs of the family and caregiver.

Twenty informal caregivers completed the Quality of Life (QoL) Index tool, which measured their perceptions of five different …

Alumni Journal - Volume 85, Number 3, Loma Linda University School Of Medicine

Alumni Journal, School of Medicine

Features
8 | Insights from a Surgeon
12 | Graduation 2014
28 | The Doctor's Kid
38 | History Feature: A New Name
40 | AIMS Special Report

From the President
2 | Celebrating Our Graduates

From the Dean
4 | Highlights of the 100th Anniversary Graduation

News
5 | This and That
6 | School of Medicine News
44 | In Memoriam
46 | Alumni in the News
48 | Giving Highlight: Hyacinths for the Soul

Historical Snapshot
52 | Where Our Doctor's Work[ed]

What's Up Doc?
53 | Barbara Chase McKinney '88

Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal And Relationship Quality: Same-Sex Friendships And Opposite-Sex Romantic Relationships, Tabitha L. Ingram

Selected Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the connection between relational-interdependent self-construal and relationship quality, with the cognitive mindset mediating the demonstration of autonomous efforts to maintain a relationship. For this study, I used a 22-question survey for relationship quality, measured separately for friendships and romantic relationships (using the Friendship Quality Scale and the Romance Quality Scale), and the 11-question Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal Scale for the measurement of self-construal. The surveys were distributed by means of an online survey accessible to the student population at a religiously affiliated private university in the South-Atlantic region of the United States. For both …

Hits And Runs: Determinants Of The Cross-Country Variation In The Severity Of Impact From The 2008-09 Financial Crisis, Shane Dwyer, Chih Ming Tan

Economics & Finance Faculty Publications

Recent empirical work on the 2008-09 financial crisis has found mixed results on the usefulness of indicators to explain the cross-country variation in the incidence of the crisis in non-originating countries. While some authors have found success with various indicators, Rose and Spiegel (2009a,b) find that almost no indicators are robust. We employ Bayesian model averaging (BMA) to verify Rose-Spiegel’s conclusions under model uncertainty, confirming their findings. We then employ latent class models (LCM) to check the data for parameter heterogeneity. We find that there is substantial evidence of heterogeneity in the relationship between various indicators and crisis impact, both …

A Case Study Of Information System Security Compliance Of Small Medical And Dental Practices, Debra Landry Folse

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Small medical and dental practices must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, and Title XIII Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The case study, utilizing interviews, observations, and existing documentation of two medical and the two dental practices, not only analyzed the compliance solution choices made involving procedures and technologies, but also analyzed the emotion aspects of fear of non-compliance, perceived confidence in compliance, and the primary and secondary appraisals of the compelled compliance. Although compliance is not an easy process, …

Year In Review 2014, El Centro De La Raza

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Capital Punishment Reforms In Illinois: Comparing The Views Of Police, Prosecutors, And Public Defenders, Robert M. Lombardo, David Olson

Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works

On 9 March 2011, Governor Patrick Quinn abolished capital punishment in Illinois stating that the state’s system of imposing the death penalty was inherently flawed. Quinn’s announcement followed an eleven-year effort to end the death penalty that began with a 2000 moratorium on executions imposed by then Governor George Ryan. This moratorium was the direct result of the appellate reversal of a series of death-row convictions. Prompted by these reversals, Ryan also created the Governor’s Commission on Capital Punishment to study the use of the death penalty in Illinois. As a result of this effort, comprehensive legislation was enacted to …

Examine The Role Of Social Media And Volunteered Geographic Information In 2014’S California Drought, Ligang Zhang

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Abstract

Social media encompasses online communication platforms. Presently, it has been involved in the management and mitigation of crises and disasters. The paper discusses the use of social meida and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in the management of the 2014’s California drought. The significance of social media and volunteered geographic information is emphasized in the study. As well as factors that influence the suitability of the two, social media and voluntary geographic information in the whole process of managing the California drought are also explored. The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of one-way info-sharing, two-way info-sharing, rumor control, reconnection, …

Adults With Intellectual Disability Or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Executive Summary, Kimberly I. Snow Mhsa, Ba, Stuart Bratesman Mpp, Taryn Bowe, Julie T. Fralich Mba

Disability & Aging

This chartbook describes Maine’s historical trends in meeting the needs of adults with ID/ASD through institutional and community based services in comparison to other states; a detailed analysis of the population’s utilization of different types of services and their costs in SFY 2010; the implementation of the Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) as a means of identifying the supports needs of the adults with ID/ASD; and the complement of providers serving this population in Maine.

Hand Hygiene Promotion: An Essential Strategy For Preventing Foodborne Disease In Elementary Schools, Zhangqi Wang

All Theses

Student absenteeism is a pervasive problem in the United States, causing a number of educational, economic, and institutional problems. Hand-hygiene interventions have been reported to be a method for reducing illness-associated student absenteeism. As an increasing number of schools offer self-service, including salad bars and bowls of whole fresh fruit, opportunities for the transmission of foodborne pathogens via hands could possibly increase illness-associated student absenteeism. To address this problem, we conducted a two-phase study. First, we conducted a systematic literature review to evaluate peer-reviewed studies (N=24) that reported an association between hand hygiene interventions and illness-associated absenteeism reduction in elementary …

Modeling Scenarios Of Sea-Level Rise And Human Migration: Rita Village, The Republic Of The Marshall Islands, Donna Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the relationship between sea-level rise and human migration from Rita Village in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). As one of only four low-lying atoll countries at the forefront of risks associated with climate change, examining the extent to which sea level will rise and displace residents in the Marshall Islands is of timely importance. The approach to this research is a scenario-based, case study and it examines loss of home, human displacement and subsequent migration in Rita Village as a result of varying levels of sea level rise. The scenario-based approach is based on the …

Utilizing Failure Information For Mission Assessment And Optimization For Complex Systems, Charlie Destefano

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents a new failure analysis method, Failure Identification for Mission Analysis (FIMA), which performs a general failure analysis for the overall state of a system, as well as a mission-specific analysis that identifies how failures may have differing effects on the various mission tasks that a system must complete. The FIMA method is capable of being implemented at any point in the design process. During early design stages, the FIMA method will identify various qualitative failure scenarios based on programmed functional relationships and any number of initial failures wished to be simulated. The functional relationships for this method …

Characterization Of A Novel Fungal-Specific Gene, Fug1, In Fusarium Verticillioides, John Byron Ridenour

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Filamentous fungi are responsible for numerous plant and animal diseases. The filamentous ascomycete Fusarium verticillioides is a globally important pathogen of maize, capable of causing severe yield reductions and economic losses. Also of substantial concern is the contamination of infected kernels with fumonisins, toxic secondary metabolites linked to toxicoses in humans and livestock. The number of sequenced fungal genomes is rapidly increasing. However, functional characterization of fungal genes has not progressed at a comparable rate. In pathogenic fungi, uncharacterized genes represent a source for novel virulence factors or anti-fungal targets. Therefore, to fully understand the genetic mechanisms underlying fungal pathogenesis, …

Microbial Community Shifts Caused By Changes In The Primary Oxidant At A Drinking Water Treatment Plant, Connie Marie Moloney

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microbial communities resistant to common oxidants can cause concerns for water treatment plants (WTPs). If a bacterium is not fully oxidized during disinfection, these species can impede upon filtration processes or seed biofilms in the distribution system. In an effort to minimize disinfection by-products (DBP's) that result from the reaction of chlorine (Cl2) with natural organic matter, water treatment plants have the option to change their primary oxidant to chlorine dioxide (ClO2). The following study examines the change in microbial communities during the sedimentation process under differing oxidation regimes, specifically chlorine (Cl2) and ClO2 at the local water treatment plant …

Development Of A Hydrologic Model For An Urban Headwater Stream: The Influence Of Pervious Surface Properties On Runoff Dynamics, Dawn A. Farver

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A hydrologic model was developed for the Mullins Creek (MC) catchment located on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The MC catchment is a small, dynamic urban stream system with a range of land use/land cover (LULC), an extensive and well-developed stormwater drainage network, and extensive urbanization (over 90% developed, and almost 50% impervious surface area (ISA)). Selected datasets provided information on the stormwater drainage network, the physical attributes of the catchment and receiving waterway (i.e. drainage area, slope, etc.), infiltration potential of soil map units, LULC, and percent ISA. These datasets were analyzed to provide input parameters …

Identification Of Root-Knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne Spp.) Of Arkansas Using Molecular Diagnostics, Churamani Khanal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are highly-adaptable, obligate plant parasites distributed worldwide. In addition, root-knot nematodes are an economically important genus of plant-parasitic nematodes. Meloidogyne incognita, M. arenaria, M. javanica, M. hapla and M. graminis have been reported from Arkansas during 1964 to 1994. Previous identifications were based primarily on morphological characters and host differentials. In this study, identification using molecular diagnostics methods was performed to identify Meloidogyne species present in Arkansas. A total of 106 soil and root samples from 36 of the 75 counties were collected and processed to obtain root-knot nematodes. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed …

Dissection Of Gray Leaf Spot Of Maize Through Functional Genomics, Robert Louis Hirsch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gray leaf spot, caused by Cercospora zeae-maydis, is a devastating disease of maize that reduces yields and increases management costs. C. zeae-maydis penetrates maize leaves through stomata, but the biological and molecular bases of this process are poorly understood. The goal of this research was to elucidate the biological parameters of stomatal infection in C. zeae-maydis, and to identify and characterize novel genetic pathways involved in stomatal sensing and pathogenesis. Histopathological observations of a GFP-expressing strain of C. zeae-maydis during infection of maize indicated that the fungus responded to host-derived stomatal cues during the infection process. C. zeae-maydis was observed …

Structure, Aboveground Biomass, And Soil Characterization Of Avicennia Marina In Eastern Mangrove Lagoon National Park, Abu Dhabi, Tareefa Alsumaiti

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mangrove forests are national treasures of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other arid countries with limited forested areas. Mangroves form a crucial part of the coastal ecosystem and provide numerous benefits to society, economy, and especially the environment. Mangrove trees, specifically Avicennia marina, are studied in their native habitat in order to characterize their population structure, aboveground biomass, and soil properties. This study focused on Eastern Mangrove Lagoon National Park in Abu Dhabi, which was the first mangrove protected area to be designated in UAE. In situ measurements were collected to estimate Avicennia marina status, mortality rate (%), …

The Phenotypic Effects And Transcript Response Of Salt Stress, The Impact Of Viral Infection On Salt Stress Symptoms, And The Effect Of Salt Stress On Soybean Virus Vector Activity In Soybean Varieties That Vary In Chloride Uptake, Alma Glenn Laney

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the increase in saline soils worldwide, understanding the mechanisms for salt tolerance in plants is important to reduce yield loss due to salt stress. Soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr., genotypes differ in chloride uptake with genotypes that take up chloride into foliar tissues tending to be salt-sensitive whereas those that partially exclude chloride from the leaves are more salt-tolerant. Transcriptional and physiological responses were measured in two soybean cultivars, Clark and Manokin, which differ in chloride uptake in response to salt stress and in combination with Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) and its aphid vector, Aphis glycines . The interaction …

Clemson Commencement Program, December 2014, Clemson University

Clemson Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Quasi-Inquisitorialism: Accounting For Deference In Pretrial Criminal Procedure, Jennifer E. Laurin

Notre Dame Law Review

Police and prosecutorial activities that take place long before a criminal trial are frequently critical to, even dispositive of, the accuracy and reliability of case disposition. At the same time, the regulatory touch of constitutional criminal procedure in the pretrial realm is insistently light. Proposals to address actual or risked deficiencies in this arena have proliferated in recent years, exemplified by pushes for social-science-rooted investigative best practices, for broader defense access to evidence prior to trial, for more oversight in plea bargaining, and so on. But in the face of these critiques, broad pretrial discretion largely reigns.

A prevailing explanation …

Widening The Lane: An Argument For Broader Interpretation Of Permissible Uses Under The Driver's Privacy Protection Act, Candace D. Berg

Notre Dame Law Review

This Note argues that the recent judicial interpretations of the DPPA by the Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit have improperly limited the scope of permissible uses. The imposition of reasonableness limitations on disclosure, and the judicial analysis of disclosure to determine the exclusive predominant purpose, were novel judicial interpretations of a longstanding and established statute. Courts’ narrow interpretations of the permissible uses of the DPPA are contrary to the text of the statute and do not advance the statute’s central goals. The courts’ approaches are also likely to have significant practical effect contrary to general policy aims. Such changes …

A Large-Scale, Rapid Public Health Response To Rabies In An Organ Recipient And The Previously Undiagnosed Organ Donor, R. M. Wallace, Danielle Stanek, S. Griese, D. Krulak, Neil M. Vora, Virginia Kan, +14 Additional Authors

Medicine Faculty Publications

This article describes and contrasts the public health response to two human rabies cases: one organ recipient diagnosed within days of symptom onset and the transplant donor who was diagnosed 18 months post-symptom onset. In response to an organ-transplant-related rabies case diagnosed in 2013, organ donor and recipient investigations were conducted by multiple public health agencies. Persons with potential exposure to infectious patient materials were assessed for rabies virus exposure. An exposure investigation was conducted to determine the source of the organ donor's infection. Over 100 persons from more than 20 agencies spent over 2700 h conducting contact investigations in …

Whole Genome Sequencing Of A Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Pseudo-Outbreak In A Professional Football Team., Deverick J. Anderson, Simon R. Harris, Eliot Godofsky, Todd Toriscelli, Thomas H. Rude, Kevin Elder, Daniel J. Sexton, Elliot J. Pellman, Thom Mayer, Vance G. Fowler, Sharon J. Peacock

Medicine Faculty Publications

Two American football players on the same team were diagnosed with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin and soft tissue infections on the same day. Our investigation, including whole genome sequencing, confirmed that players did not transmit MRSA to one another nor did they acquire the MRSA from a single source within the training facility.

Whole Exome Sequencing In Family Trios Reveals De Novo Mutations In Pura As A Cause Of Severe Neurodevelopmental Delay And Learning Disability, David Hunt, Richard J. Leventer, Cas Simons, Ryan J. Taft, Kathryn J. Swoboda, Mary Gawne-Cain, Alex C. Magee, Perter D. Turnpenny, Diana Baralle

Genomics and Precision Medicine Faculty Publications

Background De novo mutations are emerging as an important cause of neurocognitive impairment, and whole exome sequencing of case-parent trios is a powerful way of detecting them. Here, we report the findings in four such trios.

Methods The Deciphering Developmental Disorders study is using whole exome sequencing in family trios to investigate children with severe, sporadic, undiagnosed developmental delay. Three of our patients were ascertained from the first 1133 children to have been investigated through this large-scale study. Case 4 was a phenotypically isolated case recruited into an undiagnosed rare disorders sequencing study.

Results Protein-altering de novo mutations in PURA …

Integrative Therapy Use For Management Of Side Effects And Toxicities Experienced By Pediatric Oncology Patients, Shana Jacobs

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Integrative Therapies (IT), otherwise known as Complementary and Alternative Medicine, are widely used among pediatric oncology patients, despite a paucity of available evidence. This review summarizes surveys that describe the prevalence of IT use by pediatric oncology patients, both during therapy and in survivorship, as well as the modalities being used. Additionally, the evidence that exists for specific treatments that appear to be efficacious in controlling specific symptoms is described. Finally, there are recommendations for practitioners on how to best counsel patients about IT use.

Identifying Change Points In A Covariate Effect On Time-To-Event Analysis With Reduced Isotonic Regression, Yong Ma, Yinglei Lai, John M. Lachin

GW Biostatistics Center

Isotonic regression is a useful tool to investigate the relationship between a quantitative covariate and a time-to-event outcome. The resulting non-parametric model is a monotonic step function of a covariate X and the steps can be viewed as change points in the underlying hazard function. However, when there are too many steps, over-fitting can occur and further reduction is desirable. We propose a reduced isotonic regression approach to allow combination of small neighboring steps that are not statistically significantly different. In this approach, a second stage, the reduction stage, is integrated into the usual monotonic step building algorithm by comparing …