Digital Commons Network^™

Transforming Roles Of Nursing Professional Development Practitioners, Joan Insalaco Warren, Mary G. Harper

General Submissions: Organizations - Position Statements, White and Resource Papers

Consumers and payers demand highly reliable, accessible, and affordable healthcare (Findlay, 2012). In 2010 legislators dramatically altered the trajectory of healthcare with passage of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). New healthcare regulations consisting of comprehensive health insurance reforms and new care delivery and payment models have transformed the industry. As these unprecedented reforms destabilize the already fragile healthcare system and critical staffing shortages loom over the horizon, healthcare executives are facing new mandates for population health management, higher quality, patient safety and experiences, and lower healthcare costs (Nash, 2012). …

Early Life Events And Motor Development: A Longitudinal Study, Tegan Grace

Theses

Longitudinal studies are important to fully understand the processes of neurological development during gestation and how risk factors present during this time impact motor development outcomes, yet few to date have focused on this critical time period.

The purpose of this study was to identify modifiable risk factors influencing motor development during the prenatal period. Of particular interest was finding out whether these risk factors differed between the sexes.

Participants (N=2900) were from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. The Raine Study began in May 1989 and women were recruited between 16-20 weeks gestation (m = 18 weeks) from …

Towards The Identification Of Metabolite Markers Of Nipple Pain And Inflammation In Human Milk, Erin Fee

Theses

Background: Human milk is considered the best source of nutrition for all newborns as it contains important growth, developmental and immunological factors. The WHO (2003) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of age, with complementary breastfeeding up to two years and beyond. However, some women experience complications of the breast that lead to early cessation of breastfeeding, which can adversely affect the well being of the developing infant and her own health.

Nipple pain is the most commonly cited reason for weaning in the first week postpartum. Nipple pain is also linked to mastitis from milk stasis and …

Does Temporarily Altering Visual Perception Of Limb Size Have A Modulatory Effect On Deep-Tissue Pain? A Repeated-Measures Within-Subjects Randomised Study, M Van Selm

Theses

No abstract provided.

Re-Conceptualising Hirschman's Exit, Voice & Loyalty Model For Contemporary Organisational Contexts, Eileen Gleeson

Theses

This conceptual thesis seeks to re-visit the relevance of Albert Hirschman’s (1970) highly enduring Exit, Voice and Loyalty (EVL) model for understanding contemporary workplace dynamics and organisational member responses to instances of organisational decline or slack. In particular, the thesis focuses on the inclusion of organisational silence and its connection to voice and loyalty. Organisational theorists have begun to enquire into the nature of organizational silence, why it forms and what its consequences may be. What the current literature suggests is that although management desires an engaged, productive and loyal workforce, it does not want members to raise their voice …

A Case Study Of Factors Influencing Remote University Nursing Graduates And Their Decision To Work In A Remote Hospital, Sally Clark

Theses

The health of the rural population in Western Australia (WA) is predicated on equity and access to healthcare facilities with nurses being the main component of front line staff. There continues to be a nurse shortage particularly in remote regions of Australia where the poor health status of Australian Indigenous people, and an increasing ageing population are a perennial problem. The Kimberley, the setting for this study, is a remote region in the north of WA. It has a landmass of 423,517 square kilometres with a significantly low-density population compared to the total WA population. Nearly half of the Kimberley …

The Introduction Of Montessori Teaching And Learning Practices In An Early Childhood Classroom In A Remote Indigenous School, Catherine Holmes

Theses

The purpose of this research was to observe and describe the effect of Montessori pedagogy in a remote Aboriginal Early Childhood program to ascertain whether this alternative approach to education provides a more culturally appropriate practice than past methods. The significance of the study lies in the need to "close the gap" (Department of Premier & Cabinet [DPMC], 2016, p.1) between the achievement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. The study endeavours to describe the effect of Montessori pedagogy through the response of those most closely associated with Aboriginal education: students, parents, caregivers, community members and educational professionals.

Three dimensions of …

Risk Assessment And The Utility Of Ct Coronary Angiography For Coronary Artery Disease In Hiv Infection, James Nadel

Theses

Background

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is now considered a chronic, treatable disease, although treatment is associated with increased rates of coronary artery disease (CAD). Screening of this at-risk population for CAD remains contentious. The aim of this thesis is to provide some guidance into the management of cardiovascular disease in HIV and examine the utility of screening CTCA in this population group.

Methods

We set out to disseminate our generated results via publications. The first paper was a literature review that sought to provide insight into the management of this complex population, in particular focusing on the risk assessment …

Dna Methylation Biomarkers For Esophageal Adenocarcinoma And Precursor Disease, Melissa L. Thomas

Theses

Esophageal adenocarcinoma has one of the poorest outcomes of all solid tumors, attributable, at least in part, to lack of an early stage diagnostic test. Aberrant methylation is an early and frequent event in carcinogenesis providing an opportunity for early cancer detection. The overall aim of this thesis is to identify and validate regions of aberrant methylation as a biomarker for early detection of esophageal adenocarcinoma and the dysplastic stages of its precursor disease, Barrett’s esophagus. By using well-classified patient data and stringent, quality controlled biospecimen selection for training and validation cohorts, I found regions of diseaseassociated aberrant methylation that …

Empowerment And Subjective And Emotional Well-Being In South Africa, Erik Kappelman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Exploring Park Support: A Study Of Philanthropy And Other Support For Yellowstone National Park, Geoffrey G. Havens

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Support for charitable causes has long been a topic studied in the hopes of uncovering the reasons for donations and other support behaviors. However, holistic examination of support for places, such as parks, has been relatively untouched as an area of research. One such place where understanding such support is important is Yellowstone National Park, the first designated National Park and one of the most visited parks in the United States. A lack in adequate government funding to meet increasingly heavy visitation has led the park to increasingly rely on outside support for the park.

The purpose of this study …

Knowledge And Resistance: Feminine Style And Signifyin[G] In Michelle Obama’S Public Address, Tracy Valgento

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines the public discourse of the first African American first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. I argue that Michelle Obama uses the double-voiced discourses of feminine style and African American Signifyin[g] to negate post-race and post-gender mythologies that suggest that American society is “beyond identity”. Looking at three of Obama’s speeches: Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention Speech, The Remarks by the First Lady at Memorial Service for Dr. Maya Angelou, and Remarks by the First Lady at Tuskegee University Commencement Address this thesis argues that Michelle Obama performativity interrogates and questions gender and race relations …

Living With Hiv: A Potential Source Of Trauma In Children And Adolescents, Kaitlyn P. Ahlers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Due to advances in medical treatment for HIV/AIDS, individuals infected with HIV are living longer. HIV is now considered a chronic illness, and there has been limited research into the mental health problems that can arise from living with HIV, particularly among children and adolescents. Past research has demonstrated that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can result from experiences related to chronic illness. Importantly, HIV could affect children and adolescents in a distinct way when compared to any other incurable, chronic illness. The present study examined the mental health issues faced by children and adolescents who are infected with HIV as …

Mechanisms And Consiqences Of Lysosomal Membrane Permeabilization Following Exposure To Bioactive Particles, Forrest Connell Jessop

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Exposure to bioactive environmental particles and engineered nanoparticles are a significant public health concern. Inhalation of bioactive particles can result in chronic inflammation, which drives tissue remodeling and fibrosis. Furthermore, chronic inflammation can increase individual susceptibility to other diseases including cancer and autoimmune diseases. The macrophage is the critical cell in particle clearance following exposure, and is central to the inflammatory responses and tissue remodeling. Phagocytosed bioactive particles within macrophages cause cytotoxicity and activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, outcomes that are both essential to inflammation and disease development. However, mechanisms that regulate NLRP3 inflammasome activity and cytotoxicity have not fully …

Purpose And Satisfaction Of Activities In Rural Communities Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, Jennifer Lauren Wong

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Individuals’ wellbeing have been investigated through one of two primary perspectives, hedonic or eudaimonic. The hedonic perspective has focused on studying happiness and considers individuals’ maximization of their pleasurable moments as the pathway to happiness (Henderson & Knight, 2012). The eudaimonic perspective suggests that people should live a life of virtue and that actualizing their potential is the pathway to wellbeing (Henderson & Knight, 2012). Both perspectives have used retrospective recall to investigate individuals’ wellbeing. This method has given researchers a better understanding of individuals’ overall wellbeing, but is unable to describe their wellbeing as it varies throughout the day. …

Exploring Barriers To The Generalization Of Social Skills Interventions For Children Diagnosed With Asd: A Qualitative Analysis Of ‘Youth Engagement Through Intervention’, Zachary Shindorf

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Many children who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have difficulty with social skills and maintaining friendships. In turn, many social skills interventions have been developed to aid in the treatment of children diagnosed with ASD. Children with ASD, however, have difficulty generalizing the skills learned in social skills interventions to more natural settings like the home and school. This study, therefore, explored the barriers to the generalization of a social skills intervention, Youth Engagement Through Intervention (YETI) for children with ASD. Barriers to the generalization of YETI were explored through the qualitative examination of parents’ acceptability of the …

Table Of Contents

Michigan Journal of Public Health

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Policy Changes Aimed At Breastfeeding Promotion As Part Of The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program For Women, Infants, And Children (Wic): Making It Work For Michigan, Elizabeth L. Macquillan

Michigan Journal of Public Health

In 2011, changes to the specific type, timing, and amount of food benefits to mothers in the WIC program were rolled out nationwide. These were the first substantive changes since 1980 and were designed to increase breastfeeding initiation rates and extend breastfeeding duration among WIC program participants. Effectiveness of the program changes have been mixed and variable by geographic area of the U.S., however. In Michigan, breastfeeding duration has not increased. This analysis examines the implementation of the national policy change at the state level for Michigan and suggests additions to program to specifically target duration breastfeeding by Michigan mothers.

Public Health Briefs: 22nd Annual Research Day Department Of Family Medicine & Public Health Sciences

Michigan Journal of Public Health

The Wayne State University Department of Family Medicine & Public Health Sciences 2016 Research Day provided an opportunity for public health researchers and practitioners to join with their colleagues in primary care in presenting translational research and practice. Presenters were invited to submit their abstracts for publication in the Michigan Journal of Public Health.

Abstracts included:

FACTORS INFLUENCING TREATMENT CHOICE & DECISIONAL QUALITY IN A POPULATION-BASED SAMPLE OF BLACK AND WHITE MEN WITH LOCALIZED PROSTATE CANCER

Presenter: Felix S. Yang, MD and Elyse Reamer, BS

Research Mentor: Jinping Xu, MD, MS

ACHIEVING BLOOD PRESSURE CONTROL THROUGH ENHANCED DISCHARGE: PILOTING A …

Motives For Participation In Triathlons Among Midlife To Older Black Women: A Mixed Method Study, Candace Brown

Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Research has established the positive link between physical activity and its impact on health among adults. Generally, as people get older, they are less likely to be active. Black women comprise 13% of the women in the US but constitute 52% of women who are inactive. Existing articles on exercise motivation among Black women have generally assessed sedentary individuals. Little research has examined the motivations to exercise among physically active Black women. METHODS: Guided by the regulators of the Self Determination Theory, the 56 item Motivations of Marathoners Scales for Triathletes (MOMS-T) was used to assess the motives of …

Modeling Spatially Varying Effects Of Chemical Mixtures, Jenna Czarnota

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer incidence is associated with exposures to multiple environmental chemicals, and geographic variation in cancer rates suggests the importance of accommodating spatially varying effects in the analysis of environmental chemical mixtures and disease risk. Traditional regression methods are challenged by the complex correlation patterns inherent among co-occurring chemicals, and the applicability of geographically weighted regression models is limited in the setting of environmental chemical risk analysis. In comparison to traditional methods, weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression performs well in the identification of important environmental exposures, but is limited by the assumption that effects are fixed over space. We present an …

Obesity And Asthma: Adiponectin Receptor 1 (Adipo R1) And Adiponectin Receptor 2 (Adipo R2) Are Expressed By Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial (Nhbe) Cells At Air-Liquid Interface (Ali) And Expression Changes With Il-13 Stimulation, Jennifer L. Bradley

Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is recognized as an important risk factor for the development of many chronic diseases such as hypertension, Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) cardiovascular disease, cancer, renal disease, neurologic dysfunction, metabolic syndrome and asthma (3, 4). Circulating serum adiponectin levels in obese asthmatics have been reported to be low. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role of adiponectin in a mucus hypersecretion model and hypothesized that adiponectin would decrease IL-13 induced MUC5AC expression from differentiated NHBE cells and that increasing concentrations of IL-13 would cause a decrease in Adipo R1 and Adipo R2 expression. MUC5AC expression with exposure to adiponectin …

A Study Of The Action Of Risperidone At 5-Ht2a Receptors, Supriya A. Gaitonde

Theses and Dissertations

Risperidone is an ‘atypical’ antipsychotic and is approved by the USFDA mainly for the treatment of schizophrenia and symptoms of bipolar disorder. Risperidone (an SDA or serotonin-dopamine antagonist) has ~20-fold higher affinity at 5-HT_2A receptors over dopamine D₂ receptors, which makes it more efficacious against the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and less liable to causing extrapyramidal side effects than ‘typical’ antipsychotics.

The major goal of the current investigation was to study the structure of risperidone and to identify the minimum structural features required for 5-HT_2A receptor affinity that retain antagonist action. The structure of risperidone was systematically …

The Effect Of Pre-Deployment Physiology As A Predictor Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among A Sample Of United States Army National Guard And Reserve Soldiers, David J. Rothman

Theses and Dissertations

Potential risk factors for development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are still unclear. One potential risk factor for the development of PTSD is an individual’s cardiovascular reactivity and recovery in response to stressor tasks. The current study was conducted with 763 Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers. Participants completed a stressful induction along with self-report measures prior to deployment. Post-deployment, self-report measures were completed to assess PTSD symptomatology and experiences related to deployment and combat. Multiple regression was used to determine the ability of blood pressure response to stress to predict PTSD symptoms immediately and one-year after return from …

Customizable 3-D Virtual Gi Tract Systems For Locating, Mapping, And Navigation Inside Human Gastrointestinal Tract, Megha Dattatrey Dalvi

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

One of the critical challenges of wireless capsule endoscopy examination is to find the exact position of the capsule in the Gastrointestinal Tract (GI) tract so as to correctly and accurately spot the position of the intestinal diseases. Creating a 3D virtual GI tract system could significantly improve the capsule endoscopy operations. The virtual human model, such as the BioDigital Human, has been credited as Google Earth for the human body, which provides us medically accurate virtual body and organ structures. However, it only assembles a “Standard” human body. The problem is: there is only one earth, but billions of …

Novel Cost And Space Efficient Range Of Motion And Gait Analysis Systems, Rutvik Bharatkumar Patel

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we have explored the use of the latest motion tracking technologies, as evident by Microsoft Xbox Kinect’s motion tracking capabilities, in combination with 3D digital human modeling and animation, multi-modality image capturing and processing, and fusion, to design a new generation of low-cost range of motion and gait analysis solutions that overcome the limitation of existing tools. The proposed solutions and our prototype systems have demonstrated accurate measurements and reliable analysis outcome compared to current clinic practices, with significantly reduced complexity and cost. Furthermore, it eliminates the need for expensive effort for pre- and post- processing of …

Differentially Functionalized Silver Nanoparticles Alter K Metabolism In Human Red Blood Cells, Praveen Kumar Alla

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Silver nano particles (AgNPs) are the most frequently used nanomaterials (NMs) in industrial and biomedical applications, and extensive knowledge about their properties is fast accumulating. In addition, functionalization of nanoparticles significantly impacts their properties and potential applications. In spite the urge to produce, investigate and apply them, the toxicity of nanoparticles and their interaction with blood components, such as erythrocytes, has been insufficiently investigated. Here, we report on the effect of AgNPs in cellular function, and particularly on ion transport in human red blood cells (HRBCs). Two methods of synthesis were used for the functionalization of AgNPs, Creighton, and Lee-Meisel. …

Adaptive Power Analog-To-Digital Interface For Digital Systems, Todd S. Grimes

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Today many consumer, industrial, and military electronic systems are digital in nature and are utilized for multiple applications. Many of these systems were designed to be portable and generally have limited capabilities because of size, weight, and power requirements. The last several decades have seen the push for more power efficient electronics. Thus, researchers and scientists investigated advanced process technologies and more power efficient circuit implementations. This research is concerned with classes of applications intended to operate over long periods of time with a low duty cycle, but are subject to bursts of information, requiring high processing capabilities. Specifically, this …

Front Matter

Modern Psychological Studies

No abstract provided.

Behaviors Of A Captive Coenobita Clypeatus In The Presence Of Varying Light Stimuli, Larry D. Fort, Ingrid K. Tulloch

Modern Psychological Studies

Coenobita clypeatus, or the purple pincher, is a terrestrial hermit crab and common pet in the United States. Modern behavioral studies have waned since the early 2000s; we therefore sought to characterize the behavior of a single captive C. clypeatus under varying light conditions. Frequency and duration of behaviors were studied in the presence of different light stimuli, along with weight monitoring. The crab was recorded for a set period of time every night with all conditions standardized except for light. The light stimulus alternated between no light, blue light, and red light. The case study revealed a significant increase …