Digital Commons Network^™

The Easy Wrap Orthopedic Cast, Rana Rezaei

Theses

The orthopedic professionals and physicians believe in a safer and faster method to replace the existing application and removal of the orthopedic cast. They also believe that the orthopedic treatment process has much more room for improvement. The Easy Wrap orthopedic cast has several benefits. First, it enhances the application and removal procedure. Second, it replaces the existing casting process to reduce the injuries to patients and physicians. Finally, it decreases the number of lawsuits against hospitals and clinics caused by cast injuries.

Background: Using a cast removal saw creates burns and cuts on patient’s skin. This medical saw is …

Improving Obesity Management In Primary Care, Jeffrey M. Waddell

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Project

This project examined how advanced practice nurses (APNs) manage overweight and obesity in primary care. Not only were their general attitudes and beliefs toward overweight and obesity explored, but their beliefs about the treatment and management of obesity were also examined. The APNs’ knowledge and current practice with managing obesity in the primary care setting were evaluated. This project went on to examine the APNs’ awareness and utilization of clinical practice guidelines in managing overweight and obesity. Finally, the study asked about the perceived impact of a website designed to provide guidance managing obesity based on the American Association of …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Enzyme Catalyzed Biodegradable “Click-Ene” Polymers For Targeted Cancer Therapy, Elaf Alattas

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

In this study, we report various biodegradable polymers with tunable physical properties and their possible drug delivery applications. These polymers were designed in such a way that bio-based starting materials (for example, sorbitol, hexanediol, glutaric acid) were used in order to obtain double-bond functionalized biopolymers in one-pot, and the polymerization reaction was catalyzed using an enzyme catalyst, Novozyme 435. In addition, a novel “Click-ene” chemistry was used to functionalize the resulting polymers in order to target specific cancer cells. The resulting polymers were purified using solvent precipitation method and characterized using spectroscopic techniques such as NMR, FT-IR, GPC, DSC and …

Effect Of Metal Ion Substitution On Electrochemical Properties Of Cobalt Oxide For Energy Applications, Dalal Alqahtani

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Metal oxides are being used for various applications, such as batteries, supercapacitors, and catalysts. This research is mainly to produce high-performance energy storage devices capable of working at high temperatures and causing no pollution in the environment. To this end, the effect of metal ion substitution on the electrochemical properties of Co₃O₄ for energy applications was studied. Different metal oxides, such as FeCo₂O₄, MnCo₂O₄, Co₃O₄, NiCo₂O₄, CuCo₂O_4, and ZnCo₂O₄, were synthesized using a hydrothermal …

Repairing Gaps In Kinari-2 For Large Scale Protein And Flexibility Analysis Applications, Magdalena Metlicka, Mojtaba Nouri Bygi, Ileana Streinu

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

Pebble game rigidity analysis is a combinatorial method, implemented in our free web server KinariWeb, for extracting protein rigidity and flexibility information without performing costly molecular dynamics simulations. Due to the idiosynchrasies of the data in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), Kinari succeeds only on a fraction of the available files. Motivated by large scale applications, aiming at processing almost all the PDB files, we have recently developed a faster and more robust version, the phased pebble game algorithm. It is specifically designed to take advantage of the sequential structure of biopolymers. However, the structural data available in the Protein …

Self-Efficacy For Symptom Management In Adult Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patients, Lynn White

Theses & Dissertations

Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is a treatment for hematologic cancers and other hematologic conditions that causes severe treatment-related symptoms. The first 30 days after HSCT, or the acute phase, is when symptoms are most intense. During this time, the ability of patients to manage their symptoms, in collaboration with their health care providers, is crucial to reduce the distress caused by the symptoms. Self-efficacy is the person’s confidence in their ability to perform a behavior, such as symptom management. This body of work describes the concept of self-efficacy for symptom management (SESM), presents an integrated literature review on self-efficacy …

In-Vitro And In-Vivo Models Of Bile Acid Metabolism And Transport, Rhishikesh Thakare

Theses & Dissertations

All biomedical research is conducted in animal models first. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration requires extrapolation from animal data to predict human responses. There are ongoing scientific and regulatory challenges translating interspecies comparisons and predictions. Metabolic pathways are a cornerstone to understanding drug metabolism and toxicities and the liver is a key organ in this process. Bile acids (BAs) play a central role in the hepatobiliary toxicities of chemicals, toxins, and biological reagents. BAs have many physiological functions including regulation of genes involved in cholesterol and glucose metabolism and BA homeostasis. However, BAs also have several pathological effects …

Influenza A Virus Genomic Reassortment And Packaging, Graham Devin Williams

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Influenza A viruses (IAV) are a major human and environmental pathogen. IAV successfully infects a diverse host range and adaptation of new viral strains to humans may cause pandemic events with high morbidity and mortality. As a member of the Orthomyxoviridae family, IAV inherently possesses a segmented genome, which enables a process of segment transmission between viruses following cellular co-infection, a process termed reassortment. The high rate of IAV mutation and continued co-circulation of diverse viral strains in divergent host species leads to the persistent prospect for emergence of new IAV with pandemic potential. Therefore, it is of great importance …

Investigation Of Neonatal Pulmonary Structure And Function Via Proton And Hyperpolarized Gas Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nara Savoye Higano

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a modality that utilizes the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to yield tomographic images of the body. Proton (1H) MRI has historically been successful in soft tissues but has suffered in the lung due to a variety of technical challenges, such as the low proton-density, rapid T2* relaxation time of the lung parenchymal tissue, and inherent physiological motion in the chest. Recent developments in radial ultrashort echo time (UTE) MRI have in part overcome these issues. In addition, there has been much progress in techniques for hyperpolarization of noble gases (3He and 129Xe) out …

Effective Training Modalities To Teach The Use Of Naloxone Nasal Spray, Dominick V. Zurlo

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

This paper examines the use of four different modalities to teach the correct assembly and administration method to use a naloxone nasal device. Naloxone is a medication which can reverse an opioid overdose when administered correctly. This specific device has been used for over a decade, and has been instrumental in opioid prevention educational programs to bystanders and individuals who use substances (NMDOH, 2017). Prior research studies utilizing naloxone nasal devices, have included outcome data collected from programs which train individuals who use opioids, and distribute the naloxone nasal device (Kerr, 2008). Others have included examination of curriculum content with …

Sexual Health Education In New Mexico Public Secondary Schools, Elizabeth Dickson

Nursing ETDs

Previous research has shown that comprehensive sexual health education (SHE) can significantly reduce risky sexual behavior and can increase protective behavior in adolescents. While an important component for all adolescents, this is particularly important for adolescents at high risk for adverse health outcomes, such as unplanned adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. The aims of this descriptive study were to explore the content and delivery of SHE in New Mexico and to describe influences on decisions pertaining to implementation of state SHE policy. The social ecological model (SEM) was used as a theoretical framework to better understand levels of influence …

The Processing And Polarization Reversal Dynamics Of Thin Film Poly(Vinylidene) Fluoride, Noel Mayur Dawson

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Many ferroelectric devices benefit from the ability to deposit thin ferroelectric layers. Poly(vinylidene) fluoride (PVDF) is the prototypical ferroelectric polymer, but processing of thin film ferroelectric PVDF remains a challenge due to the formation of large voids in the film during traditional thin film processing. The research described in this dissertation starts by investigating the origin of these voids. The cause of these voids is found to be caused by vapor induced phase separation (VIPS). Guided by the thermodynamics of VIPS, a process is then designed to produce void-free ferroelectric PVDF thin films on polar and non-polar substrates. The films …

First Low-Frequency Einstein@Home All-Sky Search For Continuous Gravitational Waves In Advanced Ligo Data, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, Teviet Creighton, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Malik Rakhmanov

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report results of a deep all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars in data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run. This search investigates the low frequency range of Advanced LIGO data, between 20 and 100 Hz, much of which was not explored in initial LIGO. The search was made possible by the computing power provided by the volunteers of the Einstein@Home project. We find no significant signal candidate and set the most stringent upper limits to date on the amplitude of gravitational wave signals from the target population, corresponding to a sensitivity depth of 48.7 …

Dynamics Of Household Role Performance And The Culture Of Child Health Production In Igbo-Ora, Southwestern Nigeria, Kabiru K. Salami, Ayodele S. Jegede, Frederick O. Oshiname

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Studies about production of health for children have mainly concentrated on the behavior of one or two key household members compared to the dynamics in households involving three or more members. Health production refers to the process of directing available knowledge, skills, and resources towards ensuring, maintaining, and sustaining the health of the members. This cross-sectional design study explored how the dynamics of household structure and members’ roles influence the process of health production in a rural Nigerian community. An interviewer-moderated questionnaire was administered through a panel survey approach in 576 households. Twelve in-depth interviews and eight group discussion sessions …

Response: Commentary: Skilled Bimanual Training Drives Motor Cortex Plasticity In Children With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy, Ya-Ching Hung, Kathleen M. Friel, Andrew M. Gordon

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Boulder Distribution Analysis Of Impact Craters In The Tharsis Region And Elysium Planitia, Mars, Nicole Button

LSU Master's Theses

Crater counting is an accepted method for dating the surface of a planetary body. An older landscape will have a higher areal density of craters due to exposure of impacts occurring over a longer time period. Since each initial impact only forms one primary crater, secondary craters need to be excluded in the crater counting method to appropriately catalog only distinct impact events. However, small primary craters may be difficult to distinguish from secondary craters. Understanding physical features of impact craters, such as the ejecta blanket, would improve the planetary community’s ability to differentiate between the two types of craters. …

In Vitro Toxic Effects Of Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanosheets On Lung Cancer Cells, Ta Tabish, Mzi Pranjol, H Hayat, Aam Rahat, Et Al

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The intriguing properties of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have paved the way for a number of potential biomedical applications such as drug delivery, tissue engineering, gene delivery and bio-sensing. Over the last decade, there have been escalating concerns regarding the possible toxic effects, behaviour and fate of rGO in living systems and environments. This paper reports on integrative chemical-biological interactions of rGO with lung cancer cells, i.e. A549 and SKMES-1, to determine its potential toxicological impacts on them, as a function of its concentration. Cell viability, early and late apoptosis and necrosis were measured to determine oxidative stress potential, and …

Table Of Contents (V. 26, No. 2)

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Touch Dna And Chemical Analysis Of Skin Trace Evidence: Protecting Privacy While Advancing Investigations, Mary Graw Leary

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Article addresses touch DNA, chemical analysis of skin traces, and the implications for crime scene investigation, arguing that changes in how trace evidence is analyzed require alterations in the law’s approach to its use. Part I discusses the history of traditional DNA analysis. Part II examines the emergence of touch DNA and related technologies and how they differ from traditional DNA analysis. Part III outlines the specific risks created by the collection and storing of results under the current outdated jurisprudence. Part IV focuses on specific risks to suspects and victims of crime. Part V proposes a legal framework …

Feeding The Machine: Policing, Crime Data, & Algorithms, Elizabeth E. Joh

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Investigative Dynamics Of The Use Of Malware By Law Enforcement, Paul Ohm

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The police have started to use malware—and other forms of government hacking—to solve crimes. Some fear coming abuses—the widespread use of malware when traditional investigative techniques would work just as well or to investigate political opponents or dissident speakers. This Article argues that these abuses will be checked, at least in part, by the very nature of malware and the way it must be controlled. This analysis utilizes a previously unformalized research methodology called “investigative dynamics” to come to these conclusions. Because every use of malware risks spoiling the tool—by revealing a software vulnerability that can be patched—the police will …

Encryption, Asymmetric Warfare, And The Need For Lawful Access, Geoffrey S. Corn

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Unreasonable Rise Of Reasonable Suspicion: Terrorist Watchlists And Terry V. Ohio, Jeffrey Kahn

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Terry v. Ohio’s “reasonable suspicion” test was created in the context of domestic law enforcement, but it did not remain there. This Essay examines the effect of transplanting this test into a new context: the world of terrorist watchlists. In this new context, reasonable suspicion is the standard used to authorize the infringement on liberty that often results from being watchlisted. But nothing else from the case that created that standard remains the same. The government official changes from a local police officer to an anonymous member of the intelligence community. The purpose changes from crime prevention to counterterrorism. …

Private Actors, Corporate Data And National Security: What Assistance Do Tech Companies Owe Law Enforcement?, Caren Morrison

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

When the government investigates a crime, do citizens have a duty to assist? This question was raised in the struggle between Apple and the FBI over whether the agency could compel Apple to defeat its own password protections on the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters. That case was voluntarily dismissed as moot when the government found a way of accessing the data on the phone, but the issue remains unresolved.

Because of advances in technology, software providers and device makers have been able to develop almost impenetrable protection for their customers’ information, effectively locking law enforcement out …

Notice And Standing In The Fourth Amendment: Searches Of Personal Data, Jennifer Daskal

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In at least two recent cases, courts have rejected service providers’ capacity to raise Fourth Amendment claims on behalf of their customers. These holdings rely on longstanding Supreme Court doctrine establishing a general rule against third parties asserting the Fourth Amendment rights of others. However, there is a key difference between these two recent cases and those cases on which the doctrine rests. The relevant Supreme Court doctrine stems from situations in which someone could take action to raise the Fourth Amendment claim, even if the particular third-party litigant could not. In the situations presented by the recent cases, by …

The Fourth Amendment Disclosure Doctrines, Monu Bedi

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The third party and public disclosure doctrines (together the “disclosure doctrines”) are long-standing hurdles to Fourth Amendment protection. These doctrines have become increasingly relevant to assessing the government’s use of recent technologies such as data mining, drone surveillance, and cell site location data. It is surprising then that both the Supreme Court and scholars, at times, have associated them together as expressing one principle. It turns out that each relies on unique foundational triggers and does not stand or fall with the other. This Article tackles this issue and provides a comprehensive topology for analyzing the respective contours of each …

Carpenter V. United States And The Fourth Amendment: The Best Way Forward, Stephen E. Henderson

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

We finally have a federal ‘test case.’ In Carpenter v. United States, the Supreme Court is poised to set the direction of the Fourth Amendment in the digital age. The case squarely presents how the twentieth-century third party doctrine will fare in contemporary times, and the stakes could not be higher. This Article reviews the Carpenter case and how it fits within the greater discussion of the Fourth Amendment third party doctrine and location surveillance, and I express a hope that the Court will be both a bit ambitious and a good measure cautious.

As for ambition, the Court …

Incarcerated And Unrepresented: Prison-Based Gerrymandering And Why Evenwel’S Approval Of “Total Population” As A Population Base Shouldn’T Include Incarcerated Populations, Emily J. Heltzel

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Silence Of Speech: Academic Safe Spaces, The Free Speech Critique, And The Solution Of Free Association, Trevor N. Ward

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Formation Of One-Part-Mixing Geopolymers And Geopolymer Ceramics From Geopolymer Powder, Yun Ming Liew, Cheng Yong Heah, Long Yuan Li, Nur Ain Jaya, Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah, Soo Jin Tan, Kamarudin Hussin

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.