Digital Commons Network^™

Drinking Water Contaminants: Maternal And Fetal Health Risks, Arun Bhaskar V., Koel Chaudhury

Sustainable Solution With Appropriate Technological Development and Innovation (SWADIN) Conference

No abstract provided.

A System-Based Analysis And Approach For Water-Linked Health And Wellness In Low-Resource Setting, Suranjan Panigrahi

Sustainable Solution With Appropriate Technological Development and Innovation (SWADIN) Conference

No abstract provided.

Alaskan King Crab: Bering Sea Distributions And A Parasitic Castrator, Leah Sloan Zacher

Marine Biology

King crab play an integral role in both marine ecosystems and fisheries; they influence benthic community structure through predation, help regulate trophic cascades, and are an important food source for large fishes, marine mammals, and humans. To sustainably manage king crab fisheries in a changing climate, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of king crab biology and behavior, as well as knowledge on how they utilize and interact with other components of the ecosystem. I investigated factors important to king crab sustainability and management, including distribution patterns and a parasitic castrator. Rhizocephalan barnacles in the genus Briarosaccus parasitize …

Uab Health Equity Scholar Receives Hvma Scholarship, Brit Blalock

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

2018-May-16-Syringe Exchange Program, University Marketing And Communications, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Appropriate Treatment Of Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteremia, Essie Samuel

Research Day

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) when present within the bloodstream can result in increased rates of morbidity and 30-day all-cause mortality. Previous studies have assessed the significance of Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) bacteremia, where the treatment of choice is a β-lactam (or vancomycin if penicillin-allergic) or vancomycin, respectively. Rapid and appropriate antimicrobial selection is crucial for resolution of symptoms and prevention of relapse. For S.aureus bacteremia (SAB) treatment with systemic antibiotics, a short-course (14 days) can be utilized for uncomplicated cases and for patients with complicated SAB, long-course regimens are recommended at ≥ 4 weeks. …

Using Educational Board Games Adjunct To Traditional Lectures For Pharmacy Students In Learning Infectious Disease, Sirena Hu, Haley Ethredge, Drew Cates, Essie Samuel

Research Day

To determine if the utilization of modified games, such as ID-Candyland and ID-Taboo, are effective methods to reinforce student knowledge gained in traditional infectious diseases (ID) lectures. When confronted with various challenges of learning ID and the associated pharmacotherapy, pharmacy students often have difficulty applying knowledge learned within the traditional lecture setting to clinical practice and real-life situations involving patients. In addition to lectures and reading assignments, the utilization of educational games can extend learning opportunities, reinforce current understanding and promote a fun and competitive environment. Studies have shown that games are a powerful teaching strategy to develop creative learning …

Lgbt Senior Health Disparities: Information Resources To Bridge The Gap, Gregg A. Stevens, Tony Nguyen, Francisco J. Fajardo

Library Faculty Publications

As the senior population in the United States increases, the aging LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) population should also see comparable growth rates. Health care providers and social service organizations will care for more LGBT seniors with special needs beyond the general population of older adults as they are more at risk for certain conditions. This article identifies some specific health disparities and examines several organizations that work to improve LGBT senior health by providing critical health information to LGBT older adults, caregivers, and health care professionals.

Population Structure, Demographic History, And Environmental Niche Of The Sand Fly Disease Vector Lutzomyia Shannoni (Dyar) (Diptera: Psychodidae) In The U.S., Mexico, And Colombia, Matthew E. Wolkoff

Biology Theses

Lutzomyia shannoni (Dyar, 1929) (Diptera: Psychodidae) is the only known sand fly vector of vesicular stomatitis virus, a putative leishmaniasis vector, and also boasts the widest distribution of any sand fly in the New World. Research on Lu. shannoni in Central and South America has revealed genetically divergent subpopulations; however, tentative analysis of Lu. shannoni in the U.S. has failed to detect any significant population structure, even between specimens collected from highly disparate localities.

The present study used four molecular markers to more closely investigate the population structure of Lu. shannoni in the U.S., and assess the species’ relationships with …

Career Corner: Quidel Has Seasonal Position Open Full Or Part-Time, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Static And Dynamic Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Of Potable Reuse Paradigms, Erfaneh Amoueyan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In recent years, potable reuse applications have become more common due to population growth and increased water demand, especially in communities with limited or variable water resources. However, there are concerns about potential exposure to pathogens and chemical compounds in treated wastewater. Therefore, advanced wastewater treatment processes are of paramount importance in any potable reuse system. The overall aim of this study was to develop and implement static and dynamic QMRAs to compare public health risk in various potable reuse scenarios. Cryptosporidium, norovirus, adenovirus, and Salmonella were chosen as the target pathogens. The research evaluated the performance of full advanced …

"The Only People Who Can Get Aids-Are People": The Aids Crisis In Mainstream Crisis, 1981-1995, Franklin Howard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examines the representation of the AIDS crisis and People with AIDS (PWAs) in comics produced by mainstream publishing companies in America. Between 1988 and 1995, mainstream comic artists at DC Comics and Marvel Comics used their art to offer social commentary on the crisis. This commentary focused primarily on social issues like violence against PWAs and social ostracizing instead of the critiques of the Reagan Administration and medical institutions found in similar comics produced by activists in the queer communities. They provided education and advocated acceptance through their character’s actions and dialogue as well as in their own …

Nutrition Transition Of Hadza Foragers: Implications For Juvenile Behavior, Trevor Pollom

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Hadza foragers of Tanzania are undergoing early stages of nutrition transition and an increased level of market integration. Accompanying these shifts is a significant change in diet composition with greater access to maize, wheat, and other domesticated cultigens, even in the most remote bush camps. Despite the rapid rate of nutrition transition, few studies have attempted to quantify the possible effects this transition is having on Hadza diet or foraging behaviors. Here, we attempt to fill this gap in the literature by reporting results of a mixed methods cross-sectional study on juvenile foragers taken from two time points, 2005 …

Changes In Risk Perceptions During The 2014 Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic: Results Of Two Consecutive Surveys Among The General Population In Lower Saxony, Germany, Julie Obenauer, Nicole Rübsamen, Ekaterine Garsevanidze, André Karch, Rafael T. Mikolajczyk

ETSU Faculty Works

Background: The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak 2014 received extensive news media coverage, which faded out before the outbreak ended. News media coverage impacts risk perception; it is, however, unclear if the components of risk perception (affective and cognitive responses) change differently over time. Methods: In an online panel, we asked participants (n = 1376) about EVD risk perceptions at the epidemic's peak (November 2014) and after news media coverage faded out (August 2015). We investigated worry (affective response), perceived likelihood of infection, perceived personal impact, and coping efficacy (dimensions of cognitive response), and knowledge about transmission. Differences between the …

Critical Care: The Important Role Of Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs, Douglas N. Evans, Anthony Vega

Publications and Research

Hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIP) recognize the importance of supporting the needs of violence survivors and their families to help prevent retaliation and other violence from reoccurring. This report discusses the need for evaluations and further research for HVIPs as the shift towards understanding violence through a public approach increases.

Increasing Ph In Cancer: Enabling A New Therapeutic Paradigm Using Novel Carbonate Nanoparticles, Avik Som

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Enormous progress has been made to treat cancer, and yet the mortality rate of cancer remains unacceptably high. High clinical resistance to molecularly targeted therapeutics has pushed interest again towards inhibiting universal biochemical hallmarks of cancer. Recent evidence suggests that malignant tumors acidify the local extracellular environment to activate proteases for degrading the tumor matrix, which facilitates metastasis, and explains why more aggressive tumors are more acidic. Current therapies have only focused on using the low pH for enhancing drug release in tumors, thereby still relying on the traditional paradigm of intracellular inhibition of pathways, a method that continues to …

Impact Of Outpatient Vs Inpatient Absssi Treatment On Outcomes: A Retrospective Observational Analysis Of Medical Charts Across Us Emergency Departments, P. Brandon Bookstaver, Timothy C. Jenkins, Edward Stenehjem, Shira Doron, Jack Brown, Shannon H. Goldwater, Carlos Lopes, Angela Haynes, Chuka Udeze, Yifan Mo, Patrick Gllard, Yan Liu, Katelyn Keyloun

Pharmacy Faculty/Staff Publications

Background

The objective of this study was to characterize treatment of patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs) and describe the association between hospital admission and emergency department (ED) visits or readmissions within 30 days after initial episode of care (IEC).

Methods

This was a retrospective, observational, cohort study of adults with ABSSSI who presented to an ED between July 1, 2012, and June 30, 2013. Patient, health care facility, and treatment characteristics, including unplanned ED visits or readmissions, were obtained through manual chart review and abstraction. Adjusted logistic regression analysis examined likelihood of all-cause unplanned ED …

Sex Differences In Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli Urinary Tract Infection, Patrick David Olson

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections which plague humans. Community-onset UTI is widely viewed as a disease only of women; indeed, its occurrence between 2 and 60 years of age is almost exclusive to females. However, the disease also affects substantial male patient populations, namely infants and the very elderly. While female cases of complicated and upper-tract UTI (pyelonephritis) outnumber male cases overall, men carry an increased risk of mortality from these infections. Sex differences in UTI epidemiology have heretofore been attributed almost entirely to anatomic and hygienic factors in females, including the permissiveness of …

Negative Regulators Of Colonic Peripheral Regulatory T Cell Development, Teresa Lei Ai

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Peripheral Treg cells (pTreg cells) maintain immune homeostasis at mucosal interfaces, where they can develop upon activation of naïve CD4+ T cells by bacteria antigen. However, the cellular and molecular requirements that govern their differentiation in inflamed and homeostatic contexts require further elucidation. To circumvent uncertainties in existing methods of distinguishing pTreg cells from thymic Treg cells (tTreg cells), we analyzed monoclonal cell populations of CT2 and CT6 transgenic (Tg) cells that develop into pTreg cells in response to different species of endogenously presented Helicobacter antigen. In our comprehensive assessment of multiple intestinal inflammatory models, including infections and physical injury, …

The Ethics Of Environmental Litigation, Jenna Marie Dibenedetto

Student Theses 2015-Present

Abstract

We are raised from the early days of our youth to distinguish right from wrong, evil from good. Though there are many careers that have easily distinguishable ethics from their day of creation, others require spend their entire professional careers floating in a grey area. Being a lawyer can leave you in limbo very often. The ethical battle between prosecuting people whose actions go against everything you believe in and defending someone who actions you struggle to rationalize, looking for a “nail in the coffin” or finding a way to pry it open can play a large role in …

Hiv Mortality Difference Between Black And White Women, Carlos O. Nesbeth, Rajiv Kandala, Syed Najeeb, Ruksana Nazneen, Banglore Murthy

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

OBJECTIVE

In the United States, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) continues to be among the top 10 leading causes of mortality for black women between the ages of 20 and 54¹, but does not rank among the top 10 leading causes of death for white women amongst all age groups^². This study describes the HIV mortality difference between black and white women and formulate hypotheses that may reduce or eliminate disparities.

METHODS

Information was accessed through public data, the US Census, and the US Compressed Mortality File.

RESULTS

In these descriptive data from 1987 through 2015, including reliable HIV …

Analysis Of The Immunological Biomarker Profile During Acute Zika Virus Infection Reveals The Overexpression Of Cxcl10, A Chemokine Linked To Neuronal Damage., Felipe Gomes Naveca, Gemilson Soares Pontes, Aileen Yu-Hen Chang, George Allan Villarouco Da Silva, Valdinete Alves Do Nascimento, Dana Cristina Da Silva Monteiro, +Several Additional Authors

Medicine Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Infection with Zika virus (ZIKV) manifests in a broad spectrum of disease ranging from mild illness to severe neurological complications and little is known about Zika immunopathogenesis.

OBJECTIVES: To define the immunologic biomarkers that correlate with acute ZIKV infection.

METHODS: We characterized the levels of circulating cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors in 54 infected patients of both genders at five different time points after symptom onset using microbeads multiplex immunoassay; comparison to 100 age-matched controls was performed for statistical analysis and data mining.

FINDINGS: ZIKV-infected patients present a striking systemic inflammatory response with high levels of pro-inflammatory mediators. Despite …

Borrelia Burgdorferi Adhere To Blood Vessels In The Dura Mater And Are Associated With Increased Meningeal T Cells During Murine Disseminated Borreliosis, Ali Divan, Timothy Casselli, Anand Narayanan, Sanjib Mukherjee, David C. Zawieja, John A. Watt, Catherine A. Brissette, Karen Newell-Rogers

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is a vector-borne bacterial infection that is transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. If not treated with antibiotics during the early stages of infection, disseminated infection can spread to the central nervous system (CNS). In non-human primates (NHPs) it has been demonstrated that the leptomeninges are among the tissues colonized by B. burgdorferi spirochetes. Although the NHP model parallels aspects of human borreliosis, a small rodent model would be ideal to study the trafficking of spirochetes and immune cells into the CNS. Here we show that during early and late …

The Patient-Provider Relationship And Hiv Medication Adherence: Indirect Effects Of Medication Beliefs, Travis Stewart

Theses - ALL

Research examining variables that influence medication adherence among HIV-positive individuals remains an important priority. The patient-provider relationship may influence HIV medication adherence, though findings have varied across studies and there is a paucity of research examining mechanisms that may account for patient-provider influences on adherence. One potential mechanism that may explain this relationship is patient’s beliefs about medications, specifically how patients weigh the necessity of medications relative to concerns about negative side effects. Using data from a sample of 116 HIV patients recruited during outpatient care, this study aimed to (a) examine the effect of the patient-provider relationship on both …

Schistosomiasis In The Wild: A Transcriptomics Perspective On Field-Derived Biomphalaria Pfeifferi And Schistosoma Mansoni, And Their Interactions, Sarah K. Buddenborg

Biology ETDs

Schistosomiasis, caused by trematodes in the genus Schistosoma, is a widespread neglected tropical disease with the species S. mansoni infecting over 100 million people. We aimed to better understand the snail host and parasite responses during intramolluscan stages of infection by performing dual RNA-Seq on field-collected snails with natural infections from western Kenya. We collected uninfected Biomphalaria pfeifferi, B. pfeifferi with a patent cercariae-producing S. mansoni infection, and B. pfeifferi exposed to field-collected S. mansoni at 1 and 3d (days post infection).

We first created a high-quality B. pfeifferi transcriptome to identify the snail response to S. mansoni infection. …

Public Opinion & U.S. Foreign Policy: Investigating The Impact Of Political Television Dramas On Audience Perceptions Of Current U.S. Foreign Policy Engagement And Effectiveness, Lynzee Flores

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Political TV dramas have become increasingly popular with audiences as a source of entertainment after the 2016 presidential election, particularly programs depicting the functions of the executive branch of government (CenturyLink, 2017).

This research investigates how political TV dramas, as compared to network news coverage of U.S. foreign policy events, influence the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs of U.S. audience viewers.

Using agenda-setting as the theoretical frame, this study employs a quantitative experimental design in order to measure participants’ pre- and post- attitudes on two variables; perceived issue familiarity and perceived issue importance of U.S. foreign policy events and U.S. diplomacy …

Essential Medicines Beyond Guilt Trips And Acta-Ing Up: A Global Pharmaforum For A New Era?, Veronica Pastor

DePaul Journal of Health Care Law

No abstract provided.

Telehealth: Exploring The Ethical Issues, Jeremy D. Young, Scott A. Borgetti, Philip J. Clapham

DePaul Journal of Health Care Law

No abstract provided.

Ebola: Africa, James Goodwin

Global Issues in Public Health

In this paper, I talk about the Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. Ebola is a rare virus that spreads through the immune system and can be fatal. Ebola is a pathogen from Africa, specifically West Africa. There has been almost 32,000 cases since 1976. Symptoms include, Fever, Headache, Muscle pain, Fatigue, Diarrhea, Vomiting, Stomach pain, and Bleeding/Bruising. Transmission happens during close or direct contact. World Health Organization has been making efforts to handle outbreaks such as the outbreak in 2014. World Health Organization mobilized and set up relief efforts. Education is a key idea for my thoughts on how we can intervene …

Evidence-Based Practice Screening Protocol To Integrate Physical Health Services Into A Behavioral Health Center, Debra Bell

Doctoral Projects

ABSTRACT

Individuals aged 18 or older who suffer from a serious mental illness (SMI) often have coexisting chronic physical health problems such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Multiple providers in various settings provide care for individuals with co-morbid SMI and physical health problems. Early, effective and efficient screening leads to successful treatment and management of patients with both SMI and chronic physical health complications. The purpose of this DNP project was to develop and implement an evidence-based integrated screening protocol for adult males (18 and over) diagnosed with SMI and co-morbid physical health problems who presented for care …