Digital Commons Network^™

How School District Secession Impacts The District Left Behind, Christopher Tyler Burks

All ETDs from UAB

This is the first national analysis of school district secessions that predicts which kind of school districts are likely to have a secession attempt and measures the impact of secession on the per-pupil revenue of the district left behind. Data on school district secessions was limited prior to EdBuild’s 2017 report, Fractured. This thesis combines data from the National Center for Education Statistics with EdBuild’s data on secessions. Using a linear probability model, I find that larger districts in urban areas with more disadvantaged students receiving free and reduced-price lunch are more likely to experience a secession attempt. I then …

Adiposity And Health In Zoo African And Asian Elephants, Daniella Chusyd

All ETDs from UAB

African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) elephant populations are rapidly declining due to poaching, and habitat fragmentation and loss. Due to the precarious situation elephants are facing worldwide, captive elephant populations are being viewed as an insurance policy against extinction. Unfortunately, captive elephant populations are not self-sustaining, in part because of reproductive and health issues. One hypothesis for the observed reproductive and health issues is zoo elephants are obese. The current method of assessing obesity in elephants is based on a qualitative visual tool, the body condition score, which does not quantify fat mass. The purpose of this dissertation …

Functional Analysis Of Cdc45 In The Replication Fork And In Response To Replicative Stress, Amanda Debrot

All ETDs from UAB

DNA replication is a highly conserved and tightly regulated process, with a variety of factors acting to ensure faithful duplication and stability of chromosomal DNA. During replication, positive supercoils form ahead of the advancing replication fork. DNA topoisomerase 1 (Top1) acts to prevent DNA damage by relieving the torsional strain created by these supercoils. The camptothecin (CPT) class of chemotherapeutics target Top1, creating a long-lived DNA-Top1-CPT covalent complex, which leads to S-phase specific DNA lesions and cellular death. Our lab previously performed a genetic screen to isolate mutant proteins that enhance cell sensitivity to Top1-mediated DNA damage. One of the …

The Influence Of Perceived Stress And Sleep Disturbance On Fatigue And Blood Pressure As Mediated By Cortisol In Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Heather Carol Soistmann

All ETDs from UAB

ABSTRACT Introduction: Life expectancy is improving for those with sickle cell disease (SCD); however, with this improvement come increasing risks for long-term health complications. Early identification of health concerns could lead to improved long-term health outcomes. Two health concerns in school-age children with SCD are fatigue and blood pressure (BP). Previous research with other populations indicates perceived stress and sleep disturbance may influence outcomes of fatigue and BP. Further, cortisol, a stress hormone, may mediate the proposed relationships. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine effect sizes of relationships between fatigue, BP, perceived stress, and sleep disturbance in …

Prenatal And Postnatal Factors Regulate Food Intake And Body Composition, Minsung Kang

All ETDs from UAB

This research sought to identify the effects of prenatal and postnatal factors on systemic metabolism and the regulation of food intake, weight, and body composition. It was found that the manipulation of maternal diets influenced the systemic metabolism of offspring. The offspring of dams fed an isocaloric, low protein diet were significantly smaller and consumed less food than offspring from dams fed a control diet. In the case of the offspring from dams fed a western diet, they were significantly heavier and consumed more food than offspring from dams fed a control diet. In addition, the offspring showed altered glucose …

Metagenomic Analysis Of Microbial Community Compositions And Functions In Perennially Ice-Covered Lake Ecosystems In East Antarctica, Hyunmin Koo

All ETDs from UAB

The perennially ice-covered lakes of the Antarctic continent are considered to be the ideal extreme ecosystems to study growth, sustenance, and evolution of microbial mats without any direct influence by higher organisms and other external environmental factors. This dissertation research utilized Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology and bioinformatics tools to study the microbial composition and metabolic potential of the microbial mats in permanently ice-covered freshwater Lake Untersee, Lake Obersee and their surrounding ecosystems in East Antarctica. Overall, the microbial communities in the microbial mats of Lake Untersee were distinct in regard to their compositions, shared taxa and metabolic potential as …

Apoe E4 Carrier Status And Prestroke Cognitive Function In A Case/Cohort Sample Of Incident Stroke From The Reasons For Geographic And Racial Differences In Stroke (Regards) Study, Caroline Lassen-Greene

All ETDs from UAB

This study explores the role of ApoE e4 in cognitive function and incident stroke to better understand the risk of cognitive decline associated with both normal aging and dementia. ApoE e4 is a genetic risk factor for mild cognitive impairment and dementia, and may have detrimental effects on cerebrovascular integrity by increasing the risk of acquiring cerebrovascular abnormalities such as white matter lesions (WMLs), infarcts, and cerebral microbleeds. Subtle cognitive impairments may reflect these clinically undetected brain vascular pathologies that also are associated with increased likelihood of incident stroke. Results of the study revealed that ApoE e4 was associated with …

Lick My Battery, Sasha Mitchell

All ETDs from UAB

An insecure cyborg named Grit defects to a tech-atheist society. Her neuro-disorder-addicted sister, Siri, follows her with a licentious government drone, one officer Rah Tetra of the Austere Sapien Services (A.S.S. for short). Sex, anthropology, family dysfunction, and social rigidity are tackled beneath the influences of Radiohead, Billy Wilder, and Jonathan Swift.

Inspire : Vol 1, Issue 1, Department Of Medicine

INSPIRE – Department of Medicine Archives

Content:

- Message From the Chair

- Faculty News

- Featured Faculty Profile

- Publications

The Influence Of Treatment Expectation On Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (Tdcs)-Induced Suppression Of Craving And Eating, Mary Katherine Osborn Ray

All ETDs from UAB

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulation technique with promise to improve numerous diseases, but results are inconsistent. Possible explanations for the conflicting evidence include: 1) expectation effects arising from discernable real vs. sham tDCS conditions, and 2) uncontrolled individual differences related to the outcome variables. Therefore, we conducted a study that systematically assessed the putative action of tDCS to suppress food craving and eating while controlling for expectation effects and baseline individual differences. N=74 adults were randomized to one of four groups: Told Fake/Got Fake (participants were told they were receiving fake and received fake tDCS), Told Fake/Got …

Novel Anti-Cancer Therapy Development Using Omics Guided Rational Cell Process Engineering, Ningning Xu

All ETDs from UAB

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality globally, and multiple anti-cancer therapies have been developed and applied over last few decades. Antibody-based cancer therapies have been on one of the most exciting and promising therapeutic strategies. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can control the progression of cancers via targeted binding to the specific antigen of tumors to trigger an immune response, target and block the signaling pathway involved in cancer progression, or deliver cytotoxic agents into tumors. Two chimeric/humanized monoclonal antibodies (anti-HER2 mAb and anti-CD 20 mAb) with higher efficacy were successfully expressed in engineered Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells (CHO). …

Effects Of Dietary R,S-1,3 Butanediol Diacetoacetate On Components Of Energy Balance, Rachel A H Davis

All ETDs from UAB

Ketogenic diet (KD) has been used to attenuate the decline in energy expenditure occurring from calorie restriction-induced weight loss, but long-term adherence can be difficult due to the strict nature of the diet. The growing body of evidence supporting KD-treatment of neurologic and metabolic diseases, as well as obesity, has prompted interest in the ability to increase circulating ketones via exogenous delivery. Ketone esters (KE) can raise blood ketone concentrations similarly to fasting and appear to reduce food intake acutely, but studies assessing effects on energy balance are limited and provide a potentially promising direction for weight control. Previous investigations …

Evaluation Of The Factors Influencing Feed Intake And Satiety Of The Variegated Sea Urchin, Lytechinus Variegatus, Marlee Hayes

All ETDs from UAB

Feed intake is the primary determinant of nutrient and energy acquisition for most metazoans. Satiety regulates feed intake and may have cascading effects on nutrient acquisition and health. Satiety of many higher organisms involves complex processes and a variety of signaling molecules that are responsive to many factors associated with nutrient intake. However, the ability to sate is observed in many simpler animals with less complex physiological processes. Sea urchins, with relatively simple digestive and nervous systems, provide an ideal model for the study of fundamental drivers of feed intake. Understanding the process of satiety in this primitive deuterostome can …

Tutor Effectiveness Of Student-Athletes At A Division I University, Kyle J. Koehler

Master of Education in Applied Human Development Graduate Projects

Peer tutoring services are a vital aspect to collegiate athletic support services to ensure that the academic needs of its student-athletes are being met. Collegiate student-athletes hail from a variety of academic backgrounds and everyone may not be ready for the rigors of college. Student-athletes also devote many hours to their specific sport in the form of practice, weight training, watching film, hosting recruits, doing volunteer services, and competing in athletic contests. Athletic contests may require student-athletes to miss class, which makes tutorial services even more crucial for student-athletes. In addition to these time consuming athletic activities, are a wide …

Implications Of Physical Activity On Academic Outcomes, Laura Elizabeth Priebe

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the implications physical activity has on academic outcomes for students. Current research is reviewed to provide an overview of what movement opportunities are already being implemented in schools. Reviewed research discusses the need and impact movement has on the brain and the body. The research also explores limitations and barriers schools, teachers, and students are encountering that makes having physical education programs difficult as well as why the provision of physical activity through interventions in the classroom is challenging. Physical education programming, interventions, play, and increasing the intensity of movement are reviewed in this thesis. Additional research …

Self-Care Management Of African American Men With Type 2 Diabetes, Kevin Konstantinos

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American men are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes and have a 3 times higher rate of 3 serious complications of diabetes, including blindness, amputations, and end-stage renal disease, compared to other groups. The purpose of this project was to address the gap-in-practice disparity that exists in care of African American men with diabetes by providing one-on-one self-care management education in an outpatient clinic setting. The behavior change theories that supported the project intervention were Orem's self-care theory and Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Employing a quasi-experimental design, 33 participants between the ages of 40 and 65 were divided into an …

Nonpharmacological Behavioral Interventions For Patients With Dementia: An Integrative Literature Review, Michelle Monique Spears

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The use of antipsychotic medications in older adults with dementia increases risk of

mortality; therefore, it is critical that nurses use nonpharmacological interventions in dementia care. The nurses' role is integral to implementation of treatment strategies to dementia patients and efforts to improve care in patients with dementia using a nonpharmacological approach are necessary. Therefore, guidelines outlining nonpharmacologic dementia care management will enable nurses to provide a wider spectrum of care to dementia patients. The purpose of this project was to make recommendations for the development and implementation of interdisciplinary practice guidelines to standardize care in the organizational setting. An …

Assessing The Effects Of Career Exploration Among African-American Urban Adolescents, Mia Flowers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Deficits in career decision making self-efficacy, career decidedness, and academic motivation have contributed to prolonged cycles of poverty, an increase in the number of years it takes to complete an undergraduate degree, and an upsurge in the amount of financial debt incurred. Recurrently, students are saddled with large amounts of debt for a degree that was never attained. One group heavily affected by this phenomenon is African American urban adolescents (AAUA). This quantitative study used a social cognitive career theory framework and a repeated-measures research design to examine whether a significant change in scores occurred from Time 1 to Time …

Understanding Parenting Styles Of Second-Generation Parents Of Residential School Survivors Within Treaty 8 Reserves, Judy Kim-Meneen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Approximately 150,000 First Nation, Metis, and Inuit children attended Canadian residential schools from the 1840s to 1996. Most residential school children had negative experiences of physical, verbal, and sexual abuse that led to parenting repercussions once these children became parents. These repercussions of residential schools led to a rate of neglect for First Nation children 12 times higher than non-First Nation children. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological descriptive study was to explore the lived experiences of second generation parents, who were schooled in residential schools as children and their current parenting styles. The conceptual frameworks of trauma theory and …

Association Between Type Of Diabetes Education And Health Status, Limitations, And Healthcare, Starr Michelle Seip

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Diabetes is an epidemic that has started to capture political attention in the United States because of the devastating health care costs associated with the disease. Researchers in other studies have concluded that additional education face-to-face (FTF) and FTF with alternative forms of diabetes communication (FTF plus) have been beneficial. However, there is very little information on the comparison of the two groups as mentioned above when comparing chronic limitations, self-perception, health status, and healthcare satisfaction as circumscribed by specific demographic population. This study was an investigation of the above variables and explored how specific demographic characteristics (age, gender, educational …

Assessing Racial Differences In U.S. Prenatal Care, Gestational Weight Gain, And Low Birthweight, Tiffany James

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The benefits of prenatal care (PNC) are extensively documented; however, controversy surrounds the extent to which benefits are experienced among different racial groups. Determining whether PNC influences positive birth outcomes and if advantages differ by race is pertinent to attaining positive health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between gestational weight gain (GWG), low birthweight (LBW), and PNC while weighing racial differences. The theoretical foundation was the motivation-facilitation theory of PNC access. Research questions were designed to (a) determine if there was a significant association between GWG and LBW, (b) determine if PNC had a …

Improving Chronic Constipation Health Literacy Proficiency: Animation Versus Traditional Written Pamphlets, Jason Baker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. health care system is evolving from medical centric to patient centered, augmenting the importance for patients to comprehend and process medical information. The Department of Education indicated that 77 million Americans have a basic or below basic health literacy proficiency and 12% register as health literacy proficient. Animation is a time-tested device for improving health by enhancing comprehension. Chronic constipation (CC) complexity entails physiological, anatomical, and environmental mechanisms. Using the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and dual-channel auditory and visual processing, the primary research question addressed whether an animated educational video improved health literacy for CC more than …

A Nutrition Education Program For Advanced Practice Registered Nurses Caring For Obese Patients, Kathy Lynn Wilson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity is a major U.S. public health epidemic. A review of the current literature identified a lack of obesity counseling with individuals. The gap in practice was a lack of understanding of nutrition, nutrition labeling, and how foods affect health. The objective of this project was to identify the community assessment need related to obesity and then educate APRNs on ways to better communicate with obese patients. This project focused on an education program for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) on using the 5 A's framework for obesity counseling to improve their knowledge and skill in counseling their overweight and …

Locus Of Control, Poverty And Health Promoting Lifestyles, Cara Stephenson-Hunter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite increased access to care and interventions aimed to change health behavior, socioeconomic health disparities have remained unchanged, even for preventable illness and disease. Health behavior theories and interventions heavily rely on perceptions of control over one's fate and thus ignore populations with low perceptions of personal control. Poverty is associated with an external locus of control (LOC), while both poverty and external LOC are associated with less health protective behavior. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the role of LOC as an adaptive response to poverty and to discover the risks and benefits to physical and …

Stroke Risk Factor Knowledge, Attitude, Prevention Practices, And Stroke, Adaku Ngozika Madubuko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Regardless of the advances that have been made in stroke research and treatment and the overall decrease in stroke mortality, the stroke mortality rate for African Americans is still high at 45.2/100,000 and is still the leading cause of adult disability. Knowledge of the risk factors of stroke is paramount to reducing the morbidity and mortality of stroke, but knowledge of stroke risk factors has been found to be suboptimal in the African American population. The purpose of this study was to examine if there is a relationship between the knowledge, perception, and sources of stroke information of risk factors …

Vegetable Diversity, Injurious Falls, And Fracture Risk In Older Women: A Prospective Cohort Study, Marc Sim, Lauren C. Blekkenhorst, Joshua Lewis, Catherine P. Bondonno, Amanda Devine, Kun Zhu, Richard J. Woodman, Richard L. Price, Jonathan M. Hodgson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The importance of vegetable diversity for the risk of falling and fractures is unclear. Our objective was to examine the relationship between vegetable diversity with injurious falling and fractures leading to hospitalization in a prospective cohort of older Australian women (n = 1429, ≥70 years). Vegetable diversity was quantified by assessing the number of different vegetables consumed daily. Vegetable intake (75 g servings/day) was estimated using a validated food frequency questionnaire at baseline (1998). Over 14.5 years, injurious falls (events = 568, 39.7%), and fractures (events = 404, 28.3%) were captured using linked health records. In multivariable-adjusted Cox regression models, …

Independent And Interactive Associations Of Negative Affect, Restraint, And Impulsivity In Relation To Binge Eating Among Women, Tyler B. Mason, Kathryn E. Smith, Jason M. Lavender, Robin J. Lewis

Psychology Faculty Publications

There is growing recognition that impulsivity may serve as an underlying risk factor for binge eating. In addition, the association of impulsivity with binge eating may be moderated by other affective and cognitive risk factors. This study examined independent and interactive associations of negative affect, dietary restraint, and facets of impulsivity with binge eating. A diverse sample of 566 undergraduate women completed online questionnaires of study variables. Results revealed a three-way interaction of negative affect, dietary restraint, and attentional impulsivity in relation to binge eating. Women who were high on each of these three variables reported the greatest levels of …

Preconceptional Health Behavior Change In Women With Overweight And Obesity: Prototype For Smart Strong Healthy Women Intervention, Frank T. Materia, Joshua M. Smyth, Kristin E. Heron, Marianne Hillemeier, Mark E. Feinberg, Patricia Fonzi, Danielle Symons

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: The prevalence of maternal perinatal obesity is rising, and in turn, increases health risks and morbidity for both mother and child. Past evidence suggests the preconceptional Strong Healthy Women (SHW) intervention can reduce multiple biobehavioral risk factors for adverse perinatal health. The SHW intervention, however, was time- and resource-intensive to deliver. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies provide an opportunity to expand intervention reach while reducing implementation cost and burden. Previous research suggests that preconceptional women are broadly supportive of using smartphones for behavior change, yet few studies have elicited their specific preferences for a targeted mHealth intervention. The objective of …

Sexual Coercion, Drinking To Cope Motives, And Alcohol-Related Consequences Among Self-Identified Bisexual Women, Michelle L. Kelly, Sarah J. Ehlke, Robin J. Lewis, Abby L. Braitman, Wendy Bostwick, Kristin E. Heron, Cathy Lau-Barraco

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Given higher sexual victimization and greater alcohol use among bisexual women, a critical public health challenge is to understand within-group variation that may heighten or explain these associations in bisexual women. Objectives: The present study tested a moderated-mediation model in which sexual coercion was hypothesized to be associated with alcohol-related consequences via drinking to cope motives in self-identified bisexual women who reported at least occasional binge drinking. Negative affect was hypothesized to moderate the sexual coercion-drinking to cope motives association. Methods: Participants were a community sample of 107 self-identified bisexual women (age M = 20.97, SD = 2.11) who …

Consumer Willingness To Pay For Chicken Meat Derived From Chicken Fed On Insect-Based Feed In Kenya, Harriet Mawia Joel

All Master’s Theses

Poultry production in Kenya is faced by a major hindrance of feed deficiency, especially protein source. This has resulted in less supply of poultry products which does not match the current growing consumer demand for poultry meat. The growing demand owes to consumer preferences switch from red meat to white meat, population growth and urbanization among other factors. Different protein sources used in poultry production in Kenya include fish fillets and soya which compete with human consumption. Due to competing needs and pricy feeds there has been less protein source for poultry production in Kenya.In order to upsurge poultry production …