Digital Commons Network^™

The Future Of Infection Surveillance At Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Jenna Godfrey, Jory Wasserburger, Scott Plaster, Susan Kellie, Julia Manweiler, Robert C. Schenck Jr

UNM Orthopaedic Research Journal

Background: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has begun mandating infection surveillance at surgical sites, which started in hospitals and is now in ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). We found a 0.1% increase in infection rate between 2005 and 2007, which prompted us to examine the issue further. The purpose of the current study was to summarize the results of an investigation after an outbreak of infection at our ASC, specifically attempting to identify a common pathogen, vector, or unknown lapses in infection prevention. Additionally, we relate our experience to current trends in infection prevention at ASCs by examining the …

Irrigation Water Quality—A Contemporary Perspective, Arindam Malakar, Daniel D. Snow, Chittaranjan Ray

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

In the race to enhance agricultural productivity, irrigation will become more dependent on poorly characterized and virtually unmonitored sources of water. Increased use of irrigation water has led to impaired water and soil quality in many areas. Historically, soil salinization and reduced crop productivity have been the primary focus of irrigation water quality. Recently, there is increasing evidence for the occurrence of geogenic contaminants in water. The appearance of trace elements and an increase in the use of wastewater has highlighted the vulnerability and complexities of the composition of irrigation water and its role in ensuring proper crop growth, and …

Active Shooter Awareness Education And Training Using Best Practices For Nurses In Acute Care Facilities, Amanda Carol Dean

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

The thought of having an active shooter at your place of work is unimaginable. The thought of having an active shooter at a place of healing is terrifying and distressing for patients, families, and nursing staff. An active shooter event, as defined by Hauk (2018), is when at least one person is actively killing or trying to kill people in a confined populated space. If an active shooter event were to take place in an acute care facility, nurses must be educated on best practices of responding to an active shooter, including identifying the situation, notifying the appropriate personnel of …

Disparities In The Use Of Prophylactic Treatments In Reproductive Health Between The Sexes: A Recommendation For The Use Of Hpv Vaccination Schemes Rather Than Surgical Interventions To Reduce Inequities And Threats To The Public's Health, Paul J. Mclaughlin

Library Faculty Publications

On the issue of prophylactic treatment of reproductive diseases, the sexes have historically been treated differently under medical ethics guidelines and the laws of the United States. Women have drawn the focus of medical and legal scrutiny on issues of prophylactic reproductive health. Women were often required to undergo quarantine and forced to recieve treatment for reproductive diseases considered dangerous to public health. Women are now afforded protections against involuntary prophylactic procedures to prevent diseases in reproductive organs. Specifically, women are provided access to vaccinations against the human papillomavirus at a higher rate than males despite the disease's ability to …

Occupational Therapy In Community Corrections And Reentry: Program Implementation For Adult Males With Addiction, Cassandra E. Sankey

OT Student Capstones

The evolution of incarceration, or confinement, began in the 18th century with the Quakers, known as the Pennsylvania system, an isolation and penitence ideology (Penner, 1978). Later, the Auburn system was implemented in the 19th century, which embraced an approach of mental isolation (Penner, 1978). Today, citizens entrust the criminal justice system with the power to protect communities from individuals who commit crimes (Muñoz, Moreton, & Sitterly, 2016). Therefore, the United States criminal justice system diversified the supervision of lawbreakers based upon the severity of their crimes, such as jail, prison, probation, and parole. This has led to decades of …

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis: Physician Assistants' Perspectives, Understandings, And Ethical Considerations, Sarah K. Barnes, Samantha J. Caron, Claire E. Johnson

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While factors contributing to rates of approval and disapproval of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) have been studied at length, the perspective of Physician Assistants’ (PA) approval and disapproval of PGD has not been studied, nor the common reasons why PAs approve or disapprove of PGD. The first goal of this study was to identify approval and disapproval rates of PGD amongst PAs. The next goal was to identify common reasons PAs approve or disapprove of PGD utilization. Members of the California Academy of Physician Assistants [CAPA (CA)] and Kansas Academy of Physician Assistants [KAPA (KS)] completed an adapted, electronic survey …

A Qualitative Examination Of Vaccine Hesitancy Among Mothers, Alicia L. Benner, Annie Vasterling, Teia Wolter

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vaccine hesitancy describes the reluctance to vaccinate or the delay of vaccines (World Health Organization [WHO], 2017a). Various factors contribute to vaccine hesitancy for patients (Salmon, Dudley, Glanz, & Somer, 2015), and multiple sources are used by patients to gain vaccine information (Salmon et al., 2015), making it difficult for healthcare providers to address vaccine hesitancy. This research was conducted to identify factors that cause mothers to be vaccine hesitant and information sources used to support the mothers’ vaccination beliefs. Phone interviews were conducted with twelve vaccine hesitant mothers. Participants were asked if the following factors contributed to their vaccine …

An Overview Of Diabetes And Community Health Concerns In Guatemala, Jennifer A. Davidson, Halie M. Higgins, Alex Krona, Danny R. Luna

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has emerged as a worldwide epidemic in recent years. Rates of this disease continue to rise annually. While many countries have adequate access to prevent and treat T2DM, developing countries often lack education and resources to combat the diabetes epidemic. This shortcoming results in alarming rates of uncontrolled T2DM cases among individuals in developing countries, namely, Guatemala. Additionally, the lack of resources in Guatemala results in a myriad of other health disparities beyond T2DM including deficiencies in sanitation and adequate nutrition. This community service project specifically aims to address the disproportionate burden of T2DM, sanitation, …

Smoking In The Homeless Population: Implementation Of A Smoking Cessation Program At The Union Gospel Mission Men’S Campus In St. Paul, Minnesota, Benjamin James Hageman, Chandler R. Hutton, Matthew Schull, Nathaniel Van Loon

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The health consequences of smoking disproportionately impact the homeless population. The homeless population has a higher rate of smoking (70%) than the general population (21%) and has a 5-fold decrease in smoking cessation success rates (Baggett & Rigotti, 2010). However, the percentage of homeless smokers who wish to quite is comparable with non-homeless populations (84% to 82% respectively) (Baggett, Lebrun-Harris, & Rigotti, 2013). The purpose of this community service project was to alleviate some of the smoking cessation barriers that homeless populations face, allowing them to pursue better health and greater independence. By partnering with the homeless shelter, Union Gospel …

The Effect Of Various Vinegars On Infectious Diseases And Body Metabolism, Alexandria Hutchins

Undergraduate Honors College Theses 2016-

Regular vinegar and apple cider vinegar have historically been used as home remedies to cure illness and diseases; however, not enough empirical research has been done to substantiate these assertions. This thesis will discuss the different ways that various vinegar forms affect one’s body metabolism, and the effect that they have on infectious diseases. This is an important topic to examine because of the growing number of infectious diseases. Vinegar contains polyphenols, which display antioxidant qualities in the body. Polyphenols found in the acetic acid of vinegar also inhibit microbial growth. This microbial growth is usually controlled by antimicrobials; however …

Laboratory Water Distiller Project, Duncan Njunge

All Undergraduate Projects

Abstract

The goal of the water distiller project is to provide purified water to all hospitals and laboratories for daily use. As per WHO standards, purified water is a great necessity in these facilities for DNA sequencing, protein research, among others. Available water is not always clean because it is transported through pipes and can get into contact with organisms thereby causing the spread of waterborne diseases. Water distillation processes remove 99.9% of contaminants and water chemicals like fluorine and calcium to produce pure water. For every use, the distiller mechanism uses an electric current as the source of energy …

Graduate Catalog, 2019-2020, Valparaiso University

Graduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Wellness Through Answers News V.34:No.5 September-October 2019, Wendy Urciuoli

Articles - Patient Care

Linking Connecticut Patients and Families to Reliable Health Information.

Pesticide Application Practices And Knowledge Among Small-Scale Local Rice Growers And Communities In Rwanda: A Cross-Sectional Study, Benjamin Ndayambaje, Hellen Amuguni, Jeanne Coffin-Schmitt, Nancy Sibo, Martin Ntawubizi, Elizabeth Vanwormer

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Background: Agriculture contributes a third of Rwanda’s GDP and is the main source of income for rural households, with 80% of the total population involved in crop and/or livestock production. The Government of Rwanda established the Muvumba rice project in 2011 amidst a policy shift towards rice as a national staple crop. However, the indiscriminate use of pesticides by local, low-income rice growers has raised concerns about potential human, animal and ecosystem health impacts as pesticide distribution and application are not strictly regulated. Although pesticide use can directly influence farmer health and ecosystems, little is known about small-scale farmers’ pesticide …

Hipaa's Privacy Rule And State Privacy Laws: Roadblocks To Medical Organizations' Self-Policing Expert Medical Testimony, Miles J. Zaremski, Douglas M. Belofsky

Alumni Publications

As part of the wave of medical malpractice reforms over the last several decades, efforts were initiated to ensure the reliability and credibility of expert witness opinion and testimony, which is the sine qua non of necessary proof for any such claim or lawsuit. Governing bodies of professional medical organizations and societies have crafted rules and regulations for their members that wish to provide expert medical witness testimony. Where such testimony does not conform to these organizations’ standards, sanctions can be levied, including membership expulsion. Such self-policing has found favor with courts.

Before sanctions are imposed, however, necessary administrative investigations …

Directionally-Unbiased Unitary Optical Devices In Discrete-Time Quantum Walks, Shuto Osawa, David S. Simon, Alexander V. Sergienko

Stonehill Faculty Scholarship

© 2019 by the authors. The optical beam splitter is a widely-used device in photonics-based quantum information processing. Specifically, linear optical networks demand large numbers of beam splitters for unitary matrix realization. This requirement comes from the beam splitter property that a photon cannot go back out of the input ports, which we call "directionally-biased". Because of this property, higher dimensional information processing tasks suffer from rapid device resource growth when beam splitters are used in a feed-forward manner. Directionally-unbiased linear-optical devices have been introduced recently to eliminate the directional bias, greatly reducing the numbers of required beam splitters when …

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter, Winter 2019

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Chronic Wasting Disease In Cervids: Prevalence, Impact And Management Strategies, Nelda A. Rivera, Adam L. Brandt, Jan E. Novakofski, Nohra E. Mateus-Pinilla

Faculty Creative and Scholarly Works

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that affects members of the cervidae family. The infectious agent is a misfolded isoform (PrPSC) of the host prion protein (PrPC). The replication of PrPSC initiates a cascade of developmental changes that spread from cell to cell, individual to individual, and that for some TSEs, has crossed the species barrier. CWD can be transmitted horizontally and vertically, and it is the only TSE that affects free-ranging wildlife. While other TSEs are under control and even declining, infection rates of CWD continue to grow and the disease distribution continues to expand …

A Systematic Review Of Cases Of Meningitis In The Absence Of Cerebrospinal Fluid Pleocytosis On Lumbar Puncture, Michelle Troendle, Alexis Pettigrew

Emergency Medicine Publications

Background: Definitive diagnosis of meningitis is made by analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) obtained from a lumbar puncture (LP), which may take days. A timelier diagnostic clue of meningitis is pleocytosis on CSF analysis. However, meningitis may occur in the absence of pleocytosis on CSF.

Areas of Uncertainty: A diagnosis of meningitis seems less likely without pleocytosis on CSF, leading clinicians to prematurely exclude this. Further, there is little available literature on the subject.

Methods: Ovid/Medline and Google Scholar search was conducted for cases of CSF culture-confirmed meningitis with lack of pleocytosis. …

Efficacy Testing Of Nanotherapeutic Against Multi Drug Resistant Psuedomonas, Surangi Jayawardena

Summer Community of Scholars (RCEU and HCR) Project Proposals

No abstract provided.

Targeted Antibacterial Therpeutics For Multi Drug Resistant Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Surangi Jayawardena

Summer Community of Scholars (RCEU and HCR) Project Proposals

No abstract provided.

Knowledge, Attitudes And Practice Behaviors About Caries Risk Assessment And Management, Ahmad Malluh

Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Brief Background: The World Health Organization (WHO), the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) and the World Dental Federation (FDI) in 1981 established the first global oral health goals and promoted the development of oral health objectives targeting reduction in key oral health indicators by 2020. Among the oral health indicators identified in this initiative was the reduction of caries. While there is evidence to suggest that from a global perspective the prevalence of caries is decreasing, there are geographical locations, like Saudi Arabia, where the prevalence of caries is exceeding worldwide statistics. Hence, dental professional, research, and educational associations …

Changes In Self-Concept And Substance-Related Cognitions During Short-Term Residential Substance Use Treatment, Olivia Grace Larson

Theses and Dissertations

The United States is in the midst of an opioid crisis, with more than 130 people dying each day from an opioid overdose (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2018a). Given the recent spike in overdose deaths associated with highly potent synthetic opioids (i.e., fentanyl), there are few signs of the crisis abating (CDC, 2018a). Compared to other age groups, the prevalence of both heroin and prescription opioid use is particularly elevated among young adults (Sharma, Bruner, Barnett, & Fishman, 2016). While there is a large body of evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of substance use treatment in general, only …

Caring For Children With Severe Cerebral Palsy: The Lived Experience Of Parents, Jason Eric Cook

Department of Physical Therapy Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to explore the lived experience of parents who care for their child withcerebral palsy who function at Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) Level V. Additionally, the study also explores the parent’s understandings and beliefs about pain and non-pain related emotional distress, and the meaning of caring, providing care, and providing comfort for their child with GMFCS Level V cerebral palsy. The study was conducted using a qualitative, hermeneutic phenomenology approach with semi-structured interviews and participant-initiated journaling. The study included 11 participants who are caregiving parents of their child with GMFCS Level V cerebral …

Controlling Pregnancy: Fred Lyman Adair And The Influence Of Eugenics On The Development Of Prenatal Care, Florence Hsiao

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

This thesis examines the development of prenatal care in the United States in the early 1900s by focusing on the life and career of Fred Lyman Adair who, as an obstetrician and eugenicist, played a significant role in shaping prenatal care into what it is today. Although prenatal care was a product of infant welfare activists and public health officials, obstetricians like Adair who struggled to establish obstetrics as a legitimate specialty, saw an opportunity in prenatal care to pathologize pregnancy and elevate their specialty. Adair, therefore, became one of the foremost champions of prenatal care, and helped to standardize …

Health Provider Network Adequacy Report #1 2019, Cheong Kim, Matthew May, Benjamin Larsen, Vanessa Crossgrove Fry

Idaho Policy Institute Reports

Private insurance plans are striving to bend the healthcare cost curve in response to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. There is growing concern that this trend may lead unexpectedly to inadequate or delayed coverage for plan members due to possible shrinkages of provider networks. Through a thorough review of the literature on provider network adequacy, this study identifies 34 potential criteria instrumental to measuring the adequacy of the networks and reports them one by one with their respective advantages and disadvantages. In addition, measurement strategies for each criterion are proposed. Among the 34 potential criteria, this study recommends 11 criteria …

Camp Metabolism Controls Caspase-11 Inflammasome Activation And Pyroptosis In Sepsis, R. Chen, L. Zeng, S. Zhu, J. Liu, H. J. Zeh, G. Kroemer, H. Wang, T. R. Billiar, J. Jiang, R. Kang, +1 Additional Author

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Structural Variation Of Centromeric Endogenous Retroviruses In Human Populations And Their Impact On Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma, Sézary Syndrome, And Hiv Infection, M. H. Kaplan, M. Kaminski, J. M. Estes, S. D. Gitlin, J. Zahn, J. T. Elder, T. Tejasvi, E. Gensterblum, J. P. Mcgowan, R. Contreras-Galindo, +7 Additional Authors

Journal Articles

© 2019 The Author(s). Background: Human Endogenous Retroviruses type K HML-2 (HK2) are integrated into 117 or more areas of human chromosomal arms while two newly discovered HK2 proviruses, K111 and K222, spread extensively in pericentromeric regions, are the first retroviruses discovered in these areas of our genome. Methods: We use PCR and sequencing analysis to characterize pericentromeric K111 proviruses in DNA from individuals of diverse ethnicities and patients with different diseases. Results: We found that the 5′ LTR-gag region of K111 proviruses is missing in certain individuals, creating pericentromeric instability. K111 deletion (-/- K111) is seen in about 15% …

Phase Iii, Multicentre, Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, 104-Week Study Of Subcutaneous Belimumab Administered In Combination With Rituximab In Adults With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Sle): Bliss-Believe Study Protocol, Y. K. Onno Teng, I. N. Bruce, B. Diamond, R. A. Furie, R. F. Van Vollenhoven, D. Gordon, J. Groark, R. B. Henderson, M. Oldham, P. P. Tak

Journal Articles

© 2019 Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. Introduction Belimumab, an anti-B-lymphocyte-stimulator antibody, is approved for the treatment of active, autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Rituximab, a B cell-depleting anti-CD20 antibody, remains in the SLE treatment armamentarium despite failed trials in lupus nephritis and extrarenal lupus. These biologics, which operate through complementary mechanisms, might result in an enhanced depletion of circulating and tissue-resident autoreactive B lymphocytes when administered together. Thus, belimumab and rituximab combination may be a highly effective treatment of SLE. This study aims to evaluate …

Increased Plasma Levels Of The Th2 Chemokine Ccl18 Associated With Low Cd4+T Cell Counts In Hiv-1-Infected Patients With A Suppressed Viral Load, P. Malhotra, P. Haslett, B. Sherry, D. H. Shepp, P. Barber, J. Abshier, U. Roy, H. Schmidtmayerova

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.