Digital Commons Network^™

Delirium Point Prevalence Studies In Inpatient Settings: A Systematic Review, Binu Koirala, Bryan R. Hansen, Annmarie Hosie, Chakra Budhathoki, Stella Seal, Adam Beaman, Patricia M. Davidson

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Aims: To examine the delirium point prevalence studies conducted in different inpatient settings and to discuss the implication of the findings for delirium screening, assessment, prevention and management.

Background: Delirium—a common and distressing condition manifesting as an acute decline of attention and cognition—is frequently overlooked, misdiagnosed or treated inappropriately. This neuropsychiatric syndrome manifests as changes in attention, cognition and awareness, with resultant impact on behaviour, function and emotions. Delirium is recognised as a patient management challenge in the inpatient setting, and there is a need to understand the current point prevalence and assessment practices of delirium.

Design: A systematic review …

Development And Content Validation Of A Questionnaire Measuring Patient Empowerment In Cancer Follow-Up, Nanna Bjerg Eskildsen, Lone Ross, Caroline Bulsara, Susanne Malchau Dietz, Thora Grothe Thomsen, Mogens Groenvold, Susanne S. Pedersen, Clara Rubner Jorgensen, Anna Thit Johnsen

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop and ensure the content validity of a new patient-reported outcome measure, the Cancer Patient Empowerment Questionnaire (CPEQ), to measure the level of, desire for, and enablement of empowerment among cancer patients in follow-up.

Methods: An iterative process based on: (i) empowerment theories by Zimmerman and Tengland, (ii) a systematic review of questionnaires measuring empowerment or related concepts among cancer patients, (iii) qualitative data from 18 semi-structured interviews with Danish cancer patients in follow-up, (iv) input from a group of eight cancer patients involved as co-researchers and from an expert steering group, …

Enhancing Access To Parenting Services Using Digital Technology Supported Practices, Elaine Bennett, Wendy Simpson, Cathrine Fowler, Ailsa Munns, Jane Kohlhoff

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Background: Early parenting services (EPS) in Australia provide a range of expanding and rapidly changing services, including innovative digital technologies to improve service access for metropolitan and rural families.

Aim: This research aims to provide comprehensive information required for the planning, implementation and evaluation of the use of digital technologies for service delivery with parenting/child and family services in Australia and New Zealand in metropolitan and rural settings.

Methods: An interpretive descriptive approach was applied using semi-structured interviews from 23 EPS practitioners and managers in five sites.

Findings: These are presented as five main themes – preparing the way, practitioner …

Older Persons’ And Their Caregivers’ Perspectives And Experiences Of Research Participation With Impaired Decision-Making Capacity: A Scoping Review, Annmarie Hosie, Slavica Kochovska, Nola Ries, Imelda Gilmore, Deborah Parker, Craig Sinclair, Caitlin Sheehan, Aileen Collier, Gideon A. Caplan, Mandy Visser, Xiaoyue Xu, Elizabeth Lobb, Linda Sheahan, Linda Brown, Wai Lee, Christine R. Sanderson, Ingrid Amgarth-Duff, Anna Green, Layla Edwards, Meera R. Agar

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Background and Objectives: Human research ethics statements support equitable inclusion of diverse groups. Yet older people are under-represented in clinical research, especially those with impaired decision-making capacity. The aim of this study was to identify perspectives and experiences of older persons and their caregivers of research participation with impaired decision-making capacity.

Research Design and Methods: Scoping review of literature and online sources in January-February 2019 (updated June 2020) according to Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews. English-language peer-reviewed research articles and Australian online narratives were included. Data were tabulated and narratively synthesized.

Results: From 4171 database …

Trauma Exposure And Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Regional Journalists In Pakistan, Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah, Faizullah Jan, Tamar Ginossar, J. Patrick Mcgrail, Danish Baber, Rahman Ullah

Research, Publications & Creative Work

This study sought to examine work-related exposure to trauma and predictors of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms among regional journalists in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a conflict-ridden area in northwest Pakistan. We recruited 216 KP journalists. Analysis of the surveys revealed a high prevalence of trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms. All of the participants had covered at least one trauma inducing event. Exposure to work-related trauma, active emotional coping and avoidant emotional coping were statistically significant factors associated with PTSD symptoms. This study is the first to highlight the severity of the impact of trauma on regional journalists in …

Comparing The Perceptions Of Interprofessional Socialization Among Health Profession Students, Karen Aul, Jody Long

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Introduction: Based on a review of literature, there is a gap of knowledge on how students perceive the professional roles and responsibilities of other disciplines. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of interprofessional socialization among health profession students. Subjects: Participants included 300 undergraduate and 114 graduate students from eight health disciplines: nursing, communication disorders, physical therapy, social work, radiological science, occupational therapy, clinical lab science, and nutritional science. Methods: Data were collected using the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale (ISVS-21). The participants rated 21 items about their beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes of interprofessional socialization on a …

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence, Life Satisfaction, And Stress Management, Necmettin Gül

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This study examines whether students' stress management levels from Azerbaijan and Turkey are predicted by life satisfaction and emotional intelligence and differ by gender. The research was conducted with the participation of 435 university students. The research data were obtained through the Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Coping with Stress Scale. The study results found that university students' emotional intelligence, life satisfaction, and stress management significantly differed by gender. In the path analysis, where stress management was the dependent variable, it was found that the combination of emotional intelligence and life satisfaction of the students …

The Leading Role Of The Language Phenomenon In Brain Activity, Minaxanum Hajiyeva

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

One of the most prime examples of a multidisciplinary field, Cogntive Lingusitics explores language as a cognitive mechanism in the coding and transformation of information. On the other hand, Neurolinguistics, combining two major sciences and studying the functional course of consciousness, deals with cognitive processes and the relationship between the brain and them. In the scientific development of its History/ Archaeology, a number of different research areas related to the study of the functionality of the brain hemispheres are noteworthy. The different functions in the brain mechanism benefit from cognition, concepts, conceptsphers, and other necessary elements. Cognitive linguistics dealing with …

Zika Virus Inactivates Polyamine Catabolism Via Alternative Splicing To Enhance Infection, Marion Lea Graham

Master's Theses

During viral infection, the virus and host must compete for resources inside the cell. One of these resources is polyamines. Polyamines are small, positively charged molecules that are found in all eukaryotic cells. They play a key role in several cellular functions including growth and proliferation, transcription and translation, and membrane stability. Viruses also rely polyamines for productive replication, utilizing them during DNA/RNa polymerization, nucleic acid packaging, and protein synthesis. in response to a virus infecting a host cell, the host cell will begin to regulate polyamine levels as a way to combat the infection. Polyamine levels are regulated by …

Decreasing Women's Endorsement Of Benevolent Sexism, Kelsey Berryman

Master's Theses

The aim of the current study was to reduce women's endorsement for benevolent sexist beliefs. the intervention aimed to educate women about the prevalence and seriousness of benevolent sexism. as this is a subtle and deceptively positive type of sexism, women are particularly susceptible in endorsing it (Glick & Fiske, 2001). in order to increase awareness for benevolent sexism in their everyday lives, some participants read an informational text about the pervasiveness and harmfulness of benevolent sexism in the U.S. This text was read after participants had already written about a time they engaged in benevolent sexism to elicit negative …

Queer Monstrosity: Dis/Ability, Sexuality, And Gender, Savannah Olivia Aldridge

Master's Theses

The queer monster feeds, yet what does it feed on? What does it look like? Is it considered homosexual in Nature? Does one think of it as a source of camp or pure fear? It consumes us, literally. as a bioweapon that shoots and eats and destroys. It has and always will be the feared/ spectated/ and degraded€¦ the dis/abled queer. I investigate 'queer monstrosity' as a schizophrenic, trans feminine academic who lives multiple lives. There are three parts to my inquiry that is focused on this creation of lived experience: gender, sexuality, and dis/ability. How does including dis/ability in …

Predicting Drug Misuse Status Using Machine Learning On Electronic Health Records, Robert Arnold Kania

Master's Theses

Substance misuse is a major problem in the world. in 2014, as many as 52,404 deaths in the US were caused by drug overdoses. in 2001, the monetary cost of drug misuse has been estimated to be 414 billion dollars. in this work, we explore the use of different machine learning algorithms in the prediction of cocaine misuse using structured and unstructured data found in electronic health records. These records contain various attributes that can help with this prediction, including but not limited to chart text data, previous diagnoses of certain diseases and information about the area the patient lives …

Investigating The Role Of Hypusine In Viral Translation And Infection, Jeremy Joseph Esin

Master's Theses

Polyamines are small, positively charged, molecules found in eukaryotic cells with roles in cellular function and viral infection. in previous work we have shown RNa viruses, including bunyaviruses, to be sensitive to polyamine depletion, but exact mechanisms are unknown. Bunyaviruses are emerging pathogens that cause encephalitis, hemorrhagic fevers, and meningitis. Rift Valley Fever Virus is a bunyavirus that infects both humans and livestock with severe mortality and morbidity. in previous work done with Rift Valley Fever Virus polyamine depleted results in noninfectious interfering particles without affecting the shape or size of the particles. Here, I investigate a specific metabolic pathway …

Optimizing Gene Expression Prediction And Omics Integration In Populations Of African Ancestry, Paul Chukwuebuka Okoro

Master's Theses

Popular transcriptome imputation methods such as PrediXcan and FUSIon use parametric linear assumptions, and thus are unable to flexibly model the complex genetic architecture of the transcriptome. Although non-linear modeling has been shown to improve imputation performance, replicability and potential cross-population differences have not been adequately studied. Therefore, to optimize imputation performance across global populations, we used the non-linear machine learning (ML) models random forest (RF), support vector regression (SVR), and K nearest neighbor (KNN) to build transcriptome imputation models, and evaluated their performance in comparison to elastic net (EN). We trained gene expression prediction models using genotype and blood …

Tumor Immunology: Understanding The Immune System And Cancer To Enhance The Efficacy Of Cancer Immunotherapies, Natasha Malibu Lenart

Master's Theses

Tumor cells are notorious for their ability to escape immune surveillance, but developments in the understanding of the tumor microenvironment and how the immune system can be re-activated in tumors have had significant clinical impact. Commercially available and experimental methods such as adoptive cellular therapy, cytokine stimulation, and immune checkpoint blockade are promising immunotherapies for a variety of cancers, including solid tumors and hematological malignancies. However, induction of persistent, long-term anti-tumor immunity after initial treatment is infamously difficult. as a result, scientists are searching for new approaches to improve established immunotherapies. by employing combination treatments or enhancing the functionality of …

The Longitudinal Relationship Between Callous-Unemotional Traits And Exposure To Community Violence: Examining Primary And Secondary Psychopathy In Serious Adolescent Offenders, Elizabeth Sargent

Master's Theses

in youth, psychopathy is often represented by callous-unemotional traits, characterized by a lack of guilt and empathy. While justice-involved youth can exhibit such traits, less research has been done in adolescents than has been with adults in the justice system. Still, previous research supports that callous-unemotional traits in particular can predict higher risk for adverse outcomes and violent behavior in youth. Various vulnerabilities and experiences contribute to the development of callous-unemotional traits, and while some individuals with psychopathic traits are thought to have been born with an innate inability to feel empathy (primary psychopathy), others may experience psychological distress in …

Latino Parents' Acculturative Stress And Their Preschoolers' Prosocial Development: Testing The Mediating Role Of Parenting Style, Zahra Fatima Naqi

Master's Theses

Studies increasingly recognize the importance of cultural factors when studying the development of immigrant children from low-income backgrounds. There is reason to believe that parents' acculturative stress may be linked to children's prosocial development, via parenting. the present study included a sample of immigrant Latino parents of 3- to 5-year-old Head Start preschoolers (N = 28) to examine how parents' acculturative stress might be associated with children's prosocial behavior at home, as reported by parents, and at school, as reported by teachers. Furthermore, it studied whether this linkage is mediated by warm, supportive, and hostile parenting practices. Results indicated that …

Condition Severity And Parent Psychosocial Functioning In Families Of Youth With Spina Bifida: The Role Of Parental Attitudes And Beliefs, Elicia Wartman

Master's Theses

Past research suggests that parents of youth with spina bifida (SB) have worse psychosocial outcomes than parents of typically developing youth. SB is a complex medical condition that is accompanied by varying degrees of physical disability and cognitive deficits. Research on stress and coping suggests that parents' attitudes and beliefs may contribute to their own psychosocial adjustment. This study unpacks condition severity and examines the role of severity of condition-related factors in predicting parental adjustment and parental attitudes and beliefs. Participants were recruited as part of a larger longitudinal study. Information on condition severity, including type of SB, lesion level, …

The Creation And Evolution Of Introductory Courses In Women's Studies Programs, Tori Kay Olson

Master's Theses

This study seeks to understand what affects knowledge production in introductory women's studies courses. Using critical discourse analysis, the study looks at the archives of two very different programs within the Chicago area. the two programs studied, Loyola University Chicago and University of Illinois€”Chicago, offer two different examples of how women's studies programs were created and evolved, and how this influenced the knowledge production in their introductory courses. in addition to the archival materials of these two universities, this study relies on various reports and accounts written by women's studies scholars during the same timeframe as the documented archival material …

Trajectories Of Adaptive Functioning Among Youth With Spina Bifida: The Influence Of Neurocognitive Functioning And Parental Scaffolding, Adrien Winning

Master's Theses

Youth with spina bifida (SB), a congenital birth defect affecting the central nervous system, are at risk of experiencing an array of psychosocial and functional deficits (Copp et al., 2015; Holmbeck et al., 2003). Indeed, previous research has documented difficulties across the three adaptive functioning domains outlined by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD): conceptual (e.g., communication, self-direction, functional academics), social (e.g., interpersonal skills), and practical (e.g., self-care, navigating health-care; Copp et al., 2015). Despite this evidence, whether or not children with SB typically acquire skills across development is largely unknown. Additionally, little is known about risk …

Enabling The Clinical Detection Of Human Papilloma Virus (Hpv) To Enhance Effective Diagnosis And Research, Jennifer Sackey

Master's Theses

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. There are over 150 different genotypes of HPV. Some cause benign warts, while others cause several types of cancer. Subunit vaccines comprised of the capsid protein from an increasing number of HPV genotypes have been developed; however, the vaccines are prophylactic and are documented to protect against only 9 of the HPV genotypes. Importantly, there are also significant limitations in the clinical detection of HPV. Current clinical tests can only specifically identify HPV16 and HPV18. One of the test also detects 12 of the other high-oncogenic risk …

A Susceptibility Study Of Urinary Isolates To Methenamine Hippurate And Its Metabolites, Nancy Sloan

Master's Theses

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections in adult women. Treatment is one of the most common reasons for antibiotic prescription. the rise of antibiotic-resistant infections coupled with the shortage of new antibiotics creates an urgent need for alternative non-antibiotic treatments. One alternative is methenamine hippurate (MH), which is a non-antibiotic prophylaxis. It is reported to be active against some common uropathogens including Escherichia coli and Enterococcus species, but its effects on the newly discovered bladder microbiota (urobiome) are undocumented. Given this knowledge gap, this study aimed to evaluate the drug's spectrum of susceptibility on …

Determining Interactions Between Bacteriophage And Urinary Microbiome Lysogens, Michael Bochert

Master's Theses

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacteria. They are the most abundant life forms on earth. It is estimated that there are approximately 10³⁰ phages on the planet (Chibani-Chennoufi et al. 2004). They outnumber their bacterial hosts approximately 10 to 1. Bacteria inhabit most niches on the planet including the human body, where they play critical roles in health and disease. Since phages shape bacterial populations the same way that viruses, such as smallpox and measles, shaped human populations, it is important to understand how they interact with their bacterial hosts. The majority of the phages that we know of …

Effects Of Optic Nerve Head Astrocyte-Derived Exosomes On Neuronal Survival And Differentiation In Vitro In A Model For Exfoliation Glaucoma, Harsh Nilesh Hariani

Master's Theses

Exfoliation glaucoma (XFG) is characterized by deposition of exfoliation material at the trabecular meshwork thereby blocking aqueous outflow and consequently increasing intraocular pressure (IOP). Elevated IOP initiates glaucomatous biomechanical damage at the optic nerve head (ONH) eventually resulting in retinal neuronal death and vision loss. The major cell type at ONH are ONH astrocytes (ONHA). A chronic downregulation of LOXL1 expression has been reported in ONH of XFG patients. We hypothesized that wild-type and LOXL1 knock-down ONHA derived exosomes have differential effects on neurons in vitro.We here report that ONHAs release exosomes, which can be taken up by astrocytes and …

Wayfinder Application For Autistic Occupational Assistance, Nathaniel Edward Hishon

Master's Theses

Employment among autistic individuals is an area of noted difficulty, with an employment rate well below the general population [1]. Several barriers attributed to autistic unemployment, including difficulties communicating with employers and social interactions with coworkers, obsessive adherence to routine, and trouble organizing and completing workplace tasks, are also attributed to challenges in maintaining employment [2]. Several studies have concluded that long-term employment support is necessary to acquire and maintain autistic employment [3]. The noted benefit of intensive job training, such as access to job coaches, indicates the need for further support to help autistic individuals complete workplace tasks and …

Induction Of Zika And Dengue Virus-Specific Cd8+ T Cells By Means Of Dna Vaccine, Natalie Jachym

Master's Theses

Zika virus (ZIKV) and Dengue virus (DENV) are flaviviruses that circulate in the same endemic regions and can co-infect the same individual. While primary infection by DENV leads to life-long immunity to the infecting serotype, it does not provide immunity to other serotypes. Moreover, ZIKV and DENV antibodies can be cross-reactive and potentially enhance infection of the other virus through a process known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). In this mechanism, antibodies weakly bind the infecting virus and direct virions to immunoglobulin Fc receptors on macrophages. This promotes viral uptake and infection rather than neutralize the virus. Due to this mechanism, …

Reducing Reperfusion Injury In An Adult Rat Stroke Model With St-115 Treatment, Morgan Rae Lenz

Master's Theses

The restoration of blood flow to ischemic cerebral tissue can result in reperfusion injury, and blocking reperfusion injury can significantly aid in recovery of ischemic tissue. Bradykinin has been shown to exhibit protective effects, but does not reach protective levels during reperfusion due to inactivation by aminopeptidase P2 (APP2). Therefore, inhibiting APP2 during reperfusion is a potential therapeutic strategy to aid in the reduction of reperfusion injury, leading to the development of ST-115, an APP2 inhibitor. It was hypothesized that administration of ST-115 during ischemic stroke, and just prior to reperfusion, will result in reduced neurological injury and increased functional …

Educational Debt: Educational Loans And The Family, Keyla Navarrete

Master's Theses

Student debt is a well-documented topic in sociological literature. It is well known that there is a student loan crisis in the United States. However, kinship or familial ties in educational debt is not as studied as individual student loans. The student debt crisis seems to reach a new catastrophic level as years pass. Yet, not much research exists that looks at external sources of financing for students such as parents, grandparents, or other familial ties. This study contributes to the literature of student debt by analyzing debt patterns across those that take out loans for themselves, their spouse, or …

Emotion Reactivity And Its Relation To Daily Affect And Sleep Experiences Among First Year College Students, Elizabeth Marie Rea

Master's Theses

Individuals with high emotion reactivity may be at increased likelihood to experience emotions more intensely, frequently, and for longer periods of time than those with low emotion reactivity. This might lead to more extreme fluctuations in their daily experience of emotion. Additionally, those high in emotion reactivity may be at risk for poor sleep. The transition to college has been shown to be a difficult time for some students, and potentially contribute to these emotional fluctuations and shorter sleep duration. However, students high in emotion reactivity might be more likely to experience the negative effects of this transition than those …

A Chronic Route?: Examining The Path Between Community Violence Exposure, Posttraumatic Stress & Juvenile Delinquency In Low-Income, Urban, African-American Youth, Kaleigh Valencia Wilkins

Master's Theses

Background: Exposure to community violence (ECV; direct victimization and witnessing) can predict negative outcomes for youth such as posttraumatic stress (PTSS) and juvenile delinquent behavior (JDB). Psychosocial reactions to violence can be different based on gender. Predictors of ECV in youth is less understood. This study aims to explore potential chronic pathways between initial ECV and continued ECV for early adolescents. The relationship between ECV as a predictor and ECV as an outcome is hypothesized to be mediated by both PTSS and JDB and moderated by gender. Method: A total of 266 African-American, sixth grade students in high crime, high …