Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Body Armor On Pulmonary Function And Repeated Sprint Performance, Dustin Dunnick

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction: Tactical athletes face the unique task of performing physically demanding occupational duties often while wearing torso-borne loads. While pulmonary function has been shown to decrease while wearing plate-carrier style body armor, there has yet to be a study using the more accurate measurement of plethysmography to determine exactly why. Additionally, the inspiratory muscle’s pressure generation capabilities and how they respond to a repeated running sprint test while wearing body armor are unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to examine how body armor affects pulmonary function, inspiratory muscle strength, and athletic performance during repeated, high-intensity sprints.

Methods: Twelve …

Exploring The Airline Passengers’ Preferences Of Inflight Foods, Eun Min Hwang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

To keep up with a rapidly expanding aviation industry, it is critical for airline marketers to incorporate most preferred service elements to enhance the passengers’ inflight experience. To attract the valued passengers, the current study focused on inflight foods and included the attributes that address the trends of healthy and environmentally sustainable foods. Usingconjoint value analysis, the study investigated the differences on participants’ preferences and importance of inflight food attributes with their demographic profiles and travel characteristics. The research found that health and taste attributes were found to be the greatest importance of inflight foods and suggested the optimal inflight …

The Relationship Among Sociocultural Assimilation, Dietary Behavior, And Physical Activity In Adult Latinxs In The U.S., Erick Lopez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation examines the relationship between sociocultural assimilation and health behaviors among adult Latinxs in the United States to address whether different assimilation models promote or hinder Latinx health. Existing research on assimilation and health behaviors among Latinxs relies heavily on the use of proxy measures of assimilation such as length of time in the U.S., nativity, age of arrival, and language preferences for surveys. These studies tend to show that greater assimilation to mainstream U.S. culture among Latinxs is associated with the adoption of poor health behaviors and the erosion of the immigrant health advantage. Research that uses sociocultural …

Tissue-Specific Responses From A Global Developmental Signal: A Detailed Subcellular Analysis Of The 20e And Rab Signaling Pathways Controlling Exocrine Secretion During Drosophila Development, Nichalas Nelson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During metamorphosis, the steroid hormone 20-hydroxecydysone (20E) triggers a plethora of tissue-specific responses in the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. The salivary glands are exocrine organs that respond to a large pulse of 20E to secrete a massive cargo of stored glycoproteins called glue. Because the glands are amenable to ex vivo-organ culture and powerful genetic manipulations, they are an excellent model for studying the conserved developmental and physiological signaling pathways that regulate the general function of these specialized secretory tissues. Our lab has generated transgenic animals in which the secreted glue molecules are tagged with fluorescent proteins. I have …

Disparities In Oral Health: Socioeconomic Status And Policies To Increase Access To Primary Dental Care, Mckenzie Nutter

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Primary dental care is a patient-centered service consisting of routine dental checkups. The oral cavity is the first point of entrance to the body for many harmful pathogens. Therefore, primary dental care is essential to not only prevent and treat conditions in the mouth, but to also reduce the number of systemic diseases in the rest of the body. However, people with higher incomes or wealth have increased access to primary dental care. People with low socioeconomic status have decreased access to primary dental care, at least in part due to difficulties in paying for separate dental insurance. Disparities in …

Multicultural Competencies Of Healthcare Professionals And Disability-Inclusive In Telehealth During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Si-Yi Chao, Keith B. Wilson, Carrie L. Acklin

Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education Faculty Publications

There is evidence that people with disabilities are more likely to be discriminated against and to have disproportionate health care disparities compared to people who are able-bodied during the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. In light of COVID-19, telehealth has been transformed to the primary health care delivery due to social restrictions of most, globally. Disability-inclusive telehealth design can promote culturally diverse groups access and more accurate COVID-19 information, knowledge, public health measures, and guidelines of preventive strategies for acquiring COVID-19. Applying multicultural competencies is required for healthcare providers to maximize health engagement and outcomes of PWD. In many areas of health …

Uncovering Examples Of Humanizing Praxis And Pathological Violence In Special Education: District, Parent, And Researcher Perspectives, Andy W. Chung

Doctoral Dissertations

Students of color continue to be labeled with dis/abilities and funneled into segregated settings by special education staff (Annamma, Connor, & Ferri, 2013; Leonardo & Broderick, 2011). The purpose of this study is to highlight the kinds of experiences students and their family’s experience in special education related to humanization and violence. In addition to gaining a better understanding of how special education district staff are working to both reproduce and disrupt the violent exclusion of students of color, this dissertation aimed to center the experiences of parents and students who are being impacted by the exclusionary policies and practices. …

A New Paraprobiotic-Based Treatment For Control Of Haemonchus Contortus In Sheep, John Sanders, Yue Xie, David Gazzola, Hanchen Li, Ambily Abraham, Kelly Flanagan, Florentina Rus, Melanie Miller, Yan Hu, Sierra Guynn, Austin Draper, Sridhar Vakalapudi, Katherine Petersson, Dante Zarlenga, Robert W. Li, Joseph F. Urban Jr., Gary R. Ostroff, Anne Zajac, Raffi V. Aroian

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

Haemonchus contortus is a critical parasite of goats and sheep. Infection by this blood-feeding gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) parasite has significant health consequences, especially in lambs and kids. The parasite has developed resistance to virtually all known classes of small molecule anthelmintics used to treat it, giving rise in some areas to multidrug resistant parasites that are very difficult to control. Thus, new anthelmintics are urgently needed. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crystal protein 5B (Cry5B), a naturally occurring protein made by a bacterium widely and safely used around the world as a bioinsecticide, represents a new non-small molecule modality for treating GINs. …

Gait And Balance Disturbances Are Common In Young Urbanites And Associated With Cognitive Impairment. Air Pollution And The Historical Development Of Alzheimer's Disease In The Young, Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas, Ana Karen Torres-Solorio, Randy J. Kulesza, Ricardo Torres-Jardón, Luis Oscar González-González, Berenice García-Arreola, Diana A. Chávez-Franco, Samuel C. Luévano-Castro, Ariatna Hernández-Castillo, Esperanza Carlos-Hernández, Edelmira Solorio-López, Celia Nohemí Crespo-Cortés, Edgar García-Rojas, Partha S. Mukherjee, Martha Morales-Aguirre

Journal Articles

To determine whether gait and balance dysfunction are present in young urbanites exposed to fine particular matter PM2.5 ≥ annual USEPA standard, we tested gait and balance with Tinetti and Berg tests in 575 clinically healthy subjects, age 21.0 ± 5.7 y who were residents in Metropolitan Mexico City, Villahermosa and Reynosa. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment was also applied to an independent cohort n:76, age 23.3 ± 9.1 y. In the 575 cohort, 75.4% and 34.4% had abnormal total Tinetti and Berg scores and high risk of falls in 17.2% and 5.7% respectively. BMI impacted negatively Tinetti and Berg performance. …

Birth Interval And Childhood Undernutrition: Evidence From A Large Scale Survey In India, Holendro Singh Chungkham, Harihar Sahoo, Strong P. Marbaniang

Journal Articles

Background: The study of birth interval is important for maternal and child health. The long birth interval is favorable for maternal, child health, and nutritional outcomes. The present study is an attempt to explore the relationship between birth intervals and poor nutritional condition of children under five years of age in India. Methods: The unit of analysis is children under five years of age in India. The data come from the fourth round of Indian National Family Health Survey, 2015–2016. Bivariate and logistic regression model were used to explore the relationship between birth intervals and the poor nutritional status of …

National Guidelines For School Re-Entry In Early Learning And Basic Education, Ministry Of Education

Reproductive Health

The Ministry of Education, Kenya, developed these guidelines in collaboration with UNESCO, UNFPA, the Population Council, and the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance. The guidelines provide a framework to enhance reentry for learners who drop out of school, including those with special needs and disabilities, to improve retention, transition, and completion rates at all levels of basic education. They provide an opportunity for all learners to progress and access quality education in basic education institutions. The guidelines are also a prevention and response resource for addressing school dropout for various reasons. Chapter one reviews the background, rationale, legal, and …

The Effect Of Smoking On Cognition As Measured By Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (Catnab) And Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Plasma Levels, Mona H. Alsheikh, Rabia Latif, Sadaf Mumtaz

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To establish an association between cigarette smoking, cognition, and plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in healthy young adults. Methods: This was an ex post facto analytic cross-sectional study conducted between March and November 2018. Participants were 73 healthy males (31 smokers and 42 non-smokers), 17-33 years old. The cognitive function of the participants was assessed through the Cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery (CANTAB). Blood samples were taken to measure the plasma levels of BDNF and the results were compared to identify the association between smoking related variables and cognitive test scores and plasma BDNF levels. A p -value …

Herding History: Law And The Transformation Of Collective Subjectivities In The Dairyspheres Of Ukraine, Monica Eppinger

Journal of Food Law & Policy

In response to the limitations of socialism and capitalism in meeting basic needs, this article explores the alternative version of modernity offered in post-Soviet Ukraine and its agriculture. Tracing a century of fundamental transformations through the story of milk, it finds a history that troubles universalized framings of indigeneity and colonialism. This article argues that under socialism milk became a product of collectivized effort and a reservoir of household resilience; and then, with post-Soviet disintegration of some forms of collective life and emergence of others, that milk has come to delineate spheres of both collective action and individual striving. This …

Technology, Trust, And The Flow Of Quality Information: A Grounded Theory Study Of Decision-Making Among K-12 Education Leaders In New York State, Mary Melissa Greene

Education Doctoral

This qualitative study utilizing the grounded theory methodology examined the lived experiences of education leaders in New York State regarding decision-making in light of the extreme variability in the flow and quality of online information. Study findings indicated that the leaders’ strong desire to avoid misinformation, combined with the strong tendency to rely on social influence exerted within local and regional peer groups, ultimately limited the amount of interaction or reliance upon online sources for decision-making. Study participants indicated they relied heavily on trusted advisors and peer groups in the same geographic area for professional advice and as a decision-making …

Dean's Update December 2020, Jerry L. Nadler

SOM Dean's Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Covid-19 Investigated In Terms Of Disparities: An Analysis Of The Past, Present, And Future Of Public Health In Illinois, Hannah Deblock

University Honors College

As a relatively new topic, previous literature fails to address the relation of social determinants of health to COVID-19. By combining existing knowledge on previous epidemics, information on the role of social determinants of health, and data on COVID-19, conclusions can be made about the path going forward. Historically, nonpharmacologic interventions such as quarantine periods, face coverings, and social distancing have been used in epidemics such as the Spanish Influenza of 1918-19. In terms of social determinants of health, geographical location, educational level, and income level all play a part in the health of an individual. Rather than emphasizing personal …

With A Little Help From My Friends: Determining The Role Of Physical Activity And Belonging In Retention Of First-Year University Students, Bryson Kelly

Master's Theses

There exists an issue facing colleges and universities across the United States. Roughly 29% of first-year students do not return for their second year of school. Previous research has shown a significant relationship between a student’s sense of belonging or fit within the university and their decision to continue enrollment (retention). Physical activity has also been shown to have a significant relationship with a sense of belonging. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine if physical activity and sense of belonging predict retention of university students from their first year to their second year using a Relationships …

Identifying Depressive Symptoms From Tweets: Figurative Language Enabled Multitask Learning Framework, Shweta Yadav, Jainish Chauhan, Joy Prakash Sain, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Amit P. Sheth, Jeremiah Schumm

Publications

Existing studies on using social media for deriving mental health status of users focus on the depression detection task. However, for case management and referral to psychiatrists, healthcare workers require practical and scalable depressive disorder screening and triage system. This study aims to design and evaluate a decision support system (DSS) to reliably determine the depressive triage level by capturing fine-grained depressive symptoms expressed in user tweets through the emulation of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) that is routinely used in clinical practice. The reliable detection of depressive symptoms from tweets is challenging because the 280-character limit on tweets incentivizes the …

Characterization Of Adiposity And Inflammation Genetic Pleiotropy Underlying Cardiovascular Risk Factors In Hispanics., Mohammad Yaser (Anwar)

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The observed overlap between genetic variants associated with both adiposity and inflammatory markers suggests that changes in both adiposity and inflammation could be partially mediated by common pathways. The pervasive but sparsely characterized “pleiotropic” genetic variants associated with both adiposity and inflammation have been hypothesized to provide insight into the shared biology. This study explored and characterized the genetic pleiotropy underpinning adiposity and inflammation using genetic and phenotypic observations from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC). A total of 3,313 samples and >9 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were examined in this study. Mixed model genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were …

Functional Compartmentalization Of Mlck In Fetal Arteries, Dane William Sorensen

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Changes in vascular structure and reactivity are amongst the most important that occur during the transition from fetal to newborn life, and are guided by the principle of ensuring adequate coupling of blood flow to metabolism. A clinical consequence of maladaptive fetal vascular adaptation to hypoxia is an increased probability for loss of cerebral autoregulation, increased risk for neonatal encephalopathy, and hypoxicischemic cerebral injury. MLCK is a very specific calcium-calmodulin dependent enzyme, with its only known substrate being MLC20, and is essential for the ability of VSMCs within resistance arteries to appropriately contract or relax in response to changes in …

Effect Of Marketing Through Value Added And Video Sales On Feeder Cattle Prices, Amanda Trotter

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Feeder cattle marketing opportunities for producers in Missouri continue to expand. Missouri ranks within the top ten U.S. States in beef cow inventory and is a major feeder calf exporter. Selecting the appropriate marketing opportunity can have a dramatic impact on the income of the cattle producer. Feeder cattle marketing opportunities include value-added program sales, video auctions, as well as the traditional live cattle auction. A long-term study comparing these marketing opportunities in a single livestock market in Missouri has not been conducted. The objective of this study is to analyze cattle characteristics that can influence market price in feeder …

Prospects For Enhancing The Market For Goat Meat Products: Analysis Of The 2019 Goat Meat Survey, Ashton M. Light

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The objective of this study was to identify goat meat product attributes and sociodemographic drivers of consumers’ willingness to buy to goat meat products. To do so the study used a nationwide consumer survey on goat meat preferences. A binary logit model was used to examine the factors affecting willingness to buy. Results show that gender, age, region, primary shopper, and product attribute preference for quality, price, leanness, cholesterol, and freshness significantly affect consumer willingness to buy goat sausage, jerky, burger, and patties.

Early Pastoral Economies And Herding Transitions In Eastern Eurasia, William Timothy Treal Taylor, Julia Clark, Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan, Tumurbaatar Tuvshinjargal, Jessica Thompson Jobe, William Fitzhugh, Richard Kortum, Robert N. Spengler, Svetlana Shnaider, Frederik Valeur Seersholm, Isaac Hart, Nicholas Case, Shevan Wilkin, Jessica Hendy, Ulrike Thuering, Bryan Miller, Alicia R.Ventresca Miller, Andrea Picin, Nils Vanwezer, Franziska Irmer, Samantha Brown, Aida Abdykanova, Daniel R. Shultz, Victoria Pham, Michael Bunce, Katerina Douka, Emily Lena Jones, Nicole Boivin

ETSU Faculty Works

While classic models for the emergence of pastoral groups in Inner Asia describe mounted, horse-borne herders sweeping across the Eurasian Steppes during the Early or Middle Bronze Age (ca. 3000–1500 BCE), the actual economic basis of many early pastoral societies in the region is poorly characterized. In this paper, we use collagen mass fingerprinting and ancient DNA analysis of some of the first stratified and directly dated archaeofaunal assemblages from Mongolia’s early pastoral cultures to undertake species identifications of this rare and highly fragmented material. Our results provide evidence for livestock-based, herding subsistence in Mongolia during the late 3rd and …

Living Environment And Health Of Under-Five Children In Urban Slums Of A Coastal Region In South India, V. R. Roja, Prakash Narayanan, Varalakshmi Chandra Sekaran, M. G. Ajith Kumar

Open Access archive

Objective: The primary objective of the study was to determine the association between the living environment and morbidity, nutritional status, immunization status, and personal hygiene of under-five children living in urban slums in southern India. Methods: This study included 224 mothers of under-five children living in urban slums of Udupi Taluk, Karnataka. A total of 17 urban slums were selected randomly using random cluster sampling. Results: Undernutrition was high among children of illiterate mothers (63.8%), and the children of working mothers were affected by more morbidity (96.6%) as compared with housewives. Morbidity was also found to be high among children …

Evaluation Of Wound Healing Activity Of An Ethanolic Extract Of Anacardium Occidentale Leaves In Wistar Rats, K. Meena Kumari, Amberkar Mohanbabu Vittalrao, Charitha, S. E. Praveen Kumar

Open Access archive

This study undertaken to screen a potential wound healing activity of an ethanolic extract of Anacardium occidentale (Ao)leaves in Wistar rats. Excision wound of 500mm2created on the back of Wistar rats. A total of thirty adult Wistar rats were prescreened and divided into five groups of six rats each. Group I and II rats were treated by normal saline (control) and povidone-iodine (standard drug), respectively. Group III and IV with 0.5% and 2% of Anacardium occidentale ointment (test drugs), respectively, and Group V rats treated with anti-wound healer drug dexamethasone, i.m. + 2% Anacardium occidentale. All drugs were applied topically …

Awareness And Practices Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine Among Paediatric Patients Visiting Two Tertiary Care Hospitals In Mangaluru: An Interview Based Study, Meghana Tiwary, Amrita Parida, V. Manju

Open Access archive

This study aims to find out the details of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in children, including factors favouring their use and concomitant usage of allopathic drugs along with CAM. The study also analyses the communication between allopathic practitioners and patients regarding utilization of CAM. It was an interview based study based on a semi-structured interview. The study sample included parents of children waiting in the paediatric outpatient department. A total of 200 parents were interviewed. Though most of the parents were aware about CAM, around 10% parents were ignorant. Ayurveda was the most commonly used CAM followed by …

Metabolic Control Of Cellular Immune-Competency By Odors In Drosophila, Sukanya Madhwal, Mingyu Shin, Ankita Kapoor, Manisha Goyal

Open Access archive

No abstract provided.

Ms-275, A Class 1 Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Augments Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonism To Improve Glycemic Control And Reduce Obesity In Diet-Induced Obese Mice, Shilpak Bele, Shravan Babu Girada, Aramita Ray, Abhishek Gupta

Open Access archive

Given its glycemic efficacy and ability to reduce the body weight, glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonism has emerged as a preferred treatment for diabetes associated with obesity. We here report that a small-molecule Class 1 histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor Entinostat (MS-275) enhances GLP-1R agonism to potentiate glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and decrease body weight in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. MS-275 is not an agonist or allosteric activator of GLP-1R but enhances the sustained receptor-mediated signaling through the modulation of the expression of proteins involved in the signaling pathway. MS-275 and liraglutide combined therapy improved fasting glycemia upon short-term treatment and …

Serum Magnesium, Manganese And Selenium In Diabetes Mellitus Patients And Their Association With Glyoxalase-1, Shaik Fayazul Haq, Kamla Pati Mishra, Busi Karunanand, Dinesh Kumar Sharma

Open Access archive

Introduction: Glyoxalase-1, an erythrocyte enzyme of the glyoxalase system catabolizes the methylglyoxal is the main precur-sor of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Elevated methylglyoxal and AGEs are strongly associated with the development of diabetic complications. The association between trace elements and glyoxalase-1 in diabetic patients is not well established. Objective: To assess the concentration of serum Mg, Se, and Mn in diabetic patients and compare these in different groups defined in terms of duration of the DM. Methods: The present study compares the concentration of micronutrients (magnesium, selenium, and manganese) in non-complicated (group A ≤4 years) and complicated (group B …

Mazef-Rifampicin Interaction Suggests A Mechanism For Rifampicin Induced Inhibition Of Persisters, Cyrus Alexander, Ankeeta Guru, Pinkilata Pradhan, Sunanda Mallick

Open Access archive

Background: Persistence is a natural phenomenon whereby a subset of a population of isogenic bacteria either grow slow or become dormant conferring them with the ability to withstand various stresses including antibiotics. In a clinical setting bacterial persistence often leads to the recalcitrance of various infections increasing the treatment time and cost. Additionally, some studies also indicate that persistence can also pave way for the emergence of resistant strains. In a laboratory setting this persistent phenotype is enriched in nutritionally deprived environments. Consequently, in a batch culture the late stationary phase is enriched with persistent bacteria. The mechanism of persister …