Digital Commons Network^™

"When They See Someone Who Is Poor, They Step On Them": The Social Determinants Of Health Among Survivors Of Sex Trafficking In Cambodia, James P. Havey, Glenn M. Miles, Lim Vanntheary, Nhanh Channtha, Hanni Stoklosa

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Social determinants of health (SDH) are defined as the non-medical yet health-affecting conditions of a person’s life. They include such considerations as working conditions, discrimination, and access to health services. The aim of this study was to explore the SDH impacting those who have survived sex trafficking in Cambodia. This study employed a mixed methods, secondary analysis, focusing on 52 survivors of sex trafficking in the Butterfly Longitudinal Research Project from 2010 through 2019. Participants described myriad social determinants of health, including: gender, age, relationship status (marriage), ethnicity, national identification documentation (statelessness), social class, formal education, vocational training, occupation, and …

Empirical Bayes Estimates For The Reproduction Number Of Epidemics, Elijah Lee Hight

Theses and Dissertations

Epidemic outbreaks can be modelled as a branching process in which the total progeny or outbreak size, follows a Borel-Tanner (BT) distribution. Following a procedure described by Liang (2009), we construct empirical Bayes estimates for when the initial number of infected is a specified value r. Following the construction, we then simulate data and perform a numerical study, assuming BT distribution for the parameter θ, the reproduction number, with an initial outbreak size of three. Simulation results indicate that the empirical estimator suffers from “jumpiness.” We then proceed to monotonize the empirical estimate via a method outlined by Houwelingen (1979). …

The Immunoregulatory Landscape Of Human Tuberculosis Granulomas, Evan Li, Antony Rodriguez, Amber U Luong, David Allen, John Morgan Knight, Farrah Kheradmand, David B Corry

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The allergic airway diseases chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS), asthma, allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis/aspergillosis (ABPM/A), and cystic fibrosis (CF) share a common immunological signature marked by T H 2 and TH 17 cell predominant immune responses, the production of IgE antibody, and atypical inflammatory cell infiltrate that includes eosinophils and other innate immune effector cells. Severe forms of these disorders have long been recognized as being related to hypersensitivity reactions to environmental fungi. Increasingly however,environmental fungi are assuming a more primary role in the etiology of these disorders, with airway mycosis, a type of non-invasive airway fungal infection,recognized as …

Use Of Compassion Fatigue Education And Guided Imagery To Reduce Compassion Fatigue In The Oncology Nurse, Laura Mahoney

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Abstract

Background: Oncology nurses are exposed to their patients’ extreme suffering and death. This exposure places them at risk of developing Compassion Fatigue. Compassion Fatigue is often described as trauma that results from caring for those that are suffering. Its sequelae are like post-traumatic stress syndrome, including emotional and physical conditions. Nurses experiencing Compassion Fatigue could jeopardize their health, as well as their patients’ health. Evidence-based interventions may reduce the risk or presence of Compassion Fatigue.

Objectives: The objective of this project was to test an intervention that could prevent or reduce Compassion Fatigue in the oncology nurse. Based on …

Conserved Non-Pocket Interactions Drive The Diversity Of Peptide Presentation By Mhc Class I Molecules, Kyle Jackson

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) can lyse infected or transformed cells through recognition of peptides presented on human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules. A thorough understanding of peptide-HLA interactions is needed for improvement of CTL-based immunotherapies. We observed that aspartic acid (D) and glutamic acid (E) at peptide position 4 are highly prevalent in HLA-I peptide ligands, and discovered that they interact with arginine (R) in position 65 and lysine (L) in position 66 of the α1 helix of the binding groove in HLA-A*0201 and HLA-A*2402. Since this interaction differed from well-characterized peptide-HLA anchor interactions mediated by peptide position 2 and the C-terminus, …

The Sulfur Microbial Diet And Risk Of Colorectal Cancer By Molecular Subtypes And Intratumoral Microbial Species In Adult Men, Daniel R. Sikavi, Long H. Nguyen, Koichiro Haruki, Tomotaka Ugai, Wenjie Ma, Dong D. Wang, Kelsey N. Thompson, Yan Yan, Tobyn Branck, Jeremy E. Wilkinson, Naohiko Akimoto, Rong Zhong, Mai Chan Lau, Kosuke Mima, Keisuke Kosumi, Teppei Morikawa, Eric B. Rimm, Wendy S. Garrett, Jacques Izard, Yin Cao, Mingyang Song, Curtis Huttenhower, Shuji Ogino, Andrew T. Chan

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Introduction: We recently described the sulfur microbial diet, a pattern of intake associated with increased gut sulfur-metabolizing bacteria and incidence of distal colorectal cancer (CRC). We assessed whether this risk differed by CRC molecular subtypes or presence of intratumoral microbes involved in CRC pathogenesis (Fusobacterium nucleatum and Bifidobacterium spp.).

Methods: We performed Cox proportional hazards modeling to examine the association between the sulfur microbial diet and incidence of overall and distal CRC by molecular and microbial subtype in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2012).

Results: We documented 1,264 incident CRC cases among 48,246 men, approximately 40% …

Avian Influenza A Virus Susceptibility, Infection, Transmission, And Antibody Kinetics In European Starlings, Jeremy W. Ellis, J. Jeffrey Root, Loredana M. Mccurdy, Kevin T. Bentler, Nicole L. Barrett, Kaci K. Vandalen, Katherine L. Dirsmith, Susan A. Shriner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Avian influenza A viruses (IAVs) pose risks to public, agricultural, and wildlife health. Bridge hosts are spillover hosts that share habitat with both maintenance hosts (e.g., mallards) and target hosts (e.g., poultry). We conducted a comprehensive assessment of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), a common visitor to both urban and agricultural environments, to assess whether this species might act as a potential maintenance or bridge host for IAVs. First, we experimentally inoculated starlings with a wild bird IAV to investigate susceptibility and replication kinetics. Next, we evaluated whether IAV might spill over to starlings from sharing resources with a …

Mesopredator Frugivory Has No Effect On Seed Viability And Emergence Under Experimental Conditions, John P. Draper, Trisha B. Atwood, Noelle G. Beckman, Karin M. Kettenring, Julie K. Young

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Members of the order Carnivora are a unique and important seed disperser who consume and deposit undamaged seeds while providing regular long-distance seed dispersal opportunities. Some members of Carnivora, such as coyotes (Canis latrans), are undergoing range expansions which may help the plant species they consume colonize new locations or replace dispersal services provided by recently extirpated species. In this study, we evaluated aspects of the seed dispersal effectiveness of coyotes and gut passage time to determine the potential dispersal distances for three commonly consumed and commonly occurring plant species (Amelanchier alnifolia, Celtis ehrenbergiana, and Juniperus osteosperma). We also investigated …

Risk Factors And Predictors That Influence Sars-Cov-2 Igg Positivity: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Blood Donors In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Mohammed F. Alosaimi, Abdulkarim Alhetheel, Khalid A. Aleisa, Abdullah A. Altwerki, Njoud M. Alenezy, Ebtisam M. Almutairi, Leen O. Alothaim, Khalid M. Alayed, Mohammed A. Almazyad, Turki A. Binmoammar, Fahdah A. Alshobaili, Fatimah S. Al-Shahrani, Sarah Alsubaie, Rana M. Hasanato

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To study the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) after pandemic’s peak and before the vaccine enrollment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and further explore predictors for SARS-CoV-2 positivity. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 515 blood donors from November 22 to December 17, 2020 was conducted at King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to look at SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) positivity. The participants were asked questions about their demographic characteristics, past SARS-CoV-2 infection, SARS-CoV-2-related symptoms and exposures. Results: The seroprevalence in our study was 12.2% (n=63/515). Being a non-citizen was associated with significantly higher seroprevalence …

Diversity Management: Perspectives Of A Diverse And Inclusive Workplace. Findings From The Ict Sector, Andrea Graham, Angela Wright

Conference Materials

Globally, diversity in the workplace has become more prominent than ever before and continues to rise (Shukla et al., 2019). To strategically manage the diverse workforce, a significant number of organisations have embraced the practice of diversity management. Diversity management refers to the formal and informal structures, methods and programs implemented by an organisation to promote organisational equality for employees (Sukalova and Ceniga, 2020). Diversity management programs have been introduced with a range of ostensible aims, including: increasing the rates of participation of women and ethnic minorities, improving career prospects for such groups, incorporating wider perspectives into the decision-making processes …

The Invasive Bank Vole (Myodes Glareolus): A Model System For Studying Parasites And Ecoimmunology During A Biological Invasion, Andrew Mcmanus, Celia V. Holland, Heikki Henttonen, Peter Stuart

Publications

Animals, vol. 11, no. 9. © 2021 by the authors.

Combination Of Oncolytic Adenoviruses, T-Cell Activation, And Blockade Of Ido Metabolic Circuitry For The Treatment Of Glioma, Teresa Nguyen

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Glioblastoma is the most common malignant primary brain tumor in adults; the current aggressive treatment results in a 5% five-year survival rate. More effective therapies should be developed. One promising alternative is oncolytic adenovirus, Delta-24-RGD, which elicits cancer cell lysis and immunogenic cell death. In fact, Delta-24-RGD produced complete responses in 20% of recurrent glioblastoma patients through immune mechanisms that activate anti-tumor cytotoxic properties of T-cells. This cytolytic effect can further be enhanced by adding immune agonists, namely OX40L, which engages the OX40 receptor to co-stimulate activated T cells for enhanced proliferation. Hence, we produced the next generation of Delta-24-RGD, …

Intranasal Hpv Peptide Vaccine Formulation Induces Potent Cytotoxic Cd8 T Cell Immunity For The Treatment Of Genital Hpv Tumors, Gloria Sierra

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) induced cancers continue to affect millions of women worldwide, with the five year survival rate hovering just under 60% in some demographics. Therefore there is an unmet need to develop effective, yet, easily administered therapies to treat established HPV genital lesions. Even though immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) is a promising treatment option in some HPV+ cancers, the high cost and associated toxicities are still major concerns for their widespread application. HPV cancers are textbook candidates for therapeutic vaccination intervention because they’re driven by the expression of viral oncoproteins E6 and E7, which serve as ideal tumor specific …

Management Of Peritonsillar Abscess Within A Local Emergency Department: A Quality Analysis Study., Briana K Ortega, Spencer Short, Bryan G. Kane Md, Robert M. Dedio Md

Department of Emergency Medicine

OBJECTIVE: Peritonsillar abscess (PTA) is the most common deep space infection of the head and neck, affecting thousands of people annually with high treatment costs. The purpose of this project was to determine how in-network emergency departments (EDs) adhere to generally accepted guidelines regarding diagnosis and management of potential PTAs.

METHODS: The authors performed a retrospective chart review to identify patients with PTA in five EDs in one year. Information pertaining to diagnostic tests, treatment, and airway status was also collected. Descriptive analysis was used to assess if EDs were consistent with generally accepted guidelines.

RESULTS: Six hundred twenty-one patient …

Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies: To Care Or Not To Care, Sara Shahid, Syed H Alam, Lillian Gaber, Salman Ahmed

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) associated vasculitis is a disease process with a wide range of presentations, from asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic disease with positive laboratory testing, to florid acute end-organ damage. Consensus has not been established as to the frequency and/or protocol by which ANCA testing should be repeated. We present the case of a 53-year-old woman who initially came to medical attention with persistent dyspnea and pulmonary infiltrates presumed to be due to acute exacerbation of chronic diastolic congestive heart failure. Extensive infectious disease testing was negative, but ANCA testing was positive. However, because antinuclear antibody (ANA) interference in …

In The Search For Novel Treatments For Chagas' Disease Using Cutting-Edge Imaging Technology, Karsten Dieter Amezcua Winter

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chagas disease (ChD) is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), an intracellular protozoan parasite. ChD has a global mortality of 15,000 annual deaths, and approximately, 8-10 million people are infected. There is growing concern in the United States as autochthonous cases of ChD have been reported in the southern region. The two available treatments are only partially effective and highly toxic. N-aroyl derivatives and α, β-unsaturated ketones have been previously tested against Leishmania, a closely related parasite, demonstrating selective toxicity towards the microorganism. The objective of this study is to evaluate a drug library consisting of 21 α, β-unsaturated ketones …

Surveillance Of Ticks And Associated Pathogens In Central Texas, Alexa Mendoza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: Ticks are the second most common vector of human and veterinary pathogens, after mosquitoes, which results in a number of different diseases around the world. These diseases, referred to as tick-borne diseases (TBDs), are increasing in their prevalence around the world as the geographical distribution of ticks change due to environmental and human factors. Increased testing for pathogens and a better comprehension of their relationship to different tick species will be crucial in deepening our understanding of TBDs and protecting our human and animal populations. Increasing surveillance of ticks and the potential pathogens they may be vectors for and …

Molecular And Cellular Characterizations Of Glucosylceramide Transferase (Synthase) In Giardia Lamblia, Vanessa Enriquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Giardiasis, caused by an intestinal protozoan, Giardia lamblia, is a major public health problem worldwide. Giardia infection is spread through the fecal-oral route via contaminated water and food. It is estimated that over 280 million people are infected with Giardia across the globe. Giardia is a non-invasive parasite and consists of a two-stage life cycle: trophozoites and cysts. Ingested cysts undergo excystation in the proximal small intestine, releasing two trophozoites (excyzoites). Upon reaching the distal small intestine and colonizing there, trophozoites transform into cysts by encystation. It has been reported earlier that the process of encystation induced the synThesis of …

Identification Of Leishmania Spp. And T. Cruzi Parasites In Bats Captured In El Paso, Texas Region: Bats As A New Reserviour, Edith Sandoval

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: Recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as two of the world’s thirteen most neglected tropical diseases (NTD), both T. cruzi and Leishmania spp. parasites are accountable for Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis, respectively and they continue to rank among the most important public health problems in South America. Together, Leishmaniasis and Chagas affect 300 million people. Wildlife reservoirs play an important role in the maintenance and transmission of parasites in sylvatic transmission cycles. In the last decade studies have been conducted in this region of El Paso, Texas, and other parts of the world to detect both parasites in …

A Mouse Model Displays Host And Bacterial Strain Differences In Aerococcus Urinae Urinary Tract Infection, Nicole M. Gilbert, Brian Choi, Jingjie Du, Christina Collins, Amanda L. Lewis, Catherine Putonti, Alan J. Wolfe

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In recent years, the clinical significance of Aerococcus urinae has been increasingly recognized. A. urinae has been implicated in cases of urinary tract infection (UTI; acute cystitis and pyelonephritis) in both male and female patients, ranging from children to older adults. Aerococcus urinae can also be invasive, causing urosepsis, endocarditis, and musculoskeletal infections. Mechanisms of pathogenesis in A. urinae infections are poorly understood, largely due to the lack of an animal model system. In response to this gap, we developed a model of A. urinae urinary tract infection in mice. We compared A. urinae UTI in female C3H/HeN and C57BL/6 …

Esr And Crp Testing May Not Be Useful In Monitoring Patients With Native Vertebral Osteomyelitis, Abigail Heilenman, Amy Slenker Md

Research Scholars

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Pregnancy And Neonatal Outcomes, Jessica Davis, Joanne Quiñones Md, Msce, Michael Young

Research Scholars

No abstract provided.

Point-Of-Care Testing And Treatment Of Sexually Transmitted And Genital Infections During Pregnancy In Papua New Guinea (Wantaim Trial): Protocol For An Economic Evaluation Alongside A Cluster-Randomised Trial, Neha Batura, Olga Pm Saweri, William Pomat, Caroline Homer, Rebecca Guy, Stanley Luchters, Glen Mola, Lisa M. Vallely, Christopher Morgan, Grace Kariwiga

Population Health, East Africa

Introduction: Left untreated, sexually transmitted and genital infections (henceforth STIs) in pregnancy can lead to serious adverse outcomes for mother and child. Papua New Guinea (PNG) has among the highest prevalence of curable STIs including syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis and bacterial vaginosis, and high neonatal mortality rates. Diagnosis and treatment of these STIs in PNG rely on syndromic management. Advances in STI diagnostics through point-of-care (PoC) testing using GeneXpert technology hold promise for resource-constrained countries such as PNG. This paper describes the planned economic evaluation of a cluster-randomised cross-over trial comparing antenatal PoC testing and immediate treatment of curable STIs …

Microbial Assessment Of Water Samples In Houston, Texas, Hanan Hasan Ali

Dissertations (2016-Present)

Houston watersheds and air ecosystems are susceptible to microbial contamination and chemical contaminations from bordering industrial facilities. We sought to evaluate bacterial loads in various Houston bayous, and settled indoor household dust, and isolate pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria for characterization. Isolates included Klebsiella aerogenes and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The specific objectives of the study are (1) Determine bacterial loads and Pb toxicant levels in Houston area watersheds and indoor dust samples; (2) Identify down selected bacterial isolates from environmental samples using ribotyping 16S ribosome RNA and BIOLOG MicroStation identification; (3) Compare environmentally and reference Klebsiella spp. for growth rate, kinetic activity, biofilm …

Regeneration First, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx, Ryan Knowles Merrill

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

30 years of "corporate sustainability" has left our earth in a dire state. Biodiversity loss, planetary fever, floods, wildfires, droughts, melting ice caps, dying corals… the list goes on. We need a new approach. I’m sure you heard about a carbon footprint. It is the sum of all the actions we take that have a negative impact on the planet. We consume electricity, we drive to work, we fly to our holiday destination, we waste food and plastic and so on. All these actions create a negative impact that can be expressed in CO2 equivalent. The more CO2 ends up …

Genetic Contribution To Growth Of Cryptococcus Neoformans In The Environment Of The Human Host, Piotr Ryszard Stempinski

All Dissertations

Cryptococcus neoformans is an environmental basidiomycetous fungus and opportunistic pathogen that primarily infects the immunocompromised patients. The ability to adapt to mammalian body temperature is essential for survival and successful virulence. Cryptococcus neoformans relies on a multiple complex signaling network and virulence factors for the adaptation and survival in the environment of human host. This dissertation presents result of genetic screen assay performed on 4,031 gene knockout strains of C. neoformans. The analysis has resulted in identification of 46 genes with significant contribution to the maximum temperature at which C. neoformans can proliferate. Our research described previously uncharacterized genes that …

2021 August, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for August of 2021.

Public Cleanliness Satisfaction Survey 2021, Paulin Straughan, Mathews Mathew

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Singapore Management University undertook the fourth wave of the Public Cleanliness Satisfaction Survey (PCSS) with 2,007 Singapore resident respondents providing responses to the survey from February 2021 to May 2021, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2021 wave of the PCSS continued to reflect the overall satisfaction with public cleanliness in Singapore, similar to the last PCSS in 2019. Majority of survey respondents (92%) were satisfied with the cleanliness of public spaces that they had recently visited, a 1% decrease from the findings in 2019.

There was a substantial drop in satisfaction with the cleanliness of food outlets, with a …

An Investigation Of The Impact Of Covid-19 Infection Control On Visual Art Installations In Hospitals With Pediatric Patients, Shannon Kimich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 infection control on visual artwork in pediatric hospitals and hospitals caring for pediatric patients. The study involved five hospitals in three southern America states and addressed visual artwork and art installations. The researcher administered an internet-based survey to participants in job functions related to hospital administration, environmental services, and project management across the facilities and received participation from 18 respondents. Additionally, telephone interviews were conducted with three participants with the job titles project manager/analyst, child-life specialist, and environmental services director. Survey questions were designed to examine visual art programs in selected children’s hospitals …

Examining Antecedents To Accuracy- And Defense-Motivated Information Insufficiency In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Timothy K.F. Fung, Po Yan Lai, Robert J. Griffin, Sharon Dunwoody

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Although the Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP) model recognizes that people seek and process risk information in various ways and for various motives, no research, to date, has examined the model beyond accuracy motive. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to advance the model by examining (1) the antecedents that induce individuals’ accuracy- and defense-motivated information insufficiency and (2) the effect of a broader array of the RISP’s perceived hazard characteristics and affective responses. To do so, we used the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study because COVID-19 is a newly emergent infectious disease with highly politicized, controversial …