Digital Commons Network^™

The Ethics Of Masking During A Pandemic, Mason Bennett

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has been disastrous, approaching a million deaths in the United States alone, and has demonstrated the world’s lack of preparation for a severe airborne virus. Countermeasures to infection are important to implement in order to lessen loss of life, but also must be justified and shown to be ethical. A countermeasure which is especially viable is wearing masks because of their high efficacy in preventing disease transmission compared to their relatively low restriction of liberty; studies have shown that mask wearing effectively impairs the spread of airborne pathogens and creates little physical or social harm. I argue …

Vectors, Pathogens And Climate Change: How Will Human Health Be Affected?, Joseph T. Barry

Honors Projects

This paper details how ongoing climate change will continue to affect the future of humanity. More specifically, this paper seeks to begin a conversation about how climate change impacts vectors and vector-borne pathogens and how both of these ultimately impact the future of human health. Three different vectors and three different pathogens are compared to provide an overview of how climate change may benefit these vectors and their associated pathogens. The vectors species selected for this comparative study are: (i) mosquitoes (Diptera, family Culicine), (ii) ticks (superorder Parasitiformes, order Ixodida), and (iii) kissing bugs (Hemiptera, subfamily Triatominae). Yellow fever virus …

Perceptions Of Risk, Work, And Lifestyle Changes On Mental Health Of Healthcare Workers Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic, Awatef Ergai, Leeanna Spiva, Lin Li, Ryan Breshears, Ginny Q. Zhan

Faculty Articles

The COVID-19 outbreak is significantly affecting the mental health of healthcare workers worldwide. This study aims to investigate mental health outcomes of healthcare workers in a health system located in the Southeastern US during the first peak of the pandemic and examine the association of specific factors on the mental well-being of healthcare workers. A cross-sectional survey of 388 healthcare workers was conducted. Data were collected using a 79-item questionnaire, which included the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) instrument, the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) instrument, and the 22-item Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, and …

Characterization Of A Potential Glucose Transporter In Trypanosoma Brucei, Matthew Morgan

All Theses

Trypanosoma brucei, the African trypanosome, is an organism heavily dependent on glucose for ATP production during the infectious stage of its life cycle. Here, we have explored the role of an uncharacterized protein designated “novel glucose transporter” (NGT) as a potential glucose transporter. Sequence analyses suggests that NGT shares similarities (either at the primary sequence level or structurally) with Trypanosome Hexose Transporters 1 (TbTHT1), and human GLUT3, both of which are membrane sugar transporters. NGT was localized by fluorescence microscopy to subcellular structures consistent with lysosomes. Silencing NGT expression with RNA interference in parasites resulted in a growth defect …

The Effects Of News Framing On Policy Support For Incarcerated Black Women, Rebecca Pool

All Theses

Mass incarceration has disproportionately affected many people; however, Black women have been routinely dismissed from the majority of prison scholarship and are at a particular risk through harmful stereotypes that serve as justification for their imprisonment. By examining their unique stance in the prison-industrial complex, this thesis draws attention to mechanisms to generate support for these women. Under the framework of framing theory and critical media effects, this research determined whether individual attribution of responsibility frames or societal attribution of responsibility frames affect individuals’ support for anti-mass incarceration public policies. According to the results, there were no effects between Black …

Macrophage Rac2 Promotes Suppression Of Germination During Aspergillus Fumigatus Infection, Chris D. Tanner

All Theses

Aspergillus fumigatus is a fungus found ubiquitously in the environment including in the air we breathe. Though not a threat to most people, immunodeficient or immunosuppressed individuals are at risk for developing severe infection, including the life-threatening condition of invasive aspergillosis. The hematopoietic cell specific GTPase protein Rac2 is associated with major roles in innate immune defense. Currently Rac2 has been demonstrated to be crucial for survival against a variety of infections. Here, we use a rac2 null mutant zebrafish line and morpholino approaches to elucidate roles of Rac2 in mounting the macrophage host defense response against A. fumigatus infection. …

U.S. Army Medical Command’S Medical Treatment Facilities’ Response To Sars-Cov-2 (Covid-19), Seyedmohammad Ahmadshahi

All Theses

Starting in December 2019 to the current time in May 2022, COVID-19 was a devastating pandemic with approximately 440 million cases and 6 million deaths worldwide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). The United States (US) with roughly 90 million cases and 1 million deaths (CDC, 2021) was one of the epicenters of the outbreak since the beginning. The pandemic has significantly impacted the health systems across the US with unpredictable surges of highly infectious patients with uncertain symptomology and acuity levels, requiring isolation and critical level of care (Brambilla et al., 2021).

Based on the findings from …

The Circulome: A Dynamic Reservoir Of Genetic Heterogeneity In Agricultural Pests, Hailey Spier Camposano

All Theses

Weed and insect pests cost the agricultural sector billions in losses each year across the world, despite distributing over 1 billion pounds of potentially harmful chemicals into agroecosystems to manage these pests. Two major agricultural pests that are rapidly adapting to multiple xenobiotics are Amaranthus palmeri and Musca domestica. A. palmeri, or Palmer amaranth, is highly productive in terms of vegetative structures and reproductive propagules. Palmer amaranth has evolved multiple resistance mechanisms to several herbicidal modes of action. House fly (M. domestica) presents issues as a vector for pathogenic microbes among livestock, poultry, and humans. This …

In The Grip Of Grippe: The 1918 Influenza Pandemic Viewed Through A Cross-Section Of American Society, Carole C. Thomas

All Theses

In 1918, a virulent strain of influenza swept the world, infecting as many as 500 million people and killing at least 50 million, 675,000 of whom were in the United States. Despite the many advances that had been made in science and medicine, even the best medical professionals were helpless against the disease. Lawmakers, too, were limited in what they could do to respond to the emergency, especially as the demands of the First World War remained a priority. Through an examination of the response to the flu in a cross-section of American society– national, state, and local – this …

Vol 2 May '22 Full Issue, Kari Fitzmorris Brisolara, Donna L. Williams

Journal of the Louisiana Public Health Association

No abstract provided.

Medical Care In The State Emergency Shelter In Alexandria (Megashelter) For Hurricanes Laura & Delta During The Covid-19 Pandemic, David Holcombe, Nora Bloemer, Shahnaz Rahman

Journal of the Louisiana Public Health Association

No abstract provided.

Endogenous Metabolic Markers For Predicting The Activity Of Dihydropyrimidine Dehydrogenase, Jihyun Kang, Andrew Hyoungjin Kim, Inseung Jeon, Jaeseong Oh, In-Jin Jang, Seunghwan Lee, Joo-Youn Cho

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Five-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a chemotherapeutic agent that is mainly metabolized by the rate-limiting enzyme dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD). The DPD enzyme activity deficiency involves a wide range of severities. Previous studies have demonstrated the effect of a DPYD single nucleotide polymorphism on 5-FU efficacy and highlighted the importance of studying such genes for cancer treatment. Common polymorphisms of DPYD in European ancestry populations are less frequently present in Koreans. DPD is also responsible for the conversion of endogenous uracil (U) into dihydrouracil (DHU). We quantified U and DHU in plasma samples of healthy male Korean subjects, and samples were classified into …

Strategies To Prevent Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections In Acute-Care Hospitals: 2022 Update, Niccolò Buetti, Jonas Marschall, Marci Drees, Mohamad G Fakih, Lynn Hadaway, Lisa L Maragakis, Elizabeth Monsees, Shannon Novosad, Naomi P O'Grady, Mark E Rupp, Joshua Wolf, Deborah Yokoe, Leonard A Mermel

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

American Society For Transplantation And Cellular Therapy Series: #5-Management Of Clostridioides Difficile Infection In Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients, Carolyn D Alonso, Gabriela Maron, Mini Kamboj, Paul A Carpenter, Arun Gurunathan, Kathleen M Mullane, Erik R Dubberke

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The Practice Guidelines Committee of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy partnered with its Transplant Infectious Disease Special Interest Group to update its 2009 compendium-style infectious disease guidelines for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). A completely new approach was taken with the goal of better serving clinical providers by publishing each standalone topic in the infectious disease series as a concise format of frequently asked questions (FAQ), tables, and figures. Adult and pediatric infectious disease and HCT content experts developed and then answered FAQs and finalized topics with harmonized recommendations that were made by assigning an A through E …

Variation In Ampicillin Dosing For Lower Respiratory Tract Infections And Neonatal Bacterial Infections In Us Children's Hospitals., Elizabeth A. Daniels, Christopher C. Mcpherson, Jason G. Newland, Brian R. Lee

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVE: We examined ampicillin dosing in pediatric patients across 3 conditions: (1) bacterial lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in infants and children >3 months, (2) neonates with suspected or proven sepsis, and (3) neonates with suspected central nervous system (CNS) infections. We compared our findings to dosing guidance for these specific indications.

DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING: The study included data from 32 children's hospitals in the United States.

METHODS: We reviewed prescriptions from the SHARPS study of antimicrobials, a survey of antibiotic prescribing from July 2016 to December 2017. Prescriptions were analyzed for indication, total daily dose per kilogram, …

Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy And Governments Challenges, Laila Abdin

Theses

Governments face the challenge of increasing the number of people who have been infected. Millions of daily examinations are being conducted around the world to detect the disease. The pandemic is growing increasingly challenging as the number of confirmed cases increases. Governments encounter a variety of obstacles in approving the benefits of Covid-19 vaccinations. Indeed, the idea of getting vaccinated is still fuzzy, and does vaccination protect against infectious disease? There are a lot of questions floating around. The lack of clear information about the Covid-19 vaccine will stymie the growing number of people who have been immunized. Therefore, governments …

A Systemic Model To Augment Consulting Competencies For Success In A Remote And Multicultural Work Environment, Sagar Sharma

Full-Text Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation aimed to identify gaps in the consulting core competencies and challenges faced in remote and multicultural work environments. The survey research method was utilized to gather consultants' input on core competencies and challenges based on their experiences. This research was only applicable to those consultants who could perform their roles and responsibilities in a remote and multicultural work environment. Based on the research analysis, a core competency framework is shared to enhance consultant’s core competencies to make them successful. The shared framework can help understand some of the industry’s critical problems and provide valuable knowledge that will help …

"Death Can't Touch Them Now": Aids Response And Memorialization In Louisville, Kentucky, 1982-1992., Olivia A. Beutel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to address the role of the queer community in Louisville, Kentucky during the AIDS epidemic. Beginning with the first reported AIDS death in the city in 1983 throughout the 1980s, dialogue focused on those living with AIDS, specifically on education for prevention and aid to those afflicted by the disease. Individuals in the queer community—gay men, lesbians, bisexual men and women, transgender men and women, and others—created resources that were not being provided by the larger city government. Then, in the 1990s, national attention to the AIDS Memorial Quilt encouraged people to participate in rituals of commemoration, …

Examining The State Of Substance Use Treatment Among Youth And Adults In The United States, Esther Adejoke Adeniran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the United States (US), substance use, misuse, and substance use disorders are significant public health problems. Additionally, the difference between needing substance use treatment (SUT) and receiving treatment is becoming more pronounced. Therefore, the aims of this dissertation include, 1) to synthesize evidence of barriers and facilitators to integrating SUT into mainstream health care (MHC) after the Affordable Care Act was nationally implemented in 2014, 2) to examine the rate of treatment completion and dropout, along with its associated factors, among youth who received Medication-Assisted Opioid Therapy (MAT), 3) to determine the relationship between prior treatment episodes and length …

Nsu Huizenga College Of Business And Entrepreneurship 2022-2023 Graduate Catalog, Nova Southeastern University

Huizenga Postgraduate Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Decreasing Time To Antibiotic Administration In Febrile Neutropenic Adult Oncology Patients In The Emergency Department: An Evidence-Based Quality Improvement Project, Kristin Murray

DNP Projects

Introduction—Significance and Background: Febrile Neutropenia (FN) is the most common and serious complication of hematopoietic cancers and in patients receiving chemotherapy. Patients in this immunocompromised state have weakened immunity to fight off infection and a mortality rate of almost 10%. Thus, Infectious Diseases Society of America has identified the single most important determining factor of outcomes is the timing of antibiotic (TTA) administration and has identified the gold standard to be 60 minutes. Current practice does not follow guidelines and the current policy does not address the urgency of antibiotic administration.

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to improve …

Analyzing Breastfeeding On Social Media, Kerri Barnes

Theses (2016-Present)

The study uses the feminist theory to discourse issues surrounding breastfeeding as articulated on Twitter. The research employed a mixed methodology approach in executing its goal. The study will begin by examining and presenting findings on a Twitter hashtag, #breastfeeding, a popular hashtag that mothers and experts use to articulate breastfeeding issues. The extensive examination of breastfeeding beyond its linguistic form was undertaken in this study based on the feminist guidelines considering bodies that protect mothers' welfare were integrated into the study. The study findings from the tweets analyzed, N= 2,818, indicate and confirm that breastfeeding is the mode of …

Structural Formation And Functionality Of The Spoiie Protein In Clostridium Difficile, Rachel Siebenmorgen

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

My research efforts were directed toward the structure and functionality of a protein, designated SpoIIE [11], which previously has been shown to regulate C. difficile peptide utilization in addition to sporulation and toxin release. The SpoIIE protein is found in all spore-forming gram-positive bacteria and is a crucial component in activation of transcription factors and septum formation thus affecting the regulation and timing of spore development [11,12]. A truncated form of the SpoIIE protein named SpoIIE∆TM was used in an effort to determine the structure of an important but uncharacterized linker domain of the protein. If the structure and specific …

Fda's Accelerated Approval, Emergency Use Authorization, And Pre-Approval Access: Considerations For Use In Public Health Emergencies And Beyond, Christine Coughlin

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Vaccine Hesitancy Across Time: Legal And Policy Interventions From The Dawn Of The Anti-Vaccination Movement To The Era Of Social Media, Ana Santos Rutschman

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Emergency Use Authorizations In The Time Of Coronavirus, Laura Kent-Jensen

Utah Law Review

When COVID-19 first emerged in the United States, the pandemic sparked a rush to provide protective gear, develop tests to detect the disease, and implement effective containment strategies to stop the spread. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) process to facilitate the rapid market introduction of medical devices (authorized but unapproved) to combat the emergent public health threat. Unfortunately, performance problems with some medical devices stymied initial containment efforts, arguably resulting in greater spread and suggesting a need for improvement in the EUA process.

By reviewing the statutory requirements of the EUA process, this …

“Categorically Unsafe” To Donate, Marielle Forrest

Utah Law Review

Plasma donation centers routinely adopt policies that preclude individuals with mental illnesses from donating blood plasma. While plasma donation centers assert that their policies are motivated by employee and customer safety, such safety concerns are unsubstantiated. These policies are based on speculation and stereotypes, rather than scientific evidence. But discrimination against people with mental illness is only unlawful if perpetrated by an entity subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and circuit courts are split on whether blood plasma donation centers fall within the ADA’s parameters. In 2016, the Tenth Circuit held that blood plasma donation centers are “service …

Monitoring Sars-Cov-2 Risk With Co2. The Importance Of Ventilation, Masks, And Vaccinations., Preston Betz

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

To assess airborne pathogen infection risk, concentrations of interior carbon dioxide and changes in relative humidity serve as proxies for human respiration products. Yanes and Yapp, 2010, demonstrated that interior air carbon dioxide concentrations and ¹³C/¹²C ratios display a two-component mixing relationship between respiration carbon dioxide which is highly concentrated (>100x atmospheric) in respiration air CO₂ at >40,000 ppm compared with ambient air (~410 ppm). In the absence of combustion carbon dioxide, the concentration of carbon dioxide, in an interior space, depends on the rate of respiration CO₂ addition relative to the amount of …

Clinical Pathways Leading To Antibiotic Initiation In Patients With Suspected Infection And Their Association With Delays And Mortality, X Han, C Lopez-Espina, P A. Verhoef, A Spicer, A Bhargava, L Schmalz, Matthew Sims, Alexandra Halalau, Nicholas Maddens, Aimee Espinosa

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Rationale: Delayed antibiotic therapy is associated with increased mortality in patients hospitalized with infection. The decision toinitiate therapy in patients with suspected infection is influenced by a variety of information, such as vital signs, and laboratoryresults. Identifying different patterns of events that lead to initiation is necessary to discover factors that could serve as targets forinterventions to expedite this process. We aimed to identify the most common sequences of events that precede antibioticordering and to quantify the time intervals between each event that contribute to antibiotic delays. Methods: This was aretrospective study of adult patients hospitalized at 4 community hospitals …

Omicron Infection Milder In Nursing Home Residents, Robin L.P. Jump

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.