Digital Commons Network^™

G-Quadruplexes And Associated Proteins In Aging And Alzheimer’S Disease, M J Vijay Kumar, Rodrigo Morales, Andrey S Tsvetkov

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Aging is a prominent risk factor for many neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Alzheimer's disease is characterized by progressive cognitive decline, memory loss, and neuropsychiatric and behavioral symptoms, accounting for most of the reported dementia cases. This disease is now becoming a major challenge and burden on modern society, especially with the aging population. Over the last few decades, a significant understanding of the pathophysiology of AD has been gained by studying amyloid deposition, hyperphosphorylated tau, synaptic dysfunction, oxidative stress, calcium dysregulation, and neuroinflammation. This review focuses on the role of non-canonical secondary structures of DNA/RNA G-quadruplexes (G4s, …

Role Of Microrna-34a In Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability And Mitochondrial Function In Ischemic Stroke, Cole T Payne, Sidra Tabassum, Silin Wu, Heng Hu, Aaron M Gusdon, Huimahn A Choi, Xuefang S Ren

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Over the past decade, there has been an uptick in the number of studies conducting research on the role of microRNA (miRNA) molecules in stroke. Among these molecules, miR-34a has emerged as a significant player, as its levels have been observed to exhibit a substantial rise following ischemic events. Elevated levels of miR-34a have been found to have multiple effects, including the modulation of inflammatory molecules involved in the post-stroke recovery process, as well as negative effects on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. Interestingly, the increase of miR-34a appears to increase BBB permeability post stroke, through the negative effect on …

Antimicrobial Activity Of Plasma Rich In Platelets (Prp) On The Ocular Microbiota Of Healthy Horses From Minas Gerais, Luis E C Torres, Camilo O Florez, Jéssica G Oliveira, Giovanna D Vieira, Ilza S Ribeiro, Kelly M Keller, Fabíola O P Leme, Priscila Fantini, Renata P A Maranhão

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In equine ophthalmology, ulcerative keratitis is among the most common conditions and, in general, arises as a consequence of some trauma suffered. Secondarily, subsequent contamination by pathogenic or resident bacteria of the horse's ocular microbiota may have undesirable consequences. Under physiological conditions, the normal microbiota coexists with the immune status of the host, serving as a barrier, ensuring the health of the ocular surface, and inhibiting the proliferation of pathogens. However, in the imbalance of immune barriers, the normal microbiota can become pathogenic and lead to infection, acting as an opportunistic agent. The present study aims to demonstrate the antimicrobial …

The Association Of Student Achievement And The Frequency Of Curriculum Supervision And Evaluation Practices Of Principals Across Comparable School Clusters, James S. Reynolds Iv

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the frequency of principals’ curriculum supervision and evaluation practices across comparable school clusters. It was hypothesized that principals of the schools at the top of each cluster, sorted by student achievement, are more frequently involved in practices pertaining to the evaluation and supervision of written, taught, and tested curricula. Schools were grouped based on their enrollment and demographics using a cluster analysis approach, sorted from greatest to least by their composite student achievement score, then classified as a top or bottom-performing school within their cluster. This study identified differences in the frequency of the principal's curriculum leadership …

Correlation Between Intraoral Markers And The Risk Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea In Children, Linda K. Powers

Theses and Dissertations

Specific aims: The purpose of this study was to explore the association between various intraoral markers and the risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in children. Specifically, nine intraoral clinical characteristics were analyzed: ankyloglossia, palatal vault height, presence and level of dental wear, tonsillar grade, Friedman's classification, skeletal and dental classification, and posterior crossbite. The correlation between these features and the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) and Pediatric Symptoms Checklist (PSC) scores were assessed.

Methods: Orthodontic patients aged 8-17 were recruited at the VCU Graduate Clinic. Intraoral measurements were collected from patients (n=100) by treating doctors. At this time, the PSQ …

Isoprenylation Inhibition Significantly Reduces Ige Mediated Mast Cell Function And Allergic Disease, Jordan Dailey

Theses and Dissertations

Allergic disease is the 6^th leading cause of chronic illness in the US and accounts for billions of dollars in healthcare annually. Mast cells are tissue resident innate immune cells linked to allergic disease and activated by IgE and other ligands. Upon activation, they release histamine, cytokines, chemokines, proteases, and lipid mediators evoking allergic symptoms. New ways of targeting mast cells could greatly benefit allergic disease therapy. Previous findings supported repurposing statin drugs, such as Fluvastatin, as a therapeutic treatment of allergic disease reduced allergic symptoms in vitro and in vivo. We found that Fluvastatin suppressed IgE-mediated mast cell …

Assessing Drug Development Proporties Of Antithrombotic And Anti - Cancer Agents, Elsamani I. Abdelfadiel

Theses and Dissertations

The current GAG anticoagulants such as heparin, heparin derivatives, and vitamin K antagonists, such as warfarin continue to be the backbone of anticoagulant therapy. These drugs act through an indirect mechanism to convey inhibition of several coagulation enzymes. However, xv their use leads to several serious adverse effects, such as excessive bleeding risk and unpredictability of patient response. Regardless of their clinical achievement, every individual agent is accompanied by several side effects, particularly major/minor bleeding, thrombocytopenia, drug-food or drug-drug interactions, or absence of antidote. Of all these side effects, bleeding, and a lack of an effective antidote to reverse excessive …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Prdm16 As A Tumor Suppressor In Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Eric Hurwitz

Theses and Dissertations

The transcription factor Prdm16 functions as a potent suppressor of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-b) signaling, whose inactivation is deemed essential to the progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Using the Kras^G12D-based mouse model of human PDAC, we surprisingly found that ablating Prdm16 did not block but instead accelerated PDAC formation and progression, suggesting that Prdm16 might function as a tumor suppressor in this malignancy. Subsequent genetic experiments showed that ablating Prdm16 along with Smad4 resulted in a shift from a well-differentiated and confined neoplasm to a highly aggressive and metastatic disease, which was associated with a striking deviation …

Assessing The Relationships Between Direct And Vicarious Exposure To Healthcare Discrimination And Erasure, Mistrust In Healthcare, And The Healthcare Utilization Behaviors Among Transgender And Gender Independent Individuals, Kyle L. Mason

Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare inaccessibility through direct exposure (i.e., personal) to myriad forms of gender identity-related discrimination and erasure among the Transgender and Gender Independent (TGI) population has been documented by prior studies. The myriad barriers that individuals who embody TGI identities encounter to accessing healthcare are associated with the underutilization of healthcare, which may further exacerbate the health disparities that exist between this population and cisgender individuals in the United States (U.S.). Although the impacts of the harm that direct exposure to healthcare discrimination and erasure may have on TGI individuals are known, their exposure to such harm vicariously (i.e., through observation …

Morphometric Analysis Of Premolars And Its Relevance To Root Canal Anatomy, James Degracie

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Premolars are especially challenging to treat endodontically due to their small size and often-intricate anatomy. While the majority of premolars present with one or two root canals, the presence of three root canals has been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the root-to-crown width ratio (RCWR) and number of root canals in maxillary and mandibular premolars.

Methods: Data was retrieved from the electronic health records of patients treated at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry. A total of 100 premolars which had both periapical radiograph (PA) and cone beam computed tomography scans (CBCT) …

Factors Associated With College Students' Intention To Use Telehealth For Primary Care, Conor Duffy

Theses and Dissertations

College students are less likely than the general population to have a regular primary care provider and engage in routine health visits. Recent research provides evidence that telehealth is a convenient alternative to in-person primary care and that college students are comfortable using this technology, suggesting that telehealth has the potential to mitigate this disparity. However, little research has examined which factors are associated with college students’ intention to use telehealth and attitudes toward telehealth specifically in the primary care context. The overarching goal of this study was to address this gap in the literature and identify factors associated with …

Psychiatric Diagnostic Decision-Making: Investigating The Theory Of The Dual-Process Model, Christopher S. Kleva

Theses and Dissertations

Diagnostic decision-making is an important component of clinical practice; however, there is substantial diagnostic unreliability within mental health diagnoses. The lack of reliability emphasizes the importance of investigating diagnostic decision-making; however, the research to date is limited, primarily relying on a vague definition of decision-making based on the dual-process model. The present study is an exploratory attempt to apply the dual-process model to explain how mental health clinicians (n = 30, 73.3% cisgender female, 96.7% psychologists) arrive at making diagnostic decisions through the use of an interactive interview mechanism. For each participant, we are able to create a figure …

Treatment Access And Outcomes For Craniofacial Care: Patient And Parent Perspectives, Benjamin F. Lowe Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose was to evaluate whether craniofacial patients and their parents have adequate access to care, perceive this care as high quality, and believe that the incorporation of telehealth visits would benefit their current system of craniofacial care. Methods: An original survey was developed and sent to families in treatment with the Virginia Commonwealth University craniofacial team. The tool was used to gather demographic information and assess opinions toward access to, outcomes of, and telehealth services for craniofacial care. Patients 18 years and older took the survey for themselves, while patients under 18 years old had a parent/guardian take …

Editorial: Expert Opinions In Neurocognitive Aging And Behavior: Neural Rehabilitation For Elder People, Ping Zhou, Yingchun Zhang, Sheng Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Genome-Wide Characterization Of Trichome Birefringence-Like Genes Provides Insights Into Fiber Yield Improvement, Ziyin Li, Yuzhen Shi, Xianghui Xiao, Jikun Song, Pengtao Li, Juwu Gong, Haibo Zhang, Wankui Gong, Aiying Liu, Renhai Peng, Haihong Shang, Qun Ge, Junwen Li, Jingtao Pan, Quanjia Chen, Quanwei Lu, Youlu Yuan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cotton is an important fiber crop. The cotton fiber is an extremely long trichome that develops from the epidermis of an ovule. The trichome is a general and multi-function plant organ, and trichome birefringence-like (TBL) genes are related to trichome development. At the genome-wide scale, we identified TBLs in four cotton species, comprising two cultivated tetraploids (Gossypium hirsutum and G. barbadense) and two ancestral diploids (G. arboreum and G. raimondii). Phylogenetic analysis showed that the TBL genes clustered into six groups. We focused on GH_D02G1759 in group IV because it was located in a …

Exosomal Lipid Biomarkers Of Oligodendrocyte Pathology To Predict Scoliosis In Children With Cerebral Palsy, Nune Darbinian, Emily C Sparks, Armine Darbinyan, Nana Merabova, Tamara Tatevosian-Geller, Katie Calaku, Sarah Bachman, Huaqing Zhao, Shohreh Amini, Laura Goetzl, Solomon P Samuel, Amer Samdani, Michael E Selzer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Cerebral Palsy (CP), the most common cause of disability in children, is phenotypically heterogeneous. Approximately 20% of cases develop severe scoliosis. A pathological hallmark of CP is periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), which is due to dysmyelination, suggesting the possibility of a lipidomic abnormality. Risk factors for CP include perinatal hypoxia, prematurity, multiple gestation, ischemia, infection, and maternal alcohol consumption. There is evidence for low serum levels of omega-3 (ω-3) fatty acids in CP patients, and separately in idiopathic scoliosis. Many effects of free fatty acids (FFAs) are mediated via specific G protein-coupled free fatty acid receptors (FFARs), which play essential …

Maternal Blood Lipid Biomarkers Of Oligodendrocyte Pathology To Predict Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Nune Darbinian, Emily C Sparks, Armine Darbinyan, Nana Merabova, Gabriel Tatevosian, Ekaterina Vadachkoria, Huaqing Zhao, Shohreh Amini, Laura Goetzl, Michael E Selzer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Up to 9.9% of children have fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), the most frequent cause of intellectual disability in the US. FASD may involve abnormal brain development, including dysmyelination, suggesting abnormal development of oligodendrocytes (OLs), which make myelin and are rich in lipids. Indeed, low serum levels of omega-3 fatty acids (ω-3) have been reported in FASD. Free fatty acids bind to specific receptors (FFARs). We have isolated cell type-specific fetal brain-derived exosomes (FB-E) from maternal blood and sampled their contents to search for lipid-related biomarkers that predict FASD.

METHODS: Blood samples were collected from two groups of pregnant …

Adolescent Loneliness During The Covid-19 Pandemic: The Role Of Pre-Pandemic Risk Factors, Hena Thakur, Morgan Stutts, Jae Wan Choi, Jeff R Temple, Joseph R Cohen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global mental health crisis that disproportionately impacts adolescents. Loneliness is a particularly salient pandemic psychosocial outcome to understand; however, research to date on this outcome is sparse and largely cross-sectional. In response, we examined pre-pandemic risk factors for pandemic loneliness. Further, we examined how risk may differ based on key demographics, and whether mediation or moderation models best explained potential disparities in experiencing loneliness. Self-reported, pre-pandemic mental health, trauma exposure, and family conflict survey data were collected at Wave 1 in a diverse sample of 369 adolescents (54.5% female, 45.5% male; 30.1% White; 30.9% Black; …

Are Trauma Surgeons Prepared? A Survey Of Trauma Surgeons’ Disaster Preparedness Before And During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jay Doucet, David V Shatz, Lewis J Kaplan, Eileen M Bulger, Jeannette Capella, Deborah A Kuhls, Mary Fallat, Kyle N Remick, Christopher Newton, Adam Fox, Randeep Jawa, John A Harvin, David P Blake, Marko Bukur, Jonathan Gates, James Ficke, Mark L Gestring, The American Association For Surgery Of Trauma Disaster Committee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: US trauma centers (TCs) must remain prepared for mass casualty incidents (MCIs). However, trauma surgeons may lack formal MCI training. The recent COVID-19 pandemic drove multiple patient surges, overloaded Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies, and stressed TCs. This survey assessed trauma surgeons' MCI training, experience, and system and personal preparedness before the pandemic compared with the pandemic's third year.

METHODS: Survey invitations were emailed to all 1544 members of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma in 2019, and then resent in 2022 to 1575 members with additional questions regarding the pandemic. Questions assessed practice type, TC characteristics, …

2023 Morehead State University Benefits Guide, Morehead State University. Office Of Human Resources.

Staff Congress Records

2023 Morehead State University Benefits Guide.

Closing The Digital Divide: Understanding Organizational Approaches To Digital Accessibility In Higher Education, Angela Kae Jackson

Dissertations and Theses

Digital accessibility practices are becoming standardized in higher education as institutions seek to meet compliance with federal and state equal access laws. Students with disabilities have equal rights to access university programs and services in digital format. The widespread use of assistive technology, artificial intelligence, and content available in digital format brings forth ethical and legal concerns about equal access for individuals with disabilities. While broad approaches to digital accessibility in higher education are in the literature, there is a growing need for more studies to examine comprehensive approaches to digital accessibility across multiple units, disciplines, and the organization's hierarchy. …

Documenting Range Expansion Of Two Invasive Tick (Acari:Ixodidae) Species In Eastern South Dakota, Braden Wojahn

Dissertations and Theses

This project documents the expanded zoogeographic ranges of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) within eastern South Dakota. Ticks are important when considering a “One Health” approach, as many species are competent vectors of zoonotic pathogens causing human diseases and conditions such as Lyme disease, tularemia, rickettsia, and alpha gal syndrome. The research involved constitutes two steps. First, tick surveillance was conducted in eastern counties of South Dakota, spanning March 2021 through August 2022. Surveillance took place along edge habitat at recreation areas, state and public parks, wildlife management areas and refuges, and other natural …

Research On Cloud Manufacturing Service Recommendation Based On Graph Neural Network, Minghui Li, Xiaoqiu Shi, Yuqiang Shi, Yong Cai, Xuewen Dong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

There are an increasing number of manufacturing service resources appeared on the cloud manufacturing (CMfg) service platform recently, which leads to a serious information overloading problem to the enterprises that need these resources. To tackle this problem, a graph neural network-based recommendation method for CMfg service resources is proposed, which effectively overcomes some limitations of the traditional recommendation methods. Specifically, we first use different similarity calculation methods (e.g., Cosine similarity, Pearson correlation coefficient, etc.) to calculate the similarities between different resources based on the feature information of CMfg service resources. A resource graph dataset is accordingly established. A graph neural …

New Medline Ovid Video, Joanne Romano

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

A new video on Conducting a Literature Search in Medline Ovid - part 1, is now available. The video explains how to successfully conduct a literature search in the Medline database using the Ovid search interface.

This new video is available on the Library YouTube Channel.

Schedule A Class Or An Orientation, Beatriz Varman

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

It is the beginning of the semester and the perfect time to schedule a class or a library orientation for your students. Let us know what you need: a library orientation or a class on how to search medical or nursing databases.

Digitalcommons@Tmc Offers "Virtual" Library Exhibits, Alice Sherwood

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

2022 was a busy year for this online repository, with an additional 350+ works added, which include dissertations and theses and 2 additional peer-reviewed e-journals. Also, there are a number of exhibits available since November, with most materials from these exhibits contributed by The McGovern Historical Center.

Two latest additions to the exhibits are Houston’s Fight against Tuberculosis and Christmas Seals (1911-1980s) and Windows into McGovern Historical Center. Check it out!

Incidental Vascular Lesion In Explanted Liver: A Rare Case Report And Review Of The Literature, Rossana Kazemimood, Shohreh Eliaszadeh, Kenneth Wind

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Hepatic small vessel neoplasm (HSVN) is a rare vascular hepatic lesion that is usually an asymptomatic incidental finding. Here we present a case of a 66-year-old male with HSVN who was discovered to have a lesion presenting as a small nodule in an explanted liver. HSVN is a recently described hepatic vascular lesion that has been previously underdiagnosed. It has an uncertain long-term malignant potential, so close follow-up is recommended.

Editorial: Lipid Droplets And Mitochondria In Metabolic Diseases, Wen Su, Yujing Chi, Yu A An

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Resurrecting 'She Asked For It': The Rough Sex Defence In Canadian Courts, Elizabeth Sheehy, Isabel Grant, Lise Gotell

All Faculty Publications

According to rape crisis centres and women’s shelters in Canada, the US and the UK, women are reporting extreme levels of violence by men who rape them, including strangulation—a particularly dangerous form of violence that is highly predictive of femicide. At the same time, accused men are deploying the “rough sex” defence when the victim—nearly always a woman—has suffered bodily harm or even death as a result of the accused’s actions. This defence is used to suggest that the woman enjoyed strangulation, bondage or other violence as part of “sex play”, inviting judges and jurors to find that she either …

The Use Of Distraction Techniques During Injection In Pediatric Patients, Sara Mollner

Master of Science in Nursing Family Nurse Practitioner

Do distraction techniques provide adequate pain management in the pediatric population? If so, what is the importance of this topic? Children can develop negative emotional connections to healthcare workers and procedures if they are constantly put through painful experiences. Making these experiences less painful can ensure better healthcare for the future.