Digital Commons Network^™

Can Host Traits And Environmental Conditions Predict Helminth Fecundity And Length?, Finley Melnikoff

Pitzer Senior Theses

Helminths are some of the most common parasites in the world, infecting anything from humans to plants to mice. These parasites can play a massive role in determining a host's fitness and ultimately can have consequences on their body condition, reproductive ability, and infection transmission potential. Many factors influence the potential burden helminths have on their hosts–from host traits to environmental conditions–yet helminth fecundity and length have been studied very little in relation to these factors. Helminth fecundity–or how many eggs each female worm has in its ovaries–determines the transmission of the parasite, and helminth length is correlated with fecundity, …

Pandemic Silver Lining: Discovering The Reasonableness Of Remote Learning As An Accommodation Under The Ada, Kaitlyn Barciszewski

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

As society returned to “normal” following the worldwide pandemic caused by the outbreak of COVID-19, higher education students around the world could be heard celebrating and warmly welcoming their return to in-person classes. With this return came the face-to-face social interactions most longed for through the worldwide lockdown with friends, classmates, and professors. Some may even feel that in-person learning is more effective than what had become the norm––Zoom university. At this moment, however, these institutions can and should evaluate the potential benefits and continued utility of this alternate way of doing higher education that was forced upon them for …

The Perils Of Privatization: Exploring The Side Effects Of Privatized Correctional Health Care In Favor Of A Public Delivery Model, Peyton Holahan

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

On July 16, 2020, Judge Roslyn Silver of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona set a trial between Arizona’s Department of Corrections and a class of Arizona’s prisoners alleging grossly inadequate health care in the state’s prison system. Arizona, like more than half of the states in the U.S., has outsourced prison health care to private correctional healthcare providers. While correctional healthcare providers win states over with promises of cost-effective care and limited liability, ever since the emergence of the correctional healthcare industry in the 1970s, problems with privatized health care in jails and prisons have persisted, …

The Re-Emergence Of An Ancient Disease: A Case Presentation Of Spinal Tuberculosis, Danay Herrera, Nargisa Ergasheva, Paola Solari, Daniel Kaswan, Bryan Greendield

East Florida Division GME Research Day 2023

Please see supplemental content for full abstract with references.

Introduction: An ancient disease identified in Egyptian and Peruvian mummies, tuberculous spondylitis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is considered the most common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) [1,5]. Despite the identification of the causative agent, the improvement in diagnostic tools, the production of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, and the development of antimicrobial regimens since the disease was first described, it remains a major health burden today with significant morbidity and mortality among developing countries [5]. Spinal TB can lead to severe deformity and permanent neurological deficits, as such early recognition …

Cryptogenic Liver Abscess Caused By Actinomyces Meyeri, Thomas Walter, Simona Oprea, Greg Hicks

Continental, MidAmerica, & Mountain Divisions GME Research Day 2023

No abstract provided.

New Onset Hashimoto’S Thyroiditis Associated With Severe Rhabdomyolysis After Infection With Covid19, Nova Mebane, Jacqueline M. Phillips, Cynthia Salloum, Neva Mebane, Daniel Park

Gulf Coast Division GME Research Day 2023

No abstract provided.

Insurance Law, J. Price Collins, Janet Tolbert, Ashley Gilmore

SMU Annual Texas Survey

This Article describes and analyzes major developments in insurance law that occurred in Texas between December 1 and November 30 of 2022.

The Geographic Pattern And Socioecological Factors Of Helicobacter Pylori Infections In The United States, Judith Ann Merryweather

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractHelicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one of the most common human pathogens and may play a role in the development of several distinct diseases, which include gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, and gastric cancer. Studying geographic territories of the United States may reveal clusters with high rates of H. pylori infection and perhaps the prevalence of gastric cancer; however, geographic mapping of patterns in the United States is scarce. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in H pylori infection patterns in the United States between two different time points (2000–2002 and 2016–2018). The primary hypotheses of this study …

Profiling The Cell Wall Polysaccharides Of Hemp (Cannabis Sativa L.) Inflorescence And Hempseed And Exploring Their Application As Ruminant Feed Ingredients, Miranda Agbana

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is used in the United States as a source of CBD oil, fiber, and grain. While hempseeds are consumed whole or as dehulled hemp hearts, hempseed oil is also a desirable seed oil in human nutrition. The process of collecting hempseed oil leaves behind hempseed cakes that are abundant in protein and fiber. Feeding of hempseed cakes to animals, including ruminants, has only initially been explored. Extraction of CBD from hemp inflorescences generates organic waste that may find a second purpose as a fiber feed for cattle. Little is known about the exact fiber composition …

A Leadership Perspective On Preventing Counselor Burnout In A Behavioral Health Setting During Covid-19, Claudia P. De La Torre

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a high need for mental health services, which resulted in a shortage of mental health clinicians. This shortage of mental health clinicians then resulted in a high burnout rate due to client intake. This doctoral case study was grounded in the Baldrige Excellence Framework and focused on how a behavioral health organization in South Texas managed burnout in clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to help behavioral health leaders find a solution to preventing burnout during a high demand pandemic. This doctoral study had several data sources, including semistructured interviews with three …

Structural Empowerment Of Nurse Leaders In New York State During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Tracey Braithwaite

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The current phenomenological study explored the lived experience of Acting Chief Nursing Officers, Chief Nursing Officers, Chief Nursing Executives (henceforth CNOs) at hospitals in New York State who were charged with responding to executive orders while maintaining quality of patient care despite staffing constraints, inadequate supplies, or lack of additional support for the duties associated with their role. Their experience of structural empowerment in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic was also studied. The theoretical framework was Kanter’s theory of structural empowerment that addressed organizational behavior in the context of employee empowerment. The research question addressed how the CNOs perceived their …

Social Worker Perspectives On Implementation Of Harm Reduction Into Abstinence-Based Substance Abuse Programs, Susan Woomer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Opioid addiction is a growing epidemic in the United States and was declared a public health emergency by the Department of Health and Human Services in October of 2017. There is a growing recognition that the current treatment for heroin and opioid addiction, abstinence-based treatment programs, is not readily available and has minimal success in addressing the epidemic. Harm reduction therapy is recognized as an effective way to address the opioid epidemic. This study aimed to develop further insight and understanding of how to integrate harm reduction therapy in abstinence-based treatment programs. The theoretical framework for this study was the …

Evaluation Of Recovery Level And Surgical Site Infection For Hip Replacement Surgeries, Misha Foster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common healthcare associated infections and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Existing studies have focused primarily on perioperative intervention strategies to reduce infection risks following total joint replacement (TJA) procedures. However, postoperative (post-op) SSI risk factors may account for a significant percentage of hospital readmissions due to infections at the surgical site. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between post-op recovery level and SSI among patients who underwent primary hip arthroplasty procedures. Using the social ecological model, which conceptualizes health broadly and focuses on …

Biomolecular Condensates: Insights Into Early And Late Steps Of The Hiv-1 Replication Cycle, Francesca Di Nunzio, Vladimir N. Uversky, Andrew J. Mouland

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

A rapidly evolving understanding of phase separation in the biological and physical sciences has led to the redefining of virus-engineered replication compartments in many viruses with RNA genomes. Condensation of viral, host and genomic and subgenomic RNAs can take place to evade the innate immunity response and to help viral replication. Divergent viruses prompt liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) to invade the host cell. During HIV replication there are several steps involving LLPS. In this review, we characterize the ability of individual viral and host partners that assemble into biomolecular condensates (BMCs). Of note, bioinformatic analyses predict models of phase separation …

The Curtailment Of Constitutional Rights And Mechanisms Of Social Control In The People's Republic Of China: Hubei Province Case At The Onset Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Fabio Ratto Trabucco

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This paper analyzes the curtailment of constitutional rights arising from the implementation of emergency measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic in China’s Hubei Province, which was not at all counterbalanced by introducing new forms of due constitutional protection. Likewise, high expectations cannot be set on pre-existing means of constitutional safeguards since the Chinese government clearly refused to establish new or different safeguarding procedures nor did it deem it necessary to establish ad hoc courts in order to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper is laid out as follows: (1) fundamental rights in a contemporary socialist state: an overview; (2) containment …

Does Environmental Testing Of C. Difficile Predict Whether A Patient Is Positive With C. Difficile?, David Caccese

Public Health Theses

Clostridioides difficile is a major public health threat and frequent cause of healthcare-associated infections. Hospitals have struggled to control C. difficile due in part to the challenge of identifying asymptomatic C. difficile carriers and because of C. difficile’s ability to survive on environmental surfaces for long periods. Asymptomatic carriers and environmental surfaces can contribute to C. difficile transmission. Screening of all patients for C. difficile upon hospital admission is not feasible and asymptomatic patients may not be accepting of surveillance testing. Thus, this study examines whether sampling the patient’s room environment once they have been admitted can indicate a patient …

Subcutaneous Lesions And Systemic Infections: A Scoping Review Of The Clinical Implications Of Illicit Xylazine Use, Fatimah Maiga

Public Health Theses

Xylazine, a clonidine analog, is a potent alpha-2 adrenergic agonist used as an analgesic sedative in veterinary medicine. Known to people who inject drugs (PWID) as “tranq”, xylazine has recently infiltrated the U.S. illicit opiate drug supply and has been associated with severe, necrotic lesions, sedation, and respiratory depression. Unlike opiates, xylazine has no human reversal agent or standardized withdrawal treatment protocol and its effects are unclear.

The objective of this study was to conduct a scoping review synthesizing the available clinical research and reporting on xylazine associated subcutaneous lesions and systemic infections. The study also sought to identify gaps …

From Prison Zooms To Hospital Rooms: Unmasking The Positives Of Remote Education, Molly Chao Yeselson

Scripps Senior Theses

From Prison Zooms to Hospital Rooms: Unmasking the Positives of Remote Education is the culmination of a seven-year battle for my life and my education. Remote and hybrid education are perpetually identified as the cause of pandemic-era learning deficits. My project seeks to challenge such rhetoric by detailing the positive educational experience I, a student with a disability, along with my incarcerated peers, have had thanks to distance learning. I argue that as the world shifts from a pandemic to an endemic approach to COVID-19, higher education must keep its virtual doors open to nontraditional students.

Monoclonal Antibody Therapy Of Breastfeeding Patient Infected With Sars-Cov-2: A Case Report, Nicole E. Marshall, Madison B. Blanton, Brianna M. Doratt, Delphine C. Malherbe, Monica Rincon, Ilhem Messaoudi

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Introduction: Although safety data demonstrated the efficacy and effectiveness of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination for all individuals over 6 months of age, including pregnant and breastfeeding individuals, optimal treatment courses for symptomatic pregnant and lactating individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 remain to be defined. Case Description: A coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-vaccinated breastfeeding woman received anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody treatment casirivimab–imdevimab 5 days after diagnosis of a symptomatic breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results and Conclusions: The patient did not present with obvious defects in innate or adaptive cellular subsets, but compared with controls had minimal maternal antibody response to recommended …

Mild/Asymptomatic Covid-19 In Unvaccinated Pregnant Mothers Impairs Neonatal Immune Responses, Brianna M. Doratt, Suhas Sureshchandra, Heather E. True, Monica Rincon, Nicole E. Marshall, Ilhem Messaoudi

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers placental inflammation and alters cord blood immune cell composition. However, most studies focus on outcomes of severe maternal infection. Therefore, we analyzed cord blood and chorionic villi from newborns of unvaccinated mothers who experienced mild/asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy. We investigated immune cell rewiring using flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing, and functional readouts using ex vivo stimulation with TLR agonists and pathogens. Maternal infection was associated with increased frequency of memory T and B cells and nonclassical monocytes in cord blood. Ex vivo T and B cell responses to stimulation were attenuated, suggesting a tolerogenic state. …

Retooling Blue-Ribbon Advisory Committees For A Post-Fact World, Will Rhee, Claire Flynn Sellers

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Interactions Between Hiv And Opioids On Antiretroviral Accumulation, The Blood Brain Barrier, And The Inflammatory Response In The Brain., Kara Rademeyer

Theses and Dissertations

The complex mechanisms related to HIV infection, neurodegeneration, and chronic neuroinflammation collectively describe neuroHIV (Hauser et al. 2007; Chang et al. 2014; Smith et al. 2014). Specifically, opioid abuse, poor penetration of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, chronic inflammation and neuronal injury/degeneration are all implicated in neuroHIV (Fantuzzi et al. 2003; Letendre et al. 2004; Verani et al. 2005; Duncan and Sattentau 2011; Hong and Banks 2015; Simoes and Justino 2015; Olivier et al. 2018; Murphy et al. 2019; Osborne et al. 2020). For the first time, we demonstrate that morphine, fentanyl, and methadone in vivo alter the brain accumulation of ARVs, …

Misinformation And Covid-19, Reiss, Dorit R

Santa Clara Law Review

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on our world cannot be overstated. One of its noticeable features was the prominence of misinformation generally, and anti-vaccine misinformation more specifically. This article provides a breakdown of the five major themes of antivaccine misinformation and the way they were used to create fear, uncertainty, and doubt about COVID- 19 vaccines. Long before the pandemic, anti-vaccine activists argued using a five-part playbook. They argued that (1) vaccine preventable diseases were not really dangerous, (2) vaccines were dangerous and ineffective, (3) there were alternative treatments that were better than (dangerous and ineffective) vaccines, (4) there was a …

Sleep Aid Use During Early Pregnancy And The Risk Of Birth Defects, Meredith M. Howley

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines the validity of maternal self-reported medication exposures and then explores the associations between self-reported sleep aid use, including zolpidem specifically, and birth defects using data from three population-based case-control studies conducted within the United States. The first aim of this dissertation was to explore agreement between two sources of prescription medication use in early pregnancy: medical records and self-reported interview data from the Birth Defects Study To Evaluate Pregnancy exposureS (BD-STEPS). We observed that agreement of prescription data between self-report and medical records varies by whether the medication is used chronically or episodically. While self-reported medication information …

Assessing The Relationship Between Binding Kinetics And Subcellular Protection Of Ribosomes By Single-Domain Antibodies, Mara Bureau

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Assessing the ability of VHHs to protect ribosomes from the depurination activity of Ricin toxin’s(RT) enzymatic subunit, RTA, can provide insights regarding binding placement, epitopes of interest and role of affinity in neutralization is critical for the development of anti-toxin countermeasures. Determining the level of correlation between binding strength, binding location and elicited protection can be useful for future and ongoing research. Ricin is easily manufactured and considered one of the most toxic biological agents known. Without an approved vaccine, continued research to design and optimize therapeutic countermeasures is essential. Over the past decade single-domain antibodies (VHHs) have been recognized …

Maternal Exposure Of Perfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) During Pregnancy And Wheeze In Children : The Upstate Kids Study, Faria Sharmin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background: Prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), a group of persistent environmental chemicals with endocrine disrupting abilities, has been associated with immunomodulation and may contribute to the etiology of asthma in young children. The need for research and additional prospective analysis clearly exists to measure the impact of the chemicals (PFAS) on child wheeze or asthma. We used newborn dried blood spots to quantify two PFAS and their associations with infant wheeze in the Upstate KIDS population.Methods: We measured, perfluoro octane - sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in 2071 singleton and 1040 twin infants born to mothers in …

The Identification Of New Directions For The Research Of Adhd, Andrew Burkhardt

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ADHD is a disease commonly associated with childhood; however, recently adult cases of ADHD have been on the rise. The cause of ADHD is not yet known but can be treated. The issue with the treatment of ADHD is the use of heavily restricted stimulants. The use of these medications carry many health risks, most notability addiction. ADHD also has many co-morbidities like anxiety and autism. This makes ADHD a complex disorder, making the identification of a cause difficult. However, by identifying how drugs used to treat ADHD work, combined with genetic testing, areas of interest start to appear. An …

Examining The Association Between Childhood Adversity And Later Life Cardiometabolic Diseases, Shreya Shrinivas

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ACEs stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences, which are traumatic or stressful events that occur in childhood before the age of 18 (Wisner, 2022). These experiences can include physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; neglect; household dysfunction, such as parental separation, domestic violence, substance abuse, or incarceration; or exposure to community violence, racism, or discrimination. Research has shown that individuals who experience ACEs are at a higher risk for developing chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and mental health disorders later in life (Felitti, 2002). This is because ACEs can cause toxic stress, which is chronic activation of the stress …

Immune System Dysfunction To Toxicant Exposure: An Examination Of Mismatch Theory With Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) And Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (P,P'-Ddt), Florence Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Exposure to environmental contaminants, including persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can disrupt normal immune function. As POPs, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (p,p’-DDE, a metabolite of p,p’-DDT), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) are synthetic chemicals with long half-lives and can bioaccumulate and biomagnify within organisms throughout the food chain. This dissertation proposes that pollutant exposure can affect the immune system based on a sample of Native American women, thereby influencing human biological variation, and the development of an autoimmune phenotype. Data was collected from a sample of Native American women utilizing anthropometric measurements, medical diagnoses of autoimmune disease, autoimmune dysfunction symptoms, and serum samples. …

Antibody Profiling Of An Elderly Cohort After Sars-Cov-2 Vaccination And Infection Using Dried Blood Spots, Gianna Mirabile

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Three years after the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China, COVID-19 remains a major public health emergency throughout the globe. Although major advancements have been made in terms of controlling the virus, such as the use of mRNA vaccines, SARS-CoV-2 infections from variants of concern (VoC) continue to persist and cause significant morbidity and mortality in vulnerable populations, including the elderly. The ability for public health entities to effectively gauge disease susceptibility across large swaths of the population is critical in deciding when to implement new vaccination recommendations. Dried blood spots (DBS) are an upcoming serological sample type being studied …