Digital Commons Network^™

A Mixed Methods Study Investigating Sources Of Fertility And Reproductive Health Information In The Uk, B. Grace, J. Shawe, J. Stephenson

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Natural Resource Curse: A Literature Survey And Comparative Assessment Of Regional Groupings Of Oil-Rich Countries, Marwan Alssadek, James Benhin

Plymouth Business School

This paper provides an extensive review of the rapidly growing literature on the resource curse phenomenon, whereby natural resources-rich countries experience lower levels of economic growth and development than countries with fewer natural resources. The various theoretical explanations for the phenomenon, alongside a survey of the empirical literature, are critically discussed. Generally, the literature results are found to be mixed and no consensus is reached. This might be attributed to different time periods, data used, proxy for the natural resource variables selected and the estimation approach employed. The practical part of this paper applies a descriptive analysis to compare economic …

Proposing An Rna Interference (Rnai)-Based Treatment For Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv) By Analyzing The Post-Transcriptional Gene Targeting Of Sars-Cov-2, Hepatitis C Virus, And A549 Lung Cancer Cells, Arjun Jagdeesh

UROP Posters

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that infects CD4+ T cell lymphocytes in humans, leading to the development of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) if left untreated. While current treatment methods, including antiretroviral combination treatments, effectively limit HIV replication, HIV can evade these treatments due to its high mutation rate. Long-term antiretroviral treatment can also be toxic to patients, meaning patients would benefit from a new mechanism of HIV treatment. RNA interference (RNAi) is an antiviral pathway found in mammals, plants, and insects that involves a small-interfering RNA that is incorporated into a protein complex called the RNA-induced Silencing Complex …

A Smart Decade: Outcomes Of An Integrated, Inclusive, First-Year College-Level Stem Curricular Innovation, Shannon Jones, Alexis Blake, Lesly Corado-Santiago, Jasmine Crenshaw, Emma Goldman, Fernando Gomez, Chelsea Hall, Harry Hoke, Stephen Holmes, Benjamin Kornegay, Priscilla Kwarteng, Barry Lawson, Meghan Leber, Georges Leconte, Erica Modeste, Kristine Nolin, Michael Norris, Jose Santinni Roma, Addison Swackhammer, Marcella Torres, Joanna Wares, Dominique Ebony Williams, April Hill, Kathy Hoke, Carol Parish, B. Daniel Pierce

All Faculty Scholarship

In the early 2000s, our primarily undergraduate, white institution (PUI/PWI), began recruiting and enrolling higher numbers of students of color and first-generation college students. However, like many of our peer institutions, our established pedagogies and mindsets did not provide these students an educational experience to enable them to persist and thrive in STEM. Realizing the need to systematically address our lack of inclusivity in science majors, in 2012 faculty from multiple disciplines developed the Science, Math, and Research Training (SMART) program. Here, we describe an educational innovation, originally funded by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, designed to …

Signature Of Energetic Materials Under Pyrolysis And Ambient Conditions, Athina Kominia

Open Access Dissertations

Law enforcement and military personnel must be prepared to deal with explosives, unidentified chemicals, and even chemical warfare agents. This is a vast problem space. The included studies examine issues with characterization, mitigation, and disposal of energetic materials.

Among oxidizers those containing the ammonium cation have the potential of self-oxidization, making them of special hazard. We have examined ammonium nitrite and ammonium chlorate, two ionic compounds with well-known hazard potential, and compare their explosive performance with related materials. A novel protocol for assessment of explosivity on the gram-scale was employed.

Law enforcement and military personnel must deal with scenarios where …

Cranberry Vine And Its Effects On The Periparturient Ovine And Her Offspring, Delaney Smith

Open Access Dissertations

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) are a major health concern globally, particularly for small ruminant producers. The most deadly of these GIN is an anemia-inducing parasite called Haemonchus contortus. Infections of H. contortus are most severe during what's known as the periparturient period (PPP), which is the last 6 weeks of gestation and first 8 weeks of lactation in maternal animals. Widespread genetic resistance of H. contortus to the traditionally used chemical dewormers have led producers and researchers alike to turn to the plant kingdom for answers. Plant based compounds have been used as bioactive compounds for centuries to cure a …

Defining The Essential Genome Of Haemophilus Parainfluenzae And Conditionally Essential Genes Required For Its Survival In Biofilms And Serum Complement, Thaís Harder De Palma

Open Access Dissertations

Haemophilus parainfluenzae (Hp), a Gram-negative bacterium is found in different niches of the mouth, and it is very abundant in the supragingival plaque. While considered a commensal in the mouth, Hp is also a HACEK microorganism associated with endocarditis and considered an opportunistic pathogenic species. However, Hp remains a subject of limited investigation. Specifically, the genes necessary for Hp's survival and those that are conditionally essential for thriving under various environmental conditions are yet to be identified. This research addresses those questions using transposon sequencing (TnSeq) to identify the essential genome and the core essential genome in …

Development Of Localized Drug Delivery Strategies For The Treatment Of Cancers And Infectious Diseases, Weizhou Yue

Open Access Dissertations

Difficult-to-treat human diseases and disorders such as brain cancer and posterior segment eye diseases greatly threaten human health and quality of life. However, the presence of physiological barriers such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB), cornea, and the blood-retinal barrier, renders these organs highly impervious to most therapeutics. As a result, most therapeutics administered systemically have low therapeutic efficacy even with high doses and are often associated with systemic side effects and/or toxicity. Localized drug delivery strategies such as injectables/implants, or locally-acting dosage forms, can circumvent physiological barriers and directly introduce therapeutics to the site of action to improve bioavailability, and …

Measuring The Needle In The Haystack: Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (Sers) Detection Of Anionic Environmental Pollutants, Timo Küster

Open Access Dissertations

Detection of anionic environmental pollutants such as nitrate in seawater is essential to monitoring and maintaining water quality in coastal ecosystems. Current on-site methods for nutrient detection often require extensive sample preparation and have detection limits above concentration thresholds associated with nutrient limited conditions where small variations in concentration can lead to sudden ecological events, such as toxic algae blooms.

Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is based on the enhancement of otherwise weak Raman scattering in the presence of nanostructured metal surfaces where analytes are within approximately 2 nm of the surface. For in situ measurements in an aqueous phase, …

Clonal Diversity, Antibiotic Resistance, And Virulence Factor Prevalence Of Community Associated Staphylococcus Aureus In Southeastern Virginia, Katelyn D. Cranmer, Mohan D. Pant, Suzanne Quesnel, Julia A. Sharp

EVMS School of Health Professions Faculty Publications

Staphylococcus aureus is a significant human pathogen with a formidable propensity for antibiotic resistance. Worldwide, it is the leading cause of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI), septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, and infective endocarditis originating from both community- and healthcare associated settings. Although often grouped by methicillin resistance, both methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive (MSSA) strains are known to cause significant pathologies and injuries. Virulence factors and growing resistance to antibiotics play major roles in the pathogenicity of community-associated strains. In our study, we examined the genetic variability and acquired antibiograms of 122 S. aureus clinical isolates from SSTI, blood, and urinary …

Survival Of Listeria Monocytogenes On Organic Honeycrisp And Fuji Apples During Storage At 5, 12 And 22.5◦C, Connor S. Freed

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study aimed to evaluate and model the survival of Listeria monocytogenes on organic HoneyCrisp (HC) and Fuji (FJ) apples during storage at various temperatures. Fresh organic HC and FJ apples (without wax coating) obtained from a local wholesale market were inoculated with a 2-strain mix of L. monocytogenes followed by storage at 5.0 (22.9% RH), 12.0 (37.0% RH), and 22.5oC (50.4% RH) for 60, 35, 7 days, respectively, and periodically (day-0 to 60) analyzing microbial populations. Surviving L. monocytogenes were spread-plated on Modified-Oxford agar after 10 or 100-fold serial dilution. Data were analyzed using the mixed-model procedure of SAS …

Application Of Metagenomic And Molecular Microbiology Techniques To Elucidate Sources Of Fecal Pollution And Anthropogenic Antibiotic Resistance Genes To Surface Water: A Step Towards A “One Health” Approach To Watershed Management, Mehedi Hasan Tarek

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The use of fecal indicator bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, is a widely established regulatory and monitoring practice to detect surface water contamination associated with fecal pollution. However, the detection or quantification of fecal indicator bacteria alone does not accurately inform the sources of fecal pollution. The development of molecular and metagenomic methods that target the DNA of microorganisms has resulted in a host of new tools for monitoring fecal pollution and its sources, as well as for understanding emerging microbial threats, such as antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance is a critical “One Health” challenge presenting a high risk to …

Impacts Of Diverse Inflammatory Stimuli On Neutrophil Behavior: Extracellular Vesicles, E-Cigarettes, And Nanoparticles, Hunter T. Snoderly

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Neutrophils are the body’s front-line defenders against foreign insult and are key players in a variety of inflammatory conditions. This body of work examines the role of neutrophils in promoting pathology in three distinct inflammatory contexts. In the pro-inflammatory state provoked by breast cancer, neutrophils decondense their nuclei and release cytotoxic web-like structures known as neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETs form most commonly via histone modifications facilitated by the enzyme PAD4. NETs are known to be a harbinger of disease progression and promote metastasis through capture of circulating tumor cells. It was hypothesized that breast tumors release small particles known …

The Application Of Time Series Analysis To Injury Epidemiology Data, Eric Wayne Lundstrom

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Introduction: Injury fatality rates in the United States (US) decreased throughout the majority of the 20th century, mostly due to declining rates of occupational and motor vehicle injuries. However, near the beginning of the 21st century, fatal injury rates in the US began to increase. This is principally due to the nation’s opioid epidemic, which has been characterized by different epidemic “waves”, each driven by overdoses associated with specific substances. Given the temporally dynamic nature of US injury trends, this study aimed to explore the application of time series analysis to injury data in the US. First, rates of non-fatal …

Investigation Of Fungal Pathogens And Woodboring Beetles Of Sugarbush Stands In The Central Appalachian Region, Molly A. Sherlock

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The production of maple syrup is a valuable source of income and cultural identity for many rural communities throughout the central Appalachian region. Regardless, maple syrup producers face difficulties maintaining the health and productivity
of their stands due to various impacts of climate change, which have given rise to extreme weather events that exacerbate damage caused by pests and diseases. To ensure the long-term sustainability of the maple syrup industry, it is crucial to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the current biotic threats within the region, particularly woodboring insects and fungal pathogens. However, insufficient information exists regarding the community assemblages …

Evaluating A Virtual Reality Simulation-Based Tool In Undergraduate Nursing Students For Impact On Accuracy, Clinical Judgment, Fear, And Self-Confidence When Donning, Doffing, And Disposing Of Personal Protective Equipment, Stacy Lynn Russell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: PPE training is essential to prevent transmission of infections or autoinoculation of infections among healthcare providers and patients. Student nurses play a vital role in infection control practices to protect themselves and patients from transmittable infections. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an innovative teaching and learning strategy known as virtual reality simulation in teaching proper PPE use in comparison to more traditional learning.

Research Questions: This study aimed to answer three research questions: (1) What is the acceptability among faculty of using a head mounted VRS to train undergraduate nursing students in the proper …

Governance From Below: Decentralization, Innovation, And Disaster Management In East Asia, Fatemah Muneer Nawabdin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Research on decentralization has emphasized that the distribution of power between the national and local levels has different effects on various outcomes. This dissertation aims to contribute to this discussion by shedding light on the three types of decentralization (political, fiscal, and administrative) and their effect on two main outcomes: the production of technological and intellectual innovation and COVID-19 management. I argue that decentralization – including its three types – works differently under different conditions, resulting in different outcomes. That is, fiscal and administrative decentralization empower local decision-makers to make autonomous decisions, which can be beneficial for promoting innovation, but …

The Development Of A New Pertussis Booster Formulation Via The Implementation Of New Adjuvants And Utilization Of Alternate Routes Of Administration, Megan Ashley Dejong

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Pertussis (whooping cough) is a respiratory disease caused by airborne transmission of the Gram-negative bacterium, Bordetella pertussis. Prior to the development of the first pertussis vaccines (whole cell (wP) vaccines), the incidence of pertussis was in the hundreds of thousands of cases per year, which led to the death of many children, as the infection is most severe in younger populations. Thankfully, the wP formulation resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of annual pertussis cases, nearly eradicating the disease. However, as wP contained the whole B. pertussis bacterium (and its lipooligosaccharide (LOS)), reactogenicity issues became apparent, leading …

A Comparison Of Fish Health Indices Applied To Freshwater Species Of The Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Josiah B. Jensen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fish kills, increased disease prevalence, and endocrine disruption have been observed in multiple freshwater fish populations of the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW). Some of these health issues occur in conjunction with declining abundance. A combination of multiple stressors is believed to be weakening sensitive fish species in non-tidal regions of the CBW. Fish health indices such as Deformity, Erosion, Lesion, and Tumor counts (DELTs), and the Health Assessment Index (HAI) are simple tools designed to evaluate the general health of fish populations. Both indices could be widely applied in the watershed because they require limited training and equipment. However, their …

Development And Characterization Of Monoclonal Antibodies Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Jason Kang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a global crisis, posing significant challenges to the treatment and management of infectious diseases. The escalating prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has made many antimicrobial therapies ineffective, necessitating the development of alternative strategies to combat microbial infections. The rise of multidrug-resistant pathogens, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Serratia marcescens, further exacerbates this problem, as these pathogens exhibit high levels of resistance to multiple antibiotics and cause severe infections in vulnerable populations. In response to the need for alternative therapeutic approaches, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have emerged as promising candidates for combating AMR. In this work, we …

Study Of Barrier Face Coverings And Respirator Exhalation Filtration Efficiency And Exhaled Air Velocity During Wear, Weihua Yang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of different types of respiratory protection, including National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Approved respirators and surgical masks in healthcare settings, as well as barrier face coverings (BFCs) used by the public as source control. The assessment was based on three components: total outward leakage (TOL), particle size distribution, and exhalation airflow velocity. To achieve this, the study utilized headform testing systems to measure TOL and airflow velocity. Specifically, a hard surface headform was used for NIOSH Approved respirators and surgical masks, while two soft surface headforms of different sizes were …

Three Essays On Health And Environmental Economics: Applications Of Spatial Econometrics And Spatial Analysis, Mohammed Syedul Islam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Spatial interaction and the locational structure between observations play key roles in the field of econometrics for both cross-sectional and panel data analysis. Compared to a non-spatial econometric model, a spatial model relaxes the assumption of independency in observations. This research applies spatial and non-spatial econometrics in three different fields of applied economics: (1) drinking water and air quality violations impacts on lung and bronchus cancer incidence in the contiguous United States (U.S.); (2) spillover effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on COVID-19 cases across the contiguous U.S. counties; and (3) urbanization impacts on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in …

Cluster Homolog Of Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor Genes In Chicken Immune Responses, Brandi A. Sparling

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation explores the identity and role of immunoglobulin-like (Ig-like) receptors in chickens, with focus on their implications in disease and disease progression. These receptors, wisely expressed across immune cells, interact with the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules to modulate immune responses in mammals. Due to the insufficient representation of chicken Ig-like receptors in online databases, this study systematically annotates the chicken Cluster Homolog of Immunoglobulin-like Receptors (CHIR) genes using advanced bioinformatic techniques, aligning with the release of the 7th edition of the chicken genome assembly that comprises builds for a broiler and layer chicken. The analysis identifies …

Comparing Activity-Based Market Segments On The George Washington And Jefferson National Forests Before And During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Eric Eugene Snyder

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Understanding market segments in forest-based tourism and their dynamics is integral for the tourism industry's ability to adapt and thrive in the ever-evolving market. The purpose of this research is to determine how recreation participation changed over a five-year period in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests before and during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Data were collected via the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) surveys in fiscal years 2016 and 2021. NVUM surveys are on-site exit interview surveys that produce descriptive information about forest visitors. NVUM utilizes a stratified random sampling methodology that captures data across different use levels, …

Assessing The Activity Of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Using The Serum Marker: Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin (Ngal), Fatma Abozeid, Karim Ali, Mounir Bahgat, Maha Maher, Asmaa M. Borg

Mansoura Medical Journal

Background: IBD, or inflammatory bowel disease, is an active and remitting illness. One of the most overexpressed genes in the colonic mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) is lipocalin 2, the coding gene of neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL). We investigated NGAL's applicability in assessing IBD activity. Methods: This study was a single center case control type. Thirty of the sixty IBD patients who participated in the study were in remission, and thirty were in active disease. Twenty-eight healthy controls were included. Enrolled were patients with CD or UC. The control group and all patients …

Removal Of Amoxicillin Via Chromatographic Monolithic Columns: Comparison Between Batch And Continuous Fixed Bed, Mustafa Deni̇z Ağlamaz, Koray Şarkaya, Deni̇z Türkmen, Mustafa Uçar, Adi̇l Deni̇zli̇

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

This study presented a hydrophobic interaction-based poly(HEMA-MATrp) monolithic chromatographic column (MCC) to remove amoxicillin from aqueous solutions. In addition to their porous structure, monolithic-filled columns offer superior properties without loss of performance, which is one of the points that make them unique. The specific surface area of the monolithic column synthesized by the bulk polymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and N-Methacryloyl-L-tryptophan. Also, poly(HEMAMATrp) MCC has been characterized via FTIR, SEM, and elemental analysis. According to BET analysis, the specific surface area of the poly(HEMA-MATrp) monolithic chromatographic column (MCC) is 14.2 mg/g. The adsorption and desorption of amoxicillin in an aqueous solution …

Crossing The Decarbonization Chasm: A Call To Action For Hospital And Health System Leaders To Reduce Their Greenhouse Gas Emissions., Hardeep Singh, Walt Vernon, Terri Scannell, Kathy Gerwig

Ambulatory and Primary Care Articles

No abstract provided.

Unintended Consequences Of Covid-19 Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (Npis) For Population Health And Health Inequalities, Coilin Ohaiseadha, Gerry A. Quinn, Ronan Connolly, Awwad Wilson, Michael Connolly, Willie Soon, Paul Hynds

Articles

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, governments around the world have adopted an array of measures intended to control the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, using both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). NPIs are public health interventions that do not rely on vaccines or medicines and include policies such as lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, school closures, and travel restrictions. Although the intention was to slow viral transmission, emerging research indicates that these NPIs have also had unintended consequences for other aspects of public health. Hence, we conducted a narrative review of studies investigating these unintended consequences of …

Effects Of Occupational Tasks And Personal Protective Equipment On Static And Functional Balance Among Career Firefighters, Petra Kis

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal injuries are commonly incurred on the fireground among firefighters. Most injuries are attributable to overexertion, fall, jump, slip, and trip mechanisms. These injuries may be caused by many factors, including the independent and collective effects of wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and the fatigue induced by performing occupational tasks. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of PPE and fire suppression tasks on static and functional balance among firefighters. METHODS: 32 healthy male career structural firefighters (Age: 31.8±9.5 yr) volunteered for this study. Static and Functional Balance Tests (FBT) were performed in …

Exploring Relationship Among Programmatic Expertise, Work Engagement, And Turnover Intentions Across Different Generation Cohorts In State And Local Governmental Public Health Agencies, Stephanie L. Irvin

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the relationship among public health programmatic competencies, work engagement, and turnover intentions among state and local public health workers. It also explored the moderating role of generational cohorts in these relationships. It employed a quantitative secondary data analysis using the 2021 PHWINS survey, a collaboration between the de Beaumont Foundation and The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. The study's principal findings shed light on critical relationships within the public health workforce: Firstly, an increase in programmatic expertise among public health professionals is linked to increased work engagement, particularly notable within the Millennial cohort. Secondly, a …