Digital Commons Network^™

Bacterial And Fungal Characterization Of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma From Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Biopsies, Robin D Wright, Thais F Bartelli, Seyda Baydogan, James Robert White, Michael P Kim, Manoop S Bhutani, Florencia Mcallister

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: The tumor microbiome (TM) has been linked to pancreatic cancer prognosis. Specific microbes can confer tumor resistance to therapies. Early knowledge of the TM at time of diagnosis would be clinically relevant for precision therapy based on microbial composition. However, it is difficult to define the TM prior to surgical resection.

METHODS: In this pilot feasibility study, patients underwent Endoscopic Ultrasound-Fine Needle Aspiration (EUS-FNA) biopsy of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. These samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing for characterization of the tumor bacteria and fungi.

RESULT: After in silico decontamination and comparison to non-matched tumor, …

Detection And Prevention Of Type 2 Diabetes For Women With A History Of Gestational Diabetes: An Integrative Review, Pamela Brinn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Gestational diabetes mellitus, among the most frequent complications occurring during pregnancy, affects approximately 8% 10% of pregnant women. These women are at a much higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus later in life. Concerningly, during the transition from obstetrical care to primary care, women with gestational diabetes often miss the required follow-up testing, preventive care, and education on lifestyle changes that could prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. This integrative review analyzed current evidence on detecting and preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus in women with a history of gestational diabetes. Four essential themes appeared …

Efficacy And Safety Of Mas825 (Anti-Il-1Β/Il-18) In Covid-19 Patients With Pneumonia And Impaired Respiratory Function, Alex D Hakim, Mustafa Awili, Hollis R O'Neal, Omar Siddiqi, Naseem Jaffrani, Richard Lee, Jeffrey S Overcash, Ann Chauffe, Terese C Hammond, Bela Patel, Michael Waters, Gerard J Criner, Alok Pachori, Guido Junge, Rafael Levitch, Jen Watts, Philip Koo, Tirtha Sengupta, Lili Yu, Michael Kiffe, Anne Pinck, Richard R Stein, Jamie Bendrick-Peart, Janet Jenkins, Marianna Rowlands, Frank Waldron-Lynch, Jesse Matthews

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

MAS825, a bispecific IL-1β/IL-18 monoclonal antibody, could improve clinical outcomes in COVID-19 pneumonia by reducing inflammasome-mediated inflammation. Hospitalized non-ventilated patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (n = 138) were randomized (1:1) to receive MAS825 (10 mg/kg single i.v.) or placebo in addition to standard of care (SoC). The primary endpoint was the composite Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score on Day 15 or on the day of discharge (whichever was earlier) with worst-case imputation for death. Other study endpoints included safety, C-reactive protein (CRP), SARS-CoV-2 presence, and inflammatory markers. On Day 15, the APACHE II score was 14.5 …

Services To Help Caregivers Of Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Stephanie Garcia

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a mental health disorder for which the cause is unknown and for which there is no cure. This only exacerbates the psychological distress placed on caregivers of children diagnosed with ASD. The purpose of this qualitative study, using the phenomenological approach was to describe the services and assistance that caregivers of children diagnosed with ASD identified as most beneficial to them. Twelve participants were interviewed via phone. Each interview was audio-recorded with participants reporting the services and assistance they identified as helpful or believed would be helpful, specifically to them. Interviews were transcribed and data …

Implementation Of Nutritional Screening In Adults (Ages 19-65) With Major Depressive Disorder: An Integrative Review, Laurie S. Stephens

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The World Health Organization estimates the total percentage of depression at 3.8% and projects it to be the leading cause of global disability by 2030 (WHO, 2023). The economic burden for adults with major depressive disorder in the United States is estimated at a staggering annual cost of 236 billion dollars (Greenberg et al., 2018). Nutritional psychiatry is a growing subspecialty focused upon how diet can improve mental health outcomes. The evidence shows a correlation between diet and depression, influencing questions on how this translates to current dietary recommendations and treatment. An integrative review of current literature was performed to …

Burnout, Secondary Traumatic Stress, And Compassion Fatigue: Employees Of Anti-Sex-Trafficking Agencies Who Work Directly With Rescued Sex-Trafficked Women, Andrea Lynn Bassett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study aims to understand the shared experience of employees who work directly with rescued sex-trafficked women at anti-trafficking agencies in the United States. Chapter One details the theoretical contexts, including Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy of needs, Maslach’s (1982) cost of caring: burnout, McCann and Pearlman’s (1990) construct of vicarious traumatization, Rotter’s (1954) social learning theory as it relates to the impact of working with severely traumatized people. The problem statement is explained as the effectiveness of anti-sex trafficking agencies being influenced by the staff who provide care to rescued sex trafficked women, and there is currently little to no …

Understanding First-Year Rn Turnover And Retention Strategies: An Integrative Review, Kelly Rose Swirple

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this integrative review was to identify themes within the literature related to the first-year turnover of new graduate nurses within the hospital setting and what nursing leaders can do or have done to increase retention. This review was not intended to evaluate specific interventions implemented in response to turnover, such as nurse residencies, transition to practice, and mentorship programs. This review’s overall purpose was to better understand why new nurses leave their jobs within the first 12 to 24 months, the best practices to reduce first-year turnover, and how nursing leaders best support new graduates. According to …

Digital Competence And Psychological Wellbeing In A Social Housing Community: A Repeated Survey Study, Sarah Buckingham, G Tu, L Elliott, R Poole, T Walker, E Bland, K Morrissey

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Abstract Background Little is known about whether digital competence is related to psychological wellbeing, with most previous research focusing on students and elderly people. There is also limited evidence on seasonal changes in psychological wellbeing, particularly in specific groups. Social housing residents are an underserved and under-researched population. The objectives of this study were to explore associations between digital competence (assessed by general technology self-efficacy) and psychological wellbeing (assessed by mental wellbeing and life satisfaction), and to explore seasonal effects, in social housing residents. Methods A repeated survey design was used. The Happiness Pulse questionnaire with a bespoke digital module …

Spartan Daily, October 12, 2023, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2023

Volume 161, Issue 23

Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Has A Diverse Role In Energetic And Reproductive Physiological Functions Of Female Beef Cattle, Ligia D. Prezotto, Jessica A. Keane, Andrea S. Cupp, Jennifer F. Thorson

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has been identified in multiple mammalian species as a molecular marker of energy metabolism while also providing negative feedback to the gonads. However, the role of FGF21 in regulating the energetic and reproductive physiology of beef heifers and cows has yet to be characterized. Herein, we investigated the temporal concentrations of FGF21 in female beef cattle from the prepubertal period to early lactation. Circulating concentrations of FGF21, non-esterified fatty acids, plasma urea nitrogen, glucose, and progesterone were assessed. Ultrasonography was employed to determine the onset of puberty and resumption of postpartum ovarian cyclicity as well …

Fall 2023 Notes From The Stacks, Central Washington University

Notes from the Stacks: CWU's Library Newsletter

Quarterly newsletter from James E. Brooks Library at Central Washington University.

Addressing Ambiguities In One Of Life’S Two Certainties: The New Jersey Law Revision Commission’S Examination Of Selected Tax Statutes, Laura C. Tharney, Samuel M. Silver, Whitney G. Schlimbach

Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy

No abstract provided.

On A Sugar High: Role Of O-Glcnacylation In Cancer, Giang Le Minh, Emily M. Esquea, Riley G. Young, Jessie Huang, Mauricio J. Reginato

Kimmel Cancer Center Papers, Presentations, and Grand Rounds

Recent advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer progression have led to the development of novel therapeutic targeting strategies. Aberrant glycosylation patterns and their implication in cancer have gained increasing attention as potential targets due to the critical role of glycosylation in regulating tumor-specific pathways that contribute to cancer cell survival, proliferation, and progression. A special type of glycosylation that has been gaining momentum in cancer research is the modification of nuclear, cytoplasmic, and mitochondrial proteins, termed O-GlcNAcylation. This protein modification is catalyzed by an enzyme called O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), which uses the final product of the …

Milk-Borne Small Extracellular Vesicles: Kinetics And Mechanisms Of Transport, Distribution, And Elimination, Alice Ngu, Javaria Munir, Janos Zempleni

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) in milk have the qualities desired for delivering therapeutics to diseased tissues. The production of bovine milk sEVs is scalable (10²¹ annually per cow), and they resist degradation in the gastrointestinal tract. Most cells studied to date internalize milk sEVs by a saturable process that follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The bioavailability of oral milk sEVs is approximately 50%. In addition to crossing the intestinal mucosa, milk sEVs also cross barriers such as the placenta and blood-brain barrier, thereby enabling the delivery of therapeutics to hard-to-reach tissues. In time course studies, levels of milk sEVs peaked in …

The Social Equity Paradigm: The Quest For Justice In Cannabis Legalization, William Garriott, Jose Garcia-Fuerte

Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy

No abstract provided.

A Phenomenology Of Mental Health Practitioners’ Experiences With Low-Income Black Youth Seeking Mental Health Support In Massachusetts, Audrey A. Spataro

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research and recent statistics regarding Black youth help-seeking behaviors, use, and access to mental health services suggest that those students with the greatest need for mental health services cannot access them or experience barriers to access. Although educational stakeholders have supported implementing and using school-based mental health services to promote students' overall access to services, low-income Black youth are still underserved. Therefore, additional research was warranted exploring the barriers and facilitators associated with help-seeking behaviors, use, and access to mental healthcare services by low-income Black youth, emphasizing those elements that acted as facilitators and were outside previously identified individual …

Shiga Toxin–Producing Escherichia Coli And The Hemolytic–Uremic Syndrome, Stephen B Freedman, Nicole C A J Van De Kar, Phillip I Tarr

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

The George-Anne Daily, Georgia Southern University

George-Anne Media Group: Newsletters & Magazines

No abstract provided.

Scoping Potential Routes To Uk Civil Unrest Via The Food System: Results Of A Structured Expert Elicitation, A Jones, S Bridle, K Denby, R Bhunoo, D Morton, L Stanborough, B Coupe, V Pilley, T Benton, P Faloon, T Matthews, C Pettinger

School of Health Professions

We report the results of a structured expert elicitation to identify the most likely types of potential food system disruption scenarios for the UK, focusing on routes to civil unrest. We take a backcasting approach by defining as an end-point a societal event in which 1 in 2000 people have been injured in the UK, which 40% of experts rated as “Possible (20–50%)”, “More likely than not (50–80%)” or “Very likely (>80%)” over the coming decade. Over a timeframe of 50 years, this increased to 80% of experts. The experts considered two food system scenarios and ranked their plausibility …

Widespread Dominance Of Methane Ebullition Over Diffusion In Freshwater Aquaculture Ponds, Renske J. E. Vroom, Sarian Kosten, Rafael M. Almeida, Raquel Mendonça, Ive S. Muzitano, Icaro Barbosa, Jonas Nasário, Ernandes S. Oliveira Junior, Alexander S. Flecker, Nathan Barros

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

An ever-increasing demand for protein-rich food sources combined with dwindling wild fish stocks has caused the aquaculture sector to boom in the last two decades. Although fishponds are potentially strong emitters of the greenhouse gas methane (CH₄), little is known about the magnitude, pathways, and drivers of these emissions. We measured diffusive CH₄ emissions at the margin and in the center of 52 freshwater fishponds in Brazil. In a subset of ponds (n = 31) we additionally quantified ebullitive CH₄ fluxes and sampled water and sediment for biogeochemical analyses. Sediments (n = 20) were …

Impact Of Multimedia Interventions For Musculoskeletal Health Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic, Kevin J. Orellana, Tarek Yamout, Guillermo Ramirez, Paul Treviño, Erick M. Santos, Letitia Bradford

Research Colloquium

Lower extremity joint pain is a leading cause of disability and immobility in the United States. Movement is Life seeks to educate and empower patients to break the cycle that immobility starts in efforts to improve musculoskeletal and overall emotional and physical wellbeing. Studies in the past have described the correlation that exists between using Movement is Life education materials as well as a home exercise program to improve lower extremity pain and overall health short term but did not account for confounding factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on health goes beyond patients that …

Honey: The Sweet Truth, Alex Szewczyk

BUHealth

Honey is a natural food that is packed with vitamins, minerals, enzymes, proteins, organic acids, and many other biologically active compounds. Its exact components may vary based on the unique collection of flowers and plants that honeybees pollinate. The nutrient dense quality of honey has different health benefits. People all around the world are currently suffering from chronic illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia at unprecedented rates. When patients experience a combination of these disease states, it is known as metabolic syndrome (MetS). MetS is correlated with urbanization in developing countries, with sedentary lifestyle and poor diet as …

Beauty And The (Chemical) Beast, Abigail Novak

BUHealth

Cosmetics and personal care products (PCPs) are prominent in the daily lives of consumers. Unfortunately, there is a long history of toxic chemicals in these products that have caused serious adverse effects. As a result, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C) was created to help identify ingredients with safety concerns; this remains the primary source of regulation for cosmetics and PCPs today. No additional requirement exists for federal review of ingredients or adverse event reporting. As a result, questionable ingredients with potential safety issues can still be found in products. With these regulatory deficits, some companies have taken steps …

The Ups And Downs Of Weight Cycling: How Fad Diets Can Negatively Affect Health, Catherine Jasper

BUHealth

It’s advice nearly every patient has heard at least once in their life: you need to lose weight. Often, this is prescribed as a combination of a healthy diet and exercise. However, ‘fad diets’, so-called due to their fluctuating popularity from societal trends, are seen as quick and easy diet modifications that produce weight loss quickly. For some, these diets are not sustainable and can lead to dangerous cycles of losing weight, easing restrictions, and re-gaining weight that was lost. Weight-cycling is a dangerous effect of fad diets, and the long-term physical and psychological effects of weight cycling can ultimately …

You Are What You Eat, Allyson Ditmars

BUHealth

The gut microbiome is the wide array of good and bad bacteria found in the digestive tract of all humans. Although the composition of gut microbiota is developed before someone is even born, there are nutritional decisions made in adulthood that can impact the health of the gut. Certain nutritional foods can increase the diversity of the gut and create a beneficial environment. On the other hand, many foods found in the common American diet can negatively impact the microbiome. The gut can suffer from a poor diet when the permeability of the intestinal barrier and the diversity richness is …

Effects Of An Isotonic Medinilla Speciosa During And After Exercise, Nur Azis Rohmansyah, Fafa Nurdyansyah, Ashira Hiruntrakul, Mancharee Phumphitarkpanya

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 16(2): 1269-1283, 2023. Maintaining an adequate fluid balance is crucial during extended physical activity. It is currently unknown how drinking an isotonic medinilla speciosa beverage affects the autonomic regulation of heart function during and after exercise. The purpose of this study is to examine how drinking isotonic beverages affects heart rate variability (HRV) during and after intense exercise. A maximal exercise test to assess protocol loading, a control group, and an experimental group were all carried out by twenty-one young man (19.3 ± 1.2 years) over the course of three distinct protocols, with a 48-hour …

Arabidopsis Thaliana Growth More Than Defense Affects Myzus Persicae Populations, Biran S. Falk-Dotan, Mindy Chapman, Nafis Wazed, Chad T. Harvey

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Aphids and other herbivorous insects are able to travel between plants in their environment. While plants cannot directly choose their consumers, they may stop or mitigate the harmful effects of herbivory using secondary metabolites. A salicylic acid (SA) pathway facilitates defense from biotrophic fungi and some necrotrophic pathogens, while a jasmonic acid (JA) pathway is associated with defense from other necrotrophic pathogens and chewing insects. We investigated the effect of deficiency in SA or JA in Arabidopsis thaliana on plant growth and on herbivory by green peach aphids (Myzus persicae). Three ascensions of A. thaliana were placed in two blocks …

The Geography Of Food Cooperatives In The United States, Seth T. Young

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

For our society to become sustainably viable in the future, the ways in which we obtain our food and the methods used to create that food will be very important. One of the most environmentally friendly methods of food obtainment is membership in a food cooperative. This research delves into the basics of food cooperatives, highlights similar studies of other sustainability indicators, and examines the geographic distribution of food co-ops across the United States.Faculty Sponsor: Dr. George Pomeroy

Pluralism And Foundationalism In The Applied Sciences, David Baker

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Nancy Cartwright develops her scientific pluralism within The Dappled World and argues for its supremacy over foundationalism. Cartwright believes that the sciences should be applied for humane benefits and not for knowledge’s sake alone. However, Cartwright does not give enough credit to the practical applications produced by foundationalists. Cartwright’s goals are not hindered or detracted from when working with foundationalists. In fact foundationalism and pluralism offer complimentary means of practical application, the outcome of which is a bettered ability to apply our sciences towards practical concerns than either position offers alone. I will use exemplary cases demonstrating these isolated shortcomings …

A Proof-Of-Concept Pilot Test Of A Behavioral Intervention To Improve Adherence To Dietary Recommendations For Cancer Prevention, Meghan Butryn, Charlotte Hagerman, Nicole Crane, Marny Ehmann, Evan Forman, Brandy-Joe Milliron, Nicole L. Simone

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: Prevention programs that can help adults improve the quality of their diets to reduce cancer risk are needed. This Phase IIa study prospectively tested a mHealth intervention designed to improve adherence to dietary quality guidelines for cancer prevention.

METHODS: All participants (N = 62) received nutrition education and a self-regulation skills curriculum, with a primary target of changing grocery shopping behavior. Using a randomized, factorial design, the study varied whether each of the following 4 components were added to the 20-week intervention: (1) location-triggered app messaging, delivered when individuals arrived at grocery stores, (2) reflections on benefits of change, …