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A Kinesio Tape ® Protocol To Improve Postural Stability And Mouth Closure For Feeding And Eating In Children With Cerebral Palsy, Ariana Naomi Valdez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Kinesio tape ® (KT) has been used in the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy (CP) due to its ability to increase sensory input, normalize muscle tone, improve postural stability, and improve range of motion (ROM). KT can be applied and left on the skin for multiple days, allowing the tape to simulate the effects of manual therapy techniques outside of the outpatient setting. However, its use within occupational therapy (OT) to address the occupations of feeding and eating is limited, despite it being an effective treatment method when used in conjunction with traditional OT. Gaps in research limit occupational …

The Synthesis And Characterization Of Metal Oxide Nanomaterial-Based Composites And Their Use As Antibacterial Agents, Jo A. Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

The work presented in this thesis discusses the antibacterial properties of various metal oxides and metal oxide/polymer composite fibers. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) fibers embedded with Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were prepared by centrifugal spinning from PVP aqueous solutions) and ZnO NPs. The ZnO NPs were synthesized and coated with different surfactants, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB). The effect of surfactant coating on the antibacterial activity of ZnO NPs and PVP/ZnO nanocomposite fibers against escherichia coli (e. coli) and bacillus megaterium (b. megaterium) bacteria was systematically investigated. The results showed that coating the ZnO NPs …

The Effects Of Glycolytic Mutations In Drosophila Melanogaster Muscle Development, Coco Lim

Student Theses and Dissertations

Muscle atrophy, or muscle wasting, is caused due to lack of physical activity for an extended period of time, due to muscle diseases (such as muscle dystrophies), cancer chemotherapies, and aging. It is also extensively found on astronauts after spaceflight, particularly missions of long durations. Muscle cells are dependent on different metabolic pathways to optimize Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production to compensate for muscle exertion. Glycolysis converts glucose into ATP producing pyruvate, which can be sent into the citric acid cycle or converted to lactate (lactic acid). Muscles preferentially use lactate production, despite the fact that fewer molecules of ATP are …

Resolving The Great Resignation In The Nursing Workforce, Dawn Moeller

Nursing

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Impacts Of Global Change: From Students To Microbes., Kylea Garces

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Global change is a crucial process, affecting every organism, from the billions of humans on earth, to the billions of microbes in the soil belowground. Evaluating the impacts of the many drastic changes associated with global change is essential in advancing our understanding in how to mitigate these consequences. Alongside the production of basic ecological knowledge associated with these environmental changes, improving education practices to promote science literacy surrounding global change is another step towards a more optimistic future. This dissertation investigates global change from two standpoints: ecologically, where increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition alters plant-fungal endophyte symbiosis, and pedagogically, …

Factors Associated With Skin Cancer Prevention: Primary And Secondary Behaviors., Jeanne Ward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Skin cancer, seemingly more innocuous than other cancers, maintains the highest incidence among cancers in the United States. While it is treatable early, metastasized melanoma or other carcinomas present severe illness with high mortality rates and disproportionate 5-year survival rates among ethnic/racial groups. Fortunately, most skin cancer is highly treatable when found in the early stages. However, this necessitates prevention tactics to avoid the causative agent, ultraviolet radiation, and regular skin screening to catch the disease in earlier stages. Unfortunately, these tactics are not widely conducted by adults, despite substantial skin cancer awareness. Therefore, motivating people to perform these health …

Identification Of A Role Beyond Iron Acquisition For Yersiniabactin During Yersinia Pestis Infection., Sarah Price

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Yersinia pestis is a Gram-negative re-emerging bacterial pathogen that is responsible for bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plague. Y. pestis and other bacteria require transition metals, such as iron, zinc, and manganese, to maintain intermediary metabolism, transcriptional regulation, and virulence. To inhibit infection, eukaryotic organisms have developed distinct mechanisms, called nutritional immunity, to sequester these important nutrients from invading bacteria. For pathogens to colonize the vertebrate host, they have evolved dedicated acquisition systems for transition metals. During infection, Y. pestis overcomes iron limitation by secreting the siderophore yersiniabactin. Additionally, Y. pestis requires zinc for infection and utilizes high affinity transporters to …

Barriers And Facilitators Of Dairy Consumption Among Individuals With Metabolic Syndrome., Kofi Amoh-Mensah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

About 35% of the United States adult population meets the criteria for metabolic syndrome, representing about 85 million individuals. Consuming dairy products protects against the development of the metabolic syndrome and protects against the development of complications associated with it. However, approximately 10% of the U.S. population meets the daily recommendation for dairy products. Information about the use of dairy products among people living with metabolic syndrome is relatively unknown, even though it will benefit them the most. About 49% of respondents met the guidance of three servings per day, and the most common facilitator was access to dairy products.

The Prevalence And Determinants Of Nafld And Mafld And Their Severity In The Va Primary Care Setting, Aaron P Thrift, Theresa H Nguyen, Codey Pham, Maya Balakrishnan, Fasiha Kanwal, Rohit Loomba, Hao T Duong, David Ramsey, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: A recent panel of international experts proposed the disease acronym metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in lieu of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We aimed to estimate the burden of and risk factors for NAFLD and MAFLD, and to examine the concordance between definitions in a Veterans population.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among randomly selected patients within primary care at the Houston Veterans Affairs (VA) facility. Participants completed a survey, provided blood, and underwent Fibroscan. In the absence of heavy alcohol, hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus, a controlled attenuation parameter median ≥290 …

The Effects Of Urbanization On Disease Prevalence In Managed Honey Bee Hives In Hamilton County, Tn, Caitlin Jarvis

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Rapid urban development may increase stress and disease exposure on economically essential organisms, including honey bees. We surveyed 18 apiaries containing 53 hives for diseases and productivity from 2021-2022 in Hamilton County, Tennessee at varying levels of urbanization. Disease levels were analyzed at 1.0km intervals from 0.5-9.5 km radii from each hive. Varroa levels significantly decreased with increased urbanization. There was a weak negative correlation between Varroa load and the likelihood of surviving the study. There was a positive relationship between urbanization and small hive beetle count. A positive relationship existed between small hive beetle counts and increased urbanization. This …

Tennessee Farm Bureau News - May 2023, Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation

Tennessee Farm Bureau News

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Low Appendicular Skeletal Muscle Mass In The Development Of Insulin Resistance And Metabolic Syndrome: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Ella Boston

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Chronic conditions are the leading cause of death and disability. More specifically, cardio-metabolic disease is the number one cause of death worldwide. The tragedy and burden of disease is unrefuted; even more so, evidence indicates that realistic modifications of lifestyle can prevent most chronic disease. Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance are leading risk factors in the development of cardio-metabolic disease. Presently, chronic disease is treated through symptomatic evaluation of risk. Reframing the lens of care through root cause evaluation is fundamental to optimizing patient outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize literature evaluating the impact of low …

Tiny Tusks Internship: The Marketing Of Infant Formula, Valeria De La Torre

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Less than half of the world’s infants and young children are breastfed despite the major benefits and recommendations by WHO. Commercial milk formula has been advertised so intensely that it has produced many misleading marketing styles that lead parents to believe commercial milk formula has better benefits than breastmilk. The United States is one of the few countries that have yet to act on WHO’s International Code of Marketing for Breastmilk to decrease the aggressive marketing styles in place. By only placing pictures of happy babies on the formula cans, it leads parents to believe that their baby would be …

Dietary Effects On Monocyte Phenotypes In Subjects With Hypertriglyceridemia And Metabolic Syndrome, Zeqin Lian, Xiao-Yuan Dai Perrard, Antu Kalathookunnel Antony, Xueying Peng, Lu Xu, Jing Ni, Bingqian Zhang, Veronica O'Brien, Anum Saeed, Xiaoming Jia, Aliza Hussain, Bing Yu, Scott I Simon, Frank M Sacks, Ron C Hoogeveen, Christie M Ballantyne, Huaizhu Wu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

In patients with hypertriglyceridemia, a short-term low–saturated fat vs high–saturated fat diet induced lower plasma lipids and improved monocyte phenotypes. These findings highlight the role of diet fat content and composition for monocyte phenotypes and possibly cardiovascular disease risk in these patients. (Effects of Dietary Interventions on Monocytes in Metabolic Syndrome; NCT03591588)

Surgical Reconstruction Of Stage 3 And 4 Pressure Injuries: A Literature Review And Proposed Algorithm From An Interprofessional Working Group, Samir S Awad, James D Stern, Cathy T Milne, Shane G Dowling, Ron Sotomayor, Elizabeth A Ayello, Leandro J Feo Aguirre, Basil Z Khalaf, Lisa J Gould, Michael N Desvigne, Abigail E Chaffin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: Stage 3 and 4 pressure injuries (PIs) present an enormous societal burden with no clearly defined interventions for surgical reconstruction. The authors sought to assess, via literature review and a reflection/evaluation of their own clinical practice experience (where applicable), the current limitations to the surgical intervention of stage 3 or 4 PIs and propose an algorithm for surgical reconstruction.

METHODS: An interprofessional working group convened to review and assess the scientific literature and propose an algorithm for clinical practice. Data compiled from the literature and a comparison of institutional management were used to develop an algorithm for the surgical …

Adapting Elements Of Cleft Care Protocols In Low- And Middle-Income Countries During And After Covid-19: A Process-Driven Review With Recommendations, Matthew Fell, Michael Goldwasser, B S Jayanth, Rui Manuel Rodrigues Pereira, Christian Tshisuz Nawej, Rachel Winer, Neeti Daftari, Hugh Brewster, Karen Goldschmied, Collaborators Fernando Almas, Mekonen Eshete, George W Galiwango, Larry H Hollier, Akhter Hussain, Lun-Jou Lo, Paul Salins, Debbie Sell, Amanuel Tafase, Ronald M Zuker

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

A consortium of global cleft professionals, predominantly from low- and middle-income countries, identified adaptations to cleft care protocols during and after COVID-19 as a priority learning area of need. A multidisciplinary international working group met on a videoconferencing platform in a multi-staged process to make consensus recommendations for adaptations to cleft protocols within resource-constrained settings. Feedback was sought from a roundtable discussion forum and global organizations involved in comprehensive cleft care. Foundational principles were agreed to enable recommendations to be globally relevant and two areas of focus within the specified topic were identified. First the safety aspects of cleft surgery …

Levels And Profiles Of Pentabromodiphenyl Ether Contaminants In Human Breast Milk From Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sobhy M. Yakout, Ahmed M. Isa, Amel A. El-Sayed, Ibrahim M. Aziz

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To investigate levels of pentabromodiphenyl ether (PBDEs) in breast milk samples from healthy mothers who had lived in Riyadh for the last 5 years. Methods: In this cross sectional study, 75 samples were collected and were extracted, cleaned by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and PBDEs analysis was done using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Results: Total PBDEs (∑PBDEs) ranged from 0.2 to 3.6 ng/g lipid weight (lw). BDE-47, -153, -99, and -209 were the dominant congeners. The mothers in this study consumed more meat (69%), followed by the egg (50%), and milk (36%). The majority of donors consumed fish (44%) and egg …

Dna Barcoding Of Ayurvedic Herbal Supplements Used For The Purported Treatment Of Covid-19, Calin Harris

Food Science (MS) Theses

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with an increased global use of traditional medicines, including Ayurvedic herbal supplements. Because of the growing demand and processed nature of these products, there is an increased risk of adulteration. In order to assess whether the contents of these products are consistent with the label, this study used DNA barcoding to test nine different types of herbal supplements (amla, ashwagandha, cinnamon, ginger, guduchi, tribulus, tulsi, turmeric, and vacha) associated with the Ayurvedic treatment of respiratory symptoms. A total of 54 commercial Ayurvedic herbal products were tested with four barcoding regions (i.e., rbcL, matK, ITS2, …

Labeling Compliance, Species Authentication, And Short-Weighting Of Prepackaged Frozen Shrimp Sold In Grocery Stores In Southern California, Mckenna Rivers

Food Science (MS) Theses

While shrimp is the most-consumed seafood product in the United States, there is a lack of research into the extent of short-weighting and mislabeling of shrimp in the marketplace. The objective of this study was to investigate frozen shrimp for Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) compliance, species authentication, acceptable market names, net weights, and percent glaze. A total of 106 frozen shrimp packages were purchased from grocery stores in Southern California. Samples were determined to be COOL compliant if both the procurement method and country of origin were reported at the point of sale. Species authentication and acceptable market names …

Does The Type Of Chronic Heart Failure Impact In-Hospital Outcomes For Aortic Valve Replacement Procedures?, Talha Mubashir, John Zaki, Sin Yeong An, Ismael A Salas De Armas, Yafen Liang, Travis Markham, Han Feng, Mehmet H Akay, Angelo Nascimbene, Bindu Akkanti, George W Williams, Fabricio Zasso, Maria Patarroyo Aponte, Igor D Gregoric, Biswajit Kar

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Background: This study assessed in-hospital outcomes of patients with chronic systolic, diastolic, or mixed heart failure (HF) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR).

Methods: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample database was used to identify patients with aortic stenosis and chronic HF who underwent TAVR or SAVR between 2012 and 2015. Propensity score matching and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine outcome risk.

Results: A cohort of 9,879 patients with systolic (27.2%), diastolic (52.2%), and mixed (20.6%) chronic HF were included. No statistically significant differences in hospital mortality were noted. Overall, patients with diastolic HF …

Vitamin D In The Prevention And Treatment Of Oral Cancer: A Scoping Review, Man Hung, Konstantinia Almpani, Bao Thao, Kaili Sudweeks, Martin S. Lipsky

Institute on Aging Publications

Introduction: Oral cancer is a serious health problem with an increasing incidence worldwide. Researchers have studied the potential anti-cancerous action of vitamin D and its association with several cancers including oral cancer. The purpose of this scoping review is to synthesize the existing literature on the role of vitamin D on oral cancer. Methods: A scoping review of the literature was conducted using the framework developed by Arkey and O’Malley and the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Nine databases were searched for peer-reviewed human studies published in English that either investigated the association of vitamin D with, or its impact on either the …

Assessment Of Phytoplankton Assemblages And Harmful Algal Blooms In New Jersey, Yaritza Acosta Caraballo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Urbanization, industrialization, and climate change have played a major role in the pollution of waterways, leading to a global increasing trend of harmful algal blooms (HAB) while jeopardizing water quality. Phytoplankton and HAB were evaluated within the highly urbanized and historically polluted state of New Jersey to help provide statewide baseline data for HAB and water quality management. A total of three studies were included in this dissertation. In the first study, phytoplankton communities were characterized in freshwaters of New Jersey during the cyanobacterial HAB season and their relationships to water quality at both statewide and ecoregion levels were examined. …

An Analysis Of The Sophistication–Maturity Of Justice And Non-Justice Involved Youth And Young Adults, Lauren Grove

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Juvenile transfer refers to a set of mechanisms whereby a juvenile’s case may be processed in criminal court. Forensic mental health evaluators often assess youths’ risk/dangerousness, sophistication–maturity, and treatment amenability to assist judicial determinations regarding youth disposition. Of these three factors, sophistication–maturity—in which the law is concerned with the extent to which a juvenile defendant’s criminal sophistication and maturity level parallels that of an adult—has traditionally been the most challenging for practitioners to define and apply in practice. The Risk-Sophistication-Treatment Inventory (RSTI) is the only commercially available, specialized forensic assessment instrument for the assessment of youths’ sophistication–maturity. However, this tool …

The Antioxidant Content Of Wong Lo Kat Tea, Valerie Kwong

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Wong Lo Kat (or Wanglaoji in Mandarin) is a popular soft drink containing herbal tea that is often used as a Chinese folk remedy for mild ailments. The herbs included in the drink are the following: Chinese Mesona, White Frangipani, Microcos, Chrysanthemum, Japanese Honeysuckle, Heal All, and Chinese Licorice. While there is research on the individual plants, there is limited information on the combined mixture of the herbs included in the Wong Lo Kat drink, particularly in published English literature. Antioxidant content for the individual herbs and a combined mixture of equal parts of each herb was tested using the …

Potential Of Increased Thermal Tolerance As A Response To Acute Heat Stress In A Disease-Transmitting Mosquito Species, Nicole Ashley Scanlon

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Each year hundreds of millions of people are infected with mosquito-borne illnesses. West Nile Virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne diseases in the United States (McDonald et al., 2021). The first case of West Nile Virus was detected in the United States in 1999 (Sejvar, 2003). Since that time the number of cases has dramatically risen. Mosquitoes are ectotherms which means their body temperature is dependent on the thermal conditions outside of their body. Because of this they are very sensitive to changes in their environment. The Earth’s average temperature has been slowly but steadily rising. This small but …

Approaches For Mitigating Woody Breast In Commercial Broilers Through Nutritional And Management Strategies, Clay Maynard

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Breast myopathies have caused significant economic losses to the poultry industry over the last decade. The induction of woody breast (WB), white striping (WS), and spaghetti meat (SM) have caused textural issues, functional issues, and a decline in consumer acceptance. Of these three myopathies, WB causes the most pronounced effects on product quality and reduces functional use. Woody breast is also commonly associated with expansive breast meat growth/high performing broilers. However, progress in reducing these myopathies has been limited without hindering other aspects of poultry rearing. Generally, production performance reduces as myopathy occurrence or incidence reduces. This response is primarily …

Starch Granule And Crystalline Structures With Relation To Enzyme Digestibility, Ana Isabel Gonzalez Conde

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Porous starch produced by enzyme hydrolysis has attracted much attention for its adsorption and delivery properties. Porous starch has been successfully prepared from A-type starch, but not from B-type and C-type starches, which is partly attributed to the surface and crystalline structure. The present study aimed to characterize the role of the crystalline structure and the structure-function relationship impacting the susceptibility of starch with different crystalline polymorphs to amylase digestion. The starches were subjected to chemical modification (acid hydrolysis or surface gelatinization), physical modification (heat-moisture treatment, HMT, or high-pressure processing, HPP) or their combinations prior to amylase digestion, and the …

Fulfilling Koch’S Postulates And Evaluation Of Different Administration Routes In Poults Challenged With Streptococcus Gallolyticus, Latasha Gray

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Streptococcus gallolyticus (SG) is a Gram-positive found as commensal gut flora in animals and humans. SG has been associated with acute mortality in poults 2 to 3 weeks of age, with lesions mainly consisting of splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, and pericarditis. The objective of this thesis was to reproduce disease in poults caused by SG recovered from clinical field isolates and evaluate different routes of administration. Three field isolates from geographically disparate areas in Arkansas and Missouri were used for the experiments contained in this thesis. Antibiotic sensitives of the three field isolates revealed sensitivity to penicillin as well as a wide …

Characterizing The Utility Of Atonik On Improving Rice Response To Herbicides, Srikanth Kumar Karaikal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biostimulants can improve plant tolerance to abiotic stress by improving plant growth and development. Herbicides cause abiotic stress to crops shortly after application, which may affect yield. Preliminary tests showed that rice yield benefits from Atonik seed treatment or tank-mixture of Atonik with foliar herbicides. Experiments were conducted in the field and greenhouse to: (1) determine if seed treatment with Atonik improves rice tolerance to pre-plant herbicides; (2 and 3) evaluate the effect of Atonik seed treatment on rice response to pre-emergence and delayed pre-emergence herbicides; and (4) determine if Atonik improves crop safety of foliar-applied herbicides. Field studies were …

A Comparative Study Between A Faith-Based Psychoeducational Intervention And Psychological Well-Being, Elizabeth Lamberson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the difference in participants’ perceived psychological well-being/distress and perceived faith maturity over time based on participation in Walking Worthy a Journey to Freedom (WWJ). The research was designed as a fully mixed sequential equal status design with the quantitative portion conducted as an ex post facto comparative study followed by a focus group. Participants completed the CORE-OM, the FMS and RPWB at the beginning and the conclusion of the program. Statistically significant negative (suggests improvement) correlations were found for overall well-being (p < .001, d = .381), subjective well-being ( p < .001, d = 0.672), problems/symptoms (p < .001, d = .549), life-functioning (p < .001, d = .506), and risk (p < .001, d = .169). Differences in participants’ perceived overall faith maturity (p < .039, d = .352), perceived view of God (p < .001, d = .620), and perceived view of others (p < .022, d = .593) reflected a statistically significant increases. Differences in perceived overall psychological well-being (p < .001, d = .401), autonomy (p < .003, d = .540), environmental mastery (p < .001, d = .637), personal growth (p < .001, d = .451), positive relations (p < .001, d = .451), purpose in life (p < .003, d = .415), and self-acceptance (p < .001, d = .642), showed statistically significant mean increases. Through the focus group, participants contrasted negative themes including perfectionism, shame, living in lies, and codependency with positive themes of living in truth, freedom, making sense of life, and facilitating change. Spiritual themes included improved relationships, seeing others through God’s eyes, experiencing God’s love, and seeing self through God’s eyes. The mental health and spiritual constructs and themes explored through this study revealed movement away from pathology and toward wellness over the time spent in Walking Worthy. These findings provide mental health and faith-based practitioners a research base from which to evaluate the use of the program in practice.