Digital Commons Network^™

D101n: A Unique And Ill-Understood Familial Als-Related Sod1 Mutant, Analisa Lott

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Background: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease, with 90% of documented cases considered sporadic and about 10% showing a hereditary link; such cases are deemed as familial ALS (fALS). Superoxide dismutase (SOD), a copper-zinc binding enzyme that protects cells from damaging free radicals, has been linked to fALS with certain toxic gain of function mutations, such as the D101N mutant. The human SOD1 D101N mutant has been shown to be associated with rapidly progressing neurodegeneration yet is less prone to aggregation than similar mutants, but its deviation from wild-type (WT) SOD1 remains misunderstood.

Objective: Although the D101N …

Submit Yourself: Religious Beliefs, Gender Roles, Self-Control, And Alcohol Use’S Influence On Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence, Carina J. Pawlak

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Religious beliefs bear a great significance in many individuals’ lives, as they shape our personal belief systems and affect our relationships with others. Limited research has explored the relationship between religion and intimate partner violence (IPV), an increasingly prevalent issue that persists in our society. The traditional values, such as male gender roles associated with patriarchal societies and traditional religious beliefs, may magnify the prevalence of IPV perpetration. Other variables that may be associated with positive attitudes toward IPV include self-control, alcohol intake, and belief in divine control. This analysis used preliminary data from the Crime, Health, and Intimate Partner …

Increasing Nursing Staff Knowledge On Medication Nonadherence Among Mental Health Patients, Princess Ndidi Amadi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Medication nonadherence is a challenge among patients with severe mental health disorders, increasing the patients’ risk for exacerbations of psychosis and relapse, which may result in hospital emergency room visits and hospital admissions. In patients with schizophrenia, major depressive disorders, and bipolar disorders, the mean medication nonadherence is 49%. While no single strategy works, a combination of behavioral and educational strategies has been shown to improve patient adherence to their medication regimen. The purpose of the Doctor of Nursing Practice project was to increase healthcare professionals’ knowledge of behavioral and educational strategies to improve medication adherence among patients with severe …

Staff Education Program To Reduce Medication Noncompliance In Patients Diagnosed With Schizophrenia, Patience Madu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Medication noncompliance is a significant challenge in managing schizophrenia, a chronic and severe mental health disorder characterized by symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and impaired functioning. Schizophrenia presents both positive symptoms, which involve exaggerated thoughts or behaviors, and negative symptoms, which reflect a lack of normal mental activity. Consistent medication management is important for stabilizing this condition. However, research shows that many patients with schizophrenia struggle with medication adherence. In this executive summary, I outline the staff education program I designed to equip mental health nurses with skills, knowledge, and strategies to address medication noncompliance. The practice-focused question …

Exploring Successful Employee Retention Strategies In The Distribution Warehouse Industry, Meriam Sunday

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low employee engagement often leads to employee dissatisfaction, reduced morale, and employee turnover. Frontline distribution warehouse managers who struggle to engage employees risk retention challenges. Grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore employee engagement strategies frontline distribution warehouse managers use to increase retention. The participants were six frontline distribution warehouse managers who had successfully implemented employee engagement strategies and increased employee retention. Data were collected using semistructured interviews, public websites, public documents, current and archival. Using thematic analysis, four themes were identified: (a) effective leadership and …

Employees Working From Home During Covid-19 And Potential Mental Health Challenges, Jena Graham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rise in employees working from home (WFH), raising concerns regarding the mental health experiences of remote workers. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the impact of WFH on employee’s mental health, focusing on how the WFH model has affected the emotional health of remote workers. The lived experiences of 9 WFH employees 22 years and older who worked from home during the pandemic were explored via Zoom semistructured interviews. The framework of the study was Cognitive Evaluation Theory. Content analysis of the data was conducted to code and identify categories …

Screensafefuture: A Parent-Empathetic And Pragmatic Mhealth Application For Toddlers' Brain Development Addressing Screen-Addiction Challenges, Nafisa Anjum, Md. Mehedi Hasan, Syeda Umme Salma, Liang Zhao, Maria Valero, Nazmus Sakib

Faculty Articles

The surging incidents of infants and toddlers screen addiction in the United States are becoming a pressing concern, given its compound impact on cognitive, mental, and physical growth. To address this era's critical child health and development problem, in this paper an innovative mHealth application—ScreenSafeFuture—is proposed. ScreenSafeFuture provides practical solutions that seamlessly fit into parents' busy lifestyles, acknowledging the effectiveness and convenience of smartphones as a healthcare tool. The solution includes essential features designed to enhance the experience between parents and their children under 3 years old encompassing an alternative activity advocator for a personalized parent-offspring scenario, screen time tracking …

Inherited Retinal Degenerations And Non-Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Progress And Unmet Needs, Jacque L Duncan, Angela Bowman, Amy Laster, Claire Gelfman, David G Birch, Shannon E Boye, Stephen P Daiger, Lucian Del Priore, Donald J Zack, James T Handa

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Inherited retinal degeneration (IRD) disease and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are leading causes of irreversible vision loss and blindness. Although significant progress has advanced the field in the past 5 years, significant challenges remain. The current article reviews the accomplishments and research advances that have fueled the development of treatments for patients with IRD and AMD, including the first approved gene-augmentation treatment for RPE65-related retinal degeneration and complement inhibition therapies to slow progression of geographic atrophy (GA) in AMD. The article outlines opportunities to address gaps and unmet needs that should lead to additional progress toward the development of treatments …

Systemic Administration Of A Site-Targeted Complement Inhibitor Attenuates Chronic Stress-Induced Social Behavior Deficits And Neuroinflammation In Mice, Amit Kumar Madeshiya, Brandi Quintanilla, Carl Whitehead, Stephen Tomlinson, Anilkumar Pillai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chronic stress, a risk factor for many neuropsychiatric conditions, causes dysregulation in the immune system in both humans and animal models. Additionally, inflammation and synapse loss have been associated with deficits in social behavior. The complement system, a key player of innate immunity, has been linked to social behavior impairments caused by chronic stress. However, it is not known whether complement inhibition can help prevent neuroinflammation and behavioral deficits caused by chronic stress. In this study, we investigated the potential of a site-targeted complement inhibitor to ameliorate chronic stress-induced changes in social behavior and inflammatory markers in the prefrontal cortex …

Private-Sector Readmissions For Inpatient Surgery In Veterans Health Administration Hospitals, Mary Vaughan Sarrazin, Yubo Gao, Carly A Jacobs, Michael A Jacobs, Susanne Schmidt, Heather Davila, Katherine Hadlandsmyth, Andrea L Strayer, John Cashy, George Wehby, Paula K Shireman, Daniel E Hall

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Importance: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) reports multiple indicators of hospital surgical performance, including hospital risk-standardized 30-day readmission rates (RSRRs). Currently, most routinely reported measures do not include readmissions that occur outside VHA hospitals. The impact of readmissions outside the VHA on hospital RSRR is not known.

Objective: To measure the impact of including non-VHA readmissions on VHA hospital performance rankings for 30-day readmission.

Design, setting, and participants: This retrospective cohort study included patients aged at least 65 years from 2013 to 2019 from the Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program linked to patient-level data from the VHA and Medicare. …

Myeloid Activation Clears Ascites And Reveals Il27-Dependent Regression Of Metastatic Ovarian Cancer, Brennah Murphy, Taito Miyamoto, Bryan S Manning, Gauri Mirji, Alessio Ugolini, Toshitha Kannan, Kohei Hamada, Yanfang P Zhu, Daniel T Claiborne, Lu Huang, Rugang Zhang, Yulia Nefedova, Andrew Kossenkov, Filippo Veglia, Rahul Shinde, Nan Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with metastatic ovarian cancer (OvCa) have a 5-year survival rate of < 30% due to the persisting dissemination of chemoresistant cells in the peritoneal fluid and the immunosuppressive microenvironment in the peritoneal cavity. Here, we report that intraperitoneal administration of β-glucan and IFNγ (BI) induced robust tumor regression in clinically relevant models of metastatic OvCa. BI induced tumor regression by controlling fluid tumor burden and activating localized antitumor immunity. β-glucan alone cleared ascites and eliminated fluid tumor cells by inducing intraperitoneal clotting in the fluid and Dectin-1-Syk-dependent NETosis in the omentum. In omentum tumors, BI expanded a novel subset of immunostimulatory IL27+ macrophages and neutralizing IL27 impaired BI efficacy in vivo. Moreover, BI directly induced IL27 secretion in macrophages where single agent treatment did not. Finally, BI extended mouse survival in a chemoresistant model and significantly improved chemotherapy response in a chemo-sensitive model. In summary, we propose a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of metastatic OvCa.

Rna Shielding Of P65 Is Required To Potentiate Oncogenic Inflammation In Tet2-Mutated Clonal Hematopoiesis, Nana Adjoa Ben-Crentsil, Wazim Mohammed Ismail, Maria E Balasis, Hannah Newman, Ariel Quintana, Moritz Binder, Traci Kruer, Surendra Neupane, Meghan C Ferrall-Fairbanks, Jenna Fernandez, Terra L Lasho, Christy M Finke, Mohammed L Ibrahim, Kathy L Mcgraw, Michael Wysota, Amy L Aldrich, Christopher B Ryder, Christopher T Letson, Joshua Traina, Amy F Mclemore, Nathalie Droin, Aditi Shastri, Seongseok Yun, Eric Solary, David A Sallman, Amer A Beg, Li Ma, Alexandre Gaspar-Maia, Mrinal M Patnaik, Eric Padron

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This work identifies MALAT1 as a requisite downstream effector of oncogenic feedforward inflammatory circuits necessary for the development of TET2-mutated CH and fulminant myeloid malignancy. We elucidate a novel mechanism by which MALAT1 "shields" p65 from dephosphorylation to potentiate this circuit and nominate MALAT1 inhibition as a future therapeutic strategy.

Dark Tetrad Personality And Earnings Management: The Moderating Effect Of Corporate Reputation, Alan Diógenes Góis, Gerlando Augusto Sampaio Franco De Lima, Márcia Martins Mendes De Luca, Giorgio Gotti

School of Accountancy Faculty Publications

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of corporate reputation on the relationship between the Dark Tetrad personality and earnings management.

Method: Two approaches were adopted: one archival and one experimental. In the archival approach, 434 firms (2,645 observations) headquartered in the US were analyzed, covering the period 2010-2017. Earnings management was proxied by accruals quality, reputation was proxied by the score on the ranking of the World’s Most Admired Companies, and Dark Tetrad personality was based on CEO speech and ‘Big Five’ personality analysis. In the experimental approach, we used a 2x2 between-subjects design …

Comparative Analysis Of Indices For Social Determinants Of Health In Pediatric Surgical Populations, Caroline Q Stephens, Ava Yap, Lan Vu, Jacqueline M Saito, Dwight Barry, Amy M Shui, Hannah Cockrell, Sarah Cairo, Derek Wakeman, Loren Berman, Sarah Greenberg, Allison F Linden, Jonathan Kohler, Kuojen Tsao, Nicole A Wilson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Importance: Conclusions vary substantially among studies examining associations between area-based social determinants of health (SDOH) and pediatric health disparities based on the selected patient population and SDOH index. Most national studies use zip codes, which encompass a wide distribution of communities, limiting the generalizability of findings.

Objectives: To characterize the distributions of composite SDOH indices for pediatric surgical patients within a national sample of academic children's hospitals and to assess SDOH index precision in classifying patients at similar levels of disadvantage.

Design, setting, and participants: This multicenter retrospective cohort study included patients younger than 18 years who underwent surgery from …

Childhood Exposure To Interparental Physical Violence And Adult Cardiovascular Disease, Cancan Cui, Lin Liu, Haibin Li, Yitian Qi, Jiayin Song, Ning Han, Zhijia Wang, Xinyun Shang, Chen Sheng, Lois Balmer, Zhiyuan Wu

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Importance: Childhood adverse experiences have been linked with long-term risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet the transgenerational associations between interparental behaviors and CVD remain poorly understood. Objectives: To explore the association between exposure to childhood interparental physical violence and the subsequent risk of CVD and to examine whether the association is modified by adult depressive symptoms. Design, Setting, and Participants: This population-based cohort study included data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), an ongoing study recruiting individuals aged 45 years or older, dated between June 1, 2011, and December 31, 2020, with a follow-up duration of 9 …

Optimising Public-Private Partnership Adoption For Housing Delivery In Oyo State, Nigeria: A Narrative Review, Mojisola H. Akinola, Funmilayo M. Adedire, Oluwafemi K. Akande

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

The increasing global demand for housing and budgetary constraints have led governments in several developed and developing countries to seek new ways of providing housing. Among the several options adopted by many governments is to establish partnerships with the private sector, usually referred to as public–private partnerships (PPPs). In Nigeria, substantial gaps in the housing market still exist because housing delivery systems have not effectively satisfied the housing demands of the country’s low-income population. Despite the Nigerian government’s efforts to ease the housing shortage, the adoption of PPP has not been holistically embraced for the delivery of public housing projects, …

Heterozygous Btnl8 Variants In Individuals With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children (Mis-C), Evangelos Bellos, Erica G Schmitt, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare condition following SARS-CoV-2 infection associated with intestinal manifestations. Genetic predisposition, including inborn errors of the OAS-RNAseL pathway, has been reported. We sequenced 154 MIS-C patients and utilized a novel statistical framework of gene burden analysis, "burdenMC," which identified an enrichment for rare predicted-deleterious variants in BTNL8 (OR = 4.2, 95% CI: 3.5-5.3, P < 10-6). BTNL8 encodes an intestinal epithelial regulator of Vγ4+γδ T cells implicated in regulating gut homeostasis. Enrichment was exclusive to MIS-C, being absent in patients with COVID-19 or bacterial disease. Using an available functional test for BTNL8, rare variants from a larger cohort of MIS-C patients (n = 835) were tested which identified eight variants in 18 patients (2.2%) with impaired engagement of Vγ4+γδ T cells. Most of these variants were in the B30.2 domain of BTNL8 implicated in sensing epithelial cell status. These findings were associated with altered intestinal permeability, suggesting a possible link between disrupted gut homeostasis and MIS-C-associated enteropathy triggered by SARS-CoV-2.

A Review On Ethnomedical Use Of Tephrosia Vogelii Hook.F. And Its Potentiality Towards The Development Of Antimicrobial Agents And Pesticides, Stephano Hanolo Mlozi, Juma Mmongoyo, Musa Chacha

Tanzania Journal of Science

Fish bean, Tephrosia vogelii Hook.f is among of potential medicinal plant species in the genus Tephrosia. It has been traditionally used to cure human and animal ailments including fungal and bacterial diseases though not exhaustively scientifically reported. Similarly, its extracts have been locally used to control vectors and pests in small scale farming though the drug development from its extracts and phytochemicals is not reported. Thus, this review focused to unveil its ethnomedical and pharmaceutical potentiality with emphasis towards development of antimicrobial agents and pesticides. Data collection for the review was based on the published paper searched globally in several …

Neuroanatomical Variability And Substance Use Initiation In Late Childhood And Early Adolescence, Alex P Miller, David A A Baranger, Sarah E Paul, Hugh Garavan, Scott Mackey, Susan F Tapert, Kimberly H Leblanc, Arpana Agrawal, Ryan Bogdan

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: The extent to which neuroanatomical variability associated with early substance involvement, which is associated with subsequent risk for substance use disorder development, reflects preexisting risk and/or consequences of substance exposure remains poorly understood.

OBJECTIVE: To examine neuroanatomical features associated with early substance use initiation and to what extent associations may reflect preexisting vulnerability.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Cohort study using data from baseline through 3-year follow-up assessments of the ongoing longitudinal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Children aged 9 to 11 years at baseline were recruited from 22 sites across the US between June 1, 2016, and October 15, …

Major Depressive Disorder And Driving Behavior Among Older Adults, Ganesh M Babulal, Ling Chen, Jean-Francois Trani, David C Brown, David B Carr, Beau M Ances, Eric J Lenze, Drives Project

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Depression and antidepressant use are independently associated with crash risk among older drivers. However, it is unclear what factors impact daily driving that increase safety risk for drivers with depression.

OBJECTIVE: To examine differences in naturalistic driving behavior and safety between older adults with and without major depressive disorder (MDD).

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A prospective longitudinal cohort study was conducted among older adults (≥65 years) from the Driving Real-World In-Vehicle Evaluation System Project collected from July 1, 2021, to December 30, 2023. The sample included 85 participants with MDD and 310 participants without. Neurological, clinical, mood, and neuropsychological …

Alcohol Use Disorder Polygenic Score Compared With Family History And Adh1b, Dongbing Lai, Michael Zhang, Marco Abreu, Tae-Hwi Schwantes-An, Grace Chan, Danielle M Dick, Chella Kamarajan, Weipeng Kuang, John I Nurnberger, Martin H Plawecki, John Rice, Marc Schuckit, Bernice Porjesz, Yunlong Liu, Tatiana Foroud

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Identification of individuals at high risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and subsequent application of prevention and intervention programs has been reported to decrease the incidence of AUD. The polygenic score (PGS), which measures an individual's genetic liability to a disease, can potentially be used to evaluate AUD risk.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the estimability and generalizability of the PGS, compared with family history and ADH1B, in evaluating the risk of AUD among populations of European ancestry.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This genetic association study was conducted between October 1, 2023, and May 21, 2024. A 2-stage design was used. …

Vps13b Is Localized At The Interface Between Golgi Cisternae And Is A Functional Partner Of Fam177a1, Berrak Ugur, Florian Schueder, Jimann Shin, Michael G Hanna, Yumei Wu, Marianna Leonzino, Maohan Su, Anthony R Mcadow, Catherine Wilson, John Postlethwait, Lilianna Solnica-Krezel, Joerg Bewersdorf, Pietro De Camilli

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Mutations in VPS13B, a member of a protein family implicated in bulk lipid transport between adjacent membranes, cause Cohen syndrome. VPS13B is known to be concentrated in the Golgi complex, but its precise location within this organelle and thus the site(s) where it achieves lipid transport remains unclear. Here, we show that VPS13B is localized at the interface between proximal and distal Golgi subcompartments and that Golgi complex reformation after Brefeldin A (BFA)-induced disruption is delayed in VPS13B KO cells. This delay is phenocopied by the loss of FAM177A1, a Golgi complex protein of unknown function reported to be a …

Functional Role Of Myosin-Binding Protein H In Thick Filaments Of Developing Vertebrate Fast-Twitch Skeletal Muscle, Andrew F Mead, Marilyn J Cipolla, Aaron N Johnson, Christina A Gurnett, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Myosin-binding protein H (MyBP-H) is a component of the vertebrate skeletal muscle sarcomere with sequence and domain homology to myosin-binding protein C (MyBP-C). Whereas skeletal muscle isoforms of MyBP-C (fMyBP-C, sMyBP-C) modulate muscle contractility via interactions with actin thin filaments and myosin motors within the muscle sarcomere "C-zone," MyBP-H has no known function. This is in part due to MyBP-H having limited expression in adult fast-twitch muscle and no known involvement in muscle disease. Quantitative proteomics reported here reveal that MyBP-H is highly expressed in prenatal rat fast-twitch muscles and larval zebrafish, suggesting a conserved role in muscle development and …

A Preoperative Window-Of-Opportunity Study Of Oral Serd, Imlunestrant, In Newly Diagnosed Er-Positive, Her2-Negative Early Breast Cancer: Results From The Ember-2 Study, Patrick Neven, Rebecca Aft, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Imlunestrant is an oral selective estrogen receptor degrader with favorable safety and preliminary efficacy in patients with advanced breast cancer. Pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarker data can optimize drug dosing; in this study, we present PD data from the EMBER-2 study.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Postmenopausal women with untreated, operable estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer were randomized to 400 versus 800 mg of imlunestrant daily for ∼2 weeks before surgery. A single arm study tested a daily dose of 200 mg. PD biomarker changes (ER, progesterone receptor, Ki-67 by IHC, and mRNA expression of ER-related genes) were evaluated in paired …

Secure Messaging Use And Wrong-Patient Ordering Errors Among Inpatient Clinicians, Sunny S Lou, Daphne Lew, Linlin Xia, Laura Baratta, Elise Eiden, Thomas Kannampallil

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Use of secure messaging for clinician-to-clinician communication has increased exponentially over the past decade, but its association with clinician work is poorly understood.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between secure messaging use and wrong-patient ordering errors.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study included inpatient attending physicians, trainee physicians, and advanced practice practitioners (APPs) from 14 academic and community hospitals. Secure messaging volume was assessed over a 3-month period (February 1 to April 30, 2023).

EXPOSURE: Secure messaging volume per clinician-day, measured as the count of secure messages sent and received by a clinician on a given clinician-day.

MAIN …

Leveraging Group Model Building To Operationalize Implementation Strategies Across Implementation Phases: An Exemplar Related To Child Maltreatment Intervention Selection, Gracelyn Cruden, Byron J Powell, Leah Frerichs, Paul Lanier, C Hendricks Brown, Lisa Saldana, Kristen Hassmiller Lich

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Implementation strategies can help support the adoption and implementation of health interventions that are appropriate for a local context and acceptable to decision makers and community members. Implementation strategies should be designed to handle the complexity of the multi-level, dynamic contexts in which interventions are implemented. Systems science theories and methods explicitly attend to complexity and can be valuable for specifying implementation strategies. Group Model Building (GMB) combines research partner engagement strategies with systems science to support researchers' and partners' learning about complex problems and to identify solutions through consensus. This paper specifies how GMB can operationalize implementation strategies …

Comparing Metabolism And Hypoxia Tolerance Of Native And Non-Native Florida Freshwater Fishes In Climate Change Scenarios, Benjamin A. Share

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

As climate change brings rising water temperatures and lower dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations to freshwater bodies, it has become increasingly important to understand how this will affect ecosystems with established non-native or invasive species. Fishes of the family Cichlidae are the most pervasive non-native fishes in the Everglades and may increase their range further north under a changing climate. To better understand potential invasibility and competition with native fishes, the metabolism and hypoxia tolerance of non-native Blue Tilapia Oreochromis aureus was compared to native Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus when acclimated across a range of seasonal and projected temperatures. Intermittent-flow respirometry was …

Interspecific Associations Of Mesopredators In Western Tennessee: I. A Review Of Mesopredator Associations From The Scientific Literature; Ii. Mesopredator Associations Determined From Long-Term Scent-Station Data; Iii. Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Interspecific Associations Of Mesopredators From Camera-Trap Data., Colten Taunton Snyder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The goal of this study was to assess the interspecific associations of mesopredators (raccoon, Procyon lotor; Virginia opossum, Didelphis virginiana; coyote, Canis latrans; bobcat, Lynx rufus) in western Tennessee using long-term scent-station data and camera-trapping methods. First, a review of past literature regarding interspecific relationships of the species was completed. Spatial associations were evaluated using 11 years of scent-station data from Milan Army Ammunition Plant (Carroll and Gibson counties, Tennessee). Results of the study showed an association between raccoons and Virginia opossums (positive) and between Virginia opossums and coyotes (negative). Spatial and temporal associations were assessed using camera traps at …

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis For Assessment And Prevention Of Obesity In Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Anna Claire Miskelly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The treatment of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) often results in significant weight gain, which can lead to obesity and its associated health risks. This quality improvement project aimed to assess the use of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) for the estimation of body composition and basal metabolic rate for the prevention of obesity in pediatric ALL patients. BIA was conducted on pediatric oncology patients at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Retrospective BIA data was pulled at Cook Children’s Health Care Center. Participants (n=25) who met inclusion criteria (6-21 years of age and within weeks 20-50 of continuation in the TOTAL …

Pride And Prejudice: Framing Meghan Markle In American And British Media Coverage, Ashley Craig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has been a key focal point of press coverage of the British Royal Family. Her decision, along with her husband, Prince Harry, to step down from duties with the royal family, deemed ‘Megxit’ in the British tabloids, and the Sussexes’ subsequent interview with American talk show host Oprah Winfrey highlighted a series of rifts between the couple and the family, which they say were exacerbated by the British press. This study seeks to understand how the British press covered the Sussexes during the Megxit period, including the interview, and compare that coverage to reporting …