Digital Commons Network^™

Developing Microelectrode Arrays As Multiplex Point-Of-Care Diagnostics, Yu-Chia Chang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Antibiotic resistance poses a significant global health challenge, particularly in urinary tract infections (UTIs), where 92% of cases exhibit resistance to at least one antibiotic, causing over 260,000 deaths annually. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and growing awareness of the adverse effects of unnecessary antibiotic use highlight the urgent need for better UTI diagnostics. Current state-of-the-art methods are either expensive and time-consuming, or they lack specific details about the nature of the antibiotic and only determine inflammation. This hinders timely and effective treatment decisions regarding whether an antibiotic is actually necessary. Given this backdrop, there is a demand for a …

The Characterization And Detection Of Human Associated Pathogens Within Aquatic Sediments In Florida, Athena Giorgiou Capetanakis

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Thalassogenic diseases, infectious diseases caused by wastewater pollution of marine environments, have been plaguing the world for generations. Every millimeter of raw wastewater may carry millions of potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Water monitoring techniques generally rely on the sole detection of fecal indicator bacteria, while overlooking the significance of microbial data, especially via aquatic sediment. It is known that aquatic sediment can provide the ideal environment for pathogenic microorganisms to survive in. Using next-generation sequencing methods, amplifying the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene, this study aimed to achieve the following objectives: 1) characterize the microbiome of the sediment in …

Nutrition Anthropology In Global Malnutrition In Children Under Five, Katherine Michelle Dennison Owens

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Food is essential to growth and development for people and nations. Too little or too much food can lead to undernutrition or overweight, both forms of malnutrition. While there have been improvements in undernutrition, overweight is increasing, causing the double burden of malnutrition globally, which is especially true in low-income and middle-income countries. Understanding nutrition anthropology's economic, environmental, and socio-cultural factors is critical to combat malnutrition's burden in different populations. Shaping policies and investments in malnutrition need to be strategic to have a measurable impact on malnutrition improvements. This study identified nutrition anthropology factors using six economic, environmental, and socio-cultural …

Increased Fungal Burden In The Gastrointestinal Tract Of Brain-Dead Organ Donors, Erika J Nachman, Colleen K Ardis, A Kyle B Ardis, Javier Nieto, Madeline M Bresson, Clare M Robertson, Maggie N Seale, Nora M Villafuerte, Zhe Lyu, Eva C Preisner, Heather A Danhof, Sara C Di Rienzi, Yolanda T Becker, Robert A Britton

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Approximately 3% of organ transplant recipients will be diagnosed with an invasive fungal infection (IFI), with 10%-47% being fatal. The source of IFI is typically not known, but Candida spp. cause the majority of IFI cases. We obtained intestines from two types of organ donors, brain-dead (BD) (n = 7) and donation after circulatory death (DCD) (n = 5), to sample microbes from the mucosal surface and the lumen. BD donors were parenterally fed and treated with corticosteroids in the days before procurement, whereas DCD donors were enterally fed and not given corticosteroids. We found fungi present in …

Leishmania In Texas: A Contemporary One Health Scoping Review Of Vectors, Reservoirs, And Human Health, Morgan H Jibowu, Richard Chung, Nina L Tang, Sarah Guo, Leigh-Anne Lawton, Brendan J Sullivan, Dawn M Wetzel, Sarah M Gunter

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Leishmaniasis, a vector-borne neglected tropical disease, affects over 6.2 million people globally. Case acquisition is increasingly recognized in the United States, and in Texas, most reported cases are locally acquired and speciated to Leishmania mexicana. We conducted a scoping literature review to systematically assess contemporary research on Leishmania in humans, animals, reservoir hosts, or vectors in Texas after 2000. Out of 22 eligible studies, the most prevalent themes were case reports, followed by studies on domestic animals, reservoirs, and vectors, with several studies bridging multiple disciplines. Climate change, urbanization, and habitat encroachment appear to be driving the northward expansion …

Three Things We Can Do Now To Reduce The Risk Of Avian Influenza Spillovers, Kenneth B Yeh, William P Bahnfleth, Elaine Bradford, Carol Cardona, Kristen K Coleman, Peter J Hudson, Bernadeta Dadonaite, Rebecca J Hutchins, Anthony Maresso, C Raina Macintyre, Matthew Scotch

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Managing Covid-19-Related Stigma In Border Trade Communities: A Qualitative Study In Mae Hong Son, Thailand, Siwaporn Mahathamnuchock

Journal of Health Research

Background: In the border trade communities of Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand, misinformation and fear surrounding COVID-19 led to increased discrimination.

Method: This study aims to: (1) examine the different forms of stigma, (2) understand how affected individuals manage and cope with stigma, and (3) investigate community-based interventions to reduce stigma in border regions. An interpretative paradigm was used in a qualitative research design. A total of 18 participants—including local traders, housewives facing mobility challenges, a community leader, and healthcare workers were interviewed semi-structurally from August to December 2022. Key data patterns were identified by thematic analysis.

Results: There …

Identifying Gaps In The Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (Mdr-Tb) Cascade Of Care: Barriers And Improvement Opportunities In North Maluku, Indonesia, Eko Sudarmo Dahad Prihanto, Prayudi Santoso, Elsa Pudji Setiawati, Rovina Ruslami

Journal of Health Research

Background: The Multidrug-Resistant-Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) Cascade of Care includes MDR-TB treatments from suspicion to completion. Implementation gaps can lower treatment success. This study aimed to identify gap causes and opportunities to improve MDR-TB treatment in North Maluku, Indonesia

Methods: To identify gaps, we conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with health workers at Puskesmas (Indonesian government's primary healthcare centers) and hospitals, MDR-TB patients, and patients’ families. Thematic analysis was conducted using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) for health workersand the health belief model (HBM) approach for patients and their families.

Results: Significant gaps were found …

Childhood Vaccination In Mozambique Pre- And Post-Covid-19 Pandemic, Remy Mwamba

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2019, infectious diseases and other conditions claimed the lives of over 5 million children under 5. Global immunization coverage remains below prepandemic levels, leaving behind over 14 million zero-dose children in 2022, of whom 84% lived in low- and middle-income countries. This quantitative cross-sectional study aimed to examine, using two consecutive Demographic and Health Surveys, whether the most significant household characteristics and health service utilization risk factors associated with nonvaccination before the COVID-19 pandemic still hold postpandemic in Mozambique. Andersen's behavioral model of healthcare service utilization was the foundation for this investigation. The sample included N=2034 children aged 12-35 …

Case Report: Sarcina Ventriculi, A Masquerade Of Motility, Katherine Westbrook Cates, Catherine Hudson

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Sarcina ventriculi is a rare bacterium that has the potential to cause severe disease in the gastric mucosa. According to our search, there are less than 100 prior published case reports. This case discusses a 69-year-old man who presented to the hospital with severe gastric distention noted on CT of the abdomen with intractable nausea and emesis, for which endoscopy was performed and ruled out gastric outlet obstruction, with biopsies resulting as S. ventriculi. This bacterium has previously been reported to cause gastric dysmotility, as well as severe side effects including gastric perforation.

Improving Icu Decolonization Compliance Among Nursing Staff, Sarah J. Moore

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) burden patients and health care organizations by influencing extended hospital stays, increasing mortality risk, and increasing healthcare spending.

PICOT: The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Project was guided by the PICOT question: In ICU nursing staff (P), how does the implementation of a standardized process with visual reminders and checklists (I) compared to no reminders or checklists (C) impact compliance with the decolonization protocol for HAI reduction (O) over four weeks?

Evidence: A review of evidence-based literature demonstrated efficacy in the reduction of HAIs through once daily bathing with 2% chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) …

Correlation Measures In Metagenomic Data: The Blessing Of Dimensionality, Alessandro Fuschi, Alessandra Merlotti, Thi Dong Binh Tran, Hoan Nguyen, George M. Weinstock

Faculty Research 2025

Microbiome analysis has revolutionized our understanding of various biological processes, spanning human health and epidemiology (including antimicrobial resistance and hor- izontal gene transfer), as well as environmental and agricultural studies. At the heart of microbiome analysis lies the characterization of microbial communities through the quantification of microbial taxa and their dynamics. In the study of bacterial abundances, it is becoming more relevant to consider their relationship, to embed these data in the framework of network theory, allowing characterization of features like node relevance, pathways, and community structure. In this study, we address the primary biases encoun- tered in reconstructing networks …

Evaluation Of The User Experience For A Point Of Care Molecular Test For Causes Of Vaginitis, Barbara Van Der Pol, Rebecca Lillis, Irving Nachamkin, Stephen Young, La Shonda Crane, Jacqueline Brown, R. Lamar Parker, Alice Weissfeld, Xiaohong Liu, Christina Huang, Aarthi Raman

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background: Vaginitis is a major cause of healthcare visits in the US, costing over $1.2 billion annually. Point-of-care (POC) nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) could improve accuracy of diagnosis and treatment during initial visit for vaginitis compared to send-out NAATs. Methods: A secondary analysis of data was collected from test operators at POC testing sites where the Xpert Xpress Multiplex Vaginal Panel test (“MVP test”) was performed. Users completed a survey assessing their experience with the instrument system and the PCR-based MVP test. Results: The MVP test demonstrated consistent performance, measured by positive and negative percent agreement, across all user …

Effectiveness Of Pharmacist-Led Intervention For Hepatitis C Patients - A Systematic Review, Geraldo Surya, Angelica Angelica, Zerra Rizki Amalia, Diflaa Kayla Nisrina, Widya Norma Insani

Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy Research

Pharmacist-led interventions, encompassing patient education, adherence monitoring, and personalized care, have emerged as a critical strategy to optimize treatment outcomes in Hepatitis C (HCV) management, particularly in improving Sustained Virologic Response (SVR) and mitigating drug-related challenges. This review evaluates evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cohort studies, and retrospective analyses to assess the impact of pharmacist-led interventions on key HCV treatment outcomes, including SVR, medication adherence, and management of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and drug-drug interactions (DDIs). A systematic search was conducted on PubMed database for studies published between January 2000 and December 2024 following PRISMA guidelines. The search strategy …

Investigating The Use And Acceptance Of Information And Communication Technologies By University Faculty In Liberia And Its Implications To Sub-Saharan Africa, Michael K. Gray

Dissertations

This descriptive, non-experimental, correlational quantitative study examines the relationship between components of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and Human Capital Development (HCD) in determining the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) among university faculty in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). With the increasing importance of ICT in educational transformation across developing regions like SSA, understanding the underlying factors that influence ICT acceptance is essential for effective policy and implementation strategies. The researcher surveyed 336 university faculty in Liberia using a questionnaire designed to capture perceptions related to TAM constructs (perceived usefulness …

I See Sick People: Beliefs About Sensory Detection Of Infectious Disease Are Largely Consistent Across Cultures, Joshua M. Ackerman, Theodore Samore, Daniel M. T. Fessler, Norman P. Li, Et Al

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Identifying cues to contagious disease is critical for effectively tracking and defending against interpersonal infection threats. People hold lay beliefs about the types of sensory information most relevant for identifying whether others are sick with transmissible illnesses. Are these beliefs universal, or do they vary along cultural and ecological dimensions? Participants in 58 countries (N = 19,217) judged how effective, and how likely they were to use, cues involving each of the five major sensory modalities in an imagined social interaction during a flu outbreak. Belief patterns were strongly consistent across countries (sight > audition > touch > smell > taste), suggesting a largely …

Specificity Of Interaction Of Antimicrobial Peptide With Cell Membrane, Srishhti Kumar Jha

Pharmaceutical Sciences (MS) Theses

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing global health threat due to its rising incidence worldwide. Resistant microbial infections have become difficult to treat and pose serious risks to patients. In 2019, AMR was responsible for approximately 1.27 million deaths globally, with numbers continuing to rise. The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the urgent need for new antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action and low toxicity to combat this issue. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent a promising solution. These peptides exhibit broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and rapid killing kinetics, reducing the likelihood of resistance development. AMPs primarily target bacterial cell membranes. Their …

Mosquitoes: The 5 C’S Of Developing Disease- Commensals Changing To Consequential Pathogens, Alan L. Gillen, Caleb Mast, Robert Braden Somerville

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Hotter, longer summers and changing weather patterns in the United States are bringing more than just sweat and discomfort. In May 2025, a summer heat wave of 107⁰F hit Austin, Texas, and in humid Houston and San Antonio, Texas, temperatures felt over 100⁰ for several days. Normally, these temperatures don’t come until July and August. With temperatures reaching these marks early and heavy rains coming, mosquito activity and ranges expand. Many state and federal health officials report a rise in mosquito-borne illnesses across the US and globe in the last five years.

Cbl Regulation Of C-Met Signaling In Corneal Epithelial Cells., Kate Elise Tarvestad Laise

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The cornea is the most anterior portion of the eye and permits light passage through to retina, allowing formation of a clear image as long as it remains healthy. If the cornea sustains damage, it creates and entrance for foreign body invasion, infection, and ultimately blindness in the immunocompromised eye. Healing the corneal tissue is critical for vision restoration and pain alleviation, as it is the most densely innervated tissue in the body. Growth factors and their cognate receptors are currently under investigation as tools to restore proper corneal physiology. We hypothesize that manipulating the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) /c-Met …

Sustained Lung Inflammation Post-Sars-Cov-2 Infection In Mice Is Associated With Increased Pulmonary T Cells., Sophie Y Guan, Patricia P Ogger, Ana Farias, Minerva Garcia Martín, Joy Nakawesi, Olivia Bedard, Candice N Baker, Nadia Rosenthal, Cecilia Johansson

Faculty Research 2025

Many SARS-CoV-2 patients experience chronic pulmonary symptoms and long-term inflammation despite viral clearance. While these clinical manifestations have been linked to the dysregulation of the adaptive immune response, the underlying immunopathology remains poorly understood due to a lack of suitable animal models. To investigate long-term pulmonary consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection, we used a genetic cross of 129 mice and C57BL/6 (B6)-K18-hACE2 transgene mice, a model previously shown to survive infection. 129xB6-K18-hACE2 mice or littermate controls were infected with a low dose (5 × 10² PFU) of ancestral SARS-CoV-2. Complete viral clearance and full recovery from weight loss …

Crisis On The Frontlines: Recruitment And Retention Challenges In Ems, Bruce J. Moeller, Michael Lozano

Florida Center for Emergency Medical Services Research Reports

Florida’s emergency medical services (EMS) and fire service agencies face an unprecedented workforce crisis. Compounded by demographic shifts, rising call volumes, and mounting mental health challenges, many EMS agencies are struggling to recruit and retain qualified personnel. Existing models of recruitment—centered on short-term bonuses or messaging emphasizing sacrifice—are failing to resonate with new generations of workers, who prioritize mental wellness, career progression, and work-life balance. Additionally, outdated training pipelines and a decline in volunteerism, especially in rural areas, have weakened the traditional workforce structure, creating gaps that threaten the stability of emergency response systems statewide.

To address these challenges, the …

The Effects Of Overexpressing K2p Channels In Various Tissues On Physiology And Behaviors, Alaina C. Taul, Elizabeth R. Elliott, Douglas A. Harrison, Robin L. Cooper

Biology Faculty Publications

Two-pore-domain K⁺ channels (K2p), known previously as leak channels, are responsible for maintaining the resting membrane potential of cells. Fifteen subtypes are known to exist in humans and eleven are known in Drosophila melanogaster, as well as six subfamilies; however, little is known about the expression of these subtypes in various animal tissues or the impact of altered expression on cellular physiology. The Drosophila melanogaster model allows for selective misexpression of certain neuron subsets, providing insight into individual cell types and the animal’s physiology more generally. Prior research on the overexpression of K2p channels and the resulting behavioral and …

From Diversity To Novelty: Unsupervised Learning For Novel Transposon Identification And Evolutionary Mapping For Large-Scale Genomic Datasets, Rabeya Nazara

All Theses

Transposons play a pivotal role in genome evolution and contribute to genome expansion, with novel transposon discovery offering valuable insights into genetic function and its implications for health and diseases. This study focused on identifying novel transposons within a large-scale genomic dataset using unsupervised machine learning approaches to uncover hidden patterns and detect elements that deviated from known transposon groups. To address the challenge of data scale and to deal with the computational complexity, two complementary approaches were adopted: first, analyzing the entire dataset to picture the broad spectrum of diversity; second, a strategic reduction and filtering method to produce …

Intergenerational Transmission Of Health: Evidence From Indonesia, Fatima Khan

Theses and Dissertations

This study estimates the causal transmission of health from mothers to their children. Intergenerational associations in health and other human capital outcomes are well established, but those associations may not be causal due to common unobserved factors between a mother and her child. This study employs two-stage least squares, using weather variation as an instrument, to causally identify the relationship between maternal health and child health outcomes in five dimensions: height-for-age, self-reported health, blood pressure, lung capacity, and hemoglobin levels. The data are from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (1993--2014), a longitudinal survey that provides a 21-year look into the …

The Effect Of An Invasive Species (Lantana Camara) And A Fast-Growing Herb (Acanthus Pubescens) On The Plant And Animal Communities In Kibale National Park, Uganda, Kathleen Bufka

Theses and Dissertations

Fast-growing plant species, like Lantana camara and Acanthus pubescens, could threaten biodiversity in Kibale National Park, Uganda. I surveyed plants and wildlife in areas where these plants were frequently encountered compared to those areas where they are infrequent. I found mixed results based on plant traits and the animals considered. My findings support management efforts on these two species to prevent forest degradation.

Effect Of Amino Acid Derivatives And Polyphenol Supplementation On Skeletal Muscle Growth In-Vitro And In-Vivo, Gabriella C. Iheanacho

All Theses

Background

Satellite cells (SCs) are myogenic precursor cells that play a crucial role in muscle growth, and their activity can be influenced by nutrient supplementation. Muscle growth can also be stimulated using growth-promoting hormones; however, there are no approved growth hormones for use in sheep in the United States (Qaid & Abdoun, 2022). This limitation highlights a need to identify alternative compounds that would serve as nutrient supplements to enhance muscle growth and thereby improve meat production. Amino acid derivatives such as guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) and 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), along with the polyphenol quercetin, are naturally derived compounds that have shown …

In Vitro Assessment Of The Antihistomonal Activity Of Methyl Jasmonate And Jasmonic Acid, Mckayla B. Williams

Poultry Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Histomonas meleagridis is a protozoan parasite and the causative agent of histomonosis in gallinaceous birds. There are currently no approved prevention or treatment options available for histomonosis control in the United States. Mortality in affected turkey flocks can exceed 80% which highlights the urgent need for research investigating novel strategies to mitigate histomonosis in the field. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antihistomonal and antibacterial effects of of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and jasmonic acid (JA), two plant-derived compounds, in a xenic culture of H. meleagridis. Assays were conducted using cultured H. meleagridis (PHL strain) treated …

Evaluation Of Performance Characteristics And Groundwater Contamination Risks Associated With On-Farm Swine Carcass Disposal Via Composting And Shallow Burial With Carbon, Gustavo Castro Garcia

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation evaluates the performance of three on-farm swine carcass disposal methods: whole carcass composting (WCC), ground carcass composting (GCC), and shallow burial with carbon (SBC), focusing on biosecurity factors and groundwater contamination risks. Foreign animal diseases (FADs), such as African swine fever and classical swine fever, pose severe economic and animal well-being risks if introduced to the United States. With confirmation of an FAD, swine movement will be halted, creating an urgent need for practical, biosecure, and environmentally responsible on-farm disposal strategies for swine carcasses. Nebraska, as a leading swine-producing state, exemplifies the vulnerability of high-density livestock regions to …

Intention To Take Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) As An Hiv Preventive Medication: An Application Of The Health Belief Model And Theory Planned Behavior, Besuthu Nakekelwa Nkambule

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

South Africa (SA) has 7.7 million citizens (12.6% of its 2023 population) living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as an antiretroviral medication for HIV-negative individuals is a promising HIV prevention strategy in SA that can help the attainment of an HIV free generation. PrEP offers greater than 90% protection against HIV acquisition. Despite SA’s efforts in increasing PrEP coverage for its citizens, primarily to those at substantial risk, its adoption remains relatively low. Structural barriers related to access, costs, lack of awareness, and, more recently, US funding cuts exacerbate the challenges of PrEP’s potential …

Social And Economic Gradients Of Resource Transfer Behavior In Gorongosa, Mozambique, Karl J. Mertens

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Why do people who experience the same environmental and social conditions vary so much in their resource transfer behavior? This dissertation addresses that question through examination of behavioral variation in subsistence horticulturalists in the dry tropical forest bufer conservation area of Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. In this region of moderate and acute food shortages at both household and regional levels, individuals face similar challenges of addressing social and resource uncertainty yet respond with marked behavioral variation that cannot be explained solely by diferences in wealth, kinship, or reciprocity patterns.

Using a Behavioral Reaction Norms (Dingemanse et al., 2010) (BRN) …