Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Alzheimer Disease On Semantic Knowledge, Maileen G. Ulep

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The research furthers the understanding of the impact of Alzheimer disease (AD) on cognition and the organization of semantic knowledge in the brain, which might contribute to the development of diagnostic and staging tools, and interventions to palliate cognitive deficits. The disruption of semantic knowledge in AD is well documented in the literature. Much of the existing research focuses on the general impact AD has on semantic knowledge. This study explores the impact of AD on specific domains of knowledge, chiefly, living kinds and artifacts, critical to ordinary functioning. The content, organization and structure of the investigated domains of knowledge …

Sports Under Quarantine: A Case Study Of Major League Baseball In 2020, Kari L.J. Goold, Reynafe N. Aniga, Peter B. Gray

Anthropology Faculty Research

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This case study entailed a Twitter content analysis to address the pandemic-delayed start to Major League Baseball (MLB) in the shortened 2020 season. This case study helps address the overarching objective to investigate how the sports world, especially fans, responded to MLB played during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The methods investigated the common themes and determined who used predetermined Twitter hashtags. We recorded how many times external links, photos, emojis, and the 30 MLB teams were mentioned in the 779 tweets obtained during 39 days of data retrieval. Results showed that …

Context Matters: Construct Framing In Measures Of Physical Activity Engagement Among African American Women, Stephanie M. Mcclure, Travis Loux, Enbal Shacham, Eileen Gillespie, Denise Hooks-Anderson

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Assessment of psychosocial factors influencing health behavior typically privileges conceptual consistency (framing constructs similarly across contexts) over conceptual specificity (context-specific framing). Modest statistical relationships between these factors and health behaviors, and persistent racial disparities in health outcomes raise questions about whether conceptually consistent framing fully captures relevant predictors. Ethnographic studies suggest not - that perceptions influencing health behaviors are multifaceted and contextual. To test this, we added items querying contextualized predictors of intention to engage in leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) to a Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)-based survey and examined the psychometrics of the adapted subscales. We measured internal consistency …

A Community Of Care: Patterns Of Pathology And Trauma With A Focus On The Bioarchaeology Of Care At Carrier Mills, Il (10,000 – 1000 Bp), Alecia Schrenk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Illness and injury are universal human experiences which are endowed with cultural meaning. Bioarchaeology has only recently begun to engage with the socioeconomic impacts of illness, injury, impairment, and healthcare provisioning in the past. This study examines how the Middle Archaic (6000 – 300 BC) and Early Woodland (1000 – 200 BC) hunter-gatherer community of Carrier Mills, Illinois was affected by and managed the socioeconomic burdens of poor health. The data presented in this study used bioarchaeological analyses to reveal patterns of poor health and healthcare provisioning within the Carrier Mills community. Bioarchaeology is ideally situated for such investigations since …

An Exploration Of Attitudes Toward Dogs Among College Students In Bangalore, India, Shelly Volsche, Miriam Mohan, Peter B. Gray, Madhavi Rangaswamy

Anthropology Faculty Research

Conversations in the field of anthrozoology include treatment and distinction of food animals, animals as workers versus pests, and most recently, emerging pet trends including the practice of pet parenting. This paper explores attitudes toward pet dogs in the shared social space of urban India. The data include 375 pen-and-paper surveys from students at CHRIST (Deemed to be University) in Bangalore, India. Reflecting upon Serpell’s biaxial concept of dogs as a relationship of affect and utility, the paper considers the growing trend of pet dog keeping in urban spaces and the increased use of affiliative words to describe these relationships. …

“I Don’T Want To Look Sick Skinny”: Perceptions Of Body Image And Weight Loss In Hispanics Living With Hiv In South Texas, Jordan W. Abel, Omar Allen, Delia Bullock, Erin Finley, Elizabeth Walter, Phillip Schnarrs, Barbara S. Taylor

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Objective: Obesity is rising in people with HIV (PLWH) and Hispanics. Both HIV and obesity are associated with cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. Our goal is to understand perceptions of body image and lifestyle in Hispanics with HIV to adapt interventions appropriately.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 Hispanic PLWH and 6 providers. Purposive sampling selected patient participants across weights and genders. Interviews were coded and analyzed using grounded theory, comparing perspectives between patients with and without obesity, and patients and providers.

Results: Participants felt obesity and diabetes were “normal” in the community. Patients exhibited understanding of healthy diet …

Is Easier, Better? A Reevaluation Of The Use Of Non-Remodeled Bone As A Histological Predictor Of Age-At-Death From The Femoral Midshaft Using Gis Software, Mariah Elaine Moe

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Traditional macroscopic methods for estimating age-at-death from human skeletal remains have been highly successful in practice but are notoriously inadequate when aging individuals over the age of 50 years. Skeletal histology has the potential to overcome these challenges to narrow the gap in age estimation and more accurately address older individuals.

Primary bone is produced during normal growth and development. Once fully matured, individuals undergo the lifelong process of remodeling wherein primary bone is replaced with microstructures called secondary osteons. As individuals age, the amount of primary bone tends to decrease. This study reexamined the use of percentage of primary …

Dental Age Estimation Of A Southern Nevada Hispanic Non-Adult Population Employing The London Atlas To Evaluate Archival Orthodontic Cone Beam Computed Tomography (Cbct) Images, Haley Buchanan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Age estimation is of societal importance for legal, forensic, and clinical reasons. The London Atlas of Human Tooth Development and Eruption, hereafter referred to as the London Atlas, was introduced as an improved method for determining dental age estimation. The London Atlas was developed from panoramic images of 528 living British Caucasian and Bangladeshi males and females aged 2 to 24 years and panoramic images of 176 archival human skeletal remains, aged 32 in utero to 2 years old, from two specimen collections (AlQahtani, Hector, & Liversidge, 2010). Further investigation is warranted to determine validity of the atlas’s use in …

Justice Served Fresh: Associations Between Food Insecurity, Community Gardening, And Property Value, Micajah Daniels, Courtney Coughenour Ph.D

McNair Poster Presentations

Numerous stakeholders in Nevada have used a variety of efforts to combat the growth of food insecurity facing Nevadans. The purpose of this research project is to understand the association between food insecurity, community gardens, and property value. Following the wealth of scholarship on these topics and data collected from community garden agencies in Southern Nevada, the research questions for this project include: (1) Where are community gardens located in SNV? (2) What efforts community gardens agencies are doing to address food insecurity (most interested in their efforts using community gardens)? (3) What are the perceptions of supports and barriers …

Situating Food Insecurity In A Historic Albuquerque Community: The Whorled Relationship Between Food Insecurity And Place, Janet Page-Reeves, Maurice Moffett, Molly Bleecker, Katharine Linder, Jeannie Romero, Carol Krause

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

This article examines conceptualizations of the relationship between food insecurity and place. We use an ethnographically inspired and community-engaged approach to situate our analysis of fluid dynamics at work in a community with high levels of food insecurity. We propose that the relationship between place and people’s experience of food insecurity is recursive, dialectical, and “whorled.” This relationship reflects complex, interconnected, and multidimensional processes with consequences for the health of residents. Our research demonstrates the key nature of the health-place nexus by exploring how food insecurity articulates with place in unexpected ways that go beyond discussions of food, …

Testosterone And The Adult Male, Alex Straftis

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Abstract

In the last 15 years, prescription testosterone sales have increased almost threefold. Testosterone is a powerful hormone, which has both physiological and behavioral effects on the adult male. These effects vary over a man’s life course and social ecology. In a natural setting, testosterone reaches a peak during early adulthood, declines gradually over midlife, and has exponential drops after the age of 70. Increasing testosterone, through testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), past early adulthood, is an evolutionary novel circumstance for an adult male. To gauge these effects, and the motivations that initiated them, this study conducted a preliminary text analysis …

Identifying Corners Stores As The Future Of Healthy Food Access In African American Communities, Victor Romano, Jennifer Lee, Elliott Royal, Katherine Metzo, William Ruth, Theodore Hartsook

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

For many people, the corner store remains the main grocer, or the only source of sustenance in minority communities. This study examined the distribution of corner stores as a future reference point to provide healthy food access to predominantly African American communities that lack full service grocery stores. Business data was obtained from respective county by use of Standard Industrial Codes. Each corner store was then categorized by either being Full Service (Stores that sell fresh produce, fresh meat, fresh dairy, and processed foods) or Non-Full Service (stores that do not sell all four categories of foods included in the …

Chinese American Immigrant Breast Cancer Survivors And Their Experiences With Post-Treatment Care, Tara Eaton Phd, Kristin Bright Phd, Xin Zeng Mph, Hayley S. Thompson Phd

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

This study examined the experiences of Chinese American immigrant breast cancer survivors with post-treatment breast cancer care and surveillance in New York City. As part of a mixed methods approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 Chinese American immigrant breast cancer survivors treated in a public hospital setting regarding their final breast cancer treatment visit, perceived risk of breast cancer recurrence, and experiences with social and family networks following the completion of treatment. Several salient and shared themes emerged from the interviews including two areas of particular concern regarding the transition from the treatment to post-treatment setting: survivors’ lack of …

Effects Of Human Maternal Placentophagy On Postpartum Maternal Affect, Health, And Recovery, Sharon Marie Young

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Postpartum ingestion of the afterbirth by the mother, or maternal placentophagy, is a common behavior among eutherian mammals, including non-human primates, with humans as a rare exception. Despite the conspicuous absence of placentophagy in the cross-cultural ethnographic record, the practice appears to be gaining popularity among a small but growing number of advocates in various industrialized contexts who claim that the practice provides benefits to the postpartum mother, namely the relief and prevention of postpartum blues and depressive symptoms, improved breast milk production, and enhanced bonding with their infant. Because the placenta serves as an endocrine organ throughout pregnancy and …

Mcnair Research Journal - Summer 2015, Kelly Abuali, Starr Bailey, Krystal Courtney D. Belmonte, Brittaney Benson-Townsend, Jennifer Bolick, Mihaela A. Ciulei, Ashley Crisp, Daniel N. Erosa, Richard V. Foster, Gisele Braga Goertz, Michael A. Langhardt, Kara Osborne, Julienne Jochel Paraiso, Shawn M. Rosen, Bella V. Smith, Jeevake Attapattu, Ernesto H. Bedoy, Michael G. Curtis, Wanda Inthavong, Marielle Leo, Primrose Martin, Tamieka Meadows, Rosa Perez, Jessica Recarey, Shea Silver, Linda Tompkins

McNair Journal

Journal articles based on research conducted by undergraduate students in the McNair Scholars Program

Table of Contents

Biography of Dr. Ronald E. McNair

Statements:

Dr. Neal J. Smatresk, UNLV President

Dr. Juanita P. Fain, Vice President of Student Affairs

Dr. William W. Sullivan, Associate Vice President for Retention and Outreach

Mr. Keith Rogers, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach

McNair Scholars Institute Staff

Session 4-1-D: The Experience Of Lotto 6/49 And The Capacity To Trust: Elements For An Anthropology Of Gambling, Jocelyn Gadbois

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Anthropologists study Lotto 6/49 as an experience.

Lévy-Bruhl tries to compare the magical beliefs of serious gamblers with the magical beliefs of individuals he refers to as the ‘‘primitives’’ (1924).

After that, Henslin studied the superstitions of St.Louis taxi drivers who play craps during their work breaks and compared them to Skinner’s pigeon (1967).

I wanted in my thesis to help anthropology to reconstruct lost knowledge regarding gambling and beliefs about magic in capitalist society.

A Forensic Identification Utility To Create Facial Approximations Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Of 100 Hispanic Females: A Pilot Study, Behzad Nejat

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction:Estimation of facial soft tissue appearance from human skeletal remains is often necessary in forensic identification. This process has been referred to as facial reconstruction or facial approximation and is a branch of forensic facial anthropology. Original methods for facial approximation originated in nineteenth century Europe and consisted of artists shaping clay over skull models using average soft tissue depths measured in cadavers. The last two decades have introduced numerous computerized techniques that have digitized this process while attempting to accurately and objectively define the relationship between a skull and its overlying soft tissue. This pilot study describes a method …

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (Pcos) In Urban India, Heidi A. Manlove

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis research focuses on urban women in India diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is a complex metabolic, endocrine and reproductive disorder affecting approximately 5-10% of the female population in developed countries. The prevalence of PCOS is on the rise in developing nations like India, which are undergoing rapid nutritional transitions due to Westernized diets and lifestyle. However, less appreciated in the literature are the developmental psychosocial impacts for women diagnosed with PCOS, especially in developing countries. Thus, the goal of my thesis research was to contribute to the small but growing literature by investigating psychosocial dimensions of …

Bioarchaeology Of Compassion: Exploring Extreme Cases Of Pathology In A Bronze Age Skeletal Population From Tell Abraq, U.A.E., Jamie D. Vilos

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Tell Abraq is a Bronze Age archaeological site located in the modern day United Arab Emirates and was occupied from the 3rd millennium BC to the 1st century AD. The coastal location provided access to both marine and agricultural resources as well as trade routes and foreign exchange. The tomb at the site was in use for 200 years (2200-2000 BC) and housed the commingled remains of a minimum of 286 adults. These individuals lived hard lives, dependent on good health to maintain a life-line of sustenance for themselves and each other. A number of individuals with severe expressions of …

Impacts On Maternal Diet In A Transitional Community In Rural Costa Rica: Potential Implications For The Developmental Origins Of Obesity-Related Disorders, Allison Cantor

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis examines maternal diet in a rural, transitional community in Costa Rica. Using cross-cultural categories recognized in the ethnographic literature (i.e. dietary taboos, dietary prescriptions, food cravings and the acknowledgment of a special post-partum period diet), maternal dietary practices were identified in the local community through surveys (n=45) and participant-observation (n=5), and to reflect the actual consumption patterns of pregnant and nursing women in the area, 24-hour diet recalls were administered to 5 pregnant or nursing women. In light of the recent changes that increased tourism has brought to the Monteverde Zone, focus groups were employed to determine impacts …

Use Of An Animal Model To Explore Prenatal Predictors Of Insulin And Glucose Metabolism In Southwestern Alaskan Yupiit, Julie Jo Kachinski

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Compared to other North American indigenous populations, Southwest Alaskan Yupiit exhibit very low rates of type 2 diabetes despite the occurrence of common risk factors. Contemporary Yupiit obtain a substantial portion of their calories from traditional foods, which contain high amounts of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Epidemiological and experimental animal research has linked glucose and insulin homeostasis with a diet high in omega-3s. This study used an experimental animal model to explore potential diabetes protective effects (for adult offspring) of prenatal maternal nutrition modeled on traditional locally-obtained Yupiit diets. The results of this study showed that the adult offspring whose …

The Effects Of Cellular Theta Breathing Meditation On Cell Mediated Immune Response: A Controlled, Randomized Investigation Of Altered Consciousness And Health, Marjorie D. Hardgrave

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Medical anthropology is well positioned to make contributions to consciousness research based on biocultural approaches that integrate methodologies from the biological, behavioral and social sciences to explore aspects of human health. The ubiquity and perseverance of health related activities involving altered states of consciousness (ASC) across cultures past and present suggest that these potentials are deeply rooted in human sociocultural evolution. Analyzing the relationship between immune function and meditative ASC represents an effort to empirically investigate the adaptive value of these human potentials.

A controlled, randomized investigation of two meditation practices was conducted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas …

The Effects Of Daily Diabetina Tea Consumption On Glycosylated Hemoglobin, Fasting Glucose And Lipid Levels, And Body Mass Index In Normoglycemic Individuals, Lauren A. Emes, Daniel C. Benyshek

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease responsible for high levels of morbidity and mortality in the United States, especially among some ethnic minority populations. Diabetina tea, a commercially-available herbal blend tea, is a well known herbal remedy for high blood sugar among Hispanic American diabetics. This study will examine the effect of twice-daily unsweetened Diabetina tea consumption over an 8 week period on glucose (sugar) and lipid (fat) metabolism. Potential effects of Diabetina tea consumption on glucose metabolism will be measured by glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and fasting glucose tests, while the potential effects of Diabetina tea consumption on …

Fighting Nuclear Waste At Skull Valley, Margene Bullcreek

Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues

Abstract:

-Reasons We Oppose Nuclear Waste

-Sovereignty

-Traditional values must be protected

-Protect sacredness of our culture, plants,

animals, air, and water

-Affects on community health

-Protect reservation and homeland

-To protect the air and water

-To protect future generations

-Environmental Justice

The Corporate Culture Of Nevada Hospitals, Sherese Marie Warren

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The initial focus of this study is to identify the dominant culture of Nevada hospitals and to determine whether hospital organizations in Nevada share similar corporate values and beliefs. If differences exist, what are the distinctions in those organizations that make them different? The competing values framework was used to diagnose four corporate culture types of each hospital. The clan culture possesses high affiliation and concern with teamwork and participation. The developmental culture is based on risk taking, innovation, and change. The hierarchical culture reflects values and norms associated with bureaucracy. The rational culture emphasizes efficiency and achievement (Quinn & …