Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Notes From The Director, The Mcnair Team

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Scholarships, The Mcnair Team

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Envrment: Investigating Experience In A Virtual User-Composed Environment, Matthew Key

Master's Theses

Virtual Reality is a technology that has long held society's interest, but has only recently began to reach a critical mass of everyday consumers. The idea of modern VR can be traced back decades, but because of the limitations of the technology (both hardware and software), we are only now exploring its potential. At present, VR can be used for tele-surgery, PTSD therapy, social training, professional meetings, conferences, and much more. It is no longer just an expensive gimmick to go on a momentary field trip; it is a tool, and as with the automobile, personal computer, and smartphone, it …

Evaluating The Reproducibility Of Physiological Stress Detection Models, Varun Mishra, Sougata Sen, Grace Chen, Tian Hao, Jeffrey Rogers, Ching-Hua Chen, David Kotz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Recent advances in wearable sensor technologies have led to a variety of approaches for detecting physiological stress. Even with over a decade of research in the domain, there still exist many significant challenges, including a near-total lack of reproducibility across studies. Researchers often use some physiological sensors (custom-made or off-the-shelf), conduct a study to collect data, and build machine-learning models to detect stress. There is little effort to test the applicability of the model with similar physiological data collected from different devices, or the efficacy of the model on data collected from different studies, populations, or demographics.

This paper takes …

Towards Development Of A Remote Charting System For Connected Healthcare, Alex Bodurka

Masters Theses

Health Care Providers play a crucial role in a patients well-being. While their primary role is to treat the patient, it is also vital to ensure that they can spend adequate time with the patient to create a unique treatment plan and build a personal relationship with their patients to help them feel comfortable during their treatment. Health Care Providers are frequently required to manually record patient data to track their healthcare progress during their hospital stay. However, with hospitals continuously trying to optimize their workflows, this crucial one-on-one time with the patient is often not practical.

As a solution, …

An Exploration Of The Numeracy Skills Required For Safe, Quality Nursing Practice, Anna Wendel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to explore the numeracy skills required for safe, quality nursing practice. Using a descriptive mixed methods design, this study answered two research questions: 1) What numeracy skills do nurses perceive as important for providing safe, quality nursing care in the first three years of practice? 2) How do nurses incorporate numeracy skills into daily patient care during the first three years of practice? Early career nurses from a not-for-profit health care organization in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States (n=109) responded to an online survey tool developed by the student investigator that ranked …

Design And Synthesis Of Novel No-Drug Hybrid Compound And Green Catalytic Activity Evaluation Of Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles-Halloysite Nanocomposite, Majed Abdullah Bajaber

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Acetaminophen is a well-known analgesic that can manage pain and reduce fever. SCP-1 is a derivative of acetaminophen that showed significantly reduced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity comparative to acetaminophen. Nitric oxides have been well known to play a key role in a wide variety of physiological and pathophysiological important processes. It was therefore of interest to synthesize a nitric oxide donor linked to SCP-1 that could have enhanced analgesic and antipyretic activity. A furoxan CAS 1609 as NO-donor was synthesized and linked to SCP-1 successfully. The furoxan CAS 1609 was initially synthesized from tetronic acid to give 1,2- dioxime in 86 …

Bivariate Markov Chain Model Of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (Ibs) Subtypes And Abdominal Pain, Ricardo Reyna Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers use stochastic models like continuous-time Markov chains (CTMC) to model progression of morbidities of public health impact, like HIV and Hepatitis C. Most of the research in that area is done for a single disease. In this research, we use a bivariate continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) to model progression of co-morbidities. In particular, we use a bivariate CTMC to model the joint progression of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and abdominal pain. Symptoms of IBS are known to change throughout the duration of the disorder. Hence, patients are normally asked to make a journal of the stool type, symptoms, and …

Implementation Of An Electronic Alert For Improving Adherence To Diabetic Foot Exam Screenings In Type 2 Diabetic Patients In Primary Care Clinics, Ruby Denson

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are at an increased risk of complications including foot ulcerations (Harris-Hayes et al., 2020). Preventive care is essential for the early detection of foot ulcers but despite the advantages of preventive screening, a limited number of primary care providers perform annual foot exams (Williams et al., 2018).

PICOT: The clinical question that guided this project was, “In adult patients with T2DM receiving care in a primary care setting, will the implementation of an electronic clinical reminder alert (ECR) increase provider adherence to performing an annual diabetic foot exam and risk …

Hyperpolarized Carbon-13 Magnetic Resonance Measurements Of Tissue Perfusion And Metabolism, Keith Michel

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Imaging (HP MRI) is an emerging modality that enables non-invasive interrogation of cells and tissues with unprecedented biochemical detail. This technology provides rapid imaging measurements of the activity of a small quantity of molecules with a strongly polarized nuclear magnetic moment. This polarization is created in a polarizer separate from the imaging magnet, and decays continuously towards a non-detectable thermal equilibrium once the imaging agent is removed from the polarizer and administered by intravenous injection. Specialized imaging strategies are therefore needed to extract as much information as possible from the HP signal during its limited lifetime.

In …

Development Of Computational To Ols To Target Microrna, Luo Song

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

MicroRNAs (a.k.a, miRNAs) play an important role in disease development. However, few of their structures have been determined and structure-based computational methods remain challenging in accurately predicting their interactions with small molecules. To address this issue, my thesis is to develop integrated approaches to screening for novel inhibitors by targeting specific structure motifs in miRNAs. The project starts with implementing a tool to find potential miRNA targets with desired motifs. I combined both sequence information of miRNAs and known RNA structure data from Protein Data Bank (PDB) to predict the miRNA structure and identify the motif to target, then I …

Nuclear-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles Enhance The Effects Of Radiation Therapy With And Without Liposomal Delivery, Maureen Aliru

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Less that 10% of pancreatic cancer patients are eligible for curative resection, and clinical trials evaluating chemoradiation in locally advanced patients with unresectable disease have been largely disappointing. New and creative therapeutic approaches are needed to address the unment need for treatment options. The objective of this thesis is to advance radiosensitization of treatment-resistant densely desmoplastic pancreatic cancer using nanoparticles to surmount biological barriers to effective particle distribution for DNA-targeting.

Clinical translation of radiosensitizing nanoparticles has stalled owing to technical challenges. Current strategies to use AuNPs for radiosensitization require large quantities of gold, kilovoltage x-rays, immediate irradiation after intravenous administration, …

Phantom Ocean, Real Impact: Natural Surf Sound Experiments Alter Foraging Activity And Habitat Use Across Taxa, Ryan N. Wardle

Master's Theses

A growing body of research focuses on how background sounds shape and alter critical elements of animals’ lives, such as foraging behavior, habitat use, and ecological interactions (Bradbury & Vehrencamp, 2011; Barber et al., 2010; Kight & Swaddle, 2011; Shannon et al., 2016). Much of this research has centered on the effects of anthropogenic noise (Dominoni et al., 2020; Francis & Barber, 2013; Ortega, 2012; Swaddle et al., 2015), but recent studies have also revealed that natural sound sources can influence animal behavior (Davidson et al., 2017; Le et al., 2019). Natural sounds, such as crashing surf, can create conditions …

Eelgrass (Zostera Marina) Population Decline In Morro Bay, Ca: A Meta-Analysis Of Herbicide Application In San Luis Obispo County And Morro Bay Watershed, Tyler King Sinnott

Master's Theses

The endemic eelgrass (Zostera marina) community of Morro Bay Estuary, located on the central coast of California, has experienced an estimated decline of 95% in occupied area (reduction of 344 acres to 20 acres) from 2008 to 2017 for reasons that are not yet definitively clear. One possible driver of degradation that has yet to be investigated is the role of herbicides from agricultural fields in the watershed that feeds into the estuary. Thus, the primary research goal of this project was to better understand temporal and spatial trends of herbicide use within the context of San Luis …

Gardasil Vaccine Trends Within Nevada, California, And The U.S.: A Comparative Study, Karen S. Gutierrez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite decreasing incidence in cervical cancer in the U.S., there continues to be an increase in public health concern for cervical cancer worldwide. Recent studies report that individuals are disproportionately affected based on region, sex, and race. Additionally, the human papillomavirus (HPV) attributable cancers may be reduced between 70% and 90% through the universal use of HPV-vaccines. In order to expand current knowledge and implement intervention programs in Nevada, it is critical to examine the associations among the Gardasil vaccine, cervical cancer screening, and adverse events following immunization as well as to understand the different socio-demographic subgroups affected. To our …

Stem Education In College: An Analysis Of Stakeholders’ Recent Challenges And Potential Solutions, Santanu De, Georgina Arguello

FDLA Journal

A vast majority of academic disciplines and curricula in the college center around Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), which are critical to developing the skills necessary for a global workforce. Rapid changes in pedagogical setups, educational modes, and advances in instructional technology entail diverse challenges for key stakeholders (i.e. students, faculty, and the organizations). This paper highlights the most relevant challenges and potential solutions in STEM higher education at the college level, reported in the last decade. The holistic analysis combining the three stakeholders’ perspectives would help elucidate significant contemporary aspects impacting the fields. The goal is to further …

Association Between Social Media Exposure To Food And Beverages With Nutrient Intake Of Female Adolescents, Cholida Adiba, Siti Fatimah Pradigdo, Martha Irene Kartasurya

Kesmas

Communication technology development has influenced adolescent food choices and intakes. This study aimed to investigate the association between social media exposure to food and beverage content and nutrient intake among female adolescents. The study was conducted in a cross-sectional design. The targeted population was 104 female students aged 14–18 years old at 'XY' High School in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. Eighty-one subjects were chosen by clustered random sampling. Data were collected by interviews using structured questionnaires and a 3x24-hour recall method. Data analyses were conducted by chi-square, Fisher exact tests, and logistic regression. The median and standard deviations of social-media, …

Ultraviolet Exposure And Photokeratitis Complaints Among Informal Welding Workers In Depok, West Java, Indonesia, Maria K I J Yustheresani, Fajaria Nurcandra, Azizah Musliha Fitri, Annisa Ika Putri, Dyah Utari

Kesmas

One of the photokeratitis risk factors is acute reversible radiation of ultraviolet (UV) rays, which injure the cornea's epithelial tissue. Informal welding workers are susceptible populations to UV rays exposure. This study aimed to confirm the influence of UV radiation exposure on photokeratitis complaints in welding workers in Cimanggis, Depok, West Java. A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to June 2019 and used to select 100 welding workers purposively. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to determine photokeratitis complaints, age, education level, eye protection, safety knowledge, and work period; the UV radiation measured by A UV meter. Data were analyzed …

Assessment Of Knowledge, Attitudes, And Behaviors Of Turkish Women On Breast And Cervical Cancer In Karabük Province, Turkey, Nergiz Sevinc, Belgin Oral, Burcu Korkut

Kesmas

Breast and cervical cancer incidence and mortality among women have been increasing worldwide. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate women's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding breast and cervical cancers. The sample was composed of 507 women aged 18 years and older who were admitted to a primary health care center in Karabük, Turkey, from October to December 2019. The data was obtained using a questionnaire consisting of 34 questions regarding participants’ socio demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward breast and cervical cancers. The mean age of the participants was 41.3±12.0 years and 68.4% of them were married. Slightly more …

Policy Implementation: Teachers’ Role As First Responders In Emergencies And Disasters, Shabir Hyder, Adnan Fazal Manzoor, Muhammad Amjad Iqbal

Kesmas

During the past decade, the schoolchildren faced many disasters and emergencies originating from natural and man-made sources. The safety of schoolchildren rests with school management and teachers. This study aimed to assess teachers' awareness with regard to disaster prevention and health, safety, security, and environment (HSSE) policies at primary schools in Pakistan. In addition, it explores the suitability of teachers to perform as emergency handlers in the absence of school nurses and resource officers (SROs). The study involved a qualitative study, based on open-ended interviews from a sample of 25 school teachers. Methodology triangulation was applied to reduce bias. Results …

When Will The Covid-19 Pandemic In Indonesia End?, Dewi Susanna

Kesmas

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization(WHO) declared 2019-nCOV to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), due to the significant increase in confirmed new cases in various countries.1 In Indonesia, the first confirmed COVID-19 case was a female who had a closed contact with the 24th confirmed case in Malaysia and the second case was the mother of the first case.2 As time goes by, the number of new cases has increased significantly, reaching 160.165 confirmed cases with 6,944 deaths by August 27, 2020.3 The time when the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia will end is not …

Obesity Indicators And C-Reactive Protein In Indonesian Adults (More Than Equal To 40 Years Old): The Indonesian Family Life Survey 5, Yeni Mahwati, Dieta Nurrika

Kesmas

C-reactive protein (CRP) is the best clinical marker for systemic inflammation. Obesity is associated with increased CRP levels. Systemic inflammation is present before morbidity occurs. Research reveals that the identification of obesity indicators and CRP levels is limited among Indonesians. The present study investigated the associations between obesity indicators (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference [WC], waist-to-hip ratio [WHR], waist-to-height ratio [WHtR]) and CRP levels among Indonesian adults. This cross-sectional study based on Indonesian Family Life Survey-5 2014–2015 was conducted among 3,386 adults (≥ 40 years) living in 13 provinces in Indonesia during the study period. All data were collected …

Using The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance Framework In The Evaluation Of Community-Based Adolescent Care Pilot Program, Badra Al Aufa, Wahyu Sulistiadi, Mochamad Iqbal Nurmansyah, Agung T R Syiroj, Ibrahim Isa Koire

Kesmas

Posyandu Remaja (Posmaja) is a community-based adolescent care service in Indonesia that comprises a group of adolescents working as volunteers and healthcare workers under the guidance and responsibility of the Public Health Centre and City Health Office. The study aims to provide a formative evaluation program of Posmaja using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. This research used a qualitative approach and took place in South Tangerang City, Indonesia. The data were collected from July until December 2018. Nineteen people participated in the study. The study used in-depth interviews and focus group discussions that adopted the RE-AIM …

A Study On Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices On Rabies In The Philippines, Reynaldo Jr Bundalian, Monalisa Lacson, Catherine Bacani, Dinah Rose Soriano, Agnes Garing, Artemio Jr Aquino, Archie Policarpio, Joey Kyle Mallari, Remedios San Jose, Maria Fe Bulao, Neil Tanquilut, Patricia Joy Magsino

Kesmas

In 2007, the Philippine government passed the Anti-Rabies Act to address rabies in the country. However, rabies is still a major public health concern in many provinces. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of residents on rabies, the Anti Rabies Act, and responsible pet ownership (RPO) in Pampanga, Philippines. A cross-sectional survey was done from October 2017 to February 2018 in 92 randomly selected barangays in the province. Questionnaires were adapted from similar studies. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with KAP. Results showed that most people have good knowledge of the Anti-Rabies …

Cultural And Religious Belief Approaches Of A Tuberculosis Program For Hard-To-Reach Populations In Mentawai And Solok West Sumatera, Indonesia, Rizanda Machmud, Irvan Medison, Finny Fitry Yani

Kesmas

Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading public health concern in Indonesia. It ranks second on the list of high-burden TB countries. In West Sumatra, 47% of TB cases are undetected, late diagnosed, and received incomplete treatment because of low-level awareness and knowledge and stigma, especially among the hardest to reach populations. The study aims to identify the best communication channel to reach those who live in vulnerable and remote areas. This study was a qualitative study applying in-depth interviews to the informal leaders, health officers, cultural artists, and religious leaders across districts in Mentawai and Solok Districts, which are remote and …

Linking Mosquito Surveillance To Dengue Fever Through Bayesian Mechanistic Modeling, Clinton B. Leach, Jennifer A. Hoeting, Kim M. Pepin, Alvaro E. Eiras, Mevin B. Hooten, Colleen T. Webb

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Our ability to effectively prevent the transmission of the dengue virus through targeted control of its vector, Aedes aegypti, depends critically on our understanding of the link between mosquito abundance and human disease risk. Mosquito and clinical surveillance data are widely collected, but linking them requires a modeling framework that accounts for the complex non-linear mechanisms involved in transmission. Most critical are the bottleneck in transmission imposed by mosquito lifespan relative to the virus’ extrinsic incubation period, and the dynamics of human immunity. We developed a differential equation model of dengue transmission and embedded it in a Bayesian hierarchical …

The Future Environmental And Health Impacts Of Coal, Robert B. Finkelman, Amy L. Wolfe, Michael S. Hendryx

Faculty, Staff, and Affiliated Publications--KGS

In the United States, coal consumption in the last 12 years has declined from 1,045,140 million short tons in 2007 to 539,420 million short tons in 2019, a decrease of almost 50%. During that period the number of electric power coal generators has declined from 1,470 to 738 accounting for 21% of capacity. An even more dramatic decrease in coal use has occurred in Western Europe. This significant reduction in coal use and the concomitant closure of coal mines and coal-burning power plants will result in substantially cleaner air, reductions in respiratory problems such as asthma, less heart disease, fewer …

Ethoxylation And Polymerization Of Cardanol Derived Bifunctional Monomers, James Mgaya

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Cardanol and its derivative; 3-(non-8-enyl)phenol (obtained by ethenolysis reaction of cardanol) were ethoxylated via one-pot reaction with urea and ethylene glycol using Na2CO3/ZnO as co-catalysts. The ethoxylates were later methoxycarbonylated using a 1,2-bis(ditertbutylphosphinomethyl)benzene (DTBPMB) modified palladium catalyst to produce ethoxylated bifunctional monomers. Polymerization of these monomers by heating in the presence of a standard polymerization catalyst, Ti(OBu)4, formed oligomers that were plastic-like. Analysis of these oligomers by MALDI-TOF MS indicated the condensation of up to nine monomer units.

Identification Of Ecg Anomalies Through Deep Deterministic Learning, Uzair Iqbal

Student Works (2020-2029)

Electrocardiography (ECG) is a primary diagnostic tool for measuring the malfunctioning of the heart muscles in the context of morbidity of different cardiac diseases and arrhythmia. Different existing techniques and methods delivered accurate cardiac diseases myocardial infarction (heart stroke) and atrial fibrillation recognition. However, there are still some flaws in existing methods like recognition of special myocardial infarction situation flattened T wave in “Non-Specific ST-T Changes (nsst-t)” and reduction of computational cost in cardiac diseases recognition. Accurate recognition of cardiac diseases along with least computational complexity and feature analysis of flattened T wave in myocardial infarction remains an open job. …

Strange Periodic Behavior In An Epilepsy Model, David Chan, Candace Kent, William Strasser

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.