Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Western Diet-Like Culture Conditions And Oxidative Stress On A Cell Model Of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Celina M. Valvano

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major health burden in the Western world, as the Western diet (WD) appears to be the driving force of this disease. However, the individual contributions of the diet and the impacts of their individual metabolism are currently ill-defined. This study used HepG2 cells to understand the impact of the individual components of WD in early NAFLD development under basal insulin levels. Specifically, nutrient-induced changes in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and signaling pathways, such as sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs), were examined to identify the root cause of steatosis development. High-fat and WD-exposed …

Feasibility, Acceptability And Process Evaluation Of A Physical Activity Intervention In Toddler Aged Children: The Tap-A-Long Study, Luke M. Sudarsky

Masters Theses

Recent literature has suggested the importance of physical activity in early childhood such as during the toddler years (12 months - 3 years.) Despite this, most toddlers are not physically active. There is a need to determine the types of physical activity programs that would interest toddlers within the settings they spend a significant amount of time in (e.g., childcare center). Currently, data on the feasibility, implementation, and process evaluation of physical activity interventions in toddler age children attending childcare centers is lacking within the literature. Therefore, the purpose of the Toddler Activity Pilot (TAP-A-LONG) study was to examine the …

The Effects Of Footwear Longitudinal Bending Stiffness On The Energetics And Biomechanics Of Uphill Running, Justin Angelo Ortega

Masters Theses

There has been a prevalence of long-distance running footwear incorporating carbon-fiber plates within their midsoles, effectively increasing their longitudinal bending stiffness (LBS). This modification of modern racing footwear has occurred concurrently with large improvements in running times (Bermon et al., 2021), putting into question how these footwear components affect performance (Muniz-Pardos et al., 2021). The current literature has investigated this at level running, but with the increasing popularity of trail running, it is of interest to investigate whether the benefits found during level running translate to graded running. Therefore, the overall aim of this study was to investigate the effects …

Communication Techniques For Nursing Students, Erin Raby

Honors Theses

This thesis will discuss the effects nursing preceptors have on nursing students' clinical experience. This thesis will explore multiple factors that negatively impact nursing student’s communication with their preceptors. It has been found that clinical experiences are extremely important for the future of nursing students. However, there is often a communication barrier between nursing students and their preceptors. This barrier can lead to negative outcomes for new nurses entering the field. Strained communication can also create dangerous situations for patients. Students who fear harsh comments or vertical violence may be reluctant to disclose the limitations of their knowledge. We completed …

The Effect Of Word-Learning Biases On Early Vocabulary Acquisition In Young Children On The Autism Spectrum, Claire C. Bourgeois

LSU Master's Theses

Background: Vocabulary composition and word-learning biases are closely interrelated in typical development. Such word-learning biases are influenced by perceptually and conceptually salient word features, including imageability, concreteness, iconicity, and attention to shape. Autistic children often have delayed language acquisition, but there is currently little research examining the underlying mechanisms autistic children use to acquire words. The current study aimed to examine the noun composition of autistic children across a range of vocabulary sizes by examining associations between expressive noun vocabulary size and imageability, iconicity, concreteness and evidence for the shape bias, and to examine whether these patterns differ from their …

The Impact Of Initial Age Of Methamphetamine Use On Social Integration, Emily E. Guarasci

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Prevalence of methamphetamine use is rising in North America. Peers and social relationships are known to influence substance use patterns, but fewer studies have examined the role of early initiation on later social integration. We aimed to understand the relationship between age of first use and social integration.

Methods: Bivariate analyses were performed to assess the relationship between age of first use and social integration before performing a sex-based analysis. Multivariable linear regressions were used to help to understand this relationship.

Results: There was no significant association between age of first use and social integration scores for the sample. …

Implementation Of Infant Driven Feeding™ In A Level Ii Nicu, Kelly Gardner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

In the United States, currently, 1 in 10 babies are born premature. Due to the immaturity of their neurological, gastrointestinal, and cardio-respiratory functions, preterm infants can experience the inability to coordinate sucking, swallowing, and breathing that is essential to oral feed. Cue-based oral feeding methods are designed to give the caregiver the ability to recognize signs of readiness and respond appropriately to the infant cues to adjust the manner in which feeding intervention is performed to match the infant’s current state of physiologic tolerance. The Infant Driven Feeding™ program incorporates scales to assess readiness and quality of the oral feeding, …

Impact Of Language Sampling Context On Language Productivity And Complexity, Trina J. Tolentino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Language sampling is a familiar tool in the speech-language pathologist’s (SLP’s) repertoire, used to assess a student’s language ability and inform treatment targets. The current literature has several studies comparing various dimensions of language sampling context, but with relatively small samples. The goal of this study was to identify what sampling contexts elicit the most productive and complex language, thereby contributing insight into what conditions may yield the most accurate representation of a child’s language skill, as well as the resulting intervention focus.

One-thousand thirty-seven kindergarten, first-, second-, and third-grade students (mean age [years; months] ≈ 7;5; range = 5;0-10;9), …

Unobtrusive Assessment Of Upper-Limb Motor Impairment Using Wearable Inertial Sensors, Brandon R. Oubre

Doctoral Dissertations

Many neurological diseases cause motor impairments that limit autonomy and reduce health-related quality of life. Upper-limb motor impairments, in particular, significantly hamper the performance of essential activities of daily living, such as eating, bathing, and changing clothing. Assessment of impairment is necessary for tracking disease progression, measuring the efficacy of interventions, and informing clinical decision making. Impairment is currently assessed by trained clinicians using semi-quantitative rating scales that are limited by their reliance on subjective, visual assessments. Furthermore, existing scales are often burdensome to administer and do not capture patients' motor performance in home and community settings, resulting in a …

The Political Economy Of Intimate Partner Violence And Crisis Management: An Institutional Ethnography In Rural Vermont, Anna L. Mullany

Doctoral Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health issue affecting one in four women in the United States. Tasked with addressing IPV, crisis centers can significantly impact women’s health outcomes and approaches to perpetrator accountability and community education. Informed by eight months of field work at a rural crisis center and 40 in-depth interviews, this dissertation investigated how the lives of Vermont women experiencing violence and crisis center work are both shaped by larger social, political, and economic relations within capitalism. Dorothy Smith’s method of institutional ethnography provides an investigative pathway for centering survivor experiences and examining crisis center …

Mixture Models For Interval Censored Outcomes, Yibai Zhao

Doctoral Dissertations

Silent events such as the first detectable HIV infection, the onset of Type 2 diabetes and prostate cancer progression are often ascertained by diagnostic tests and/or self-reports that are scheduled periodically. In such applications, we only observe the time to the event of interest to lie between the times of last negative and the first positive tests, resulting in interval-censored observations. In addition, in some medical studies, a substantial proportion of participants may experience the events before the study, so-called prevalent cases, or participants may never experience the event, that is regarded as non-susceptible cases (or indolent cancer or long-term …

Frontiers In The Self-Assembly Of Charged Macromolecules, Khatcher O. Margossian

Doctoral Dissertations

The self-assembly of charged macromolecules forms the basis of all life on earth. From the synthesis and replication of nucleic acids, to the association of DNA to chromatin, to the targeting of RNA to various cellular compartments, to the astonishingly consistent folding of proteins, all life depends on the physics of the organization and dynamics of charged polymers. In this dissertation, I address several of the newest challenges in the assembly of these types of materials. First, I describe the exciting new physics of the complexation between polyzwitterions and polyelectrolytes. These materials open new questions and possibilities within the context …

The Effect Of Linguistic Context And Explicit Contrast On The Fast Mapping Of Verbs, Samantha L. Scripture

Doctoral Dissertations

In typical language acquisition, word learning is an induction problem. When word learners hear an unfamiliar word, they make assumptions about the possible referent and its meaning. For nouns, this is relatively easy as word learners can rely on perceptual and pragmatic cues. For verbs, these two cues are fleeting, and word learners require additional kinds of cues for their meaning to be acquired. Two cues that affect verb learning include linguistic context and contrastive information. The current study used a within group comparison to examine the effect of linguistic context (i.e., rich vs. sparse) and contrastive information (i.e., implicit …

Use Of A Checklist As A Decision Support Aid For Heart Failure Assessment And Management, Maryann Hogan

Doctoral Dissertations

Heart failure is a serious chronic health problem requiring ongoing management to control disease progression. Consequences of inadequate heart failure management include acute exacerbation, worsening baseline status, and possibly death. Nurses play a key role in surveillance of patients with heart failure and in management of their condition as part of the interprofessional health care team. During episodes of acute decompensation of heart failure, nurses must be able to detect onset of signs and symptoms, initiate appropriate nursing interventions promptly, and communicate with the provider and other team members as needed. Although heart failure is a common health problem in …

Contributions Of Asymmetry And Instability To Transfer And Retention Following Locomotor Adaptation, Daniel L. Gregory

Doctoral Dissertations

Gait asymmetry resulting from neurological injury is more costly and less stable than healthy gait. Split-belt treadmills, which drive limbs at different speeds, lead to spatial and temporal gait asymmetries, and perturb walking balance, have been used to study locomotor adaptability and learning related to asymmetry and stability. This knowledge may be leveraged to design more effective rehabilitation protocols. In experiment 1, we asked how constraining stride-rates away from preferred during split-belt walking influences learning revealed in a retention test. We found that constraints to stride rate during asymmetric walking uncovered the capacity to leverage redundant degrees-of-freedom for walking control, …

Biomedical Applications Of Protein Films And Polymeric Nanomaterials, Sanjana Gopalakrishnan

Doctoral Dissertations

Biomaterials are widely applied for the diagnosis and treatment of numerous diseases. In addition to fulfilling specific biological functions, biomaterials must also be non-toxic, biocompatible, and sterilizable to be regarded as safe-for-use. Polymers are excellent candidates for fabricating functional biomaterials due to their wide availability and varied properties and may be natural or synthetic. Polymer precursors are fabricated into coatings, foams, scaffolds, gels, composites, and nanomaterials for several biomedical applications. This dissertation focuses on two types of polymeric biomaterials – protein-based materials and synthetic polymeric nanoparticles. Proteins are biopolymers that naturally occur with a variety of structural and functional properties. …

Physical Activity, Daily Step Counts And Functional Ability In Older Adults: Using Nhanes Database, Chunfang(Maggie) Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

Maintaining functional ability and independence are essential in the healthcare of older adults. Physical activity(PA) has been acknowledged as effective and economical health promotion strategies in older population. However, the amount of PA needed to maintain functional ability in older adults remains unclear. This investigation used PRISM Dose-response Curves Stimulation Variable slope model to explore the relationships between the amount of PA and functional ability in community-dwelling young-old, middle-old and old-old age group adults. ANOVA analysis was used to examine the relationship between functional ability and self-perceived active level changes compared to 10 years ago. NHANES 2005-2006 older participants datasets …

A Fast Voxel-Based 3d Dose Convolution Method For Personalized Targeted Radionuclide Therapy Of Prostate Cancer Patients, Chidera Opara

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) is an effective treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. This thesis develops a convolution-based dosimetric method for TRT and validates its performance against a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation method, egs_mird, developed in our laboratory.

The research completed includes: 1) validating egs_mird by generating dose point kernels (DPKs) for ⁹⁰Y, ¹³¹I and ¹⁷⁷Lu and comparing them with MCNP4C, PENELOPE and GEANT4 DPK in literature, and 2) comparing TRT dosimetry of prostate cancer patients obtained using the convolution method and egs_mird.

egs_mird DPKs for ⁹⁰Y and ¹³¹I agreed with those from other MC codes. …

Perspectives Of Middle Eastern Immigrant Parents Regarding Accessing Healthcare Services For Children During The Covid-19 Pandemic In London, Ontario, Sarvenaz Mehrabi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, immigrants have been disproportionally affected and faced difficulties in accessing healthcare services. While it has been reported that the rate of pediatric healthcare utilization decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, the reasons behind this decline are unclear. It has been suggested that immigrant children might be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions regarding accessing healthcare services. This study aims to understand the Middle Eastern immigrant parents’ perspectives regarding their access to healthcare services for their children in the London, Ontario, area during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This qualitative study was conducted with an interpretive description methodology …

Exploring Parenthood And The Influence Of Lived Experiences On Parenting Behaviors Among Child Welfare-Involved Adults, Veronica Howell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The World Health Organization asserts the healthy development of children is essential. Cases of violence and maltreatment impede the development of children worldwide. Six in 10 adults in the general US population have reported at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), while vulnerable populations, including child welfare-involved adults (i.e., parents and caregivers), often report more. This history is associated with higher morbidity and mortality rates alongside higher economic costs; therefore, preventing ACEs and promoting safe, stable, and nurturing relationships between parents and children is critical. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to understand the meanings and responsibilities associated …

Accelerating Multiparametric Mri For Adaptive Radiotherapy, Shraddha Pandey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

MR guided Radiotherapy (MRgRT) marks an important paradigm shift in the field of radiotherapy. Superior tissue contrast of MRI offers better visualization of the abnormal lesions, as a result precise radiation dose delivery is possible. In case of online treatment planning, MRgRT offers better control of intratumoral motion and quick adaptation to changes in the gross tumor volume. Nonetheless, the MRgRT process flow does suffer from some challenges that limit its clinical usability. The primary aspects of MRgRT workflow are MRI acquisition, tumor delineation, dose map prediction and administering treatment. It is estimated that the acquisition of MRI takes around …

Deceptive Appeals And Cognitive Influences Used In Fraudulent Scheme Sales Pitches, Rafael J. Toledo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fraud schemes exploit the complex interplay that results from utilizing deceptive appeals to activate underlying cognitive influences. This study was designed, first, to identify the deceptive appeals present in the messaging of fraudulent schemes and, second, to identify the underlying cognitive influences being exploited by the deceptive appeals utilized. Findings reveal that effectively used deceptive appeals work to keep viewers’ mental processes in a state of cognitive ease. This state allows cognitive influences--such as heuristics, cognitive biases, and the System 1 mind--to remain in control of mental processing; however, System 1 is prone to accept deceptive beliefs. The results of …

Moderating Factors In The Relationship Between Bully Victimization And Psychosomatic Symptoms, Tonya Paulson

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between bully victimization and psychosomatic symptoms, and to examine the protective influence of perceived parent and peer support across developmental age groups. Bully victimization frequency, somatic symptom severity, perceived parent support, and perceived peer support were assessed using archival data from 7,304 youth who participated in the 2009-2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) U.S. survey, excluding perpetrators of bullying. Bully victimization and somatic symptoms were significantly positively correlated. Older adolescents consistently reported more severe somatic symptoms, but age did not moderate the relationship between bullying and somatic symptoms. Higher …

Going Flat: Challenging Gender, Stigma, And Cure Through Lesbian Breast Cancer Experience, Beth Gaines

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the decision-making process of reconstruction surgery among lesbian breast cancer patients to better understand how identity impacts healthcare decisions. Breast cancer patients experience the disease in unique ways due to gender, sexuality, race, and class, impacting their individual decisions regarding treatment plans. Many breast cancer patients face mastectomy surgery as the first plan of treatment after diagnosis. By exploring the impact of gender, sexuality, stigma, and ideas of cure, this research aims to advance research about breast cancer by recognizing why some lesbian breast cancer patients forego reconstruction surgery and instead choose to “go flat.

Understanding The Interconnection Between Public Health And Political Behaviors In A Politically Polarized Context: The Impact Of Race, Political Attitudes, And Policy Factors On The Us Covid-19 Pandemic Response., Florent Nkouaga

Political Science ETDs

This dissertation evaluates the interconnection between health and political behaviors in a polarized context such as the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic unveiled the current political polarization and the structural health disparities among racial communities. Using the system theory delineated by David Easton, this dissertation demonstrates that health attitudes and behaviors in the electorate can influence voting behaviors, as was the case with the 2020 US presidential election. An evaluation of the 2021 African American COVID-19 Vaccine Polls (AACVP), and the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Postelection Survey (CMPS) demonstrates that factors such as public health compliance, trust in federal health institutions, …

Multimorbidity And Cognition Among Canadian Older Adults: A Three-Decade Perspective, Juan Camilo Vargas Gonzalez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Scarce information exists about whether the relationship between multimorbidity and cognitive decline has changed over the past decades.

Objectives: 1) To summarize knowledge about the association of multimorbidity and cognitive decline by performing a systematic review. 2) To estimate the association between multimorbidity in two cohorts selected three decades apart. 3)To identify which multimorbidity combinations have the strongest associations with cognitive decline 4) To identify protective factors that reduce the risk of cognitive decline in the presence of multimorbidity.

Methods: We performed a systematic review following the PRISMA statement. We then addressed objectives 2-4 by analyzing data from two …

A Holistic Investigation Of Acidosis In Breast Cancer, Bryce Ordway

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the early 20th century, Nobel laureate Otto Warburg made the observation that cells of a carcinoma had considerably higher glycolytic metabolism and considerably lower oxidative metabolism compared to cells of a normal tissue. He postulated that within this observation was the key to deciphering the differences between malignant and normal tissue. It is now well established that tumors of the breast are unequivocally acidic, caused by an abnormal amount of aerobic glycolysis, colloquially known as the Warburg effect. Over the last decades, our group, led by Dr. Robert J. Gillies, has set out to characterize the causes and consequences …

Parental Reports Of Vaccine Information Statement Usage In Utah, Angela T. Jacobs

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Little is known about the parental perception of usage and delivery of Vaccine Information Statements (VISs), the timing of VIS delivery, parent opportunity to read VISs, and time for discussing content of VISs with providers. Parental reports of dissemination and use of VISs are explored in this study, including parental use, experience, and perceptions. Method: Data for this pilot cross-sectional descriptive study were collected via an online survey. The instrument consisted of 21questions including five demographic questions, 11 questions about VIS distribution, four questions about parental use and understanding of VISs, and one open-ended question about finding information about …

Implementation Of Nurse Navigators For Behavioral Health, Theresa Papagna

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Mental health patients have been notoriously non-adherent with diligent medication conformity, office visit fidelity, candor about side effects, use of illegal substances for self-medication, and truthfulness about co-occurring conditions. This non-adherence makes treatment difficult for psychiatric providers, and all those who participate in the care of patients with mental illness. Patient non-adherence can cause frustration and can lead to provider burnout, which affects patients as well as providers. Also, there are concerning financial implications of excessive time and resources needed to adequately monitor mental health patients. Implications regarding 30- day re-admissions are tantamount to consideration of financial strains put on …

Connecting And Communicating To Support Youth Mental Health, Michele Davide

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The nation is experiencing a pediatric mental health crisis amid a shortage of pediatric mental health care providers. The Connecting and Communicating project explores a strategy pediatric primary care practitioners can employ to bridge this gap and maximize their impact on supporting youth mental health in a community.

For this project, a pediatric primary care nurse practitioner created a pilot educational video with the dual purpose of educating parents and school staff on the importance of connecting with adolescents using the proven evidence supported communication technique of validating strong emotions without judgement, and partnering with pediatric health stakeholders by requesting …