Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Making Meaning In The Legacy Of Tissue Donation For Donor Families, Nancy S. Hogan, Lee A. Schmidt, Maggie Coolican

Nursing: School of Nursing Faculty Publications and Other Works

Context-Individuals needing lifesaving (heart valves, skin grafts for repair of critical burn injuries) and life-enhancing (corneas, bone and tendon grafts, skin, and veins) tissue donations outnumber the tissues available for transplant. Objective-To describe the grief family members experienced 6 months after donation and to learn how family decision makers gained meaning from the decision to donate a loved one's tissues. This is phase 1 of a longitudinal study in which family decision makers will be surveyed again at 13 and 25 months after donation. Design-Qualitative descriptive. Participants-One hundred seven family decision makers whose family member died a traumatic sudden death …

Accountable Care Organizations: Elements Of Success, Sheila A. Haas

Nursing: School of Nursing Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Debunking Myths Regarding Provisions Of The Affordable Care Act, Sheila A. Haas

Nursing: School of Nursing Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Opportunities For The Uninsured To Access Affordable Health Insurance And Care, Sheila A. Haas

Nursing: School of Nursing Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Affordable Care Act: Options For Accessing Health Insurance, Sheila A. Haas

Nursing: School of Nursing Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Electrical Stimulation And Testosterone In Translational Models Of Peripheral Nerve Injury, Gina Monaco

Dissertations

As functional recovery following peripheral nerve injury is dependent upon successful regeneration and target reconnection, combinatorial treatments that enhance different regeneration events may be required for recovery from severe injuries. The neurotherapeutic effects of electrical stimulation (ES) and gonadal steroids have been demonstrated independently and in combination in extratemporal and intratemporal facial nerve injuries. The goals of the first aim were to develop a reliable intracranial facial nerve crush model and to investigate the therapeutic potential of combining ES with testosterone propionate (TP) in this most proximal injury model. Adult male rats were divided into intracranial sham-operated, intracranial crush, and …

Binge Alcohol And Recovery After Traumatic Brain Injury, Ian Vaagenes

Dissertations

An estimated 275,000 Americans are hospitalized following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year, 80,000 of whom develop a long-term disability. The factor that places one at perhaps the greatest risk of suffering a TBI is alcohol intoxication. 30-50% of TBI sufferers have a blood alcohol level above .08 mg/dl at the time of injury, the legal limit in most U.S. states. In fact, the presence of alcohol at the time of TBI more than doubles the risk of a repeat head injury in the two years following the injury. Given the large population of TBI sufferers with alcohol intoxication …

Gene X Environment Effects Of Serotonin Transporter, Dopamine Receptor D4, And Monoamine Oxidase A Genes With Contextual And Parenting Risk Factors On Symptoms Of Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Anxiety, And Depression In A Community Sample Of 4-Year-Old Children, John V. Lavigne, Laura B.K. Herzing, Edwin H. Cook, Susan A. Lebailly, Karen R. Gouze, Joyce Hopkins, Fred B. Bryant

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Genetic factors can play a role in the multiple level of analyses approach to understanding the development of child psychology. The present study examined gene-environment correlations and Gene x Environment interactions for polymorphisms of three target genes, the serotonin transporter gene, the D4 dopamine reactor gene, and the monoamine oxidase A gene in relation to symptoms of anxiety, depression, and oppositional behavior. Saliva samples were collected from 175 non-Hispanic White, 4-year-old children. Psychosocial risk factors included socioeconomic status, life stress, caretaker depression, parental support, hostility, and scaffolding skills. In comparison with the short forms (s/s, s/l) of the serotonin transporter …

Emergency Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes And Preventive Practices Regarding Firearms And Firearm Injury Prevention For Children, Dorothy Ann Gomez

Dissertations

In 2010, there were 134 deaths attributed to unintentional firearm injuries of children under 19 year and 3,019 nonfatal injuries (CDC, 2011). Nurses are expected to identify potential dangers in the community and protect those at risk. It was found that there is limited research on the effectiveness of current firearm injury prevention practices of nurses. The study was designed to examine the knowledge, attitudes and practice characteristics of Emergency Nurses toward firearm prevention practices. A convenience sample of 189 emergency nurses completed a voluntary, anonymous survey on practices regarding childhood gun safety. Seventy-one percent of respondents agreed that firearm …

Synthesis And Assembly Of Dihydroindolizines On Gold Surfaces For Light Induced Work Function Alterations, Matthew Alan Bartucci

Dissertations

Taking advantage of surfaces' response to interfacial dipoles, a class of photochromophores (dihydroindolizine) is demonstrated to alter the work function of the underlying substrate (170 meV). This same molecule also provides spectroscopic signatures for correlating the change in molecular structure to the induced change in the surfaces' electronic properties. Polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) allows analysis of the characteristic dihydroindolizine C=C (1559 cm-1) and pyridinium (1643 cm-1) stretch as a function of photoexcitation. Structural assignments of this photochromophore are corroborated to density function theory calculations. Conformational changes in the monolayers appear in parallel with work function changes and …

Risk Perception In Cardiovascular Disease, Michelle Ellen Block

Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains among the leading causes of death in the United States despite widespread knowledge about risk factors as well as effective primary prevention strategies. Risk perception is a complex phenomenon that plays an important role in how persons view disease and ultimately how they make health behavior choices. This study is supported by the knowledge that few studies have examined how persons perceive cardiovascular risk or the variables thought to contribute to the formation of risk perception.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how accurately persons perceive personal risk for cardiovascular disease and identify …

Influence Of Pramipexole On Probability Discounting And Ventral Pallidal Function: Assessments In Parkinsonian-Like Rats, Sandra Lynn Rokosik-Kletzel

Dissertations

People with neuropathologies who are treated with dopamine agonists may be at risk to develop impulse control disorders. The overall goal of this dissertation project was to expand our knowledge on the neuropsychopharmacology of dopamine agonist-induced impulsivity. At the time this dissertation was being developed, pramipexole was the drug, gambling was the behavior, and Parkinson's disease (PD) was the pathology most widely reported for this phenomenon. Therefore, we first developed a behavioral paradigm (i.e., probability discounting) to measure risk-taking, one aspect of gambling. Utilizing this paradigm, we determine if risk-taking was altered after acute and/or chronic pramipexole treatment. We incorporated …

Beyond Retention: Exploring Mental Health Benefits Of Living Learning Programs, Christopher Zaddach

Dissertations

The transition to a university setting can be a particularly challenging and stressful experience for a significant proportion of first-year students who may struggle to cope with dramatic changes in academic and social demands. Despite available resources and services, universities continue to report significant attrition rates and increases in severity and intensity of mental health issues among first-year students. Living learning communities (LLCs) have long been recognized as programming options with the ability to support students' academic and social adjustment. The current study aimed to expand the literature on LLCs by examining the possible mental health benefits of living learning …

Opening The Black Box: Understanding Adult Inpatient Falls, Laura M. Rogers

Dissertations

Within the United States, falls are the largest category of adverse events reported in hospitals. Injuries associated with falls include increased costs, extended length of stays, increased mortality and morbidity, and liability to hospitals. The purpose of this study was to discover, describe, and systematically analyze universal and diverse care meanings and expressions of adults experiencing a fall while hospitalized. The research was conceptualized with the ethnographic theoretical framework of Culture Care Diversity and Universality (Leininger 2001, 2006). Data collection took place in a large academic medical center, over a five month period and included 24 participants: eight adult inpatients …

Alpha-Synuclein Aggregates Activate The Nlrp3 Inflammasome Following Vesicle Rupture, Rudy Orlando Cedillos

Master's Theses

Parkinson's disease (PD) and related synucleinopathies are progressive neurodegenerative disorders that feature the accumulation of intracellular inclusions known as Lewy bodies (LBs) in the brain. The presynaptic protein α-synuclein is the primary constituent of LBs and has been documented to play a major role in the pathogenesis of synucleinopathies. Recently, aggregated α-synuclein has been implicated in prompting microglia-mediated inflammation, a process associated with the progression of neuronal death in neurodegenerative disorders. Although the mechanisms surrounding the induction of neuroinflammation are not well understood, the recently discovered inflammasome-forming NLR proteins have emerged as regulators of inflammation. In this study, we sought …

Snail Induces Mesenchymal Transition And Promotes Egfr Tki Resistance In Nsclc Cells Harboring Efgr Kinase Domain Mutations, Rutu Gandhi

Master's Theses

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death, accounting for one third of all deaths from cancer worldwide. About 85-90% of lung cancers are non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). Molecular targeted therapies such as epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR TKIs) provide an effective treatment option for oncogene addicted NSCLC. However, the development of resistance to EGFR TKIs continues to be the major limitation in the treatment of NSCLC. Resistance to EGFR TKIs has been associated with the loss of canonical epithelial protein E-cadherin, suggesting involvement of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in conferring EGFR TKI …

Development Of Cell Based Reporter Assay To Measure Pkc-Delta Promoter Activity, Kushal Prajapati

Master's Theses

Protein kinase C- δ (PKC-δ) acts as a tumor suppressor in skin cancer and is lost in 30% of human Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC). This loss is at the transcriptional level and involves the pathway leading to PKC-δ promoter repression after activation of Ras,PI3K,Fyn, and NF-κB. We proposed development of a high throughput, cell-based luciferase reporter assay on Ras transformed keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT-Ras to screen compounds having potential to inhibit this pathway and re-induce PKC-δ expression. First we developed a stable, PKC-δ promoter-reporter transfected HaCaT-Ras cell line. Next, we tested 13 compounds for their abilities to induce PKC-δ …

Type 2 Diabetes Risk Among Asian Indians In The Us: A Pilot Study, Annie Thomas, Alyce Ashcraft

Nursing: School of Nursing Faculty Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate type 2 diabetes risk among Asian Indians of Kerala ethnicity living in a West Texas County of the USA. The study used a descriptive correlational design with thirty-seven adult nondiabetic Asian Indian subjects between 20 and 70 years of age. The measurement included nonbiochemical indices of obesity, family history of type 2 diabetes, length of immigration in the US, history of hypertension, physical activity pattern, and fruit and vegetable intake. The majority of the subjects showed an increased nonbiochemical indices corresponding with overweight and obesity, placing them at risk for type …