Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Risk And Protective Factors In The Lives Of Caregivers Of Persons With Autism: Caregivers’ Perspectives, Abir K. Bekhet, Denise M. Matel-Anderson

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

PURPOSE

The purpose of this descriptive exploratory study is to understand the experience of being a caregiver of a person with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the light of the resilience theory.

METHODS

Qualitative data were collected as a part of a larger quantitative study. Ninety-three caregivers completed this qualitative study and responded to the two open-ended questions. In the parent study, subjects were recruited by convenience sampling from the Interactive ASD Network (IAN).

FINDINGS

The identified categories appeared to reflect three distinct categories consistent with the resilience theory, labeled as follows: risk factors, protective factors, and overlapping factors.

PRACTICE …

Effectiveness Of An Online Natural Family Planning Program For Breastfeeding Women, Richard J. Fehring, Mary Schneider, Thomas Bouchard

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Objective To analyze the effectiveness of an online, nurse-managed natural family planning (NFP) program among breastfeeding women and subgroups of these women. Design Longitudinal comparative cohort study. Setting A university-based online NFP education program and menstrual cycle charting system. Participants Women (N = 816) with a mean age of 30.3 years (standard deviation = 4.5) who registered to use the online NFP system and indicated they were breastfeeding. Methods Participants tracked their fertile times with an electronic hormone fertility monitor (EHFM), cervical mucus monitoring, or both. All unintended pregnancies were evaluated by professional nurses. Results The correct use pregnancy rates …

Parents’ Perspectives On Caring For Children After Solid Organ Transplant, Stacee M. Lerret, Norah L. Johnson, Kristin Haglund

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

To explore parents’ experiences of the transition from hospital to home and complex chronic illness management following their children's solid organ transplant (SOT).

Design and Methods

Qualitative component of a larger mixed methods longitudinal study. Parents of SOT recipients were interviewed three times following hospital discharge from five major pediatric transplant hospitals in the United States.

Results

Analysis of parent interviews (N = 48) resulted in three themes that characterized the phases of transition to home and complex chronic illness care. Three themes, corresponding to the three time periods of data collection, included “getting back to normal” at 3 …

Examining The Durability Of Peers For Adolescents With Asd: Maintenance Of Neurological And Behavioral Effects, Bridget Kathleen Dolan

Dissertations (1934 -)

To date, there are no known published studies that have assessed the maintenance of treatment effects in the context of neurological changes and their relationship to behavioral outcomes following a social skills intervention for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The few studies that have incorporated long-term assessment into their design have focused exclusively on sustained behavioral responses to treatment. Individuals with ASD across the lifespan exhibit aberrant neural activity, which is thought to underlie social skill deficits noted in persons on the spectrum. Thus, this study sought to examine the impact of a social skills intervention, the Program for …

Aging, Executive Function, Fronto-Parietal Network Cortical Thickness: Insights From Cognitive Reserve, Katherine Reiter

Dissertations (1934 -)

Cognitive reserve (CR) indexes the nonlinear relationship between neurological insult and behavioral change. CR is manifested in both static factors (e.g., childhood environment, education) and modifiable lifestyle factors, (e.g., leisure activities). Detailed investigation of the influence of CR on cortical thickness, which indexes neuropathology, and cognitive functioning could be particularly important in understanding the heterogeneity of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While memory decline is the hallmark of AD, executive functioning (EF) decline often predates memory changes, making EF an important target for investigating CR influences. The current study examines the relationship of CR and genetic risk for AD (ε4) on EF …

The Neural Encoding Of Reward In The Striatal-Pallidal Circuitry, Chung Lung Chan

Dissertations (1934 -)

Humans and animals are constantly exposed to external stimuli. The ability to process reward value of a stimulus is critical to guiding appropriate behavior and essential for survival. These processes are regulated by neuronal activity and neurochemical signaling in the reward circuitry, particularly in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). The NAc receives dopaminergic inputs from the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) and sends GABAergic projections to the ventral pallidum (VP). Electrophysiological studies have characterized phasic neuronal responses in the NAc that differential encode appetitive and aversive taste stimuli. Exposure to an appetitive taste stimulus evoked predominantly phasic inhibitory responses in the …

Markerless Kinematics Of Pediatric Manual Wheelchair Mobility, Jacob Robert Rammer

Dissertations (1934 -)

Pediatric manual wheelchair users face substantial risk of orthopaedic injury to the upper extremities, particularly the shoulders, during transition to wheelchair use and during growth and development. Propulsion strategy can influence mobility efficiency, activity participation, and quality of life. The current forefront of wheelchair biomechanics research includes translating findings from adult to pediatric populations, improving the quality and efficiency of care under constrained clinical funding, and understanding injury mechanisms and risk factors. Typically, clinicians evaluate wheelchair mobility using marker-based motion capture and instrumentation systems that are precise and accurate but also time-consuming, inconvenient, and expensive for repeated assessments. There is …

The Social And Historical Subject In Sartre And Foucault And Its Implications For Healthcare Ethics, Kimberly Siobhan Engels

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation explores Jean Paul Sartre’s and Michel Foucault’s view that subjectivity is socially and historically constituted. Additionally, it explores their corresponding ethical thought and how these viewpoints can be applied to ethical issues in the delivery of healthcare. Sartre and Foucault both hold the view that human beings as subjects are not just participants or spectators in social practices, rather, they become subjects with ontological possibilities through their interaction with these practices. In Chapter One, I trace Sartre’s views on subjectivity in his two major works Being and Nothingness and The Critique of Dialectical Reason, Volume 1, showing how …

Rediscovery Of The Microtubule System In Chlamydomonas, Yi Liu

Dissertations (1934 -)

Extensive studies have revealed the complex mechanisms underlying the roles of the microtubule system in fundamental cellular processes, the severe consequences in development and health resulted from its anomaly, and the irreplaceable therapeutic agents that perturbs this vital yet inherently unstable cytoskeletal system. Most of the concepts derived from a handful of model organisms become dogma of the field despite contrary observations. By overcoming a major limitation of biflagellate green alga Chlamydomonas - the intense autofluorescence common to photosynthetic cells - this dissertation discovered new phenomena of the microtubule system and conceived an invention. The microtubule system of the green …

Neuromuscular Function In Women Postpartum, Rita Deering

Dissertations (1934 -)

Efficient abdominal muscle function is important for functional mobility in men and women, and dysfunction of these muscles has been associated with impaired function such as low back pain. This dissertation explored abdominal muscle function in healthy young men and young women who have never been pregnant (nulligravid). As pregnancy and child birth also impact the tissues of the abdominal wall, this dissertation will also explore abdominal muscle function in postpartum women. This dissertation involved three primary aims. Aim1 compared abdominal muscle function and experimental pain perception in males and nulligravid females. Maximal strength over a range of trunk angles, …

The Noncanonical Roles Of Two Primordial Molecules In Flagella, Xiaoyan Zhu

Dissertations (1934 -)

Motile cilia and flagella are ancient organelles that eukaryotic organisms today still rely on to thrive in their natural environment. Not surprisingly, accumulated evidence has shown that the intricate motility machinery, the microtubule-based axoneme, is evolutionarily conserved down to the molecular level. This notion is epitomized by the signature axonemal complex, the radial spoke (RS). The RS is part of a control center conferring the high frequency and tightly regulated movement. Key RS proteins discovered in biflagellate green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, are also generated by nearly all ciliated organisms, including Homo sapiens. Among them are two subunits from primordial protein …

The Development And Psychometric Analysis Of The Mu- Fertility Knowledge Assessment Scale, Qiyan Mu

Dissertations (1934 -)

Young women between the ages of 18 to 24 experience disproportionally high rates of negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Inadequate and inaccurate fertility knowledge can hinder a young woman’s self-care abilities in managing her sexual and reproductive health. There is no validated instrument to assess young women’s fertility knowledge. The primary purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the MU-fertility knowledge assessment scale (MU-FKAS) for young women. The secondary purpose is to explore the relationships among young women’s individual and contextual factors, self-perceived fertility knowledge, actual fertility knowledge, and fertility health risks. A …

Opioid Analgesic Prescribing Practices Of Dental Professionals In The United States, C. N. Steinmetz, C. Zheng, Elaye Okunseri, Aniko Szabo, Christopher Okunseri

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

The prescription of opioid analgesics by dental professionals is widespread in the United States. Policy makers, government agencies, and professional organizations consider this phenomenon a growing public health concern. This study examined trends in the prescription of opioid analgesics for adults by dental professionals and associated factors in the United States. Data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (1996-2013) were analyzed. Descriptive statistics were calculated separately for each year. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate the overall trend during the period with and without adjusting for dental procedures and personal characteristics. Survey weights were incorporated to handle the sampling …

Ultraviolet-Induced Surface Grafting Of Octafluoropentyl Methacrylate On Polyether Ether Ketone For Inducing Antibiofilm Properties, Parisa Amdjadi, Hanieh Nojehdehian, Farhood Najafi, Amir Ghasemi, Massoud Seifi, Erfan Dashtimoghadam, Farahnaz Fahimipour, Lobat Tayebi

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Since octafluoropentyl methacrylate is an antifouling polymer, surface modification of polyether ether ketone with octafluoropentyl methacrylate is a practical approach to obtaining anti-biofilm biocompatible devices. In the current study, the surface treatment of polyether ether ketone by the use of ultraviolet irradiation, so as to graft (octafluoropentyl methacrylate) polymer chains, was initially implemented and then investigated. The Fourier-transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra corroborated the appearance of new signals associated with the fluoroacrylate group. Thermogravimetric curves indicated enhanced asymmetry in the polymer structure due to the introduction of the said new groups. Measuring the peak area in differential scanning …

Hairy Tongue, Marc Zachary Handler, David F. Butler, Drore Eisen, Jeff Burgess, Denis P. Lynch, Gary L. Stafford

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Hairy tongue (lingua villosa) is a commonly observed condition of defective desquamation of the filiform papillae that results from a variety of precipitating factors. ^[1] The condition is most frequently referred to as black hairy tongue (lingua villosa nigra); however, hairy tongue may also appear brown, white, green, pink, or any of a variety of hues depending on the specific etiology and secondary factors (eg, use of colored mouthwashes, breath mints, candies). ^{[2, 3]} See the images below:

Jaw Rotation In Dysarthria Measured With A Single Electromagnetic Articulography Sensor, Jeffrey J. Berry, Andrew Kolb, James Schroeder, Michael T. Johnson

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose This study evaluated a novel method for characterizing jaw rotation using orientation data from a single electromagnetic articulography sensor. This method was optimized for clinical application, and a preliminary examination of clinical feasibility and value was undertaken.

Method The computational adequacy of the single-sensor orientation method was evaluated through comparisons of jaw-rotation histories calculated from dual-sensor positional data for 16 typical talkers. The clinical feasibility and potential value of single-sensor jaw rotation were assessed through comparisons of 7 talkers with dysarthria and 19 typical talkers in connected speech.

Results The single-sensor orientation method allowed faster and safer participant preparation, …

Positive Thinking Training Intervention For Caregivers Of Persons With Autism: Establishing Fidelity, Abir K. Bekhet

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

More than 3.5 million in the US are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and caregivers experience stress that adversely affects their well-being. Positive thinking training (PTT) intervention can minimize that stress. However, before testing the effectiveness of PTT, its fidelity must be established. This pilot intervention trial examined fidelity of an online PTT intervention for ASD caregivers with a random assignment of 73 caregivers to either the online PTT intervention or to the control group. Quantitative data [Positive Thinking Skills Scale (PTSS)] and qualitative data (online weekly homework) were collected. The mean scores for the PTSS improved for the …

A Method Of Facilitating The Fabrication Of Access Openings For Implant-Supported Complete Fixed Dental Prostheses, Seok-Hwan Cho, Geoffrey A. Thompson

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

This report describes a method for fabricating access openings for implant-supported complete fixed dental prostheses (ICFP) by using a dental milling machine and silicone putty matrix. The method can help clinicians achieve the accurate and precise fabrication of access openings for ICFPs without excessive grinding.

Development Of A Dna-Liposome Complex For Gene Delivery Applications, Morteza Rasoulianboroujeni, G. Kupgan, F. Moghadam, A. Boughdachi, Payam Khoshkenar, J. J. Ambrose, N. Kiaie, Daryoosh Vashaee, J. D. Ramsey, Lobat Tayebi

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

The association structures formed by cationic liposomes and DNA(Deoxyribonucleic acid)-liposome have been effectively utilized as gene carriers in transfection assays. In this research study, cationic liposomes were prepared using a modified lipid film hydration method consisting of a lyophilization step for gene delivery applications. The obtained results demonstrated that the mean particle size had no significant change while the polydispersity (PDI) increased after lyophilization. The mean particle size slightly reduced after lyophilization (520 ± 12 nm to 464 ± 25 nm) while the PDI increased after lyophilization (0.094 ± 0.017 to 0.220 ± 0.004). In addition. The mean particle size …

Oral Health And Dental Anxiety In A German Practice-Based Sample, Arndt Guentsch, Christiane Stier, Gregor F. Raschke, Andre Peisker, Mina D. Fahmy, Harald Kuepper, Ina Schueler

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Objective

Does dental anxiety have an effect on dental and periodontal health?

Methods

Survey data was collected from n = 200 adults (53 % females, average age 49 years) in a cross-sectional study. Dental anxiety was measured with the modified dental anxiety scale (MDAS, score 1–5, the greater the score, the greater the anxiety). Clinical parameters including probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), plaque index (SLI), and bleeding on probing (BoP) as well as the DMFT index were recorded and statistically analyzed.

Results

Rating of dental anxiety was higher in women than in men (65 vs 35 %). Subjects …

Central Xanthoma Of The Jaw Bones: A Benign Tumor, Yeshwant B. Rawal, Srinivasa R. Chandra, James M. Hall

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Extragnathic xanthomas are seen in the bones or as soft tissue masses. They are often associated with hyperlipidemia and are considered as reactive or metabolic lesions. Only 19 cases of xanthomas of the jaws have been reported so far in the English literature. A total of ten cases of central xanthoma of the jaw bones were identified from the Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology biopsy services of the University of Washington and the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, between the years 2000–2016. The demographic and clinical information on these cases was tabulated logically on the basis of age, gender, location …

Evaluation Of Glycated Albumin (Ga) And Ga/Hba1c Ratio For Diagnosis Of Diabetes And Glycemic Control: A Comprehensive Review, Sara Yazdanpanah, Mohammad Rabiee, Mohammadreza Tahriri, Mojgan Abdolrahim, Asodollah Rajab, Hossein E. Jazayeri, Lobat Tayebi

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by chronic high blood glucose concentrations (hyperglycemia). When it is left untreated or improperly managed, it can lead to acute complications including diabetic ketoacidosis and non-ketotic hyperosmolar coma. In addition, possible long-term complications include impotence, nerve damage, stroke, chronic kidney failure, cardiovascular disease, foot ulcers, and retinopathy. Historically, universal methods to measure glycemic control for the diagnosis of diabetes included fasting plasma glucose level (FPG), 2-h plasma glucose (2HP), and random plasma glucose. However, these measurements did not provide information about glycemic control over a long period of time. To …

Hairy Leukoplakia, James E. Cade, Richard P. Vinson, Jeff Burgess, Sanjiv S. Agarwala, Denis P. Lynch, Gary L. Stafford

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Oral hairy leukoplakia (OHL) is a disease of the mucosa first described in 1984. This pathology is associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and occurs mostly in people with HIV infection, both immunocompromised and immunocompetent, and can affect patients who are HIV negative. ^{[1, 2]} The first case in an HIV-negative patient was reported in 1999 in a 56-year-old patient with acute lymphocytic leukemia. Later, many cases were reported in heart, kidney, and bone marrow transplant recipients and patients with hematological malignancies. ^{[3, 4]}

Speech Inconsistency In Children With Childhood Apraxia Of Speech, Language Impairment, And Speech Delay: Depends On The Stimuli, Jenya Iuzzini-Seigel, Tiffany P. Hogan, Jordan R. Green

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

The current research sought to determine (a) if speech inconsistency is a core feature of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) or if it is driven by comorbid language impairment that affects a large subset of children with CAS and (b) if speech inconsistency is a sensitive and specific diagnostic marker that can differentiate between CAS and speech delay.

Effects On Breathing Of Agonists To Μ-Opioid Or GabaA Receptors Dialyzed Into The Ventral Respiratory Column Of Awake And Sleeping Goats, Thomas M. Langer Iii, Suzanne E. Neumueller, Emma Crumley, Nicholas J. Burgraff, Sawan Talwar, Matthew R. Hodges, Lawrence Pan, Hubert V. Forster

Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications

Pulmonary ventilation (V̇_I) in awake and sleeping goats does not change when antagonists to several excitatory G protein-coupled receptors are dialyzed unilaterally into the ventral respiratory column (VRC). Concomitant changes in excitatory neuromodulators in the effluent mock cerebral spinal fluid (mCSF) suggest neuromodulatory compensation. Herein, we studied neuromodulatory compensation during dialysis of agonists to inhibitory G protein-coupled or ionotropic receptors into the VRC. Microtubules were implanted into the VRC of goats for dialysis of mCSF mixed with agonists to either μ-opioid (DAMGO) or GABA_A (muscimol) receptors. We found: (1) V̇_I decreased during unilateral but increased during …

Organic Cation Transporter 3 (Oct3) Is Localized To Intracellular And Surface Membranes In Select Glial And Neuronal Cells Within The Basolateral Amygdaloid Complex Of Both Rats And Mice, Paul J. Gasser, Matthew M. Hurley, June Chan, Virginia M. Pickel

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Organic cation transporter 3 (OCT3) is a high-capacity, low-affinity transporter that mediates corticosterone-sensitive uptake of monoamines including norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, histamine and serotonin. OCT3 is expressed widely throughout the amygdaloid complex and other brain regions where monoamines are key regulators of emotional behaviors affected by stress. However, assessing the contribution of OCT3 to the regulation of monoaminergic neurotransmission and monoamine-dependent regulation of behavior requires fundamental information about the subcellular distribution of OCT3 expression. We used immunofluorescence and immuno-electron microscopy to examine the cellular and subcellular distribution of the transporter in the basolateral amygdaloid complex of the rat and mouse brain. …

Salivary Mmp-9 In The Detection Of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Andre Peisker, Gregor F. Raschke, Mina D. Fahmy, Arndt Guentsch, Korosh Roshanghias, Joschka Hennings, Stefan Schultze-Mosgau

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant tumour of the oral cavity. Detection of OSCC is currently based on clinical oral examination combined with histopathological evaluation of a biopsy sample. Direct contact between saliva and the oral cancer makes measurement of salivary metalloproteinase- 9 (MMP-9) an attractive alternative.

Material and Methods: In total, 30 OSCC patients and 30 healthy controls were included in this prospective study. Saliva samples from both groups were collected, centrifuged and supernatant fluid was subjected to ELISA for assessment of MMP-9. The median salivary MMP-9 values with interquartile range (IQR) of OSCC …

Interleukin-6 Expression In Disc Derangement Of Human Temporomandibular Joint And Association With Osteoarthrosis, Flavio Camejo, Marina Azevedo, Viviane Ambros, Karina Caporal, Andrea Doetzer, Luis Eduardo Almeida, Marcia Olandoski, Lucia Noronha, Paula C. Trevilatto

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

The inflammatory process is a coordinated response that protects host after infection or trauma, involving several molecular reactions. Once the inflammation is closely linked to the process of destruction of the temporomandibular joint, this study aims to examine, by immunohistochemistry, the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6), an important inflammatory marker, in temporomandibular articular discs of patients with anterior disc displacement with (ADDwR) and without reduction (ADDwoR) and its association with osteoarthrosis (OA). Thirty-eight (n = 38) articular discs were divided into two cutoffs: 1) analysis 1: 4 control (acute pathology), 17 ADDwR, 17 ADDwoR; and 2) analysis 2: without OA (n …

Trauma Exposure Among Women In The Pacific Rim, Elizabeth Reeves, Pilar De Bernal, Susan G. Silva, Diva Jaramillo, Tulia Uribe, Agnes Tiwari, Gladys Eugenia Canaval, Maria Eugenia Mendoza Flores, Ruth Ann Belknap, Janice Carrol Humphreys

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

Healthcare professionals who provide services in the immediate or long‐term aftermath of traumatic events need to understand the nature and frequency of traumatic events in the lives of women. However, research on trauma exposure in women has only recently begun to assess events other than intimate partner and sexual violence and has not supported direct statistical comparison of cross‐national and cross‐cultural data. The purpose of this descriptive, correlational study was to describe and compare trauma exposure prevalence and type in community‐based samples of women in the United States, Colombia, and Hong Kong.

Design

Women were recruited through posted notices …

Pediatric Oncology Nurses' Experiences With Prognosis-Related Communication, Amy Rose Newman

Dissertations (1934 -)

Health care providers (HCPs) in pediatric oncology are faced with the challenge of communicating the devastating news of a cancer diagnosis and prognosis. This type of communication can be referred to as prognosis-related communication (PRC). While the initial conversation with the patient and family regarding prognosis is generally considered the responsibility of the physician, patients and family members will subsequently turn to nurses for clarification of the information presented. If nurses are excluded from initial conversations, they may feel as though they are “working in the dark,” trying to answer questions while not contradicting what the physician said. This strained …