Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Oral Health Status Of Individuals On Renal Dialysis, Kimberley Naugle

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to perform oral assessments on individuals undergoing renal dialysis in Hampton Roads health care facilities to determine their oral health status. A purposive sample was identified via the Sentara Health System in Hampton Roads, from which individuals on renal dialysis who agreed to participate in the study were selected.

Three subgroups of the population were studied: those who have been on renal dialysis for less than a year, individuals on renal dialysis for one to three years and those on renal dialysis for longer than three years.

The Periodontal Disease Index by Ramfjord (1967) …

Passage Or Pathology: Current Attitudes Toward Women's Aging In The Literature Of Menopause, Kaaren Gearhart Ancarrow

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Menopause is currently portrayed in the medical literature as a pathological 11 process resulting from "hormone deficiency." However, feminist writers contend that the climacteric is part of the normal female aging process and oppose the medicalization of menopause and the consequent inevitable hormone replacement therapy (HR T) promoted by the hegemonic medical and pharmaceutical industries. This paper explores the historical development of these two paradigms of menopause and their manifestations in samples of three classes of contemporary literature on the subject: gynecological textbooks, popular advice books written by physicians, and women's accounts. Five major themes are investigated using quantitative and …

Telemedicine: Discovering And Overcoming The Barriers, Dennis Mcclain-Furmanski

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

Telemedicine is the use of teleconmrunications for medical diagnosis and patient care from a distance. This multimedia computer based medium serves as an aid to decision making, a means of transmission of care-related data and as a channel for collaborative care management between a provider and a patient. It is of greatest utility in remote areas, or in other cases where transportation of either provider or patient would be problematic or economically less feasible than the telemedicine alternative.

This study examined the current capabilities of the computer hardware and software necessary to implement a telemedicine system. It found that current …

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv)/Hepatitis B Virus (Hbv) Risk Perception Related To Needlestick Injuries At A Medical School In Norfolk, Virginia, Ronald B. Hartman

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

A limited number of studies have been conducted to assess the perceptions of risk of medical students and residents for acquiring Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) via percutaneous (needlestick) injuries while performing clinical training. The purpose of this study is to investigate these perceptions of risk, and to determine whether there is an association between a high perception of risk and a low incidence of needlestick injury. The method of investigation was a four-page survey questionnaire. The instrument was investigated for reliability by use of a pilot study with a small group of medical students and …

Comparison Of Curriculum Content On Behavioral Strategies For Managing Anxious Clients In Associate And Baccalaureate Degree Dental Hygiene Programs In The United States, Darnyl Marie King

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

Dental anxiety, a pervasive problem in the general population, is an important client management concern for dental hygienists. This study sought to determine the type and amount of instruction in United States dental hygiene programs in terms of behavioral strategies for the management of anxious clients, the difference in instruction between associate and baccalaureate degree dental hygiene programs, and the opinions of dental hygiene educators regarding these strategies. A self-designed, 19-item questionnaire entitled the King Behavioral Management Questionnaire was used to obtain data on a sample of 210 accredited dental hygiene programs. Part one of the questionnaire consisted of questions …

Neuronal Toxicity Of Humoral Factors From Patients With Diabetic Neuropathy And Mechanism Of Neuronal Death On Cultured Adrenergic Neurons: Studies Of Autoimmune Pathogenesis In Diabetic Neuropathy, Dong Liu

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Diabetic neuropathy is an extremely common medical problem because of the high frequency of diabetes and its complications. Diabetic neuropathy consists of not one, but many patterns of nerve injury, each potentially with its own discrete pathogenic mechanisms. Evidence is accumulating that indicates autoimmunity plays a role in diabetic peripheral neuropathy. However, the significance of immunopathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy is as yet unclear.

Using the N1E-115 mouse neuroblastoma cell line (NB) as a model of the adrenergic autonomic neuron, we found that sera of IDDM patients with neuropathy inhibit growth and differentiation of adrenergic neurons in culture (Pittenger et al, …

Lead Activation Of A Developmentally Regulated Calcium Channel In Rat Hippocampal Nerve Terminals, Troy E. Rhodes

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Low level lead (Pb²⁺) exposure may produce lasting deficits in learning and memory by altering calcium (Ca²⁺) dependent processes. Isolated presynaptic nerve terminals from rat hippocampus were loaded with the intracellular (Ca²⁺) indicator Fura-2. The changes in cytoplasmic free calcium ([Ca²⁺]_i) were measured by stopped-flow fluorescence spectroscopy following depolarization with elevated potassium on a millisecond time scale (Lentzner et al., 1992). Depolarization promoted a rapid increase in Ca²⁺_i which occured in two kinetically distinguishable phases: a fast component, representing the activity of rapidly inactivating Ca²⁺ channels (τ …

A Test Of An Alternate Calibration Matrix For Niosh Method 7300, Robert T. Vitek

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the analytical results (when determining cadmium, lead, and zinc concentrations) for air sample filters prepared and analyzed according to N:OSH Method 7300, differ significantly, from those obtained when the instrument is calibrated using EPA Method 200.7 acid matrix standards. The null hypothesis was that no statistically significant difference, measured at the 95% confidence level, would exist between results obtained from the two calibration standards. Careful standard and sample preparation, the use of an internal standard, and the application of working standard and working internal standard correction factors served to isolate the …

The Cultural Adaptability Of Dental Hygiene, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Nursing And Physical Therapy Faculty, Irene Mary Connolly

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the cultural adaptability of full time faculty in the College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. The sample consisted of 40 health science faculty representing dental hygiene, medical laboratory sciences, nursing and physical therapy. The principal investigator personally administered the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI), a 50 item instrument, which contains questions to measure the construct cultural adaptability and its four dimensions: emotional resilience, flexibility/openness, perceptual acuity and personal autonomy. The CCAI is not targeted to one particular culture, but rather is designed to be culture general.

Analysis of …

An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay For The Detection Of Cardiac Myoglobin Using Monoclonal Antibodies, Deborah F. Kelly

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

The most prevalent life-threatening disease worldwide, secondary to coronary artery thrombosis is Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). Increases in three clinical markers have been explored as an early means of AMI detection: Cardiac myoglobin, and the two specific cardiac isoforms of Creatine Kinase, CK-MM and CK-MB. However, myoglobin levels have shown to give a more accurate correlation (R = 0.89) than does Creatine Kinase evaluation. Therefore, we have developed a two-site Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) using monoclonal antibodies against myoglobin isolated from human heart tissue. This assay is based on specific anti-genantibody interactions and is sensitive at the nanogram level. We …

Correlates Of The Mmpi-A Immaturity (Imm) Scale In An Adolescent Psychiatric Population, Eric Albert Imhof

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Despite numerous theories of adolescent ego development, there is no objective measure of ego development or maturation targeted for the assessment of adolescents. The Immaturity (IMM) Scale developed for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Adolescent (MMPI-A) was designed to fill this void in adolescent assessment. The present study examined the concurrent validity of the IMM Scale based on sixty-six adolescents (13-18 years old) in an inpatient setting using four prominent measures of maturity, i.e., The Defining Issues Test (DIT), the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT), the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status - Second Revision (EOM-EIS-2), and …

The Assessment Of Osteoinductivity Of Human Allograft Demineralized Bone Matrix By In Vivo And In Vitro Assay Models, Min Zhang

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

The osteoinductive potential (osteoinductivity) is a very important aspect of demineralized bone matrix (DBM) as a biomaterial. This study is directed at establishing qualitative and quantitative assays of the osteoinductivity of human DBM. Further aspects of this study include an assessment of the effects of the production process, matrix characterization, and donor related factors on osteoinductivity of the DBM.

Athymic mice were chosen as the animal model for use in the in vivo bioassay. Implantation of DBM in muscle pouches provided for much higher osteoinductivity (remineralization to 10% calcium) than subcutaneous site implantation (remineralization to 1.6% calcium). Histological observations revealed …

Relationship Between Design Marketing Strategies And Toothbrush Purchases By Consumers, Cynthia Lynn Garvin

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a relationship exists between design marketing strategies of toothbrushes (handle size, color, and shape; brush head size and shape; and bristle firmness and formation of toothbrushes) and toothbrush purchases made by consumers. To understand what consumers preferred, a self-designed, 24 item questionnaire, "Toothbrush Design and Consumer Preferences," was given to a convenience sample of 300 subjects ranging from ages 20 to 60 and over from the Old Dominion University campus in Norfolk, Virginia. Responses from each item were analyzed using frequency and percentages of responses, contingency tables, Kendall's tau b, and …

Numerical Chromosome Abnormalities In Sperm From Oligoasthenoteratozoospermic Patients And Fertile Males, Myung-Geol Pang

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Artificial fertilization protocols have been developed which bypass natural barriers for reproduction. One aspect of infertility which has received little attention is the potential importance of aneuploidy in sperm. To more clearly understand the cytogenetic make-up of sperm from OAT patients, multi-probe, multi-color FISH was performed to determine aneuploidy.

The introduction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has revolutionized protocols used in in vitro fertilization centers. The pregnancies resulting from ICSI suggest an increased frequency of sex chromosome aneuploidy in livebirths. Preliminary data by others' suggest that sperm tail swelling patterns following hypo-osmotic swelling (HOST) can be predictive of fertilizing ability. …