Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Silence Is The Loudest Sound, Emma Christian

Honors College

Rhinoceros poaching is an act of killing a rhinoceros in order to take its horn, which is then used for human consumption or for cultural traditions. Both the Asian and the African rhinoceros are targets because of the demand from China, Vietnam, Yemen, and other countries around the world. Traditional Chinese Medicine practice is the main demand for rhinoceros horn and this demand in rhinoceros horn has caused an increase in the black market. Conservation of the rhinoceros is decreasing primarily because the price of rhinoceros horn is more than double the average household income in South Africa, thus making …

Rural Nurses' Perspectives On Their Capacity To Care For Pediatric Patients In Northern And Eastern Maine, Kimberly M. Harvell

Honors College

According to the 2010 U.S. census, approximately 59 million people (19%) in the United States reside in a rural area. More than fifteen percent of the nursing workforce is employed in a rural area. This creates a nurse to patient staffing ratio of 1 nurse for 117 people. This ratio demonstrates a large need for nursing personnel in the rural workforce. With a high patient to nurse ratio, rural nurses can be described to be valuable and in high demand. Rural nurses are valued for their ability to utilize different nursing specialties and care for patients all across the age …

Attitudes And Preventative Health Practices In Relation To Obesity, Brieana Evans

Honors College

Over the past thirty years, obesity has become a health epidemic, affecting a large percentage of the United States population, leading to a decrease in quality of life related to comorbid illnesses, which are directly correlated to being overweight or obese. Due to these comorbid illnesses, obesity places a large fiscal burden on the healthcare system, directly associated with treating related diseases and indirectly through lost production due to “sick days”. In 2013, the American Medical Association ruled to classify obesity as a disease, which has brought about an increased need for preventative health measures. Steps toward obesity prevention are …

Parkinson's Disease: An Experimental Approach To Model The Visuo-Spatial Learning And Memory Deficits And An Analysis Of Evidence Implicating Α-Synuclein In Lewy Body Formation, Caitlyn Dawn Ahlberg

Honors College

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder. Given its prevalence, researching PD is important to world health. The well known motor symptoms of PD are often accompanied by non-motor symptoms (NMS) including visuo-spatial learning and memory deficits. However, the mechanism whereby these NMS occur is unknown. PD is also characterized by the presence of protein aggregates termed Lewy Bodies (LBs). The mechanism whereby LBs form is unclear, although the fibrillization and aggregation of α-synuclein seem to be critical contributing factors.

This thesis reports development of an animal model of PD to study NMS using 6-Hydroxydopamine …

Improving Running Performance Using Non-Running Tasks, Darien Lewis

Honors College

For decades researchers and runners have endeavored to improve endurance running performance. Recent evidence suggests that adding resistance training to a running program can improve running performance. Our purpose was to determine if 6wks of resistance exercise via negative eccentrically-induced work (RENEW), an exercise that increases muscle size, strength, and stiffness, could serve as an effective “non-running” modality for improving running performance. Recreational runners were assigned to a: RENEW (n=7), plyometric (PLYO, n=7), or control (CON, n=7) group. RENEW trained on an eccentric ergometer (3x/wk, 10-30min, 54-66% of peak heart rate) while the PLYO performed …

The Role Of Tnfaip8l1 In The Antiviral Innate Immune System, Campbell Miller

Honors College

The TNFAIP8 gene family is a recently discovered family of immune-related genes that have been implicated in both innate immunity and immune homeostasis. This gene family consists of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-induced protein 8 (TNFAIP8), TNFAIP8L1 (TIPE1), TNFAIP8L2 (TIPE2), and TNFAIP8L3 (TIPE3), of which only two, TNFAIP8 and TIPE2, have been characterized. Previous studies have revealed high sequence homology among family members, as is evident in the collective involvement of TNFIAP8 and TIPE2 in critical immune-related diseases, including cancer and inflammatory disease, respectively. However, TIPE1 has been left relatively uncharacterized, and its role in the context of antiviral innate …

A Study Of Personality Types Found Within The Speech-Language Pathology Profession And The Communication Sciences And Disorders Major, Whitney Norton

Honors College

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was used to analyze the personality types of speech-language pathologists and communication sciences and disorders students. The results are organized by 4 dichotomies: extroversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving. The study analyzed the individual dichotomies as well as personality outcomes as a whole. The study was designed to discover trends within each data point both separately and jointly, aiming to further research on the idea of personality types changing over time. Results suggest that similarities and differences are present in between both data points. The results are discussed in terms of their possible impact on the …

A Study Of The Nutritional Effect Of Grains In The Diet Of A Dog, Kristyn M. Souliere

Honors College

The present study was designed to address the prevalence of the lack of knowledge for what owners are feeding their dogs, and to determine if grain should be within the diet. It was hypothesized that a bag of feed containing protein at no specific level, with a low level of grain will be more beneficial for the animal, and that a diet needs to contain grains. The crude protein, crude fat, and first five ingredients listed were compared for four bags chosen, and to the nutritional requirements for a dog. “Holistic Blend Grain Free”, contained an extremely high amount of …

Altered Integrin Alpha 6 Expression As A Rescue For Muscle Fiber Detachment In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Rose E. Mcglauflin

Honors College

Cells adhere to their extracellular matrix by way of integrins, transmembrane molecules that attach the cytoskeleton to the extracellular basement membrane (one kind of extracellular matrix). In some muscular dystrophies, specific integrins are disrupted and muscle fibers detach from the myotendenous junction and degenerate. This integrin disruption causes a constant cycle of regeneration and degeneration, which greatly harms the tissue over time. Congenital muscular dystrophy affects the integrin alpha 7 gene and prevents the muscle cell from producing the affiliated protein. In an attempt to rescue integrin alpha 7 dystrophies, this project over-expressed another integrin, integrin alpha 6, in zebrafish …

Improved Detection Of Streptococcus Equi Subspecies Equi In Drinking Water, Lily A. Mclaughlin

Honors College

Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi) is the causative agent of strangles, a contagious respiratory disease of horses. Transmission of the bacteria can occur when animals share water sources. Detection of S. equi in water could improve strangles surveillance and move towards eradication of the disease. The aims of this study were to determine the optimal membrane pore size for bacterial retention from an aqueous suspension, to determine the likely dispersion pattern of S. equi contaminated mucus in a water bucket to develop a collection technique to be used by veterinarians, and to find the sensitive range for …

Territorial Aggression Increases Along An Urban Gradient In Resident But Not Migratory Song Sparrows, Darlene Turcotte

Honors College

During the breeding season, birds behave more aggressively toward rivals to maintain and defend territories. Resident birds are thought to be more aggressive than migratory birds because they need to maintain a territory year round. Furthermore, birds in urban environments can exhibit more aggressive behaviors than their rural counterparts because of the bolder behavioral characteristics required to colonize urban habitats. In this study, we investigated how migration strategy and landscape composition interact to affect territory defense in two subspecies of Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia). To evoke an aggressive response, we simulated invasions by broadcasting songs from within a …