Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Health Information Exchange: Growth And Patient Privacy, Niam Yaraghi

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Health Information Exchanges (HIE) provide the electronic movement of health-related information among organizations according to nationally recognized standards. The goal of health information exchange is to facilitate access to and retrieval of clinical data to provide safer, timelier, efficient, effective, equitable, patient-centered care. HIEs are becoming integral parts of the national healthcare reform efforts, chiefly owing to their potential impact on cost reduction and quality enhancement in healthcare services. However, the potential of a HIE platform can only be realized when its multiple constituent users actively participate in using its variety of services. In this research, Yaraghi models HIE systems …

Parental Factors That Influence Swimming In Children And Adolescents, Jennifer Pharr, Carol C. Irwin, Richard L. Irwin

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Swimming can be an important source of physical activity across the life-span. Researchers have found that parents influence physical activity behaviors of their children. The purpose of this study was to determine what parental factors influenced the number of days that children swam. Survey respondents (n = 1,909) from six cities across the United States were surveyed at local YMCAs. Children were found to swim significantly more if their parents encouraged them to swim, members of the family knew how to swim and swam with them, or their parents were not afraid of the children drowning or afraid of …

Development Of A New Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay For The Rapid Detection Of The Oral Pathogenic Bacterium, Selenomonas Noxia, Patrica Cruz-Perez, Arthuro Mehretu, Mark P. Buttner, Katherine M. Howard, Theresa Trice

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background

In recent studies, periodontal health has been linked to being overweight and/or obese. Among common oral bacteria, Selenomonas noxia has been implicated in converting periodontal health to disease, and Selenomonas species have also been found in gastric ulcers. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay for the specific and rapid detection of S. noxia.

Methods

Two oligonucleotide primer pairs and one probe were designed and tested to determine optimal amplification signal with three strains of S. noxia. The PCR assay was tested against fourteen non-target organisms, including …

Tapping To A Slow Tempo In The Presence Of Simple And Complex Musical Meters Reveals Experience-Specific Biases For Processing Music, Sangeeta Ullal-Gupta, Erin E. Hannon, Joel S. Snyder

Psychology Faculty Research

Musical meters vary considerably across cultures, yet relatively little is known about how culture-specific experience influences metrical processing. In Experiment 1, we compared American and Indian listeners' synchronous tapping to slow sequences. Inter-tone intervals contained silence or to-be-ignored rhythms that were designed to induce a simple meter (familiar to Americans and Indians) or a complex meter (familiar only to Indians). A subset of trials contained an abrupt switch from one rhythm to another to assess the disruptive effects of contradicting the initially implied meter. In the unfilled condition, both groups tapped earlier than the target and showed large tap-tone asynchronies …

Residential Treatment For Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Identifying Trajectories Of Change And Predictors Of Treatment Response, Joseph M. Currier, Jason M. Holland, Kent D. Drescher

Psychology Faculty Research

Background

Combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a difficult condition to treat and has been associated with serious medical and economic issues among U.S. military veterans. Distinguishing between treatment responders vs. non-responders in this population has become an important public health priority. This study was conducted to identify pre-treatment characteristics of U.S. veterans with combat-related PTSD that might contribute to favorable and unfavorable responses to high value treatments for this condition.

Method

This study focused on 805 patients who completed a VHA PTSD residential program between 2000 and 2007. These patients completed the PTSD Clinical Checklist at pre-treatment, post-treatment, …

The Comparability Of Men Who Have Sex With Men Recruited From Venue-Time-Space Sampling And Facebook: A Cohort Study, Alfonso C. Hernandez-Romieu, Patrick S. Sullivan, Travis H. Sanchez, Colleen F. Kelley, John L. Peterson, Carlos Del Rio, Laura F. Salazar, Paula M. Frew, Eli S. Rosenberg

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background: Recruiting valid samples of men who have sex with men (MSM) is a key component of the US human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) surveillance and of research studies seeking to improve HIV prevention for MSM. Social media, such as Facebook, may present an opportunity to reach broad samples of MSM, but the extent to which those samples are comparable with men recruited from venue-based, time-space sampling (VBTS) is unknown. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the comparability of MSM recruited via VBTS and Facebook. Methods: HIV-negative and HIV-positive black and white MSM were recruited from June 2010 …

Considering Sport Participation As A Source For Physical Activity Among Adolescents, Jennifer Pharr, Nancy L. Lough

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND:

Studies have shown participation in sport is lower among girls than boys, decreases as students matriculate through high school, is lowest among Black and Hispanic girls and has a positive relationship with SES. With sport recognized as a contributor to physical activity and health in adolescents, consideration of diminishing rates of participation appears warranted. The purpose of this study was to identify patterns related to differences in self-reported sport participation between genders, ethnic groups, grades and SES.

METHODS:

This study was a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of data collected for a sport interest survey. All students in grades 8-11 attending …

Learning From Las Vegas: Gambling, Technology, Capitalism, And Addiction, David T. Courtwright

Occasional Papers

Gambling has always led to addictive behavior in some individuals. However, the number and types of addicted gamblers have changed over time and in response to specific gambling environments. Recent work by historians, journalists, and anthropologists, reviewed in this paper, suggests that the situation worsened during the modern era, and that it has become worse still during the last half century. Technological, organizational, and marketing innovations have “weaponized” gambling, increasing both the likelihood that people will gamble and that they will gamble compulsively—a phenomenon with parallels to several other consumer products, including processed food, digitized games, and psychoactive drugs.

Risk Of Multiple Myeloma In Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Meta-Analysis Of Case-Control And Cohort Studies, Kaini Shen, Gufeng Xu, Qing Wu, Daobin Zhou, Jian Li

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Multiple myeloma is a malignant neoplasm of plasma cells mainly affecting elderly patients. Despite the wealth of information available on therapeutic strategies, the etiology and pathogenesis of myeloma remain unclear. In the current study, a meta-analysis was conducted to assess the possible association between rheumatoid arthritis and myeloma.

Understanding Racial Hiv/Sti Disparities In Black And White Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Multilevel Approach, Patrick S. Sullivan, John Peterson, Eli S. Rosenberg, Colleen F. Kelley, Hannah Cooper, Adam Vaughan, Laura F. Salazar, Paula M. Frew, Gina Wingood, Ralph Diclemente, Carlos Del Rio, Mark Mulligan, Travis H. Sanchez

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background The reasons for black/white disparities in HIV epidemics among men who have sex with men have puzzled researchers for decades. Understanding reasons for these disparities requires looking beyond individual-level behavioral risk to a more comprehensive framework. Methods and Findings

Time To Talk: The Mental Health Of Adults In Nevada, Ramona W. Denby, Sandra D. Owens, Sarah Kern

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

About 11.3% of the adult population in Nevada report a past-year mental illness, with nearly 4% of them experiencing disorders serious enough to impair their functionality. Almost 13% of Nevada adults have substance abuse disorders, this is the second highest statewide substance abuse prevalence rate in the country; the District of Columbia is first at 14.7% of its population (SAMSHA, 2013). With most states (including Nevada) now increasing their mental health care budgets after years of spending cuts—between 2009 and 2012 there was a $4.35-billion drop in state mental health spending (Ollove, 2013)—pertinent questions center on needed treatment, research, and …

Effectiveness Of A Poverty Simulation In Second Life®: Changing Nursing Student Attitudes Toward Poor People, Nancy Menzel, Laura Helen Willson, Jessica Doolen

Nursing Faculty Publications

Social justice is a fundamental value of the nursing profession, challenging educators to instill this professional value when caring for the poor. This randomized controlled trial examined whether an interactive virtual poverty simulation created in Second Life^® would improve nursing students’ empathy with and attributions for people living in poverty, compared to a self-study module. We created a multi-user virtual environment populated with families and individual avatars that represented the demographics contributing to poverty and vulnerability. Participants (N = 51 baccalaureate nursing students) were randomly assigned to either Intervention or Control groups and completed the modified Attitudes toward …

Ambulatory Extracorporeal Arterioveous Co2 Removal Via Subclavian Vessels, Alejandra Macias, Alvaro Rojas-Pena

McNair Poster Presentations

Lung transplantation is the last recourse for patients with severe respiratory failure. However, transplantable lungs do not keep up with the demand, and 15.4% of patients die awaiting transplant. An alternative therapy is extracorporeal life support (ECLS), which uses a pump and an oxygenator to serve as a bridge to transplant. However, this technology limits ambulation and requires ICU care. This novel study implements pumpless arteriovenous (AV) ECLS technology to remove CO2 via the subclavian vessels, providing respiratory support and hypercapnia (excessive CO2 retention) sympton relief for patients while allowing ambulation.

Correlates Of Gambling Disorder, Brittaney Benson-Townsend, N. Clayton Silver

McNair Poster Presentations

Gambling disorder is an addictive behavior in which valuables are wagered in neglect of financial losses and delusions of financial gain. To predict problem gambling behavior, a survey of Machiavellian personalities, money attitudes, and impulsive/compulsive buying behavior was administered to 410 students at UNLV. The results suggested that disordered gambling behavior may be predicted by Money Status scores. Specifically, amorality, money worship, and money vigilance were significant in predicting African-American pathological gambling. For Asians, only money vigilance loaded significantly.

A Computational Perspective Of Schizophrenia, Ernesto H. Bedoy, Geoff Powell, Jefferson Kinney

McNair Poster Presentations

The etiology of schizophrenia remains largely elusive, thus dampening the effectiveness of current treatment strategies. Abnormal neural migration and neurogenesis in the hippocampus have been suggested to be involved in schizophrenia (Jakob & Beckmann, 1994). A few approaches, including computational modeling, have investigated schizophrenia as a network disorder. Computational modeling uses mathematics to predict the behavior of biological systems based on the input of a set of parameters collected from laboratory experiments. In this study, we constructed a computational model to explore the ramifications of additional PV neurons migrating to an aberrant location in the hippocampus and interfering with a …

Staying Together: The Journey Of Healing After Infidelity, Jennifer Bolick, Stephen Fife

McNair Poster Presentations

Relationships are an important aspect of a fulfilling life. They can bring joy and pleasure or pain and devastation. One of the most detrimental issues within the context of committed relationships is infidelity, and subsequently it is one of the most prevalent issues seen in therapy. Although it is a common presenting problem in couples therapy, research on the treatment and healing of infidelity is limited. A majority of the literature is focused on the clinician’s point of view rather than the couples’ perspective. The purpose of this study is to present the results of a qualitative study of eight …

An Introduction: Quantification Of The Hippocampal Bdnf Content Of Maternally Separated Rats Using A Western Blot Protocol, Bernajane M. Palisoc, Laurel M. Pritchard, Emily Hensleigh

McNair Poster Presentations

Among industrialized nations, the United States has the worst incidence of child maltreatment with 3 million cases per year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Studies have shown that individuals who were maltreated when they were young are more susceptible to drug abuse such as alcohol, cocaine, and nicotine (Maddahian, Newcomb, & Bentle, 1988). Early life stress (ELS) causes hyperactivation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary- Adrenal (HPA) Axis (Heim et al., 2000; Plotsky et al., 2005). The dysregulation of the HPA axis causes the secretion of glucocorticoid stress hormones by large amounts, which in return attenuates hippocampal Brain-derived neurotrophic factor …

Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of Teens, Tamieka Meadows, Alexis Kennedy

McNair Poster Presentations

This research explores whether commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) abuse drugs or face greater histories of abuse than their delinquent peers. This research will evaluate whether girls who are CSEC victims experience more abuse of drugs or experience more physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. The study also explores whether CSEC victims witnessed more abuse than non-CSEC victims. A survey of needs and issues facing delinquent girls was given to 130 girls between the ages of 13 to 18. Questions asked about their drug use, abuse history, and whether they witnessed abuse. This research found that many girls who are CSEC …

Runner Identity And Sponsorship: Evaluating The Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon, Nancy L. Lough, Jennifer Pharr, Jason O. Owen

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

The economic value of participation sport has been reported to eclipse spectator sport significantly. However, scholars have acknowledged the relative lack of research on this important segment of the sport market. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between runner identity and race sponsor effectiveness. Surveys were sent to participants in the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. The survey was constructed to measure runner identity, and sponsor effectiveness as interpreted through rates of recognition, recall and purchase intention. Runners were divided into three groups based on their runner identity score. Of the predictive variables, only runner …

Hispanic Construction Workers And Assertiveness Training, Pramen Shrestha, Nancy Menzel

Nursing Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Hispanic (Latino) construction workers experience disparities in occupational death and injury rates in the United States. The cultural value of respect for those in authority may hinder these workers from requesting safe working conditions from supervisors.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether Hispanic construction workers in Las Vegas, Nevada found assertiveness training more useful than non-Hispanic trainees and whether or not they practiced this behavior at work after the training.

METHODS: An assertiveness training simulation was part of fall prevention classes offered to area construction workers. Eight weeks after the training, participants were interviewed by telephone about class topics they found …

Culture, Caregiving, And Health: Exploring The Influence Of Culture On Family Caregiver Experiences, Jennifer Pharr, Carolee Dodge Francis, Christine Terry, Michele Clark

Public Health Faculty Publications

Ethnic minorities are expected to experience a greater demand for family caregiving than non-Latino Whites due to their projected population growth. Although the consensus of researchers on caregiving and culture finds that the caregiving experience differs significantly among cultural/ethnic groups, the question remains as to how cultural values and norms influence the caregiver experiences. We conducted an interpretative, phenomenological qualitative analysis of focus group transcripts from four groups (African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and European American) for cultural influences on caregiving. Data were collected in Nevada between December 7, 2009, and August 20, 2010. Thirty-five caregivers participated in this …

Effects Of Anti-Inflammatory Foods On Hyperglycemia In Type-1 Diabetics, Primrose Martin, Michelle Chino

McNair Poster Presentations

Based on a case study administered by Dr. Charlotte Gerson, an IDDM patient referred to as R.H. reversed hyperglycemic symptoms within ten weeks while adhering to a diet of mainly vegetables and some low-glycemic index fruits. R.H. also ingested mineral supplements and underwent multiple coffee enemas each day (Gerson & Bishop, 2007, p. 56). This self-study hypothesizes that diet alone has a positive correlation coefficient with hyperglycemic blood glucose levels in type-1 diabetics (IDDM). Conducting this self-study contributes information to the limited research and database of alternative methods for managing IDDM hyperglycemia, and provides candid documentation of the effects that …

Pre-Traumatic Factors Of Career-Related Ptsd: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Michael G. Curtis, Russell T. Hurlburt

McNair Poster Presentations

This paper examined and synthesized the (limited) available literature on the pre-traumatic predictors of PTSD, specifically targeting populations in which traumatic events are experienced frequently because of the requirements of their positions, i.e., firefighters, police, and military personnel. A total of 21 articles were included in the final literature review and were used to assess the current available knowledge of the pre-traumatic traits of career-related PTSD, and address potential gaps in the literature. The culmination of this research was used to create specific risk profiles for each of the high risk careers included in this review, firefighters, police, and military …