Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Stillbirth: A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Clinical Encounter For Couples, Michael Q. King

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With approximately 65 stillbirths occurring each day in the United States, a significant number of parents are left to navigate a difficult grieving process. An event like stillbirth presents many individual and relational challenges. For this study, researchers focused on the hospital experience for couples following notification of stillbirth. Interviews were held with 8 couples that had experienced stillbirth within the past 10 years. Researchers wanted to know what similarities and differences existed in how mothers and fathers described the clinical encounter.

The data for this study were collected through interviews. Couples were encouraged to share as much or as …

Development Of An Animal Model For Enterovirus For Evaluation D68 For Screening Of Antiviral Therapies, W. Joseph Evans

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) virus has become more prevalent over the last 15 to 20 years. EV-D68 attacks the respiratory system and can cause severe disease in individuals who have underlying respiratory problems. There have also been reports of individuals with EV-D68 showing signs of neurological system problems and acute flaccid paralysis. Because of the increase in patients with EV-D68 and also the potential for neurological disease, an animal model is needed to study the disease and to evaluate experimental therapies for EV-D68 infection.

To develop the animal model, 4-week old AG129 mice that lack alpha and beta interferon receptors, making …

Emotional Experience During Couple Support Interactions: The Role Of Attachment Anxiety And Avoidance, E. Megan Lachmar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Marriage and Family Therapy clinic at Utah State University conducted a study called the Relationship Checkup in which couple data was collected in an initial 2-hour session and feedback was provided for them in a follow-up 1-hour session. This checkup included completing self-report surveys, having an in-person interview, as well as couple interactions. The current study was carried out within the context of this broader relationship checkup, focusing on the couple support interactions, in which partners discussed a personal issue they would like to change about themselves.

Although a substantial amount of attention has been given to the role …

Contributors To Wisconsin’S Persistent Black-White Gap In Life Expectancy, Max T. Roberts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For decades, blacks have faced shorter life expectancy than their white counterparts. This persistent disparity has led to a gap in life expectancy between the two groups. Nationally, this gap has decreased over the last 40 years. However, this is not the case at the state-level as some states have experienced little or no improvement in the life expectancy gap. Such is the case in Wisconsin, where the life expectancy gap is the largest in the nation for males, and the gap actually has grown for females over the last two decades. This study seeks to examine this persistent gap …

Strength-Based Physiological Profiles Of Ncaa Division I Womens Basketball And Gymnastics Athletes: Implications For Injury Risk Assessment, Curtis Cazier

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive strength-based physiological profile of women’s collegiate basketball and gymnastic athletes; and to make sport-specific comparisons for various isokinetic and maximal and rapid isometric strength characteristics of the knee flexor and extensor muscles. A focus on antagonist muscle balance (hamstrings to quadriceps ratios, H:Q) will help elucidate particular vulnerabilities in these at-risk female athletes. Fourteen Division I collegiate level women’s basketball and 13 women’s gymnastics athletes performed isokinetic and isometric strength testing of the knee extensors and flexors. Outcome measures included absolute and body mass normalized (relative) isokinetic and isometric peak …

Comparison Of Chikungunya Virus Strains In Disease Severity And Susceptibility To T-705 (Favipiravir), In Vitro And In Vivo, Makda Gebre

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Chikungunya is a mosquito-transmitted disease caused by Chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Symptoms of Chikungunya include debilitating joint pain and swelling, fever and rash. CHIKV was first discovered in 1953 in Tanzania, and has since caused periodic outbreaks of disease. The virus reemerged recently in 2004 and has since spread around the world affecting more than 3 million people. The different strains of CHIKV have been grouped into three phylogenetic clades: West African, Asian and East/Central/South African (ECSA). There are no FDA approved medicines or vaccines used to treat or prevent CHIKV infection. The antiviral drug, T-705 (commercially known as Favipiravir), has …

Comparison Of Land And Aquatic Loaded Countermovement Jump Landings In Female Ncaa Division I Collegiate Athletes, Samantha L. Nielson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate alterations in lower extremity kinematics during the landing phase of a countermovement jump when performed in different environments and under multiple external loads. Twenty-four NCAA Divison I collegiate female athletes performed 12 countermovement jumps on land and 12 jumps in water, submerged to the xiphoid process, for a total of 24 jumps. Within each environmental condition, four loading conditions of three jumps each were performed using a weighted vest: Unloaded, 10%, 20%, or 30% of body mass. The hip, knee, and ankle angles were measured as the smallest angles between the major …

Evaluation Of Long-Term Effects Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury On Visual Motor Control Of Ncaa Division I Football Athletes, Kathryn Delost

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Context: Current concussion evaluation assessments rely largely on static measures that may not detect subtle changes in behavior. Dynamic evaluation, such as visual-motor tracking tasks, may reveal subtle and meaningful changes in motor behavior post-concussion. Objective: This study compared measurements of performance regularity over a time series (approximate entropy; ApEn), which was derived from a visual-motor tracking task performed before concussion, post concussion, and at one month, three months, and six months post concussion. ApEn values were compared for number of previous concussions and playing position groups. Design: ApEn values were collected from the visual-motor tracking task, and history of …

Pitch Perception In Preschool-Age Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Megan Lambert

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This research thesis will 1) provide an overview of the psychoacoustics of music perception, particularly as related to the properties of pitch perception in young children and 2) describe the methods and outcomes of an exploratory study to evaluate the efficacy of obtaining pitch perception data from preschool age children with hearing loss. Each child completed a series of three tasks, including coaching and practice, single note perception, and pitch contrasts. All of the children readily understood the single-note pitch perception task. Pitch contrast performance across participants ranged from 50% to 96% correct for the first data collection period and …

Strategies For Increased Lactic Acid Production From Algal Cake Fermentations At Low Ph By Lactobacillus Casei, Tom J. Overbeck

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

We explored using de-oiled algal biomass (algal cake) as a low-value substrate for production of lactic acid in fermentations with Lactobacillus casei, and strategies for increasing lactic acid production at low pH. L. casei 12A algal cake (AC) fermentations showed carbohydrate and amino acid availability limit growth and lactic acid production. These nutritional requirements were effectively addressed with enzymatic hydrolysis of the AC using α-amylase, cellulase, and pepsin. Producing 0.075 g lactic acid per g AC from AC digested with all three enzymes. We explored heterologous expression of the cellulase gene (celE) from Clostridium thermocellum and the …

The Effects Of Previous Concussions On The Physiological Complexity Of Motor Output During A Continuous Isometric Visual-Motor Tracking Task, Adam C. Raikes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The long-term ramifications of single and multiple concussions are unclear, though they exist in the forefront of present social and scientific inquiry. While suicides linked to concussion histories by prominent current and former athletes sensationalize the issue, questions abound as to the safe and timely return to work, sport, and active military duty following a concussive event in addition to the link between concussion history and neurological disorders. As such, identifying lingering or persistent alterations in function following concussion is essential.

Nonlinear characteristics of visual-motor task performance, including the complexity of the performance, provide an avenue for quantifying visual processing, …

Examining Effects Of Technology Level And Reinforcer Arrangements On Preference And Efficacy, Audrey N. Hoffman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Applied behavior analysts use reinforcement to enact socially meaningful outcomes with the individuals that they work with. Identifying the ways in which reinforcers function optimally is an important consideration for behavioral research. Preference for reinforcers, and how effective reinforcers are, may change depending upon several factors. Two important factors to consider are how reinforcers are arranged and the technology level of the reinforcers used. Reinforcers can be delivered following every response in a distributed manner or they can be delivered following several responses in an accumulated manner. Additionally, leisure items used as reinforcers can be classified according to technology level, …

Establishing A Kinetic Assessment Of Reactive Strength, Talin Louder

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three neuromuscular characteristics are identified in Sheppard and Young’s model of agility: concentric strength and power, bilateral symmetry, and reactive strength. Measures of reactive strength attempt to model the neuromuscular regulation of tissue stress and strain. The Coefficient of Reactivity (CoR) is the first known assessment of neuromuscular reactivity. The CoR was developed as an assessment of neuromuscular performance in drop jumping. The construct validity of the CoR was placed in question when Warren Young proposed the Reactive Strength Index (RSI). The RSI improved the theoretical validity of reactive strength assessment since it included a component measure (ground contact time) …

Training Parents In Descriptive Assessment And Function Identification, Makenzie Sip

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is often difficult for parents to address their child’s problem behavior. Children with special needs can display more frequent and intense problem behavior. Therefore, professionals need to help parents of children with special needs identify how to decrease their child’s problem behavior. Professionals help to decrease problem behavior by performing assessments called descriptive assessments to identify why the problem behavior is happening, and then using these assessments to create an appropriate plan of how to prevent and respond to the problem behavior. We examined if parents could be taught the skills necessary to perform descriptive assessments and then use …

A Deeper Look Into The Vastus Medialis: A Stabilizer For The Knee, Connie Nicole Barnes

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Anterior cruciate ligament tears are one of the most common injuries that occur, especially in female athletes. It requires surgery and months of physical therapy to get these athletes back in playing condition. The angle of women’s hips and lack of strength of inner quadriceps muscles enhances the risk of injuries to the knees. One specific muscle that is known for being a stabilizer of the knee and may help in preventing ACL tears is the vastus medialis. By understanding what exercises activate this muscle the most, conditioning plans and preventative workouts need to be created to help female athletes …