Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Frequency Response Of Synthetic Vocal Fold Models With Linear And Nonlinear Material Properties, Stephanie M. Shaw

Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies have shown the importance of cricothyroid muscle activation in altering fundamental frequency in the human voice. Other studies have investigated the non-linear properties of vocal fold tissue and the impact of this non-linearity on frequency response. Several physical models of the vocal folds have been made for research purposes. However, all have been isotropic in nature with linear stress-strain properties. The purpose of this study was to create a physical model with non-linear stress-strain properties to investigate the frequency response of the model as cricothyroid muscle activation was simulated (in other words, as the vocal folds were stretched …

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Are Emergency Department Providers Identifying Which Patients Are At Risk?, Barbara Kay Stuart

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Identify patients with specific emergency department (ED) discharge diagnoses who later report symptoms associated with a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), compare frequency and severity of MTBI symptoms by discharge diagnoses, investigate the frequency of head injury education provided to ED patients with each diagnosis, and finally, to learn what type of changes have occurred in the lives of patients as a result of their injury.

Methods: Fifty-two ED patients, aged 18 to 28 who were at least two weeks post injury, spoke English and were discharged with a diagnosis of concussion/closed head injury (CHI), head laceration, motor vehicle …

The Prevalence Of Postpartum Depression In Hispanic Immigrant Women, Nissa Breann Lucero

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of postpartum depression among Hispanic immigrant women seeking healthcare services at a community health clinic.

Data Sources: Hispanic immigrant women were recruited. Out of 116 study participants, 96 women were in the final sample. Using the Beck PDSS-Spanish version, women were screened for symptoms of postpartum depression.

Conclusions: The prevalence rate of significant symptoms of PPD was 54.2% for the entire sample of 96 women. Nearly 66% of women who screened positive for symptoms of PPD scored above the listed cutoff score for suicidal thoughts. Women were divided into …

Resistance Exercise And Vascular Function: Training And Obesity-Related Effects, Grayson Lipford

Theses and Dissertations

Endothelial dysfunction, or the inability of an artery to dilate sufficiently when subjected to excessive shear stress, serves both as a predictor of future cardiovascular events as well as an early indication of atherosclerosis. Several chronic disease states, including obesity, have been shown to alter endothelial function, which may be mediated through circulating pro- and anti-inflammatory adipokines. Still, the mechanisms by which obesity-related low-grade inflammation alters endothelial function are not fully elucidated. Acute and chronic endurance exercise training has previously been shown to be effective in improving endothelial function; however, chronic resistance exercise training is not universally regarded as beneficial …

An Acoustic And Perceptual Investigation Of Contrastive Stress In Children, Anita Susan Dromey

Theses and Dissertations

Key aspects of prosody have been studied in adults for a number of years; however, less attention has been paid to the acoustic patterns of prosody in children. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate how a group of 20 pre-adolescent children use prosody to mark contrastive stress compared to a control group of adult speakers. It was of interest to investigate whether the children's use of prosody differed between boys and girls or the part of speech being emphasized. The prosodic patterns of contrastive stress were evaluated in terms of duration, fundamental frequency, and intensity change …

Factors Influencing A Military Blood Donor’S Intention To Donate: An Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Andrew Schnaubelt

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, blood product availability is dependent entirely on donations from volunteer blood donors. Current trends in blood collection and utilization raise concerns about the ability to meet future demands for blood products. At a time of high demand and deferrals, the Armed Services Blood Program has been unable to meet its requirements for blood and consequently needs to purchase blood from civilian agencies to meet the dual demands of the military community at home, as well as those deployed around the world. This creates a need to better understand the military blood donor in an effort to …

Variability Of Syntactic Complexity In Persons With And Without Multiple Sclerosis, Kristin Diane Bjorkman

Theses and Dissertations

Several recent studies have suggested that persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) have diminished syntactic complexity. A greater variability in responses to a variety of tasks has also been noted for persons with MS. However, naturalistic data on syntactic complexity and the complexity's variability in persons with MS have not been examined. In the present study, 8 volunteers with MS (age 18-70 years) and 10 adults without MS participated in both a 15-minute conversational language sample and a sentence completion task in two different sessions. No significant differences were found between groups on any measure, and variability within the groups was …

Development Of Psychometrically Equivalent Speech Recognition Threshold Materials For Native Speakers Of Samoan, Jennifer Lane Newman

Theses and Dissertations

The speech recognition threshold (SRT) is an important measure, as it validates the pure-tone average (PTA), assists in the diagnosis and prognosis of hearing impairments, and aids in the identification of non-organic hearing impairments. Research has shown that in order for SRT testing to yield valid and reliable measures, testing needs to be performed in the patient's native language. There are currently no published materials for SRT testing in the Samoan language. As a result, audiologists are testing patients with English materials or other materials not of the patient's native language. Results produced from this manner of testing are confounded …

Accuracy Of English Speakers Administering Word Recognition Score Tests In Mandarin, Kaylene Barrett Polley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of English-speakers in determining the word recognition score of native Taiwan Mandarin-speakers. Digitally recorded Mandarin word lists were presented to 10 native Mandarin-speakers from Taiwan (five male, five female), from whom oral and written responses were collected. Oral responses were scored by 30 native English-speakers, 15 of which had no experience with Mandarin and 15 with two to three years of college-level Mandarin courses or equivalent knowledge of Mandarin. The judges who had experience with Mandarin were able to score the WRS tests with 97% accuracy (with scores ranging from …

Understanding The Perspective Of Adolescent Siblings Of Children With Down Syndrome Who Have Multiple Health Problems, Carol Ann Graff

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to obtain information from adolescent siblings of children with Down syndrome (CWDS) regarding their perceptions of living with a child who has Down syndrome (DS). Twenty-three adolescents between 12 and 19 years of age who lived with a child who had DS and additional health problems including cardiac, endocrine, gastrointestinal, hematological, neurological, and behavioral conditions were interviewed individually. After examining the tape recorded interviews, major themes revealed both positive and negative aspects of living with a child with DS who has major health problems. However, overall the adolescents reflected more positive experiences …

Regional Heterogeneity And Diversity Of Astrocytes In Response To Hiv-1 Proteins And Morphine, Wen Chen

Theses and Dissertations

HIV-infected individuals who abuse opiates have been found to have a higher incidence and a faster progression of HIV encephalitis. Astrocytes, the major support cells in the CNS, are known to play a critical role in the HIV neuropathy. Although astrocytes tend not to be productively infected by the HIV-1 virus, dysregulation of their pro- and anti- inflammatory cytokines/chemokines secretion is usually neurotoxic. Glutamate transport in astrocytes is reported to be impaired as well, which result in extrasynaptic excitatory neurotransmitter accumulation and over stimulation of postsynaptic neurons. It is long known that astrocytes from different brain regions have diverse responses …

Children Adopted Internationally Examining Developmental Status At Arrival And Six Month Follow Up, Ann Mccormick

Theses and Dissertations

In the past 5 years, almost 100,000 children have been internationally adopted. Research suggests that many of these children have growth and developmental delays, but few large scale studies have been completed. In the current study data obtained from a restrospective chart review of 534 children followed in the International Adoption Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center between 1999 and 2007 was analyzed. Prevalence of developmental delays and sensory processing issues initially and after 6 months in country, the relationship of delays/issues with previously identified risk factors, and the frequency of recommendations for early intervention (EI) and therapy services …

Normal Masking Level Difference Parameters For Use In The Clinical Evaluation Of Auditory Processing Disorders, Maria Noelle Burnham

Theses and Dissertations

Masking Level Difference (MLD) tests are an established component of auditory processing test batteries; however, normative data for these tests vary according to procedure. In this study, forty normal, native-English speaking adults between the ages of 18 and 26 were tested for MLD via a newly developed computer software program using both an adaptive procedure (MLDA) and a Bekesy procedure (MLDB). The results from the two procedures were analyzed for sex differences and compared with each other. For both the MLDA and MLDB, the results showed statistically significant sex differences in the masked thresholds used to obtain the MLD (NoSo …

The Relationship Between Acoustic And Kinematic Measures Of Diphthong Production, Gwi-Ok Jang

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between acoustic and kinematic measures of diphthong production in 11 individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 11 neurologically healthy control speakers. The participants produced four diphthongs: /ɔɪ/, /aʊ/, /aɪ/, /eɪ/. These sounds were spoken in a sentence context. Their speech audio signal was recorded with a microphone and their tongue movements were recorded with a magnetic tracking system. The first and second formants (F1 and F2) were computed with acoustic analysis software, and these signals were time-aligned with the vertical and anteroposterior magnet movement records. Pearson correlations between F1 and …

The Prevalence Of Maxillary Altered Passive Eruption In A Dental School Population., Francisco Carlos

Theses and Dissertations

AIM: The aim of this investigation is to determine the prevalence of maxillary altered passive eruption in a dental school population. METHODS: 100 subjects were examined clinically and had models fabricated of their maxilla. Demographic, periodontal, cast measurements were recorded for each subject. Demographic variables recorded included age, gender, and ethnicity, history of orthodontic treatment, presence of incisal /occlusal wear, appearance of gingival excess, and presence of gingival asymmetry. Measurements made on cast included clinical crown length, clinical crown width, papillary height, and distance from the lateral gingival zenith to the gingival aesthetic line. Clinical crown width-to-length ratio was calculated. …

The Elan Event-Related Potential In Children 5 To 12 Years Of Age, Melissa Crandall

Theses and Dissertations

The examination of Event Related Potentials during language processing tasks provides valuable information of how the brain processes language over time. In the current study, the development of the early left anterior negativity (ELAN) was analyzed in young children. Previous research has described the ELAN as a negative waveform elicited during syntactic processing between 200 and 500 ms post linguistic stimuli. Thirty children from 5 to 12 years of age listened to sentences that were linguistically correct, syntactically incorrect, or semantically incorrect. Sentences were presented for right monaural, left monaural, and binaural ear conditions to determine possible differences related to …

Perception Of Soft Tissue Laser Use In Orthodontic Practice: A Survey Of Orthodontists, Periodontists, And General Dentists, Brandon Burke

Theses and Dissertations

Recently, soft tissue lasers have been introduced into orthodontic practice to perform procedures that were traditionally referred to other dental professionals. The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of orthodontists, periodontists, and general dentists regarding the use of soft tissue lasers by orthodontists. The ultimate goal was to facilitate communication among dental professionals and improve the care of orthodontic patients requiring management of soft tissues. A survey was developed to evaluate and compare the current opinions of orthodontists (n=330), periodontists (n=171), and general dentists (n=77) regarding orthodontists’ use of soft tissue lasers. When compared to orthodontists and …

Ex Vivo Expansion Of Tumor-Specific T Cells With Sequential Common Gamma Chain Cytokines Render Them Refractory To Mdsc Upon Adoptive Immunotherapy., Debasmita Basu

Theses and Dissertations

Myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are heterogeneous population of immature cells at various stages of differentiation, characterized by the presence of CD11b and Gr1 in mice. They are major contributors of the tumor-induced immune suppression against the tumors. So far, various strategies have been introduced to overcome the endogenous MDSCs. Most of these approaches rely on the elimination of MDSCs and it is not clear whether tumor-reactive T cells may be differentiated towards phenotypes that are refractory to MDSCc. Our laboratory has previously shown that high affinity T cells derived from tumor-sensitized wild-type FVB mice and expanded ex vivo with …

Chronic Care Management To Improve Adherence: A Comparison Of Approaches In The Care Of Diabetes, Mary Ellen Gervais

Theses and Dissertations

Managing chronic conditions is seen as the public health challenge of the 21st century. The number of Americans with chronic conditions is expected to rise to 157 million by 2020. Diabetes prevalence and costs contribute to the growing problem. Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in 2006. Nationally, the cost of diabetes is expected to be $138 billion in 2020. Diabetes leads to multiple and significant complications. The desired outcomes of management of chronic conditions are improvement in clinical status, avoidance of complications, prevention of co-morbid conditions and avoidance of the costs associated with complications. In the 1990s, …

Perceptions Of The Long-Term Effects Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Cynthia Mellitz

Theses and Dissertations

The perceptions of how Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) survivors perceive themselves and are perceived by others was evaluated. The aims of the study were to use Attribution Theory and the Traumagenic Model in evaluating whether perceptions were mediated by assertiveness, self-esteem, and interpersonal relationships. Additionally examining if CSA survivors differ in perceived levels of these attributes from non-CSA individuals within a college sample was of interest. 35% of the sample exhibited a variety of CSA experiences, with the majority being minimal contact experiences (i.e. sexual invitations or sexual hugging/kissing). Regression analyses indicated that CSA survivors did not differ in their …

Language As A Predictor Of Reticence In Children With Language Impairment, Patricia Anne Moses

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between language skills and reticence in 37 children with language impairment (LI) and 37 typically developing peers matched for age (ranging from 6;11 to 10;1 years) and gender. Subtests of the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (E. Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999) were used to evaluate language ability. The Teacher Behavior Rating Scale (C. H. Hart & C. C. Robinson, 1996) was used to evaluate reticence. The current study replicated previous research by documenting significantly higher levels of reticence in children with LI when compared to typical peers. Significant group differences were also found in paragraph comprehension, syntax …

Understanding Nurses’ Experiences Of Providing End-Of-Life Care In The United States Hospital Setting, Susan Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Nurses perform a vital role in the care of dying patients and their families. Hence, experiences of nurses are a meaningful source from which to advance holistic end-of-life care. In this study, a hermeneutic phenomenological perspective was used to explore the phenomenon of end-of-life nursing care. Details derived from a scientific exploration into the experiences of 13 registered nurses who provided care for patients and families at end-of-life in the inpatient hospital setting offer understandings regarding this important phenomenon. The hermeneutic phenomenological methods of Max van Manen guided data collection and analysis. Three main themes described the participants’ experience of …

The Effects Of Bfgf Treatment In The Aged Brain Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Michael Zeigler

Theses and Dissertations

The mature mammalian brain continually generates new neurons in the subventricular zone and hippocampus throughout life. Adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus is associated with hippocampal-dependent learning and memory function. During aging, this endogenous neurogenic potential is reduced which is accompanied by decreased cognitive function seen in the aging population. We have previously found that the injured adult brain shows heightened levels of endogenous neurogenesis and this response is associated with innate cognitive recovery. We have also found that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), a potent neurotrophic polypeptide, can enhance injury-induced hippocampal neurogenesis and improve cognitive recovery following TBI. In this …

Establishing Normal Psychoacoustic Parameters Using Adaptive Procedures For The Clinical Assessment Of Psychoacoustic Phenomenon, Maria Noelle Burnham

Theses and Dissertations

Masking Level Difference (MLD) tests are an established component of auditory processing test batteries; however, normative data for these tests vary according to procedure. In this study, forty normal, native-English speaking adults between the ages of 18 and 26 were tested for MLD via a newly developed computer software program using both an adaptive procedure (MLDA) and a Bekesy procedure (MLDB). The results from the two procedures were analyzed for sex differences and compared with each other. For both the MLDA and MLDB, the results showed statistically significant sex differences in the masked thresholds used to obtain the MLD (NoSo …

The Effects Of Parental Divorce On The Views Of Romantic Relationships And Marriages Of The Children Involved, Melissa D'Agostino

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the occurrence of parental divorce resulted in negative views and experiences regarding the romantic relationships of the offspring. Four surveys were administered to undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses at Rowan University. The first survey was used for informational purposes to group participants into two group (those from intact families and those from non-intact families) and to determine the current relationship status of all participants. The following three surveys addressed avoidant behaviors, anxiety level, the presence of conflict, and satisfaction regarding past or present romantic relationships. The data was analyzed for …

The Lived Experience Of Faith Community Nurses Living The Call To Health Ministry, Deborah Mobley

Theses and Dissertations

Faith community nursing is one of the newest specialized practices of professional nursing. A faith community nurse is an actively registered professional nurse, who serves as a paid or volunteer staff member in a faith community. The faith community nurse promotes health and wholism of the faith community, its groups, families, and individual members. A faith community, as in a church, synagogue or mosque, is an organization of individuals and families who share common beliefs, values, religious doctrine, and faith practices that influence their lives. The faith community functions as a client system for the faith community nurse. The purpose …

The Association Between Teen Parenthood And Marital Status Among Women, Amy Feinberg

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Teen pregnancy and teen parenting are prevalent and significant public health issues. Teen parenting also has many social and economic consequences for mother and family. Single parenthood is associated with increased financial, work and child care strains compared to a more traditional family type. Therefore, the impact of teen pregnancy on marital status needs to be investigated. This study examines the association between teen parenthood and future marital status. Methods: The 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle 6 was analyzed. This study included 12398 women age 20 – 44 years who had children. Teen parenthood was defined as …

Chronic Self-Injury And Suicidality In Borderline Personality Disorder And Its Treatments, Megan Perry

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the ethical considerations and ways of treating chronic suicidality in people with Borderline Personality Disorder. A sample of 62 clinicians working in the mental health field was surveyed. As predicted, the degree held by the participant, the type of organization the participant worked for, their occupation/title, type of treatment modality and years of experience were all related to how they responded to the questions on the survey. Unexpectedly, the sex of the participant was also related to how participants responded.

Identification And Characterization Of A Second Wolfram Syndrome Gene, Sami Amr

Theses and Dissertations

Wolfram Syndrome (WFS) is a debilitating autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by juvenile onset insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (DM) and optic atrophy (OA) as well as a number of neurological and endocrine complications that result in early death due to respiratory complications. Previous research has mapped Wolfram syndrome to chromosome 4p16.1 and the disease has been attributed to mutations in the WFS1 gene affecting the WFS1 protein (wolframin), an ER membrane glycoprotein that plays an important role in the unfolded protein response (UPR) and in intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis. An additional locus for WFS on chromosome 4q22-24 was identified by linkage …

Efficacy Of Orthodontic Bonding Agents In Preventing Demineralization Around Brackets, Morris Poole

Theses and Dissertations

Enamel demineralization is a concern in orthodontic patients with poor oral hygiene. To curtail this problem, amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) containing adhesives have been developed. The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the cariostatic potential of an ACP containing orthodontic bonding agent adjacent to brackets. Sixty human molars were randomly distributed into: ACP adhesive, resin modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC), and conventional composite resin groups (N=20 each). Brackets were bonded following the manufacturer’s instructions. Tooth enamel through a 2mm window around the brackets was cycled in demineralization (6 hrs) and remineralization (18 hrs) solutions. After 14 days, …