Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Effect Of Cocaine On Rabbit Renin Angiotensin System: Cocaine Detection In Adult And Fetal Tissue And Adult Plasma Using Ion Mobility Spectrometry, Barbara Belinda Guinn

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) was used to detect cocaine and/or the metabolite ecgonine methyl ester (EME) in tissue and plasma samples from male, maternal, and fetal New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. EME was consistently detected in all adult plasma samples 5 minutes after the injection of cocaine hydrochloride (cocaine•HCI, 2 mg/kg). EME was also in the liver, kidneys, testicles, and ovaries. Five minutes after the injection of cocaine•HCI, the male arterial pressure (MAP) increased from a mean control value of 79 ± 3.2 mmHg to 88 ± 4.1 mmHg, and the pCO₂ increased from a control value of28 ± …

Oral Health Assessment Of Renal Transplant Recipients Undergoing Immunosuppressant Therapy, Coral Diaz

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the oral health, prevalence of intraoral manifestations/infections. and periodontal disease status of renal transplant recipients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy to determine their oral health needs. A purposive sample was selected via the Renal Transplant Center. Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. and Nephrology Associates of Tidewater LTD from which 22 renal transplant recipients who agreed to participate were examined. Three subgroups of the population were studied: individuals with a renal transplant for less than one year. individuals with a renal transplant for one to three years and individuals with a renal transplant for more than …

Electromyography (Emg) Signal Classification By Artificial Neural Networks, Behnam Dashtipour

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

EMG signal processing is one of the active fields of biomedical signal processing. One unanswered question is how to determine whether a muscle is fatigued by analyzing the EMG signal. Fatigue detection could be useful in several different practical situations. There are several studies which show there are differences between EMG signal features before fatigue and after fatigue. Generally studies are based on an analytical analysis of the EMG signal instead of a quantitative analysis. In all previous studies in EMG signal processing for fatigue/nonfatigue detection, the result is that there exist some differences between the EMG signal before muscle …

Oral Cancer Screening, Damon Omar Watson

Honors Theses

Cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx have increased throughout the decades. Since oral cancer represents a small percentage of the total cancers in the United States, it is often overlooked. Though this is the case, the results of this cancer can be devastating. To address this issue, an Oral Cancer Screening was organized on August 14, 1996 at the West Michigan Cancer Center in Kalamazoo. This was a joint collaboration between the author, the West Michigan Cancer Center, and the Kalamazoo Valley Dental Society. This event allowed research to take place concerning the data obtained. Confidential results and information …

Pregnancy Outcomes: A Study Testing A Model For Predicting Health Outcomes In Pregnancy, Tamera Ann Hart-Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

There is a persistent relationship between socioeconomic status and physical health outcomes found in the literature; however the variables mediating this relationship are many, and ways that they interact with each other are complex. The goal of understanding this relationship is to decrease the disparity in health by socioeconomic status.

This study tested a biopsychosocial model proposed by David Williams (1990) to explain the relationship between socioeconomic status and physical health outcomes. The model included the following latent factors: demographics, socioeconomic status, biomedical risk, medical care, psychosocial variables, and health outcomes. The model was tested through a secondary data analysis. …

The Oncology Patient's Perception Of Support For The Use Of Alternative Therapies By Their Health Care Provider, Michelle Lynn Witkop

Masters Theses

The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine if patients with cancer communicated their use of alternative therapies to their health care providers, to identify factors that influenced their decision to share (or not to share) this information with the health care provider, to describe the types of alternative therapy they were using, to identify where information on the chosen alternative therapy was obtained, and to discuss the factors that influenced their use of an alternative therapy. A convenience sample of 29 subjects from five oncology practices in northwestern lower Michigan responded to questionnaires assessing their use of alternative …

Musicians' Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Problems: Medical Care From The Patients' Perspective, Susan Gail Stephenson

Masters Theses

This study was conducted to add to the body of knowledge concerning musicians' musculoskeletal problems and to investigate whether an occupational therapy specialty is warranted for this field of medicine. An original questionnaire was constructed and administered to the members of three symphony orchestras. Three primary sections of the questionnaire address participants' demographic and occupational characteristics, symptom and treatment experiences, and opinions on medical care. Descriptive data are reported for all sections of the questionnaire. Particular attention is given to the effectiveness of traditional occupational and physical· therapy treatments. Data are provided regarding the relationships between variables: (a) certain personal …

Gross Estimation: A Study Of The Clinical Validity For Measuring Intelligibility, Heather Gail Clarke

Dissertations and Theses

Intelligibility is the most fundamental factor for successful speech communication. Measurements of speech intelligibility carry important clinical consequences that relate to description of severity, need for intervention, intervention goals, service delivery options, and treatment efficacy. It is important, therefore, that speech-language pathologists use an approach that reflects an accurate and valid measure of intelligibility. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the two seemingly most common procedures used by practicing speech-language pathologists for measuring speech intelligibility: the gross estimation of intelligibility procedure, and the orthographic transcription procedure. Twelve 100-word connected speech samples were analyzed by 4 …

An Investigation Of The Divine Proportion In Varying Facial Types, Gender And Age Groups, Chris A. Coleman

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This retrospective study evaluated the 26 cephalometric measurements which comprise 13 ratios that were purposed by Robert M. Ricketts to be Divine Proportions. The hypothesis that was tested in this study was one that stated that these 13 ratios were not only Divine Proportions, but were constant in all facial types, in both genders and in all stages of growth. In an effort to test this hypothesis, cephalographs were chosen at random from the files of Dr. Ruel Bench, which are currently housed in the Ricketts Research Library at Loma Linda University. Each film tracing was reviewed for accuracy and …

A Study Of Craniofacial Growth In Infant Heart Transplant Recipients Receiving Cyclosporine, David G. Niles

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Cyclosporine is an effective immunosuppressive drug that has found widespread application in organ transplantation. However, a few studies have implicated cyclosporine as adversely affecting craniofacial growth in the pediatric population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible untoward effects of cyclosporine long-term on craniofacial growth in a group of infant heart transplantation recipients. A prospective group (n=28) of eighteen Caucasian children (9 female and 9 male, ages 4-10 years) and ten Hispanic children (3 female and 7 male, ages 4-10 years) were evaluated. None of the subjects had undergone orthodontic therapy. All subjects had heart transplantation before …

Study Of The Hiv-1 Gene Regulatory Proteins Tat And Rev By The Two-Hybrid System In Yeast, David Allen Elkins

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Tat and Rev, small proteins encoded by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1), regulate its pattern of gene expression within infected cells. Tat increases transcription from the integrated pro virus by approximately a thousand-fold; Rev effects a shift in the pattern of splicing of the viral mRNA. Both are likely to interact with cellular proteins in executing their respective functions. Tat has additional activities (including neurotoxicity and inhibition of lymphocyte activation) which may be extraneous to its viral functions.

In order to identify cellular proteins interacting with Tat and Rev, the genes for both were cloned into plasmid vectors …

Cellular Responses In Escherichia Coli To Lethal And Sublethal Doses Of Ozone, Indira Ruth Komanapalli

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Ozone is a major component of photochemical smog. High levels of this pollutant, sufficient to affect human health are found in many urban areas worldwide. Though limited studies in humans are supported by extensive findings from animal experiments, a difficulty in interpreting the results of these experiments has lead to an ambiguity on the biochemical mechanism of ozone toxicity. To elucidate the mechanism by which ozone causes cell damage and eventual cell death we conducted a comprehensive study using Escherichia coli K-12 as a model.

Studies on the comparative inactivation of bacteriophage lambda (λ), Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans …

A Comparative Study Of The Permanent Deformation Of Aesthetic Polymer Brackets, Samar Bou Assi

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to Investigate and compare the plastic or permanent deformation of different commercially available aesthetic polymer brackets (American, Ormco, GAC and RMO). It also examined the effect of tying the bracket wings with a wire ligature as well as the effect of thermocycling on the permanent deformation of these brackets.

Seven brackets of each type were tested In each of the three following conditions; group 1; tied with a wire ligature and loaded, group 2; thermocycled and loaded, and group 3: loaded only, with a total of 84 brackets tested. Each bracket was bonded to …

Reference Serum Chemistry And Hematological Values For Spinal Cord Injured Patients, Michael S. Laymon, Antone L. Davis Ii

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Serum chemistry and hematological values from 220 traumatic spinal cord injured patients (157 male and 63 female between the ages of 15-47, with greater than six months from injury) were compiled via chart review. Traumatic spinal cord injured patient’s reference ranges were determined and compared with the general population reference ranges. Reference ranges within the spinal cord population were compared by age, gender, level of injury and chronicity of injury. The reference ranges determined for all groups within this spinal cord population fall within the reference ranges of the general population. This supports recent research which suggests that a decrease …

Effect Of Long-Term Hypoxia On Myocardial Alpha1- Receptors, Bihong T. Chen

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

To determine the developmental changes in myocardial α₁-adrenergic receptor system, we employed [³H-Prazosin] binding technique to characterize α₁-adrenergic receptors in both fetal and adult sheep myocardial ventricular membrane preparations. Myocardial α₁-adrenergic receptor density (Bmax) declined during developmental process with both fetal left ventricle(LV) and fetal right ventricle(RV) having significantly more binding sites than respective adult ventricles. We also demonstrated that the positive inotropic response to the α₁-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine did not differ significantly between the fetal and adult ventricles.

The present study also investigated the effect of long-term high-altitude hypoxemia …

Discharge Outcomes : An Evaluation Of A Functional Index Of Physical Assistance, Jan R. Snell

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between a functional score given to the patient on the day of discharge from an acute setting and the setting to which the patient is discharged. There were 102 subjects (58 female, 44 male) included in the study and their ages ranged from 20 to 91 years (mean age=61.6 years). The following data were collected on all subjects: age, gender, diagnosis, past medical history, duration of hospital stay, duration of physical therapy, reason for discharge, family support, type of insurance, and Physical Assistance Key (PAK) score on …

Assessing The Pragmatic Skills Of Adolescents With And Without Learning Disabilities On A Dramatization Task, Amy L. Juergens

Masters Theses

This study was designed to compare the pragmatic skills of adolescents with and without learning disabilities as measured by a dramatization task. Seventeen high school students with learning disabilities and 17 normal-achieving high school students participated in this study. Twenty scenes were presented verbally to the participants who were instructed to act out the part of a character in each scene, making up the dialogue to fit the scene. The responses were scored for their pragmatic appropriateness and linguistic quality. Task reliability and validity analyses indicated that the dramatization task was an effective measure of key aspects of pragmatic skills. …

The Relationship Of Tooth Size And Arch Form To Arch Depth, Harold C. Avila

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of arch form and tooth size to arch depth measurements of study models (Casts) and their respective lateral cephalometric radiographs (Radiographs) in a population of patients treated to an acceptable occlusion without extraction. One hundred and twenty casts were divided into three tooth size classes within each of four arch form categories. Results showed there was a statistically significant change in the arch depth measurement when tooth size was varied. There was no statistically significant change in the arch depth measurement when arch form was varied. The results showed greater …

Estimating Ibnr Reserves With Robust Statistics, Daniel Cheung

Dissertations

There is often a considerable time lag between an incurred of an accident, such as medical malpractice or product liability, and the time it is reported to the insurance company. These Incurred But Not Reported (IBNR) losses need to be predicted in order to determine the necessary loss reserves. Many actuarial methods have been developed for IBNR reserves estimation. However, none of the methods being used for loss reserving is robust to outliers, nor do they provide adequate statistical inferences to support the actuarial decisions. The rank-based method proposed in this thesis is robust to outliers, and provides statistical inference …

Evaluation Of Patient Satisfaction In The Hypertension Management Clinic, Charu Bahuguna

Master's Projects

Hypertension is a disease that afflicts 50 million Americans. Hypertension is a major risk factor that contributes to coronary, renal, and cerebral artery diseases. In an effort to better serve the patients afflicted with hypertension, a major health maintenance organization has developed a nurse managed hypertension clinic. This hypertension clinic functions in accordance with the Joint National Commission on Hypertension guidelines. This study evaluated the satisfaction of those patients that were served by the health maintenance organization's clinic. The results of the study reflected that, overall, most of the patients surveyed were satisfied by the services they received in the …

Progressive Muscle Relaxation: A Stress Management Program For Nursing Students, Susan Cunningham

Master's Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the use of progressive muscle relaxation reduced the physical complaints of stress among nursing students. This pilot quasi-experimental study used a pretest-posttest design with a convenience sample of five volunteers. Data were collected by the use of the stress-related complaint scale. In this 5-week intervention, students learned about stress management and practiced the use of this progressive muscle relaxation technique as a method for reducing the stress in their life. Stress-related symptoms rated as irritating or higher (3 on a 5 point scale) were tension headaches (3 .2), frequent …

An Hiv/Aids Educational Workshop For Adolescents, Sharron Anne Daggett

Master's Projects

Adolescents are threatened with infection by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (IIlV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Data reveal that the number of adolescents infected with HIV is increasing. Adolescent risk taking behaviors and lack of preventive education are major factors associated with this rise. Family nurse practitioners (FNPs) who care for adolescents have a duty to offer their patients preventive health care. Adolescents can participate by attending HN and AIDS prevention workshops that will present them with facts. Adolescents who attend these workshops will gain the knowledge to protect themselves against mv and AIDS. The workshop in this study was …

El Español En El Condado De Multnomah, La Interpretación Médica Contextual, Y Las Funciones Del Intérprete Médico Profesional (The Spanish Language In Multnomah County, Contextual Medical Interpreting, And The Role Of The Professional Interpreter), Marco Polo Hernández Cuevas

Dissertations and Theses

El objeto de este trabajo es detectar el español hablado en el condado de Multnomah, Oregón, estudiar el significado de contextualidad en el ejercicio de la interpretación médica de español-inglés e inglés-español, y proponer una descripción de funciones para el intérprete basada en el perfil del cliente que solicita servicios en las clínicas públicas de la entidad.

El autor a través de un micro-enfoque coloca al lector en el centro del debate nacional actual acerca del significado de la interpretación contextual y las funciones del intérprete médico profesional; basándose en los censos estadounidenses de 1990 y en reportajes y estudios--tanto …

A Study Of The Level Of Knowledge Of Adult Foster Care Home Providers In Multnomah County In The State Of Oregon About Hearing Loss, Hearing Aids And Communication Strategies, Marsha Peters Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

The level of knowledge about hearing aid use, function, and maintenance of caregivers of the elderly persons who are hearing impaired and residing in adult foster care homes in Multnomah County in the state of Oregon was assessed via a 1 7 question survey. Twenty subjects participated in the study. Subjects' responses demonstrated poor knowledge about this subject and indicated that residents' needs are unmet. The results clearly demonstrate the subjects' limited knowledge of the operation of hearing aids, poor grasp of the basic troubleshooting methods for repair, and inaccurate perceptions of hearing aid adjustment. Access to professional audiologic care …

Comparison Of Intelligibility Estimation And Orthographic Transcription Methods By Preprofessional Speech-Language Pathologists, Kristi M. Mowe

Dissertations and Theses

When the fundamental means of communications is speech, the main component for successful communication is intelligibility. The speech of children with disordered phonologies is often unintelligible; therefore, accurate and reliable methods of measuring intelligibility are essential when determining eligibility, and in selecting and providing appropriate treatment.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the percentage estimation method and the orthographic transcription method when measuring speech intelligibility by preprofessional listeners. For this study, the standard measurement of intelligibility was defined as the percentage of words understood in a continuous speech sample derived from orthographic transcription of the …

Ethnography Of Communication As On Organizational Communication Assessment Tool: A Test Of The Method, Francisca Inez Trujillo-Dalbey

Dissertations and Theses

Professional organizational consultants and researchers performing organizational communication assessments with non-profit boards of directors have few tools available to them and many of these tools under emphasize the centrality of communication and overlook the power-asdomination (Mumby, 1994) issues present in organizations. This study tested the ethnography of communication (Hymes, 1972) as an organizational communication assessment tool with a board of directors of a non-profit organization in Oregon and examined the results by employing Mumby's (1994) construct, thereby conducting a critical ethnography of communication.

This study offers important insights into boards of directors of nonprofit organizations and has important implications for …

An Analysis Of The Calcium And Iron Intake Of Langston University's Track And Basketball Athletes, Dominique Patrice Moore

McCabe Thesis Collection

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA's ) reflect that the average healthy American aged 18-24 years should consume 1,200 mg of calcium daily and 10-12 mg and 15 mg of iron for men and women respectively. These RDA's have not been adjusted for those persons involved in endurance sports. Studies by Telford (1992) and Clarkson (1992) show that endurance athletes suffer from calcium and iron deficiencies. There is a general assumption that athletic coaches are more concerned with the "weigh in" of 4 athletes than overall nutrient requirements. Positive nutrition education should be part of the overall training of athletes. Also, studies …

The Generalization Of Stridency From Treated To Untreated Misarticulated Phonemes, Kathleen Ann Ozanich

Dissertations and Theses

This single-subject study was developed to investigate the potential of treating one misarticulated strident phoneme to induce generalization to other misarticulated strident phonemes. One male, age 4 years 4 months, was trained on /s/ in words. A training program, modified from the Hodson and Paden (1991) phonological cycling approach, was used. Two untreated phonemes from separate and distinct sound classes were monitored as control sounds for across-feature class change. A total of 24 treatment sessions of 50 minutes each were provided. The results from the pretest and posttest showed an increase of 51% correct stridency production for all untreated stridents …

Dna-Protein Cross-Linking By Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids, Gail L. Drew

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are natural plant compounds found in hundreds of plant species worldwide and are reported to have cytotoxic, carcinogenic, antimitotic, and genotoxic activity. PAs are metabolized by the cytochrome P450 (CYP) system to the pyrrole or the N-oxide form. The pyrroles are bifunctional electrophilic alkylators that bind cellular nucleophiles such as DNA and proteins and sirupt normal cell processes, including DNA replication and gene transcription and can cause megalocytosis. The pyrroles dehydrosenecionine (DHSN) and dehydromonocrotaline (DHMO) are among the most potent PA cross-linkers and inducers of megalocytosis. DHSN and DHMO-induced cross-links in cultured normal (MDBK) and neoplastic (MCF7) …

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Information And Intervention Strategies For School, Home, And Therapeutical Settings, Mindy Dawn Anderson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

I was introduced into the world of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome winter quarter, 1996. My goals for that year included researching this topic in order to understand what it was physically, behaviorally, and on a cognitive level. My assignment involved writing a research paper around those characteristics, along with the development of their speech and language, presenting my findings to my classmates, and competing at the USU Scholar's Day competition in May of 1996. I received 2nd place at this competition. During the summer of that year, I researched FAS more to receive the needed resources to compile an annotated bibliography …