Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

To Vaccinate, Or Not? Health Care Providers And The Hpv Controversy, Nicole Elizabeth Hanbury

Honors Scholar Theses

Gardasil® – the vaccine was first thought to be a medical breakthrough in the fight against cancer, but it quickly became plagued with controversy. Despite wide media coverage, little attention has been paid to today’s health care professionals who are ultimately responsible for prescribing the vaccine, and who may be the most knowledgeable about it. The present study seeks to expand on previous literature by investigating health care providers’ current beliefs and practices with the human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization. It is essential that more recent research be performed in order to encompass current views of the vaccine, post FDA-approval.

Data …

Am 6545: A Novel Peripheral Cb1 Antagonist, Seth Hosmer

Honors Scholar Theses

Obesity and other related metabolic disorders are a common problem in the United States. Consequently, several drug therapies have been developed in an attempt to address this problem. Many older appetite suppressants, such as amphetamines, were dangerous and potentially addictive. For the last few years, the endocannabinoid system was investigated as a potential target for appetite suppression. Unfortunately, early cannabinoid CB1 antagonists came with an unacceptable side effect profile of their own, which is largely due to central actions of these drugs. In an attempt to reduce the side effect profile, researchers are investigating peripherally acting cannabinoid antagonists, which do …

Assessment Of English Language Learners Seeking A Graduate Degree In Speech Language Pathology, Lisa Anne Prushko

Honors Scholar Theses

A shortage of bilingual/bicultural speech language pathologists may reflect a problem with recruitment and retention of bilingual/bicultural students. The purpose of the present study was to survey graduate training programs in speech language pathology to determine typical policies and practices concerning students who apply and are admitted as ELLs. With a growing number of ELL children needing services from a bilingual SLP, it seems that little is being done to address the issue. The problem may be with the reluctance of programs to not only accept ELL students, but there also seems to be a disinclination for any sort of …

A Replicon Trans-Packaging System Reveals The Requirement Of Nonstructural Proteins For The Assembly Of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (Bvdv) Virion, Delin Liang, Limei Chen, Israrul H. Ansari, Laura H. V. G. Gil, Christina L. Topliff, Clayton L. Kelling, Ruben O. Donis

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

A selective trans-packaging system was developed to produce and isolate bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) pseudo-particles with complementing reporter replicons and their packaging proteins expressed in trans with recombinant vaccinia virus. The encapsidation of replicon rNS3-5B was dependent not only on the in trans expression of structural proteins C, Erns, E1 and E2, but also the nonstructural proteins, p7 and contiguous precursor NS2-3-4A. Nonstructural p7, NS4B, NS5A or NS5B could be expressed in cis and in trans with precursor NS2-3-4A without significantly affecting virion assembly efficiency. NS2-3-4A was identified as an in trans functional precursor in virion assembly. BVDV …

Modelling Optimal Location For Pre-Hospital Helicopter Emergency Medical Services, Nadine Schuurman, Nathaniel Bell, Randy L'Heureux, Syed M. Hameed

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Increasing the range and scope of early activation/auto launch helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) may alleviate unnecessary injury mortality that disproportionately affects rural populations. To date, attempts to develop a quantitative framework for the optimal location of HEMS facilities have been absent. METHODS: Our analysis used five years of critical care data from tertiary health care facilities, spatial data on origin of transport and accurate road travel time catchments for tertiary centres. A location optimization model was developed to identify where the expansion of HEMS would cover the greatest population among those currently underserved. The protocol was developed using …

Developing An Assay To Profile Upregulated Trek-1, A Stretch-Activated Potassium Channel, In Prostate Cancer, Susan Abigal Surber

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. The disease prognosis is significantly limited by the finite therapeutic treatments. The limited treatment options are made worse by the significant reduction in the quality of life that often results from the severe side effects produced by these treatments.1 Therefore, any improvements of current treatments would be advantageous to the clinical setting. Recently, TREK-1, a tandem-pore domain (K2P) potassium channel, has been shown to be upregulated in prostate cancer, but absent in normal prostate tissue.2 The observation that TREK-1 expression is correlated with tumor malignancy suggests that …

The Relationship Between Nurse To Population Ratio And State Health Ranking, Jeri Bigbee

Nursing Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between nurse to population ratio and population health, as indicated by state health ranking.

Design: Secondary analysis correlational design.

Sample: The sample consisted of all fifty states in the U.S.

Measurements: Data sources included the United Health Foundation’s 2006 state health rankings, the 2004 National Sample Survey for Registered Nurses, and the U.S. Health Workforce Profile from the New York Center for Health Workforce Studies.

Results: Significant relationships between nurse to population ratio and state health ranking (rho = -.446, p =.001) and 11 of the 18 components of the overall ranking (motor vehicle death …

Nectin-1 Is Degraded In Chlamydia Trachomatis-Infected Genital Epithelial Cells And Is Required For Herpes Simplex Virus Co-Infection-Induced C. Trachomatis Persistence., Jingru Sun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common bacterial STD agent in the US. This bacterium has a unique biphasic developmental cycle in which the infectious elementary body (EB) infects a host mucosal epithelial cell and differentiates into the replicative form (the reticulate body or RB) within a modified vacuole called an inclusion. The RB later divides and develops back into an EB and is released, perpetuating the infectious cycle. When developing chlamydiae are exposed to unfavorable environmental conditions, they deviate from the normal developmental cycle into a non-infectious but viable state termed persistence. Previous data from our …

Striatal Neuroinflammation Promotes Parkinsonism In Rats, Dong-Young Choi, Mei Liu, Randy L. Hunter, Wayne A. Cass, Jignesh D. Pandya, Patrick G. Sullivan, Eun-Joo Shin, Hyoung-Chun Kim, Don M. Gash, Guoying Bing

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with unknown cause, but it has been suggested that neuroinflammation may play a role in pathogenesis of the disease. Neuroinflammatory component in process of PD neurodegeneration was proposed by postmortem, epidemiological and animal model studies. However, it remains unclear how neuroinflammatory factors contribute to dopaminergic neuronal death in PD.

FINDINGS: In this study, we analyzed the relationship among inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-derived NO, mitochondrial dysfunction and dopaminergic neurodegeneration to examine the possibility that microglial neuroinflammation may induce dopaminergic neuronal loss in the substantia nigra. Unilateral injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) …

Reducing Stillbirths: Behavioural And Nutritional Interventions Before And During Pregnancy., Mohammad Yawar Yakoob, Esme V Menezes, Tanya Soomro, Rachel A Haws, Gary L Darmstadt, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Woman and Child Health

Background:The vast majority of global stillbirths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and in many settings, the majority of stillbirths occur antenatally, prior to the onset of labour. Poor nutritional status, lack of antenatal care and a number of behaviours increase women's risk of stillbirth in many resource-poor settings. Interventions to reduce these risks could reduce the resulting burden of stillbirths, but the evidence for the impact of such interventions has not yet been comprehensively evaluated.

Methods:

This second paper of a systematic review of interventions that could plausibly impact stillbirth rates covers 12 different interventions relating to behavioural …

Reducing Stillbirths: Prevention And Management Of Medical Disorders And Infections During Pregnancy., Esme V Menezes, Mohammad Yawar Yakoob, Tanya Soomro, Rachel A Haws, Gary L Darmstadt, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Woman and Child Health

Background:An estimated two-thirds of the world's 3.2 million stillbirths occur antenatally, prior to labour, and are often overlooked in policy and programs. Poorly recognised, untreated or inadequately treated maternal infections such as syphilis and malaria, and maternal conditions including hypertensive disorders, are known risk factors for stillbirth.

Methods:

We undertook a systematic review of the evidence for 16 antenatal interventions with the potential to prevent stillbirths. We searched a range of sources including PubMed and the Cochrane Library. For interventions with prior Cochrane reviews, we conducted additional meta-analyses including eligible newer randomised controlled trials following the Cochrane protocol. We …

Patients Evaluated For Liver Transplant: Transplant List Denial And Subsequent Outcomes, Kara Elam

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The evaluation process for listing a patient on the liver transplant list is complicated and involves multiple consultations from various specialists, as well as extensive imaging and physiological studies. Although there are data on the outcomes of those listed, we know little about those that are denied listing. This research project will identify the reasons for liver transplant listing denial and predictors of death following denial for this challenging group of patients. Methods: Data from all patients (n=1,500) evaluated for a liver transplant from 1997 to 2007 by the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition located at Virginia Commonwealth …

Physical Activity Among Diabetic Individuals According To Diabetic Treatment Type, Tammie Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: To evaluate the physical activity patterns of diabetic adults by the type of treatment they received Method: The study used secondary data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001 to 2006. NHANES is a continuous study which measures the health and nutritional status of non-institutionalized citizens in the United States. To be eligible for the study, participants had to be an adult 18 years or older who responded during the interview phase of the survey that they had diabetes. Participants with any missing data pertaining to the variables were excluded. After exclusions, the final …

Determinants Of Hepatitis B Vaccination Among Adults In The United States: Nhanes 1999-2006, Conschetta Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The primary objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of vaccination and HBV infection status of adults and to evaluate the trend in self reported vaccination and seroprevalence for Hepatitis B for this population. Additionally, this study sought to assess the association between vaccination rates, seroprevalence (HBsAg, anti-HBc, and anti-HBs), demographic (age, gender, location of birth, race/ethnicity), and socioeconomic (annual household income, education level, insurance coverage and access to care, marital status) characteristics. Methods: Eight years, 1999-2006, of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data were used. NHANES participants aged 20-59 years who contributed data …

Barclay, David Porter, 1826-1862 (Sc 1914), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1504. Dissertation of David P. Barclay, submitted to the University of Nashville for the Doctor of Medicine degree and entitled "Dysentery of Warren and Simpson Counties, Ky., 1854.” He offers his hypothesis about the cause of a dysentery epidemic in 1854 in Simpson and Warren counties in Kentucky.

Does Unemployment Decrease Cancer Mortality?, Benjamin Torres Galick

Economics Honors Projects

Recent research indicates that healthier lifestyles during recessions decrease the most common U.S. mortalities, but not cancer. However, they combine specific cancer mortalities with different progressions into one, possibly obscuring cancer’s link to unemployment. This paper estimates a fixed-effects regression model on unemployment and the nine most prevalent cancers between 1988 and 2002 using state-level panel data. Five cancers and total cancer are procyclical, and suggest that unemployment affects both incidence and gestation for some cancers. Consistent with the medical literature, this paper contradicts previous economic research and suggests that behavioral factors significantly impact cancer mortality.

Myd88 Expression By Cns-Resident Cells Is Pivotal For Eliciting Protective Immunity In Brain Abscesses., Sarita Garg, Jessica R. Nichols, Nilufer Esen, Shuliang Liu, Nirmal K. Phulwani, Mohsin Md. Syed, William H. Wood, Yongqing Zhang, Kevin G. Becker, Amy Aldrich, Tammy Kielian

Journal Articles: Pathology and Microbiology

MyD88 KO (knockout) mice are exquisitely sensitive to CNS (central nervous system) infection with Staphylococcus aureus, a common aetiological agent of brain abscess, exhibiting global defects in innate immunity and exacerbated tissue damage. However, since brain abscesses are typified by the involvement of both activated CNS-resident and infiltrating immune cells, in our previous studies it has been impossible to determine the relative contribution of MyD88-dependent signalling in the CNS compared with the peripheral immune cell compartments. In the present study we addressed this by examining the course of S. aureus infection in MyD88 bone marrow chimaera mice. Interestingly, chimaeras where …

Ada News - 05/04/2009, American Dental Association, Publishing Division

ADA News

Established in 1970 as the official newspaper of the American Dental Association, the ADA News serves practicing dentists and others allied to the dental profession in the U.S. and internationally. It is the No. 1 source of news and information about the many benefits and services the ADA delivers to members daily as well as timely information on scientific, social, political and economic developments affecting dentistry and health care.

Exploring Writing Of English Language Learners In Middle School: A Mixed Methods Study, Robin L. Danzak

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

The study's purpose was to assess, through mixed methods, written linguistic features of 20 Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) in middle school. Students came from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Participants wrote two expository and two narrative formal texts, each in Spanish and English, for a total of eight writing samples each. Additionally, students developed 10 journal entries in their language of choice, and 6 randomly selected, focal participants were interviewed for the qualitative analysis. The quantitative analysis involved scoring formal texts at the lexical, syntactic, and discourse levels. Scores were analyzed using Friedman's 2-way ANOVA by ranks, …

Genetic Variations In A Well Conserved 5-Untranslated Region Of Hepatitis C Virus Genome Isolated In Pakistan, Anila Yasmeen, Anwar Ali Siddiqui, Saeed Hamidb, Taranum Sultana, Wasim Jafri, Mats A.A. Perssonc

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

The diversity and extent of sequence variations between hepatitis C virus (HCV) isolates from Pakistan were studied and the probable effects of these variations were assessed on secondary viral structures. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis was performed on 33 samples, of which 25 were typed as genotype 3 by RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) and 8 remained unresolved. Rooted neighbour-joining (NJ) tree revealed that 28 isolates were HCV type 3a and 5 isolates were typed as 3b. The majority of unresolved samples clustered in a different branch of genotype 3, supported by a bootstrap value of 71%. Another, cluster, cluster I, …

The Role Of Interferon Gamma In The Regulation Of Il-18 Binding Protein And The Development Of Autoimmune Arthritis In A Genetically Non-Susceptible Mouse Strain, Timothy Daniel Kayes

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The etiology of the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is unknown, but the role of cytokines, including IFN-g, as effectors of immune cell function has been established by the examination of cytokine production in RA patients and through the use of animal models. C57BL/6 (B6) mice that express MHC class II molecules of the b haplotype (I-A^b) are not typically susceptible to collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), the most widely studied animal model of RA. When the gene encoding IFN-g is removed by genetic deletion, however, susceptibility to CIA is conferred. In addition, T cell responses against the immunogen that …

Distinct Dna Damage Signaling In The Brain Distinguishes Atld, Nbs, And Atr-Seckel Syndrome, Erin Renee Phillips Shull

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

DNA double strand breaks create a situation of extreme stress under which a cell must either be capable of repairing the lesions in order to continue replication or succumb to death. Not surprisingly, deficiencies in DNA repair genes often lead to human diseases frequently associated with genomic instability, cancer proneness, and neuropathology. Neurological consequences of aberrant DNA repair mechanisms vary depending upon the affected gene and the pathway in which it operates. Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is the prototypical disease associated with DNA double strand break (DSB) repair deficiency and is characterized by severe neural pathology. A-T results from homozygous mutations that …

The Buffering Effect Of Hope On Clinicians’ Behavior: A Test In Pediatric Primary Care, Howard A. Tennen, Michelle M. Cloutier, Dorothy B. Wakefield

UCHC Articles - Research

Although trait hope is thought to motivate goal directed actions in the face of impediments, few studies have examined directly hope’s role in overcoming obstacles, and none have done so while accounting for related goal constructs. We describe a study of 127 pediatric primary care providers who over the course of a year were asked to identify new cases of asthma and confirm previously diagnosed active disease by completing for each of their patients a brief survey validated for this purpose. These clinicians also completed measures of hope, self-efficacy, conscientiousness, and perceived obstacles to implementing a pediatric asthma management program. …

Medical Education Digest, Vol. 11 No. 3 (May/June 2009), Nova Southeastern University

Medical Education Digest

No abstract provided.

Information Interface - Volume 37, Issue 2 - May/June 2009, George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Information Interface (1976 - 2009)

News and information about Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library of interest to users. Includes articles on clinical information tools, Healthy DC, and the new GWU Historia Medicinae journal.

Mental Skills Usage Among Collegiate Track And Field Throwers, Chad A. Perry

Graduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine how often collegiate track and field throwers use goal setting, imagery, and arousal management. The second purpose was to determine if there was a significant difference between mental skills usage in practice and competition. The Test of Performance Strategies was administered to 50 collegiate track and field throwers. First, it was hypothesized that less than 20% of the participants would use mental skills very often and that the majority would report using mental skills in either moderate or low amounts. Results indicated goal setting and relaxation in practice were the only two …

Role Of The Genomics Revolution In Pharmaceutics, Daniel A. Brazeau, Gayle A. Brazeau

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Highlights the examples of Thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) and Warfarin as a means of describing some of the problems that are common to many pharmacogenetic cases. The pharmacogenetic literature contains many examples of confusing, or even contradictory, studies that arise due to unknown environmental factors that result in poor outcomes; drugs whose metabolism/transport are affected by multiple genes in multiple pathways; and clinically important genes that have many rare allelic variants with similar phenotypes variation in the frequencies of allelic variants among ethnic groups that mask the role of any one variant. These issues are common to most gene/drug dynamics and …

Dentalgram - Vol. 23, No. 05, Loma Linda University School Of Dentistry

Dentalgram

In this issue:

• Dean's Circle Celebrates 20 Years of Philanthropic Support
• LLUSD presenters at IADR Miami
• Careers in Dentistry Seeks Volunteers
• Keeping up with Keeping Connected
• Entire LLUSD dental hygiene class of '09 passes national boards
• Willis Lloyd Schlenker DDS does Chile
• Russell Skyberg contributes bound journals to LLUSD library
• Dental CE credits at Global Conference in Geneva
• Bunny Beyerle receives Highland's appreciation
• Dean's List, Winter 2009

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Combat Veterans And The Effect On Their Life And Marital Satisfaction, Amy Rodriguez Alford

Graduate Theses

Various studies have been conducted within our United States military service members and their problems with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There are several factors as to why a combat veteran can develop PTSD (Committee on Gulf War and Health, 2008) , PTSD could effect their life and marital satisfaction. The present study consisted of 15 married couples, in which the husband has served combat duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. The total level of PTSD symptomology was compared to each individual's life and marital satisfaction. There was no significance correlations found between the husbands' PTSD symptoms and their quality of life, …

Prevalence Of Oral Candida Carriage In Denture Wearers, Pratanporn Arirachakaran, Pornpan Piboonratanakit, Prudsaporn Kiatkroekkrai, Mingkhwan Sornmai, Nattapong Srimart

Chulalongkorn University Dental Journal

Objective To compare the prevalence and species of Candida in the oral cavity of denture wearers and non-denture wearers. Materials and methods A total of 80 subjects were studied: 40 denture wearers and 40 non-denture wearers, matched by age and sex, comprised the experimental and control groups, respectively. Each subject was instructed to perform oral rinsing using a phosphate-buffered saline solution, which was expectorated and processed for the recovery of Candida on Sabouraudûs dextrose agar. Isolates were speciated by culturing on chromogenic candida agar and noting species-specific colony characteristics. Results The prevalence of Candida carriage was 85.00% in denture wearers …