Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Pil1–Sle1–Syj1–Tax4 Functional Pathway Links Eisosomes With Pi(4,5)P2 Regulation, Ruth Kabeche, Assen Roguev, Nevan J. Krogan, James B. Moseley

Dartmouth Scholarship

Stable compartments of the plasma membrane promote a wide range of cellular functions. In yeast cells, cytosolic structures called eisosomes generate prominent cortical invaginations of unknown function. Through a series of genetic screens in fission yeast, we found that the eisosome proteins Pil1 and Sle1 function with the synaptojanin-like lipid phosphatase Syj1 and its ligand Tax4. This genetic pathway connects eisosome function with the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] in cells. Defects in PI(4,5)P2 regulation led to eisosome defects, and we found that the core eisosome protein Pil1 can bind to and tubulate liposomes containing PI(4,5)P2. Mutations in components of …

Evaluating Quality Improvement To Improve Hiv Reporting, Nandi A. Marshall, William C. Livingood, Angela Peden, Gulzar H. Shah, Russ Toal, Dayna Alexander, Alesha Wright, Sandra Jump, Shelby Freeman, Kay Davis, Lynn Woodhouse, Kellie Penix

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

The incorporation and evaluation of Quality Improvement into Georgia’s public health systems continues to be a focus of the Georgia Public Health Practice Based Research Network. This report describes the process, preliminary results and lessons learned from incorporating Quality Improvement into one of Georgia’s public health districts.

Online Social Networks To The Rescue: Fulfilling The Ten Essential Public Health Services, Melanie D. Mason, Maureen P. Bezold

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Budget cuts and shortages in the public health workforce have contributed to the reduction of public health services in 91% of state health departments (SHDs). To adjust for these changes, health departments must discover novel ways to deliver essential public health services to their constituents. Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of the content published on SHDs’ Twitter pages to determine if online social networks were used to fulfill the ten essential public health services. While 42 SHDs had a Twitter page, the volume and content of tweets varied. Although tweets were posted that related to all ten of the essential …

Efficiency In Public Health Service Delivery: An Analysis Of Clinical Health Services Provided By Local Health Departments In Florida, Simone R. Singh

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

The ability of local health departments (LHDs) to provide public health services to improve the health of their communities depends to a large extent on their financial resources. More money by itself, however, does not necessarily translate into better population health. LHDs also have to use their resources in an efficient manner to achieve the best possible outcomes. This article first describes two techniques that LHDs can use to assess their efficiency at providing public health services: process costing, a technique used by management accountants, and stochastic frontier analysis, a technique used by economists. Using data for LHDs in Florida, …

Evidence Use In New York City Public Health Policymaking, Miriam J. Laugesen, Kimberley R. Isett

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has attracted national attention for his public health policy reforms. The policy process behind the reform program has received less scrutiny, especially the use of research by policymakers. We show that the process used to develop, promote, and evaluate polices is heavily based on five types of data and research. New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene staff conducted in-depth appraisals of existing published research, used local health surveys and private laboratory surveillance data, engaged in “shoe-leather” field research, formed research collaborations within and outside government, and disseminated research to legitimize policy …

Commentary: Moving Beyond The Numbers, Effectively Using Research To Influence Policy, F. Douglas Scutchfield, Marylou Wallace

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

This seventh issue of Frontiers reflects the variety of PHSSR. One emerging theme, however, is the notion of public health and its role in policy and policy development. PHSSR focuses on several potential users, researchers, practitioners and policy makers. As it concerns policy makers, PHSSR delivers research that allows them to make decisions about policy change that not only influences public health status, but creates healthy conditions. In this way, PHSSR essentially influences decisions about support for public health services.

Hypoxia/Aglycemia-Induced Endothelial Barrier Dysfunction And Tight Junction Protein Downregulation Can Be Ameliorated By Citicoline, Xiaotang Ma, Huiting Zhang, Qunwen Pan, Yuhui Zhao, Ji Chen, Yanfang Chen

Pharmacology and Toxicology Faculty Publications

This study explores the effect of citicoline on the permeability and expression of tight junction proteins (TJPs) in endothelial cells under hypoxia/aglycemia conditions. Hypoxia or oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) was utilized to induce endothelial barrier breakdown model on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and mouse brain microvascular endothelial cells (bEnd.3s). The effect of citicoline on endothelial barrier breakdown models was determined at either low or high concentrations. FITC-Dextran flux was used to examine the endothelial permeability. The expression of TJPs was measured by immunofluorescence, Real-time PCR and Western Blot methods. Results showed that hypoxia or OGD increased the …

Dog Behavior Co-Varies With Height, Bodyweight And Skull Shape, Paul D. Mcgreevy, Dana Georgevsky, Johanna Carrasco, Michael Valenzuela, Deborah L. Duffy, James A. Serpell

Eidonomy Collection

Dogs offer unique opportunities to study correlations between morphology and behavior because skull shapes and body shape are so diverse among breeds. Several studies have shown relationships between canine cephalic index (CI: the ratio of skull width to skull length) and neural architecture. Data on the CI of adult, show-quality dogs (six males and six females) were sourced in Australia along with existing data on the breeds’ height, bodyweight and related to data on 36 behavioral traits of companion dogs (n = 8,301) of various common breeds (n = 49) collected internationally using the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire …

What's Happening: December 16, 2013, Maine Medical Center

What's Happening

No abstract provided.

Milestone: Over 100 Mph Capstones Archived In The Jefferson Digital Commons, Daniel G. Kipnis, Msi

Jefferson Digital Commons News

Since 2009 the Jefferson School of Population Health (JSPH) has archived all capstone presentations in the Jefferson Digital Commons.

Computer Testing To Document Student Achievement Of Learning Outcomes, Richard O'Brocta

Pharmacy Faculty/Staff Publications

In lieu of an abstract, here is the letter's first paragraph:

To the Editor. Every course should have published learning outcomes describing what students should be able to do upon successful completion of the course.1 Assessing how well the students have achieved the learning outcomes for the course is very important as this can provide evidence of learning for the student and a measure of the effectiveness of the course. Evidence of learning is important for accreditation purposes and can provide data that can be used to improve the course.2 Documenting student achievement of outcomes can be …

College Of Public Health News, Georgia Southern University

College of Public Health: News & Publications

• Delivery of the 10 essential Public Health Services
• Statistics Profession Honors Dr.Karl E. Peace
• Dr. Joseph Telfair as First Chair

Improving An Outpatient Diabetes Program Telephone Follow-Up Process: Evaluating Its Impact On Glycosylated Hemoglobin Levels, Joan B. Niemczewski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Telephone follow-up for diabetes self-management is used to facilitate ongoing support for individuals striving to maintain a healthy lifestyle. With the use of telephone follow-up after Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME), key concepts can be emphasized and goal reinforcement can occur. When successfully managed, improved glycemic control occurs, as evidenced by reductions in glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C) levels. A review of the literature surrounding this topic and description of a capstone scholarly project utilizing findings from the literature to create an evidence-based telephone follow-up pilot study are included. Findings from this study did not reveal statistically significant reductions in A1C levels with …

Modeling Fecal Bacteria In Oregon Coastal Streams Using Spatially Explicit Watershed Characteristics, Paul Bryce Pettus

Dissertations and Theses

Pathogens, such as Escherichia coli and fecal coliforms, are causing the majority of water quality impairments in U.S., making up ~87% of this grouping's violations. Predicting and characterizing source, transport processes, and microbial survival rates is extremely challenging, due to the dynamic nature of each of these components. This research built upon current analytical methods that are used as exploratory tools to predict pathogen indicator counts across regional scales. Using a series of non-parametric methodologies, with spatially explicit predictors, 6657 samples from non-estuarine lotic streams were analyzed to make generalized predictions of regional water quality. 532 frequently sampled sites in …

Community Health News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Community Health: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Dr. Joseph Telfair as First Chair

Health Policy & Management News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Community Health: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Delivery of the 10 Essential Public Health Services

Relationship Between The Experience Of Perceived And Physician Diagnosed Arthritis And The Presence Of Dsm-Iv Criteria-Based Major Depression (Mdd) Among Older, Ryan Neil Schmidt

Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to explore both positive screened MDD and the perception of being depressed (P) and the likelihood of either increasing if the patient suffered from arthritis (P/E), either perceived or evaluated by a physician. The study explored the univariate, bivariate, and multivariate relationships between MDD and depression (P) to better describe influencing characteristics and their prevalence, as related to MDD and depression (P).

METHODS: The study examined a cross section of patients 65 years and older (n=8,205) within the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NESARC) [2001-02] sponsored by the National Institute …

Animal Health Matters, Russ Daly, Jane Hennings

Animal Health MATTERS Newsletter

[Page] 1- SDSU’s ADRDL Receives Full Accreditation through AAVLD [Page] 2- Director's Message: Being a “Game Changer” [Page] 2- Bailey Herd Health Conference to Focus on Food Animal Vaccination Considerations [Page] 3- SDSU Creates Extension Position for Livestock Stewardship [Page] 3- Development of an Indirect ELISA for Detection of Antibodies Against Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) [Page] 4- ADRDL Bacteriology Section Working at the Cutting Edge [Page] 5- MALDI-TOF Technology Speeds Bacteriology Results [Page] 6- New Hires [Page] 6- Use Computer Spreadsheets or Word Processing for Large Sample Submissions [Page] 6- Tularemia in a South Dakota Cat [Page] 7- Animal …

Assessing Quality Outcomes In A Behavioral Oncology Program: Capstone Project, Elizabeth M. Archer-Nanda

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

The landscape of cancer care has changed dramatically over the past several decades. An illness that was once often fatal, now represents both an acute life threatening illness and a chronic condition. While there have been tremendous advancements in the treatment of the physiological aspects of cancer, management of related psychosocial and emotional issues have not seen this same progress. Limited information exists related to both the evaluation and outcome metrics associated with the screening and management of psychiatric sequelae after referral to specialized psychiatric services in cancer patient populations. This capstone project focused on (a) implementation of consistent use …

The Teaching Self-Reflection Tool And Skills Checklist, Arlene Lorch, Otd, Otr/L, Ches

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE.

To provide occupational therapy faculty with a collaborative system to review and improve teaching skills within the educational program.

METHOD.

Six faculty members completed a self-assessment using self-reflection tools and feedback from an interview with a fellow faculty member serving as consultant. Surveys evaluated perceptions of the experience.

RESULTS.

Survey responses indicated strong approval of the peer review process as a valuable method for faculty development. Results identified aspects of the process that needed revision, specifically, the burden of time required to complete the process.

CONCLUSION.

Findings support the need for a peer review process because it benefits faculty, …

Adiponectin Inhibits Oxidative/Nitrative Stress During Myocardial Ischemia And Reperfusion Via Pka Signaling., Yanqing Zhang, Xiao-Liang Wang, Jianli Zhao, Ya-Jing Wang, Wayne Bond Lau, Yue-Xing Yuan, Er-He Gao, Walter J. Koch, Xin-Liang Ma

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

The cardioprotective effects of adiponectin (APN) against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury are well known. However, comprehension of the mechanisms mediating intracellular APN signaling remains incomplete. We recently demonstrate the antioxidant/antinitrative effects of APN are not dependent on AMPK. Protein kinase A (PKA) has been previously shown to be activated by APN, with uncertain relevance to APN cardiac protection. The current study determined whether the antioxidative/antinitrative effect of APN is mediated by PKA. Administration of APN (2 μg/g) 10 min before reperfusion significantly enhanced cardiac PKA activity, reduced oxidative stress, and decreased infarct size. Knockdown of cardiac PKA expression (PKA-KD) by …

Acl Tears: Their Cause And Prevention, Meredith Shephard

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

There has been an increase in the prevalence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears among athletes in the recent years. This paper will seek to discover why ACL injury is so common and if there is any way to minimize these injuries. Research has shown a number of things that can lead to prevention of these injuries, including a correlation between the strength of the hip and thigh muscles and the stability of the ACL. Also many recent studies show that individuals most susceptible to ACL injuries often have difficulty performing gross motor skills such that the lower extremities move …

Pre-Program Assessment For Fall-Related Hip Fracture Prevention In A Rural Community, Katryn Inga Steenbergen

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In the elderly, hip fractures from falls often result in decreased quality of life, independence, or functional mobility. Such injuries may lead to hospitalizations, skilled nursing facility admissions, and healthcare costs, yet can be minimized by addressing risk factors of falls. Health education models indicate that assessment of the target population is important prior to the development of an effective program. PURPOSE: To determine among rural adults self-identified learning needs, interest and preferences for fall injury prevention. METHODS: A survey was administered to senior citizens in a rural community. RESULTS: One hundred thirty (n= 130) older adults completed this survey. …

Comparison Between Two Methodological Paradigms Of Conditioned Place Preference With Methlyphenidate., Bryce D. Watson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The aim of this thesis is to examine the mechanisms of Methylphenidate (MPH) on Conditioned Place Preference (CPP), a behavioral test of reward. The psychostimulant MPH is therapeutically used in the treatment of ADHD, but has been implicated in many pharmacological actions related to drug addiction and is considered to have abuse potential. Past work in our lab and others have shown substantial sex-differences in the neuropharmacological profile of MPH. Here a discussion of the relevant mechanisms of action of MPH and its relationship to neurotrophins and CPP are reviewed. Furthermore, previous work is reviewed and a rationale for two …

Surveys Of Women With Hpv And Their Healthcare Experiences., Danielle Defayette

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Genital human papillomavirus infection is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States, with almost 20 million Americans currently infected and an additional 6.2 million becoming newly infected each year. Women rely strongly on their health care providers to educate and comfort them regarding this distressing diagnosis. This study will use an online, self-completion questionnaire to obtain women’s opinions regarding their health care providers’ performances concerning the initial consultation after learning of their HPV diagnosis. Findings from this study provided insight as to how women prefer receiving information from their health care providers concerning their diagnosis of HPV. …

Effects Of Wii Fit™ Plus Cardiovascular Exercises On Cognitive Function In Older Adults: Feasibility Study., Ifeanyichukwu Chinedozi

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cognitive decline increasingly plague older adults. Although various studies have correlated aerobic exercises with decreased incidence of the development and progression of cognitive deterioration in older adults, there is no evidence as to whether or not the Wii Fit Plus Rhythm Kung-Fu, Hula-Hoop and the Wii Just Dance can improve the cognitive function of older adults as measured by the Standardized Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE) instrument. A descriptive study design was used to explore the feasibility of implementing an aerobic exercise program for older adults in an assisted living facility using these Wii games, and evaluating whether or not …

Hand Hygiene Perceptions Of Student Nurses., Brittany Berger

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Compliance with hand hygiene is widely recognized as the most important factor in preventing transmission of infection to patients in healthcare settings (Haas and Larson, 2007). Hand hygiene dramatically decreases the potential pathogens on hands and is considered the first measure for decreasing the risk of transmitting organisms to patients, healthcare professionals, and family members. Noncompliance with hand hygiene practices has been shown to increase healthcare-associated infections, costing hospitals $35.7-$45 billion each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2012). Education about hand hygiene starts in school and should transfer into the real world of nursing. The purpose of …

Impact Of Oxidative Stress On Female Fertility., Tasha Harris

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study examined nutritional status and fecundity of women and was approved for patient enrollment by the ETSU Institutional Review Board (IRB). Once enrolled, participants filled out two food frequency questionnaires (FFQ, fruit/vegetable intake, fat intake), self-reported anthropometric data, and had one 5 mL vacutainer of whole blood (EDTA) collected for measures of oxidative stress (OS), coenzyme Q10 level, and fatty acid profile of the red blood cell (RBC) membrane. Participants were either designated to the case group (13 women experiencing fertility problems and an anti-mullerian hormone level of 1 ng/ml or less (AMH, <1 ng/mL)) or the control group (13 women experiencing normal ovulation cycles and no evidence of polycystic disease). This study hypothesized that the case group would have poorer plasma antioxidant status, consume more dietary saturated fat and have lower levels of omega-3 and higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids in the RBC membrane. Results showed that case participants had significantly higher body mass index (BMI) when graduating from high school, BMI upon enrollment in the study, and trended to gain more weight since high school. Antioxidant status of the plasma tended to be higher for the case group. This result was surprising as case participants consumed significantly fewer servings of fruits and vegetables (sources of antioxidants) than control subjects. FFQ results indicated that case participants consumed significantly higher amounts of total fat (g), saturated fat (g), unsaturated fat (g), and their diets had a higher dietary fat percent. No significant differences were noted in the individual fatty acids isolated from the RBC membrane or in calculated ratios of fatty acid between case and control groups. The fatty acid profile from RBC membranes are in agreement with self-reported fat intake from FFQ data and may provide a rationale for no differences observed between the two groups.

Efficacy Of Motivational Interviewing And Centering To Increase Physical Activity And Dietary Adherence In African Americans With Pre-Hypertension And Hypertension, Chioma U. Okereke

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Abstract Title: Efficacy of Motivational Interviewing and Centering to Increase Physical Activity and Dietary Adherence in African Americans with Pre-hypertension and Hypertension.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and self-care behaviors of African Americans necessary to prevent the development of hypertension or to improve the control of all ready existing hypertension. Motivational interviewing was used to identify and address barriers to lifestyle modifications. The feasibility of using a Centering Care Model to deliver interactive educational sessions to empower individuals to take an active role in their health care was evaluated.

Significance of the Problem: African …

Attitudes And Perceptions Of Nursing Homes., Amanda C. Black

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine how past experiences with nursing homes influence perceptions and attitudes of college students toward nursing homes in the United States. A review of the current research literature indicates that nursing homes are publicly scrutinized in a negative manner. Variables examined included students’ college of study, experience with nursing homes either from personal experience, from a well-known relative or friend, or the media, and different attitudes and perceptions including good or bad views of nursing homes. Results indicate that students’ perceive nursing homes more negatively than positively even when their experience came from …