Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Localizing The International: Examining How Fieldworkers Combat Adolescent Pregnancy In Northern Ghana, Alexandra C. Sloss

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

International aid is often ineffective because it is delivered without an understanding of local ideologies and contexts. My Capstone examined whether or not international aid in northern Ghana could be effective when addressing adolescent pregnancy. The Ghanaian programs I address in my Capstone are six non-governmental organizations, a government sub-district clinic and government junior high schools. The majority of my data was collected through interviews with individuals at all levels of the organizations, including directors, staff members, volunteers and individuals seeking the organization’s services. Alongside interviews I also spent time in the field, participating in youth group discussions, visiting regional …

Immune Reconstitution But Persistent Activation After 48 Weeks Of Antiretroviral Therapy In Youth With Pre-Therapy Cd4 >350 In Atn 061., Bret J. Rudy, Bill G. Kapogiannis, Carol Worrell, Kathleen E. Squires, James Bethel, Su Li, Craig M. Wilson, Allison Agwu, Patricia Emmanuel, Georgine Price, Stephanie Hudey, Maureen M. Goodenow, John W. Sleasman

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Measures of immune outcomes in youth who initiate combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) early in HIV infection are limited.

DESIGN: Adolescent Trials Network 061 examined changes over 48 weeks of cART in T-cell subsets and markers of T-cell and macrophage activation in subjects with pre-therapy CD4 > 350 cells/mm. All subjects had optimal viral suppression from weeks 24 through 48.

METHODS: Subjects (n = 48) initiated cART with tenofovir/emtricitabine plus ritonavir-boosted atazanavir. Data were collected at baseline and weeks 12, 24, and 48. Trends were compared to uninfected controls.

RESULTS: Significant increases over 48 weeks were noted in all CD4 populations, …

Weaving Quality Improvement And Patient Safety Skills Into All Levels Of Medical Training: An Annotated Bibliography., Eugene Mochan, Phd, Do, David B. Nash, Md, Mba

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

With the launching of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education’s new accreditation Standard ED-19-A in July 2013, a new era in quality improvement/patient safety (QI/PS) has begun. Core curriculum of medical schools must now include multidisciplinary teamwork; that is, inclusion of practitioners and/or students from other health professions. This Standard ED-19-A is harmonious with the earlier Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s (ACGME) Competency IV.A.5.c., which calls for QI to be integrated into residents’ training curricula. Residents need to be able to determine their strengths and deficiencies. ACGME requires residents to systematically analyze practice using QI methods; to incorporate formative …

Refractory Case Of Esophageal Web In A Male Patient With Alcoholic Liver Disease, Bonnie Patek Do, Shashin Shah Md, Hiral N. Shah Md

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Skin-To-Skin Education For Operating Room Staff, Ann Callie Landwehr

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Skin-to-skin contact has many benefits to both a new mother and her infant after birth. Maintaining body warmth, better bonding for both mother and infant, and increased duration of breastfeeding are a few of the many benefits of this practice. Although skin-to-skin contact is a common practice at birth, it has been utilized almost exclusively in vaginal births. It has not been widely or routinely practiced when a baby is delivered by caesarean section. This study evaluated an educational program for operating room staff regarding the benefits of skin-to-skin contact and how best to implement this practice in the operating …

Die Spacer Thickness Reproduction For Central Incisor Crown Fabrication With Combined Computer-Aided Design And 3d Printing Technology: An In Vitro Study, Lisa N. Hoang, Geoffrey A. Thompson, Seok-Hwan Cho, David W. Berzins, Kwang Woo Ahn

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Statement of problem

The inability to control die spacer thickness has been reported. However, little information is available on the congruency between the computer-aided design parameters for die spacer thickness and the actual printout.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and precision of the die spacer thickness achieved by combining computer-aided design and 3-dimensional printing technology.

Material and Methods

An ivorine maxillary central incisor was prepared for a ceramic crown. The prepared tooth was duplicated by using polyvinyl siloxane duplicating silicone, and 80 die-stone models were produced from Type IV dental stone. The dies were …

Speech Reading Training And Audio-Visual Integration In A Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kara L. Saulsbury

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) typically have deficits in communication abilities. Deficits include social, linguistic, and pragmatic difficulties and difficulties in the ability to perceive and integrate audiovisual (AV) stimuli. It is also common for those with ASD to have weaker speech reading skills as compared to typically developing, age-matched peers. Speech reading skills are known to enhance speech perception in naturalistic, noisy environments. In children with ASD, the combination of both poor AV integration and poor speech reading is thought to have significant effects on vocabulary acquisition. Studies have demonstrated that speech reading training can significantly enhance syllable …

Evaluations Of Refraction Competencies Of Ophthalmic Technicians In Mozambique., James Loughman, Kajal Shah, Kovin Naidoo, Margarida Chagunda

Articles

Purpose: Ophthalmic technicians (OT) work at health facilities in Mozambique and are trained to provide primary and secondary eye care services including basic refraction. This study was designed to assess OT competence and confidence in refraction, and investigate whether an upskilling programme is effective in developing their competence and confidence at refraction. Methods: Thirty-one trainee OTs and 16 qualified OTs were recruited to the study. A background questionnaire was administered to determine the demographic profile of the OTs. A confidence levels questionnaire explored their self-reported skills.

Coping Mechanisms Of Children With Atopic Dermatitis, Whitney A. St. Mary

Honors Theses

This was a qualitative study that explored the lived experience of parents who had children with atopic dermatitis, otherwise known as eczema. The study had seven volunteer participants and the objective of this study was to determine any coping mechanisms used to overcome the negative aspects of atopic dermatitis. Volunteers were obtained from the Oak Grove Family Clinic. Phone interviews were then conducted and the participants were asked a series of eight questions. After the interviews concluded the researcher then transcribed the interviews and determined common themes from parents’ responses. All of the parents discussed how using unscented lotion, preventing …

Out Of The Attic: Agency And Narratives Of Mental Illness By David Foster Wallace And Lauren Slater, Erin L. Mcleod

Honors Theses

Studies of Prozac Diary and Lying: A Metaphorical Memoir illustrate how Slater adapts conventions of fiction to the memoir form to create agency for the mentally ill subject. This study will apply this approach of narrative therapy to David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest to determine if the autobiographical conventions of mental illness may be adapted to fiction. An analysis of these primary texts seeks to address issues related to the therapeutic dimensions of autobiography as these are complicated by the narrative conventions that distinguish memoir and fiction.

Attitudes Toward And Willingness To Use Music Therapy In Southern Mississippi, Megan E. Mcdaniel

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes toward and willingness to use music therapy in the population without previous medical conditions and to determine if there was a difference in attitudes toward music therapy between genders and age groups. A 19-question, 5-point Likert scale survey assessing the knowledge and attitudes of music therapy was distributed via a faculty, staff, and student email listserv at The University of Southern Mississippi and Facebook. Additionally, two demographic questions were asked. Overall, the participants (n=184) in this study reported positive attitudes toward the use of music therapy. Females and adults ages …

A Systematic Literature Review Of The Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption And Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (Haart) In Patients Diagnosed With Hiv/Aids, Charmaine M. Lapre'

Honors Theses

According to the Global Information System on Alcohol and Health (GISAH), alcohol consumption causes more than 2.5 million deaths annually. This organization also attributes more than sixty different diseases in which alcoholism plays a significant role. Such diseases include the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (WHO, 2014). There are over 50,000 new cases of HIV reported each year. In the United States, it is estimated that more than 1.1 million people are infected with HIV, and about one in six people are completely unaware that they are infected (CDC.gov, 2013). A systematic literature review was …

College Professors’ And Students’ Perceptions Toward College Students Who Stutter, Patricia N. Chastain

Honors Theses

Research on stuttering has reflected the perceptions of speech-language pathologists (Swartz, Gabel & Irani, 2009; Crichton-Smith, Wright & Stackhouse, 2003; Cooper & Cooper, 1996; Kalinowski, Armson, J., Stuart, A., & Lerman, J. W., 1993; Daniels, Panico, & Sudhoolt, 2011), students (Mayo & Mayo, 2013; Dorsey & Guenther, 2000), and professors (Dorsey & Guenther, 2000; Silverman, 1990; Ruscello et al., 1990) toward people who stutter (PWS). The findings of the aforementioned studies indicated there is neither a wholly positive or negative attitudinal trend in the perceptions towards PWS within or across groups. Only one study was conducted (15 years ago) that …

The Missing Link: The Impact Of Nutrition Education And The School Lunch Program, Rachel E. Calhoun

Honors Theses

In the U.S., the weight status of overweight and obesity in children is increasing from recent decades (Carrol & Ogden, 2010). Research shows that the prevalence of children developing chronic diseases is influenced by obesity and overweight statuses, shown by existing risk factors (Freedman, Dietz, Srinivasan, & Berenson, 1999). Recent legislation of the National School Lunch Program has aimed to improve the nutritional value of school lunches in elementary schools by requiring fruit and vegetable meal components be provided on each lunch tray (Nutrition Standards, 2012). This quasi experimental study aimed to increase fourth graders nutrition knowledge and fruit and …

Personality And Relational Aggression In College Students: The Role Of Social Anxiety And Rejection Sensitivity, Daniel Locke Deason

Master's Theses

Relational aggression involves the intentional infliction of harm via damaging one’s relationships or sense of belonging. Previous research suggests that relational aggression among children and early adolescents is correlated with social ostracism, poor psychological adjustment, anxiety, and depression in victims, and there is increasing evidence that many of these correlates apply to relational aggression among older adolescents and emerging adults. Efforts to identify predictors of relational aggression are underway; however, many variables which have been influential in understanding other forms of aggression have not yet been examined. The Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality is one example, as it has …

Reporting Practices, Knowledge And Opinion Of Policy Regarding Drivers With Dementia Among Arkansas Neurologists And Geriatricians, Erika Martin Gergerich

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: States have various policies regarding a physician's ability or responsibility to report at-risk drivers with dementia to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Some states have mandatory reporting policies, others have optional reporting policies and some have no policy regarding this issue. Arkansas has no reporting policy regarding drivers with dementia to the DMV. Therefore, physicians in Arkansas face the risk of liability if they report a patient against their will to the DMV in good faith. Neurologists and geriatricians are often in a position to diagnose and treat individuals with dementia. Research Questions: The following three research questions …

Intestinal Inflammation Model Inducing Gut Leakage By Different Methods In Broiler Chickens Using Fitc-D As A Marker, Eduardo Vicuna

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) have been used in food animals to reduce enteric inflammation and maintain intestinal homeostasis, thus improving performance. Due to increasing restrictions regarding the use of AGP, precise and high throughput enteric inflammation models and markers to search for effective alternatives are urgently needed. Oral administration of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-d) and its passage into blood can be used as a marker for tight junction permeability. FITC-d is a large molecule (3-5 kDa) which does not usually leak through the intact gastrointestinal tract barrier. However, when conditions disrupt the tight junctions between epithelial cells, the FITC-d …

Using A Job Crafting Model To Examine The Job Tasks Of Program Coordinators In Graduate Medical Education, Abigail Elise Arthur

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Graduate medical education (GME) is essential to preparing physicians for independent practice in the United States. Oversight of GME programs requires strict attention to accreditation requirements, state and federal regulations, and high educational standards. Residency program coordinators are an essential part of GME administration. Program coordinators play a critical role in GME residency programs, provide essential, non-medical administration functions, and are positions that are required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. This study examined the job tasks of residency program coordinators using a job crafting framework. This mixed methods study used a job crafting scale developed by researchers …

The Production Of Biobutanol From Biomass Via A Hybrid Biological/Chemical Process, Thomas Melvin Potts

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biobutanol use as a fuel began in the late 19th century. Problems remain in economic viability. A review of the state of the art and need for technical advances is presented.

The technical potential of producing biofuel from a naturally occurring macroalgae was studied. The algae grow in Jamaica Bay, New York City, in contaminated water. The process consisted of mechanical harvesting, drying, grinding, and acid hydrolysis to form an algal sugar solution. Clostridium beijerinckii and C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum were used in an acetone butanol ethanol (ABE) fermentation to make butanol. Fermentation was followed by distillation Butanol concentrations during fermentation reached …

The Effect Of Balance-Based Torso-Weighting On Mobility, Gait, Balance, Postural Control, And Falls Efficacy In Mobility Limited Older Adults, Jennifer L. Vincenzo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Exercise is a known intervention to prevent fall risk among older adults; however, adherence is poor. Therefore, it is of interest to determine if other interventions improve function and decrease fall risk among older adults. Balance-Based Torso-Weighting (BBTW) is a non-exercise intervention that improves functional measures among adults with multiple sclerosis, yet the effectiveness of BBTW has not been assessed among older adults without progressive neurological disorders. We conducted a double-blind, randomized study to analyze the effect of BBTW on functional measures and falls efficacy among community-dwelling, mobility limited older adults after 5 days of wearing BalanceWear® for 4 hours …

The Role Of Attention In Ego-Depletion, Garrett Pollert

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The resource model of ego-depletion is unable to account for the results of several ego-depletion studies, whereas a recent mechanistic revision by Inzlicht and Schmeichel (2012) has focused on the role of attention and motivation in an effort to explain the phenomenon. Assessment of attention's role in restrained and unrestrained eaters may provide evidence that motivation and attention work in tandem to affect one's ability to exert self-control. In this experiment, college-aged females participated in two studies to examine the role of attention in ego-depletion effects. Study 1 evaluated the effect of ego depletion on attention via a dot probe …

Efficacy Of Beta-Resorcylic Acid To Reduce Campylobacter Jejuni In Pre-Harvest And Post-Harvest Poultry, Basanta Raj Wagle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Campylobacteriosis is one of the leading foodborne illnesses in United States, and is associated with the consumption of poultry and poultry products. Reducing Campylobacter in these species will reduce the burden of this disease. Unfortunately, most strategies employed to reduce Campylobacter in poultry have either not been successful or produced inconsistent results. One potential control strategy is the use of β-resorcylic acid (BR), a phytophenolic compound classified by the US FDA as "Everything Added to Food in the United States" (EAF 3045) and is therefore deemed safe for consumption. This compounds has antibacterial activity against Salmonella, however, its efficacy to …

Investigations Into The Incidence And Control Of Selected Parasites And Pathogens Which Infect Arkansas Horses, Stephanie Ann O'Berg Rainbolt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parasite control is an important aspect of health management of horses, particularly the control of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites. Recently, treatment recommendations have involved selective use of anthelmintics in horses with fecal egg counts (FEC) greater than a specified threshold. The objectives of this study were; (1) to determine the prevalence of helminths in our area by egg and L3 determinations, (2) to determine if certain horses maintained low FEC, therefore eliminating the need to treat them on a year-round basis and (3) to determine the effectiveness of four common treatments (moxidectin, ivermectin (pioneer and generic), fenbendazole and pyrantel tartrate) via …

Failure To Launch? Understanding Variations In Emerging Adult Flight Patterns, Christina Ashley Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

What does the transition to adulthood look like for emerging adults? This study proposes that popular cultural ideas like "failure to launch" imply an oversimplified dichotomy that does not account for the multiple "flight patterns" into adulthood. Focusing on the narratives of six interview cases selected from the larger sample of interviewees from Wave 4 of the National Study of Youth and Religion and drawing on the quantitative data from the broader survey sample, this mixed-methods approach examines in-depth, narrative experiences and the ways structural barriers vary between upper-middle, lower-middle, and working class emerging adults. We find that emerging adulthood …

The Role Of Stress: Low Birth Weight And Preterm Birth For African American Women, Tionna Latrice Jenkins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This population-based study evaluates the impact that psychoSocial stress has on adverse birth outcomes of low birth weight (LBW) and pre-term birth (PTB) among African American mothers in Arkansas. The relationship between adverse birth outcomes in African American women and stress in comparison to non-Hispanic Caucasian women data was evaluated from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) quantitative survey. Data from 2005 through 2010 was reviewed to show the impact that psychoSocial stress has on adverse birth outcomes. The study sample was comprised of 14,196 participants.

Ethnic group status is the key maternal-level independent variable in this study. Of …

Assessing Vocabulary Of Children: Investigating The Evaluation And Instruction Of Basic Concepts, Rebecca Elizabeth Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Vocabulary knowledge of preschool children is a key factor in predicting literacy success in elementary school (Hammer, Farkas, & Maczuga, 2010). However, few deliberate attempts to teach basic concept vocabulary have been studied (Bowers & Schwarz, 2013; Wilson, 2004). The purpose of this research is to determine if large group explicit instruction with interactive activities of specific basic concept vocabulary will increase preschool children's understanding of basic concept terms when measured by a standardized basic concept assessment. This research will also assess the validity of a basic concept-curriculum based measure (BC-CBM) as an efficient tool to monitor a child's understanding …

The Discrimination Of Cv Synthetic Syllables As A Function Of Phonetic Training And Noise Conditions, Ryan Mulligan, Antony Joseph

AuD Capstone Projects - Communication Sciences and Disorders

The aim of this preliminary study was to examine the effect of two signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and formal phonetic training on auditory discrimination of just noticeable differences (JND) among consonant vowel (CV) synthetic syllables. Fine-grain auditory discrimination abilities of 16 young-adults with undergraduate studies that included phonetic training and 17 young-adults with no phonetic training were assessed using a same/different discrimination task in a +3 SNR and a +13 SNR listening condition. Subjects listened to pairs of CV contrasts presented in rapid succession and indicated whether the contrastive syllables were the same or different. Results revealed a significant difference …

The Development Of Skeletal Muscle In Young Horses: An Ultrasonography And Satellite Cell Approach, Emma K. Lavigne

Honors Scholar Theses

Muscle growth in young horses is characterized by an increase in muscle cross-sectional area, which can be accomplished through the activation and differentiation of satellite cells. Satellite cells can be stimulated or inhibited in response to different cytokines and growth factors and are key mediators of muscle hypertrophy and regeneration. The aim of this study was to investigate the growth of the longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle in horses under 5 years of age and to obtain preliminary data on satellite cell behavior in foals. The area, width, height, and subcutaneous fat were measured using ultrasonography at 6-month increments over the …

Nonreplicating, Cyst-Defective Type Ii Toxoplasma Gondii Vaccine Strains Stimulate Protective Immunity Against Acute And Chronic Infection, Barbara Andrea Fox, David J. Bzik

Dartmouth Scholarship

Live attenuated vaccine strains, such as type I nonreplicating uracil auxotroph mutants, are highly effective in eliciting lifelong immunity to virulent acute infection by Toxoplasma gondii. However, it is currently unknown whether vaccine-elicited immunity can provide protection against acute infection and also prevent chronic infection. To address this problem, we developed nonreverting, nonreplicating, live attenuated uracil auxotroph vaccine strains in the type II Δku80 genetic background by targeting the deletion of the orotidine 5′-monophosphate decarboxylase (OMPDC) and uridine phosphorylase (UP) genes. Deletion of OMPDC induced a severe uracil auxotrophy with loss of replication, loss of …

Chemoselective Detection And Discrimination Of Carbonyl-Containing Compounds In Metabolite Mixtures By 1H-Detected 15N Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Andrew N. Lane, Sengodagounder Arumugam, Pawel Lorkiewicz, Richard M. Higashi, Sébastien Laulhé, Michael H. Nantz, Hunter N. B. Moseley, Teresa W-M Fan

Toxicology and Cancer Biology Faculty Publications

NMR spectra of mixtures of metabolites extracted from cells or tissues are extremely complex, reflecting the large number of compounds that are present over a wide range of concentrations. Although multidimensional NMR can greatly improve resolution as well as improve reliability of compound assignments, lower abundance metabolites often remain hidden. We have developed a carbonyl-selective aminooxy probe that specifically reacts with free keto and aldehyde functions, but not carboxylates. By incorporating ¹⁵N in the aminooxy functional group, ¹⁵N-edited NMR was used to select exclusively those metabolites that contain a free carbonyl function while all other metabolites are rejected. …