Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Burden, Depressive Symptoms, And Perceived Health In Male Caregivers Of Persons With End Stage Renal Disease, Loretta Alexia Williams

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Introduction: Men are increasingly assuming the role of caregiver to individuals with chronic illnesses. The debilitating effects of ESRD cause many of those diagnosed with the disease to require assistance from family caregivers. Caregiver literature well reports that caregivers experience mental and physical health effects related to this role. However, research involving the experiences of male caregivers of individuals with ESRD is understudied. These studies use the background and contextual as well as primary and secondary domains of the Stress Process Model to determine the levels of and explore the experiences associated with caregiver burden, depressive symptoms, and perceived health …

Development Of Oral Vaccines Against Lyme Disease, Rita Raquel Dos Anjos De Carvalho E Melo

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Lyme Disease, caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States and Europe. If left untreated, it can lead to permanent damage to the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. In some cases, patients that receive the recommended antibiotic therapy develop a debilitating health condition associated with substantial health care costs. Despite current preventive measures, the incidence and the geographic distribution of Lyme Disease continues to increase. Recent estimates from CDC suggest that the true number of cases of Lyme Disease in the US is approximately 300,000 per year. Yet, there is currently no vaccine …

Medicaid Discontinuity Among Adults With Cardiovascular Disease Or High Risk Conditions: Associations With Medication Adherence And Health Care Utilization, Kiraat Divyang Munshi

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

BACKGROUND: Medicaid coverage among adults is often characterized by discontinuity – loss of Medicaid coverage, and churning, or entering and exiting Medicaid – over short durations. Little is known about the impact of having discontinuous Medicaid coverage on access to care, preventive care, pharmacotherapy, primary care, and hospitalizations, among non-elderly adults with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or high-risk conditions.

OBJECTIVES: This dissertation employed a three empirical research papers approach to pursue the following aims: (1) characterize the adult subpopulations with CVD or conditions placing them at high risk for CVD who lack continuous Medicaid coverage, and examine the characteristics associated with …

Optimization Of Lead Spectinamide Compounds As Novel Anti-Tuberculosis Agents With A Pharmacometric Approach, Ashit Rasendu Trivedi

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

In an effort to combat the global Tuberculosis pandemic, Dr.Richard E. Lee and his group at St.Jude Children’s Research Hospital designed a novel series of anti-tuberculosis agents, spectinamides – semi-synthetic analogs of spectinomycin. Spectinamides are a potent inhibitor of mycobacterial ribosomes and overcome efflux mediated drug resistance in M. tb. Spectinamides have shown an excellent in vitro activity, which makes them well suited for further lead optimization and preclinical development. We hypothesized that through pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) model-based dosing optimization studies, we could strategically guide the selection and refinement of more potent and effective anti-TB spectinamides. Biopharmaceutical in …

Functional Analysis Of Genomic Variation And Impact On Molecular And Higher Order Phenotypes, Ashutosh Kumar Pandey

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Reverse genetics methods, particularly the production of gene knockouts and knockins, have revolutionized the understanding of gene function. High throughput sequencing now makes it practical to exploit reverse genetics to simultaneously study functions of thousands of normal sequence variants and spontaneous mutations that segregate in intercross and backcross progeny generated by mating completely sequenced parental lines. To evaluate this new reverse genetic method we resequenced the genome of one of the oldest inbred strains of mice—DBA/2J—the father of the large family of BXD recombinant inbred strains. We analyzed ~100X wholegenome sequence data for the DBA/2J strain, relative to C57BL/6J, the …

Characterization Of Internal Transcribed Spacer Of Nuclear Ribosomal Dna Of Trichuris Ovis From Goat In Hunan Province, China, Fen Li, Yi Liu, Wen-Cheng Chen, Tao Hu, Liu-Chun Duan, Wei Liu, Tian-Yin Cheng

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Trichuris ovis parasitizes the caeca and colon of hosts, causing trichuriasis. Despite this parasite being of animal health significance, causing considerable socio-economic losses globally, little is known of the molecular characteristics of T. ovis. In the present study, the entire first and second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1 and ITS-2) regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of T. ovis from goats in Hunan province, China were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the representative amplicons were subjected to sequencing in order to estimate sequence variation. The ITS rDNA sequences for the T. ovis samples were 1289-1303 bp in length. Sequence …

Effect Of Serum Il-1beta Of Pcso-524 And Firocoxib In Dogs Undergoing Medial Patellar Luxation Repair, Sararat Kongwut, Kumpanart Soontornvipart, Meena Sarikaphuti, Pussadee Makoom, Korakot Nganvongpanit

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Thirty client-owned Pomeranians, between one and seven years old that had grade-three medial patellar luxation, were enrolled in this experiment. The dogs did not have other diseases. All the dogs received the same physical and clinical orthopaedic examinations, as well as the peak vertical force gait analysis, radiographic examination for assessment of bone deformities. Then, blood was collected from each dog for evaluation of complete blood counts (CBCs), blood chemistry and biomarker assays (IL-1β) before surgery. After surgery to correct their medial patellar luxations, they were divided into three groups by random sampling. The first group received only Firocoxib (5 …

Activation Of Microglia In The Rotenone Lymnaea Stagnalis Model Of Parkinson's Disease, Xiomara Galvan

Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most common irreversible neurodegenerative movement disorder affecting approximately ten million people worldwide. In the central nervous system (CNS), PD is known by the selective loss of Dopamine (DA) cells of the substantia nigra pars compacta. Although the disease has been very widely studied, the underlying mechanisms are not yet understood. Several hypotheses have arisen as result of injury of the mitochondria, some experiments include microglia activation, microtubule damage, and reactive oxidative species, which all result in the death of DA cells. The theory of microglia activation upon inflammation was explored in this study. Using the …

An Exploratory Investigation Of Tele-Counseling: Looking At The Power Of Therapeutic Alliance In Improving Wellness, Jorge Rostro

Theses and Dissertations

The present study explored the power of one tele-counseling session to elicit change within post wellness ratings scores and the relationship between clients’ perceptions of relationship, goals and topics, approach and method, and overall session with clients’ wellness ratings. Results indicated that the mean for post-session wellness was significantly greater than pre-test wellness ratings. The standardized effect size, d, was .43, indicative of a moderate effect size. No difference was found between client’s perceptions of predictor variables with post-wellness rating scores. This study adds support for the use of tele-counseling services as one session might have the power to elicit …

Radiography Clinical Instructors' Perceptions Of The Transition From Technologist To Educator, Christina G. Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Radiologic technologists who transition into the role of clinical instructor are usually expert practitioners but may lack knowledge of best practices regarding student instruction and evaluation. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to investigate how CIs experience the transition from practitioner to educator and what knowledge or education of best practices of instruction and evaluation they bring to the position. This study consisted of interviews with radiography CIs from one associate degree radiography program in the southeastern part of the United States. While some CIs felt prepared to transition into the CI role, none of them had previously …

Background Differences In Baseline And Stimulated Mmp Levels Influence Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Susceptibility, Matthew A. Dale, Melissa K. Suh, Shijia Zhao, Trevor Meisinger, Linxia Gu, Vicki J. Swier, Devendra K. Agrawal, Timothy Greiner, Jeffrey S. Carson, B. Timothy Baxter, Wanfen Xiong

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Objective: Evidence has demonstrated profound influence of genetic background on cardiovascular phenotypes. Murine models in Marfan syndrome (MFS) have shown that genetic background-related variations affect thoracic aortic aneurysm formation, rupture, and lifespan of mice. MFS mice with C57Bl/6 genetic background are less susceptible to aneurysm formation compared to the 129/SvEv genetic background. In this study, we hypothesize that susceptibility to abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) will be increased in 129/SvEv mice versus C57Bl/6 mice. We tested this hypothesis by assessing differences in aneurysm size, tissue properties, immune response, and MMP expression.

Methods: Mice of C57Bl/6 or 129/SvEv background underwent AAA induction …

The Neurobiology Of Circadian Rhythms, Patricia J. Sollars, Gary E. Pickard

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Daily rhythms in nature, such as the opening and closing of flowers or our patterns of sleep and wakefulness and their association with the perpetual alteration of night and day, were recognized in antiquity although their origins were not questioned until the eighteenth century. The French Astronomer Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan conducted an investigation into whether the leaves of the Mimosa plant opened in response to light.¹ While de Mairan’s experiments were the first to question the origin of such daily rhythms, Augustin Pyramus de Candolle is credited with the first suggestion that they arose through an internal timekeeping …

A Synthetic Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Strain Confers Unprecedented Levels Of Heterologous Protection, Hiep Vu, Fangrui Ma, William W. Laegreid, Asit K. Pattnaik, David Steffen, Alan R. Doster, Fernando Osorio

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Current vaccines do not provide sufficient levels of protection against divergent porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) strains circulating in the field, mainly due to the substantial variation of the viral genome. We describe here a novel approach to generate a PRRSV vaccine candidate that could confer unprecedented levels of heterologous protection against divergent PRRSV isolates. By using a set of 59 nonredundant, full-genome sequences of type 2 PRRSVs, a consensus genome (designated PRRSV-CON) was generated by aligning these 59 PRRSV full-genome sequences, followed by selecting the most common nucleotide found at each position of the alignment. Next, the …

Alumni Journal - Volume 86, Number 3, Loma Linda University School Of Medicine

Alumni Journal, School of Medicine

Features
10 | A Call for Medical Missionaries
12 | They Helped to Establish This Noble Legacy
14 | The Evolution of Graduation
22 | Graduation 2015

Departments
2 | From the Editor
3 | This and That
4 | From the President
5 | From the Dean
6 | The Student Fund
8 | School of Medicine News
38 | AIMS Report
40 | Book Review
42 | Alumni News
43 | In Memoriam
49 | What's Up Doc?

Extras
24 | Note from the Class of 2015 President
48 | 1 Corinthians 13 - Revised Medicalized Version

Banning The Handshake From Healthcare Settings Is Not The Solution To Poor Hand Hygiene, Herbert L Fred

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

No abstract provided.

Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma Metastatic From The Uterus To The Inferior Vena Cava And Right Atrium, Daniel Scher, William Nghiem, Salim Aziz, Rodeen Rahbar, Whitney Banks, Anthony Venbrux, Shawn Sarin

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Endometrial stromal sarcoma metastases usually occur within the pelvis and rarely involve the great vessels or the heart. We present the case of a 55-year-old woman who was referred for endovascular therapy to treat presumed thrombosis of the inferior vena cava. The suspected thrombus was recalcitrant to endovascular removal with use of an AngioVac venous drainage device. Results of an intraprocedural transvenous biopsy revealed the mass to be the intravascular extension of an endometrial stromal sarcoma. The patient underwent surgical excision of the tumor, and, shortly thereafter, a hysterectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy. This complex case highlights both the rarity of malignancy …

Multivariate Criteria Most Accurately Distinguish Cardiac From Noncardiac Causes Of Dyspnea, Mirza Nubair Ahmad, Syed Hasan Yusuf, Rafath Ullah, Mirza Mujadil Ahmad, Mary K Ellis, Haroon Yousaf, Timothy E Paterick, Khawaja Afzal Ammar

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing provides oxygen pulse as a continuous measure of stroke volume, which is superior to other stress-testing methods in which systolic function is measured at baseline and at peak stress. However, the optimal peak oxygen pulse criterion for distinguishing cardiac from noncardiac causes of exercise limitation is unknown.

In comparing several peak oxygen pulse criteria against the clinical standard of cardiopulmonary exercise testing, we retrospectively studied 54 consecutive patients referred for cardiopulmonary exercise testing. These exercise tests included measurement of oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, breathing reserve, arterial blood gases at baseline and at peak stress, exercise electrocardiogram, …

A Comparison Of Beliefs And Attitudes About Body Image, Eating And Weight Between Incarcerated And Non-~Incarcerated Females, Anne R. Lindsay

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Abstract

Incarceration and substance abuse are two of the largest public health issues in America. While the U.S. makes up only 5% of the world’s population, it accounts for 25% of its prisoners. Incarceration affects more than 2.2 million individuals who will eventually return to their families and communities with ongoing family, social and health issues. Women in prison are a particularly vulnerable and underserved population, generally of low education and socio-economic status and although they account for a small percent of the prison population, many are mothers of young children who are likely to become incarcerated themselves. Substance abuse …

Health Impact Assessment Of Proposed Rental Housing Policy Within Clark County, Nevada, Usa, Erika Raquel Marquez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Homes serve as a central function of our everyday lives, they are where most Americans spend a significant amount of time and money. The quality of our homes can impact our health. Poor housing can cause and contribute to preventable diseases and injuries, such as the development or exacerbation of asthma, neurological deficits, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. According to the American Housing Survey (2013) approximately 5.8 million homes, of 132 million homes in the United States, are in moderate to severe physical disrepair, with rental housing being at a disproportionate burden. According to 2013 U.S. Census, Clark County, Nevada has …

The Lived Experience Of Nurses Working In A Modified Therapeutic Community, Victoria Lynn Plagenz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Today over one million U. S. prisoners are being held in federal and state systems for substance use-related crimes. The financial, social, and emotional costs have turned policymakers’ attention to rehabilitation rather than incarceration. In an attempt to meet the challenge of recovery from addiction, prison systems around the nation have explored various options, including residential treatment programs. One such form of residential treatment is the modified therapeutic community (MTC) where inmates participate in a nine-month, cognitive-based treatment program. This model focuses on incarcerated individuals, addicted to substances, to assist them in developing behaviors to reduce antisocial peer associations and …

Scardovia Wiggsiae Prevalence In Orthodontic Patients, Brandon Joseph Streiff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Dental caries has mainly been associated with Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Actinomyces and Veillonella species. But in recent salivary studies a new cariogenic pathogen, has been identified. This new bacteria, Scardovia wiggsiae (SW), is currently being tested within the UNLV School of Dental Medicine patient population. Although these current studies are being conducted to study its prevalence in both pediatric and adult populations, it has not been evaluated among patients with an altered oral environment as seen in patients with orthodontic appliances. Fixed orthodontic appliances increase the difficulty of removing daily plaque on and in between the teeth with standard oral hygiene …

Television Consumption And Child Obesity: Linking Children's Contemporary Television Use, Physical Activity, And Advertising To Putnam's Displacement Hypothesis, Brittany L. Altamirano

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study observed the relationship between television consumption and child obesity through the theoretical construct of Putnam’s displacement hypothesis. It did so by updating the previous research through the investigation of the displacement of both physical activity and advertisements on contemporary television platforms. The inclusion of Putnam’s displacement hypothesis was to provide a foundational framework, not found in previous literature, to study two important paradigms that were represented in previous research: 1) the displacement of physical activity; and 2) the displacement of traditional advertisement exposure.

Several trends became apparent within previous literature. Previous literature did not include an explicitly stated …

Differences In Disease Reporting: An Analysis Of State Reportable Conditions And Their Relationship To The Nationally Notifiable Conditions List, Brian Labus

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The basis of public health surveillance is the reporting of diseases and conditions to the health department by clinicians and laboratories. In the United States, over eighty diseases and conditions of national importance (e.g., tuberculosis, syphilis, and cancer) are included on the list of Nationally Notifiable Conditions (NNC) for submission to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by the states. The legal basis for disease reporting is found at the state level, where inconsistent laws may differ in terms of which conditions are reportable and their reporting process. The process by which states require the reporting of NNCs …

Low-Dose Versus Standard-Dose Tissue Plasminogen Activator In Acute Ischemic Stroke In Asian Populations: A Meta-Analysis., Meng-Dong Liu, Wei-Dong Ning, Ren-Cong Wang, Wei Chen, Yang Yang, Yan Lin, Da-Hai Hu, Wayne Bond Lau, Yan Qu

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Recent studies have investigated the most efficacious dose of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV-tPA) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. There remains no definitive consensus concerning the superior efficacious IV-tPA dose (standard- vs. low-dose), prompting us to perform a meta-analysis comparing the efficacy and safety profile of standard- versus low-dose IV-tPA.We identified relevant studies pertaining to the specific aim of our meta-analysis by searching PubMed and EMBASE (January 1990-September 2015) Either a fixed- or random-effects model was employed (dependent upon data heterogeneity) to analyze the efficacy and safety outcome.Ten cohort studies involving 4389 sum patients were included in the meta-analysis. …

Ibuprofen Ameliorates Fatigue- And Depressive-Like Behavior In Tumor-Bearing Mice, Diana M. Norden, Donna O. Mccarthy, Sabahattin Bicer, Raymond Devine, Peter J. Reiser, Jonathan P. Godbout, Loren E. Wold

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Aims: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is often accompanied by depressed mood, both of which reduce functional status and quality of life. Research suggests that increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines is associated with skeletal muscle wasting and depressive- and fatigue-like behaviors in rodents and cancer patients. We have previously shown that treatment with ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, preserved muscle mass in tumor-bearing mice. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine the behavioral effects of ibuprofen in a mouse model of CRF.

Main methods: Mice were injected with colon-26 adenocarcinoma cells and treated with ibuprofen (10 mg/kg) in the …

A Simulation To Improve The Clinical Nursing Instructor’S Teaching Of Ethics To Students In The Clinical Setting, Cynthia S. Randall Dnp

All Student Scholarship

Ethical knowledge and skill is crucial to the discipline of nursing and is considered foundational knowledge for nursing practice (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2008). Nurses who assume roles in clinical teaching may be clinically competent but may have limited nursing education experience or knowledge in clinical instruction. The purpose of this project was to improve the educational experience of clinical instructors in the teaching of ethics to students in the clinical setting. This DNP capstone was a quality improvement project with a mixed method design using simulation as a teaching strategy. Eight clinical instructors from a university based baccalaureate nursing …

Synthesis And Functional Evaluation Of Peptide Modified Poly (Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid) Nanoparticles To Inhibit Porphyromonas Gingivalis Biofilm Formation., Paridhi Kalia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Periodontal disease is an oral inflammatory disorder that afflicts roughly 46% of the adults in the U.S. Currently, treatment of periodontal disease involves the removal of plaque from the gingival pocket (with possible antibiotic treatment) and if necessary, gingival surgery. To our knowledge, no therapeutic approach exists that promotes host-biofilm homeostasis by limiting pathogen recolonization of the oral cavity after prophylaxis or treatment. The interaction of the pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis with commensal streptococci is critical for initiation of periodontitis and represents a target for limiting P. gingivalis colonization of the oral cavity. Previous studies showed that a synthetic peptide …

Cardiovascular Regulation And Effects Of Respiratory Motor Training In Patients With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury., Bonnie Legg Ditterline

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation attempts to discover the mechanisms between cardiovascular and respiratory motor control post spinal cord injury (SCI): in normal, non-injured (NI) persons, cardiovascular regulation is dependent upon respiration, but there is nothing that suggests the mechanism for this relationship post-SCI. Thus we hoped to evaluate various aspects of cardiovascular regulation to further illustrate how this relationship is changed or unchanged by SCI. Chapter I describes the anatomy and physiology of the spine, respiratory system, and cardiovascular system in a NI person, and then describes how the function of these systems is changed by SCI. In addition, we describe therapies …

Efficiency Of Energy Utilization And Fecal Mineral Excretion In Holstein And Jersey Dairy Cows, Gabriel Garcia Gomez

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Eight multiparous Holstein and 8 Jersey dairy cows were used to complete energy balance trials designed to determine the effect of breed on the production and energy efficiency of milk, and energy partitioning. A repeated switchback design was used to compare the effect of cow breed. Diets consisted of 24.5% corn silage, 18.4% alfalfa hay, 6.9% grass hay, with either 22.9% rolled corn and 14.8% soybean meal (CON) or 8.95% rolled corn and 28.8% reduced fat distillers grains (RFDDGS) DM-basis. Diets were offered ad libitum for a 28 d adaptation period and 95% ad libitum for a 4 d collection …

Prevalence Of Hypertension In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis., Ahmed Sarki, Chidozie U. Nduka, Saverio Stranges, Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala, Olalekan A. Uthman

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

We aimed to obtain overall and regional estimates of hypertension prevalence, and to examine the pattern of this disease condition across different socio-demographic characteristics in low-and middle-income countries. We searched electronic databases from inception to August 2015. We included population-based studies that reported hypertension prevalence using the current definition of blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg or self-reported use of antihypertensive medication. We used random-effects meta-analyses to pool prevalence estimates of hypertension, overall, by World Bank region and country income group. Meta-regression analyses were performed to explore sources of heterogeneity across the included studies. A total of 242 studies, comprising data …