Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Heath Professions Division Dissertation Guide 2017, Nova Southeastern University

Health Professions Divisions Course Catalogs and Course Descriptions

No abstract provided.

Efficacy Of Kinesio Taping As An Adjunct Intervention To Traditional Physical Therapy In The Treatment Of Nonspecific Acute Low Back Pain: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial, Hossameldien Elkholy

Department of Physical Therapy Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Efficacy of Kinesio Taping as an Adjunct Intervention to Traditional Physical Therapy in the Treatment of Nonspecific Acute Low Back Pain: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial Background: Acute low back pain (LBP) is a significant health problem worldwide and is one of the leading causes of disability. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Kinesio Taping (KT) on disability, fear-avoidance beliefs, and pain intensity in patients with acute, nonspecific LBP. Research Design and Methods: A prospective, randomized controlled study of consecutive patients referred to physical therapy with a primary complaint of LBP. Seventy-eight patients …

Managing Diabetic A1c At A Primary Care Center: A Nurse Practitioner Perspective, Jacqueline Mcdonald

Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Background: At a primary care center in Brooklyn, New York, approximately 27% of diabetic patients with abnormal Hgb A1C fail to return for follow-up appointments, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to electronic medical records (EMR), healthcare providers demonstrated inconsistency in ordering and monitoring Hgb A1C and clinic follow-up appointments for patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine retrospectively the healthcare providers’ ordering, monitoring, and follow-up appointments for adult diabetic patients with abnormal Hgb A1Cs; to develop and implement astandardized process for healthcare providers to monitor and follow these …

The Lli Chronicle Special 40th Anniversary Edition, Nova Southeastern University

Lifelong Learning Institute Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Health And Dental Insurance On Us Children’S Dental Care Utilization For Urgent And Non-Urgent Dental Problems - 2008, Shillpa Naavaal, Laurie K. Barker, Susan O. Griffin

Dental Public Health and Policy Publications

Objective: We examined the association between utilization of care for a dental problem (utilization-DP) and parent-reported dental problem (DP) urgency among children with DP by type of health care insurance coverage.

Methods: We used weighted 2008 National Health Interview Survey data from 2,834 children, aged 2-17 years with at least one DP within the 6 months preceding survey. Explanatory variables were selected based on Andersen's model of healthcare utilization. Need was considered urgent if DP included toothache, bleeding gums, broken or missing teeth, broken or missing filling, or decayed teeth and otherwise as non-urgent. The primary enabling variable, insurance, had …

Ultrastructure Of Rat Umbilical Cord Stroma-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Ahmet Ceylan, Özge Özgenç, Korhan Altunbaş, Petek Korkusuz, Asuman Özen

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Being multipotent progenitor cells, mesenchymal stem cells continue to attract attention as a promising tool for cell-based therapy and tissue engineering. However, research on the ultrastructure of these cells is rather scarce. This study was aimed at the investigation of the transmission electron microscopic ultrastructure and morphology of mesenchymal stem cells isolated from the stroma of rat umbilical cord using the explant culture method. At the end of the third passage, some of the cells isolated from the stroma of the umbilical cord were harvested for electron microscopic examination. The remaining cells were induced for osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic differentiation. …

Delirium Update For Postacute Care And Long-Term Care Settings: A Narrative Review., Martin M Forsberg

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Advances have been made in our understanding of the neuropathogenesis, recognition, and strategies for reducing the incidence of delirium in acute-care settings. However, relatively little attention has been given to delirium in elderly patients in the postacute care (PAC) and long-term care (LTC) settings. The present article reviews the most relevant current research pertaining to this population. Hospital patients with delirium are often discharged to PAC settings. Delirium that develops in the LTC setting is often more insidious and subtle in presentation. Despite incorporating systematic screening tools for delirium in PAC and LTC settings, delirium prevention strategies have not yet …

Paramedic Patient Advocacy: A Review And Discussion, Alan M. Batt, Gerard Ward, Joseph J. Acker

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Introduction: Patient advocacy is an often encountered term, but one for which no consistent definition exists. Advocacy is a new and developing role of the paramedic that is closely linked to the developing professionalism of paramedicine, along with the expanding role of the paramedic as a healthcare professional in the community. This role however requires exploration and clarification. Methods: A literature search was performed of multiple databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and prominent paramedic journals. Results: No published literature investigating the theory or practice of paramedic patient advocacy, the potential conflicts and benefits of this role, or the perceived and …

Sensory-Based Group Treatment In Reducing Physically Acting-Out Behaviors And Perceived Levels Of Distress, Tiffany Barnette

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Background: Mental health legislation over the last several decades has focused on restricting the use of seclusion and restraints within facilities receiving federal financial assistance. Facilities serving psychiatric populations have looked for strategies to eliminate the need for these forced interventions. One strategy is the use sensory-based treatment in occupational therapy intervention. Sensory approaches that have been adopted as ‘best practice’ include the use of sensory rooms, groups and kits to help users learn how to regulate psychological and emotional states of arousal.

Purpose: The purpose of this Capstone Project was to examine the effectiveness of a sensory-based …

Workplace Factors Affecting The Delivery Of Occupational Therapy Services: Perspectives Of Occupational Therapy Practitioners, Robert J. Mullaney

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

This research is a study on the occupation of being an occupational therapy practitioner. The work-related factors of focus are change, absenteeism, productivity/performance expectations, and work-stress and have the potential to influence the delivery of occupational therapy services in healthcare settings. Collective case-study inquiry and analysis was used to determine the overall meaning of the perspectives of 21 hospital, skilled nursing, outpatient, and community-based participants who were occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants. Interviews and transcription took place, with a validation review. NVIVO-10 Qualitative Software was used to aid in the analysis and coding of the a-priori factors using deductive …

Relationship Between Individual Differences In Functional Connectivity And Facial Emotion Recognition Abilities In Traumatic Brain Injury, Arianna Rigon, Michelle W. Voss, Lyn Siobhan Turkstra, Bilge Mutlu, Melissa Duff

Communication Disorders Faculty Research

Although several studies have demonstrated that facial-affect recognition impairment is common following moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), and that there are diffuse alterations in large-scale functional brain networks in TBI populations, little is known about the relationship between the two. Here, in a sample of26 participants with TBI and 20 healthy comparison participants (HC) we measured facial-affect recognition abilities and resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) using fMRI. We then used network-based statistics to ex-amine (A) the presence of rs-FC differences between individuals with TBI and HC within the facial-affect processing network, and (B) the association between inter-individual differences in emotion recognition …

An Idh1 Mutation Prevalent In Glioma Confers Deficient Dna Repair And Sensitivity To Parp Inhibition, Nathaniel David Robinson

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

High-grade gliomas (HGGs) are devastating malignancies of the central nervous system, and few treatment options are available for these tumors. In the most malignant form of the disease, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), over 90% of patients will succumb to their tumor within 5 years after standard of care treatment, consisting of surgery, radiation therapy, and temozolomide chemotherapy. It is now clear that gliomas are molecularly heterogeneous entities, with mutations in tumor suppressors and oncogenes defining many distinct sub-types with important therapy implications. However, almost all HGGs are treated with a limited array of initial therapies, regardless of these molecular differences. Isocitrate …

Convolutional Neural Networks For Predicting Skin Lesions Of Melanoma, Anuruddha Jayasekara Pathiranage

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Diagnosis of an unknown skin lesion is crucial to enable proper treatments. While curable with early diagnosis, only highly trained dermatologists are capable of accurately recognize melanoma skin lesions. Expert dermatologist classification for melanoma dermoscopic images is 65-66%. As expertise is in limited supply, systems that can automatically classify skin lesions as either benign or malignant melanoma are very useful as initial screening tools. Towards this goal, this study presents a convolutional neural network model, trained on features extracted from a highway convolutional neural network pretrained on dermoscopic images of skin lesions. This requires no lesion segmentation nor complex preprocessing. …

The Effectiveness Of Occupational Therapist Guided Remediation Through Handwriting Home Programs, Cindy W. Poole

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

There is extensive research on the evolution of handwriting instruction, programs, the neuromotor components, the complexity of performance, and the long term effects of both adequate and inferior performance to occupational performance. The research supports occupational therapy intervention as effective for remediation of poor handwriting. With occupational therapy services limited to only those who receive special education services in schools, supplemental handwriting instruction and remediation responsibilities fall to the teachers and parents. This also creates a large unserved segment of children who struggle under traditional instructional approaches. Parents and teachers have instructional support needs related to current evidence based practice …

Ua1c11/57 Sigma Theta Tau Photos, Wku Nursing

WKU Administration Documents

Unidentified images of Sigma Theta Tau.

The Ability To Critically Evaluate Research Literature In Speech-Language Pathology, David Gregorio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research in Speech-Language Pathology provides the basis for understanding how and to what degree therapeutic techniques and interventions affect the health and quality of life of individuals with communication disorders. Across numerous fields of healthcare, research serves just as important a function and is used to guide the practices of professionals across the public health sector. Several disciplines, including chiropracty, nursing, and physical therapy, rely on the implementation of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) to ensure that the process of rehabilitation and the techniques employed therein are carried out though the synthesis of best clinical judgment, empirical evidence, and patient values. The …

Patient Characteristics Associated With False Arrhythmia Alarms In Intensive Care, Patricia R.E. Harris, Jessica K. Zègre-Hemsey, Daniel Schindler, Yong Bai, Michelle M. Pelter, Xiao Hu

Collected Faculty Scholarship

Introduction

A high rate of false arrhythmia alarms in the intensive care unit (ICU) leads to alarm fatigue, the condition of desensitization and potentially inappropriate silencing of alarms due to frequent invalid and nonactionable alarms, often referred to as false alarms.

Objective

The aim of this study was to identify patient characteristics, such as gender, age, body mass index, and diagnosis associated with frequent false arrhythmia alarms in the ICU.

Methods

This descriptive, observational study prospectively enrolled patients who were consecutively admitted to one of five adult ICUs (77 beds) at an urban medical center over a period of 31 …

Spatiotemporal Dynamics Of The Southern California Asian Citrus Psyllid (Diaphorina Citri) Invasion., Brett R. Bayles, Shyam M. Thomas, Gregory S. Simmons, Elizabeth E. Grafton-Cardwell, Mathew P. Daugherty

Global Public Health | Faculty Scholarship

Biological invasions are governed by spatial processes that tend to be distributed in non-random ways across landscapes. Characterizing the spatial and temporal heterogeneities of the introduction, establishment, and spread of non-native insect species is a key aspect of effectively managing their geographic expansion. The Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri), a vector of the bacterium associated with huanglongbing (HLB), poses a serious threat to commercial and residential citrus trees. In 2008, D. citri first began expanding northward from Mexico into parts of Southern California. Using georeferenced D. citri occurrence data from 2008-2014, we sought to better understand the extent of the …

Covert Narrative Capacity: Mental Life In Patients Thought To Lack Consciousness, Lorina Naci, Mackenzie Graham, Adrian M. Owen, Charles Weijer

Anatomy and Cell Biology Publications

Despite the apparent absence of external signs of consciousness, a significant proportion of behaviorally nonresponsive patients can respond to commands by willfully modulating their brain activity. However, little is known about the mental life of these patients. We discuss a recent innovative approach, which sheds light on the preserved cognitive capacities of these patients, including executive function, theory of mind, and the experience of affective states. This research represents a fundamental shift in our understanding of these patients, and has important implications for both their continued treatment and care. Moreover, this research marks out avenues for future inquiry into the …

Real-Time Interactive Tractography Analysis For Multimodal Brain Visualization Tool: Multixplore, Saeed M. Bakhshmand, Sandrine De Ribaupierre, Roy Eagleson

Anatomy and Cell Biology Publications

Most debilitating neurological disorders can have anatomical origins. Yet unlike other body organs, the anatomy alone cannot easily provide an understanding of brain functionality. In fact, addressing the challenge of linking structural and functional connectivity remains in the frontiers of neuroscience. Aggregating multimodal neuroimaging datasets may be critical for developing theories that span brain functionality, global neuroanatomy and internal microstructures. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) are main such techniques that are employed to investigate the brain under normal and pathological conditions. FMRI records blood oxygenation level of the grey matter (GM), whereas DTI is able …

The Roles Of Insulin-Like Growth Factors In Mesenchymal Stem Cell Niche, Amer Youssef, Doaa Aboalola, Victor K. M. Han

Anatomy and Cell Biology Publications

Many tissues contain adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which may be used in tissue regeneration therapies. However, the MSC availability in most tissues is limited which demands expansion in vitro following isolation. Like many developing cells, the state of MSCs is affected by the surrounding microenvironment, and mimicking this natural microenvironment that supports multipotent or differentiated state in vivo is essential to understand for the successful use of MSC in regenerative therapies. Many researchers are, therefore, optimizing cell culture conditions in vitro by altering growth factors, extracellular matrices, chemicals, oxygen tension, and surrounding pH to enhance stem cells self-renewal or …

Molecular Characterization Of Nrxn1 Deletions From 19,263 Clinical Microarray Cases Identifies Exons Important For Neurodevelopmental Disease Expression, Chelsea Lowther, Marsha Speevak, Christine M Armour, Elaine S Goh, Gail E Graham, Chumei Li, Susan Zeesman, Malgorzata J M Nowaczyk, Lee-Anne Schultz, Antonella Morra, Rob Nicolson, Peter Bikangaga, Dawa Samdup, Mostafa Zaazou, Kerry Boyd, Jack H Jung, Victoria Siu, Manjulata Rajguru, Sharan Goobie, Mark A Tarnopolsky, Chitra Prasad, Paul T Dick, Asmaa S Hussain, Margreet Walinga, Renske G Reijenga, Matthew Gazzellone, Anath C Lionel, Christian R Marshall, Stephen W Scherer, Dimitri J Stavropoulos, Elizabeth Mccready, Anne S Bassett

Paediatrics Publications

PURPOSE: The purpose of the current study was to assess the penetrance of NRXN1 deletions.

METHODS: We compared the prevalence and genomic extent of NRXN1 deletions identified among 19,263 clinically referred cases to that of 15,264 controls. The burden of additional clinically relevant copy-number variations (CNVs) was used as a proxy to estimate the relative penetrance of NRXN1 deletions.

RESULTS: We identified 41 (0.21%) previously unreported exonic NRXN1 deletions ascertained for developmental delay/intellectual disability that were significantly greater than in controls (odds ratio (OR) = 8.14; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.91-22.72; P < 0.0001). Ten (22.7%) of these had a second clinically relevant CNV. Subjects with a deletion near the 3' end of NRXN1 were significantly more likely to have a second rare CNV than subjects with a 5' NRXN1 deletion (OR = 7.47; 95% CI: 2.36-23.61; P = 0.0006). The prevalence of intronic NRXN1 deletions was not statistically different between cases and controls (P = 0.618). The majority (63.2%) of intronic NRXN1 deletion cases had a second rare CNV at a prevalence twice as high as that for exonic NRXN1 deletion cases (P = 0.0035).

CONCLUSIONS: The results support the importance of exons …

Cytoplasmic Distribution Of Hiv-1 Tat Sensitizes Jurkat T Cells To Sulphamethoxazole-Hydroxylamine Induced Toxicity, Kemi Adeyanju, Gregory A. Dekaban, Michael J. Rieder

Paediatrics Publications

Background: One medication commonly used by HIV-1-infected individuals is the antimicrobial sulphamethoxazole (SMX), which is used in the treatment and prophylaxis of pneumocystis pneumonia. However, SMX is responsible for a very high incidence of hypersensitivity adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in the HIV-1 population. While the pathophysiology of ADRs in general is unknown, sulphamethoxazole-mediated ADRs have been linked to its reactive metabolite sulphamethoxazole-hydroxylamine (SMX-HA). Our previous work has shown that increased expression of the HIV-1 Tat protein in T cells correlated with increased apoptosis after incubation with SMX-HA. In this study we sought to determine the region of the Tat protein …

Brainstem Shape Is Affected By Clinical Course In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Marcus Lo, Leire Zubiaurre-Elorza, Conor Wild, Annika C Linke, David S C Lee, Victor K Han, Rhodri Cusack

Paediatrics Publications

The brainstem, critical for motor function, autonomic regulation, and many neurocognitive functions, undergoes rapid development from the third trimester. Accordingly, we hypothesized it would be vulnerable to insult during this period, and that a difficult clinical course in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) would affect development, and be reflected through atypical shape. Our study population consisted of 66 neonates - all inpatients from the NICU at Victoria Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre, ON, Canada, of which 45 entered the final analysis. The cohort varied in gestational age (GA) and ranged from neurologically healthy to severely brain-injured. Structural MRI was …

Different Effects Of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 And Insulin-Like Growth Factor-2 On Myogenic Differentiation Of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Doaa Aboalola, Victor K M Han

Paediatrics Publications

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are critical components of the stem cell niche, as they regulate proliferation and differentiation of stem cells into different lineages, including skeletal muscle. We have previously reported that insulin-like growth factor binding protein-6 (IGFBP-6), which has high affinity for IGF-2, alters the differentiation process of placental mesenchymal stem cells (PMSCs) into skeletal muscle. In this study, we determined the roles of IGF-1 and IGF-2 and their interactions with IGFBP-6. We showed that IGF-1 increased IGFBP-6 levels within 24 hours but decreased after 3 days, while IGF-2 maintained higher levels of IGFBP-6 throughout myogenesis. IGF-1 increased IGFBP-6 …

Pediatric Emergency Care Capacity In A Low-Resource Setting: An Assessment Of District Hospitals In Rwanda, Celestin Hategeka, Jean Shoveller, Lisine Tuyisenge, Cynthia Kenyon, David F Cechetto, Larry D Lynd

Paediatrics Publications

BACKGROUND: Health system strengthening is crucial to improving infant and child health outcomes in low-resource countries. While the knowledge related to improving newborn and child survival has advanced remarkably over the past few decades, many healthcare systems in such settings remain unable to effectively deliver pediatric advance life support management. With the introduction of the Emergency Triage, Assessment and Treatment plus Admission care (ETAT+)-a locally adapted pediatric advanced life support management program-in Rwandan district hospitals, we undertook this study to assess the extent to which these hospitals are prepared to provide this pediatric advanced life support management. The results of …

Identification Of Epigenetic Signature Associated With Alpha Thalassemia/Mental Retardation X-Linked Syndrome, Laila C Schenkel, Kristin D Kernohan, Arran Mcbride, Ditta Reina, Amanda Hodge, Peter J Ainsworth, David I Rodenhiser, Guillaume Pare, Nathalie G Bérubé, Cindy Skinner, Kym M Boycott, Charles Schwartz, Bekim Sadikovic

Paediatrics Publications

BACKGROUND: Alpha thalassemia/mental retardation X-linked syndrome (ATR-X) is caused by a mutation at the chromatin regulator gene

RESULTS: We performed genome-wide DNA methylation assessment of the peripheral blood samples from 18 patients with ATR-X and compared it to 210 controls. We demonstrated the evidence of a unique and highly specific DNA methylation "epi-signature" in the peripheral blood of ATRX patients, which was corroborated by targeted bisulfite sequencing experiments. Although genomically represented, differentially methylated regions showed evidence of preferential clustering in pericentromeric and telometric chromosomal regions, areas where ATRX has multiple functions related to maintenance of heterochromatin and genomic integrity.

CONCLUSION: …

Remote Lifestyle Counseling Influences Cardiovascular Health Outcomes In Youth With Overweight Or Obesity And Congenital Heart Disease, Luis Altamirano-Diaz, Meghan Rombeek, Stefanie De Jesus, Eva Welisch, Harry Prapavessis, Adam A Dempsey, Douglas Fraser, Michael R Miller, Kambiz Norozi

Paediatrics Publications

Background: Children with overweight/obesity and congenital heart disease (CHD) are at increased cardiovascular risk. A lifestyle intervention may help reduce these risks. We sought to determine the feasibility of a smartphone-based lifestyle intervention to improve cardiovascular health outcomes in children with overweight/obesity and CHD.

Methods: We examined the effect of bi-weekly nutrition and fitness counseling delivered

Results: Statistically significant decreases in waist circumference (WC), body mass index

Conclusion: The observed changes in anthropometry were positive with significant improvement to some cardiovascular and metabolic risk indicators. However, this was only observed in the operated group suggesting that other factors, such as …

Are We Armed With The Right Data? Pooled Individual Data Review Of Biomarkers In People With Severe Upper Limb Impairment After Stroke, Kathryn S. Hayward, Julia Schmidt, Keith R. Lohse, Sue Peters, Julia Bernhardt, Natasha A. Lannin, Lara A. Boyd

Physical Therapy Publications

To build an understanding of the neurobiology underpinning arm recovery in people with severe arm impairment due to stroke, we conducted a pooled individual data systematic review to: 1) characterize brain biomarkers; 2) determine relationship(s) between biomarkers and motor outcome; and 3) establish relationship(s) between biomarkers and motor recovery. Three electronic databases were searched up to October 2, 2015. Eligible studies included adults with severe arm impairment after stroke. Descriptive statistics were calculated to characterize brain biomarkers, and pooling of individual patient data was performed using mixed-effects linear regression to examine relationships between brain biomarkers and motor outcome and recovery. …

Interhemispheric Pathways Are Important For Motor Outcome In Individuals With Chronic And Severe Upper Limb Impairment Post Stroke, Kathryn S. Hayward, Jason L. Neva, Cameron S. Mang, Sue Peters, Katie P. Wadden, Jennifer K. Ferris, Lara A. Boyd

Physical Therapy Publications

Background: Severity of arm impairment alone does not explain motor outcomes in people with severe impairment post stroke.

Objective: Define the contribution of brain biomarkers to upper limb motor outcomes in people with severe arm impairment post stroke.

Methods: Paretic arm impairment (Fugl-Meyer upper limb, FM-UL) and function (Wolf Motor Function Test rate, WMFT-rate) were measured in 15 individuals with severe (FM-UL ≤ 30/66) and 14 with mild-moderate (FM-UL > 40/66) impairment. Transcranial magnetic stimulation and diffusion weight imaging indexed structure and function of the corticospinal tract and corpus callosum. Separate models of the relationship between possible biomarkers and motor outcomes …