Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Engineering Electromagnetic Systems For Next-Generation Brain-Machine Interface, Brayan Ricardo Navarrete

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

MagnetoElectric Nanoparticles (MENPs) are known to be a powerful tool for a broad range of applications spanning from medicine to energy-efficient electronics. MENPs allow to couple intrinsic electric fields in the nervous system with externally controlled magnetic fields. This thesis exploited MENPs to achieve contactless brain-machine interface (BMIs). Special electromagnetic devices were engineered for controlling the MENPs’ magnetoelectric effect to enable stimulation and recording. The most important engineering breakthroughs of the study are summarized below.

(I) Metastable Physics to Localize Nanoparticles: One of the main challenges is to localize the nanoparticles at any selected site(s) in the brain. The fundamental …

Bioscaffold Valve With And Without Mechanically Conditioned Stem Cells For The Treatment Of Critical Mitral Valve Diseases In The Young, Brittany A. Gonzalez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Congenital heart disease, which includes heart valve defects, are the most common type of birth abnormality in the US. Infants with critical congenital valve disease have no established treatment-measure other than compassionate care options, owing to an absence of prosthetic valves in small sizes and their inability to support somatic growth. A regenerable valve would be appealing since these barriers could be overcome; it can potentially provide for growth, self-repair, infection resistance and be a permanent approach for replacing defective heart valves.

Porcine small intestinal submucosa (PSIS) bioscaffold was used to create valvular constructs with the possibility to grow overtime. …

Investigation Of Dna Damage And Genomic Organization In The Cellular Response To Platinum Chemotherapy, Abdulhadi Abdulwahed

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the primary reason for gynecological cancer-related deaths among women. This cancer rarely has specific symptoms making early detection challenging. Platinum compounds have been used as the first-line treatment for OC. However, OC patients often develop chemoresistance to current platinum/taxane chemotherapy regimens upon recurrence, leaving patients with no alternative treatment options. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the molecular basis of chemoresistance in OC by analyzing the damage of DNA response and gene positioning after treatment exposure. A modified comet assay was used to measure interstrand cross-link (ICL) formation and repair in chemoresistant (CR) (SKOV-3) …

Laboratory And Epidemiological Characteristics Of Zika Virus Infections In Florida, Stephen L. White

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Until recently, Zika virus (ZIKV) was an obscure virus that rarely caused infections and was unknown to most. In 2015 and 2016, ZIKV came into the public spotlight as Brazil and other countries began to report large increases in infections with ZIKV and reported potential complications with developing fetuses and neurologic manifestations. In 2016, the state of Florida identified and responded to an outbreak of locally acquired ZIKV infections in Miami-Dade County. This dramatic increase in infections demonstrated both its importance as an emerging infectious disease and the paucity of knowledge surrounding ZIKV. This study seeks to utilize the data …

Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (Cre): Epidemiology, Duration Of Carriage, And Progression To Infection In A Large Healthcare System In Miami, Fl, Adriana Jimenez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) considered by the CDC as an urgent public health threat that is spreading globally. Little is known about the epidemiology of CRE in Miami, FL. The purpose of this dissertation was to 1) Evaluate trends in the epidemiology of CRE among patients admitted to the acute care facilities of the largest healthcare system in Miami, FL between 2012 and 2016, 2) Identify factors associated with progressing to infection among patients colonized with carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), and 3) Determine the duration of CPE carriage and factors associated with long-term carriage in our cohort.

A …

The Effect Of Emotional State, Interoception, Intuitive Eating, And Self-Regulation On The Energy Intake Of College Students, Padideh Haddadian Lovan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

College students are known to be susceptible to weight gain. Transitioning to college brings new stresses and challenges which may lead to unhealthy eating behaviors and weight gain. There are multiple factors which have been attributed to exacerbating determinants for college weight gain including eating in the absence of hunger, lack of self-regulation, and emotional eating. As researchers have become more aware of the disadvantages of dieting and restricted eating, cognitive related behaviors, as a way to control weight, have gained more attention recently.

The aim of this study is to examine the association between internal bodily signals of hunger …

Heart Failure Patients' Perceptions Of Preparation For Self-Care, Valrie Evadne Reid

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Six and a half million Americans diagnosed with heart failure (HF) face dauntingly complex treatment regimens when transitioning from hospital to home care. Most are not prepared to perform their self-care. Advanced practice nurse (APN) interventions such as home visits as well as interventions that target perceived preparation for self-care have indicated improved health and costs outcomes. However, little is known about targeting perceived preparations for self-care with a low-cost APN intervention.

Purpose: This randomized controlled trial compared health outcomes, and healthcare charges between two groups of adults hospitalized with an HF diagnosis.

Methods: A control (n = 78) …

Formation And Repair Of Environmentally-Induced Damage To Mitochondrial And Nuclear Genomes, Yunhee Ji

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

All living organisms are continually exposed to various environmental stressors, be they anthropogenic or natural in origin. Many stressors share a common toxic mechanism, generating highly reactive chemical species that can have detrimental effects. A proportion of these chemical species evade the cell’s defenses and damage cellular components, including DNA. Measurement of global genome levels of DNA and cellular damage has implicated environmental stressors in major human health issues (e.g., cancer, aging, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases). Current associations between DNA damage and disease are based upon crude assessments of global genome damage, which provide limited mechanistic information on how damage …

Chronic Aphasia Recovery In Bilingual Spanish-English And Monolingual Adults, Kristina Ruch

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current investigation was to investigate and compare aphasia recovery patterns in bilingual and monolingual adults with chronic aphasia. Ten participants with aphasia who were at least one year post-injury were assessed and compared using the Bilingual Aphasia Test (BAT) (Paradis & Libben, 1987) in order to examine their aphasia recovery and language abilities.Bilingual participants performed significantly better in English than in Spanish in naming . Furthermore, results revealed an overall trend towards significance across all of the verbal subtests, with better performance in English than Spanish. Significant differences were noted between groups in English, with the …

A Comprehensive Analysis Of Balance, Symmetry, And Center Of Mass In The Gait Cycle Of Transfemoral Amputees, Kayla T. Etienne

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to create a framework that assists in the transfemoral prosthesis fitting process by calculating balance and symmetry to quantify patient comfort with an understanding of bipedal locomotion and human anatomy. Three different software applications were used to compare (1) the body position during gait cycle, (2) the natural and amputee anatomies, (3) the natural and prosthetic legs, and (4) the equilibrium and torque movements of the hip, knee, and ankle joints. Models were created in Maya for analysis in Solidworks and MEL code evaluation with MatLab. The MatLab code tested combinations of joint degrees …

Stigma And The Hispanic Stuttering Experience: A Qualitative Study, Leslee Dean

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The stigmatization of stuttering has profound effects on the education, employment, and mental health of people who stutter. While there is a large body of research into the impact of stuttering stigma, few studies have considered the effects of cultural differences. The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth analysis of how Hispanic adults who stutter experience stigma. To do so, seven Hispanic/Latino adults who stutter were interviewed using ethnographic interviewing techniques. A thematic analysis of participants’ narrative responses gave rise to four major themes: Family, Stigma in Society, Stuttering Experiences in Cultural and Linguistic Contexts, and Stigma’s …

Predictors Of Persistent And Recurrent Bacterial Vaginosis (Bv) Among Young African American (Aa) Women In The United States, Makella S. Coudray

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common vaginal dysbiosis among women of reproductive age. Literature presents discordant findings with respect to the predictors of BV and there is a paucity of literature examining the mechanisms by which multiple episodes of BV occur. This dissertation summarized current literature on BV, identified BV incidence patterns over a twelve-month period, and estimated the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STI) among women with episodic and persistent BV. Previously collected randomized clinical trial data were analyzed, where oral metronidazole was the administered treatment. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to assess BV incidence patterns. Multinomial Logistic …

Quality Of Language In Spanish-Speaking Parents Who Are Learning English: Conversations With Their Children, Amber A. Betances

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze adult language in Spanish-speaking parents who are English second language learners, during conversations with their children in both Spanish-only and English-only play sessions. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to determine the difference in the parents’ Spanish and English skills across a variety of different variables such as mean length of utterance in words (MLU-w), number of total words (NTW), number of different words (NTD), type-token ratio (TTR), mazes, and complex sentences.

A total of 11 participants above the age of 18 years old with children between 12-46 months of age …

Spanish-Speaking Parents' Perceptions And Experiences Before And After English-Only And Spanish-Only Interactions With Their Children, Maria Morales

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of Spanish-speaking parents who are learning English, before and after English-only and Spanish-only interactions with their children to find what their interactions would look like if they followed the advice of speaking English only with their children, as opposed to speaking in their native language. Eleven primarily Spanish speaking parents of typically developing children 12-46 months of age were interviewed prior to completing play samples with their children and again afterwards. The interviews were transcribed, translated, and analyzed using thematic analysis procedures to identify salient themes. Four major …

Examining Stigma And Its Effect On Hiv Prevention & Care Among People Living In Florida, Angel B. Algarin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Persistent increases of HIV incidence in Florida has made it essential to study ways to improve HIV prevention strategies. Treatment as Prevention (TasP) and Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) are two recent methods in HIV prevention; however, their success may be limited due to barriers such as stigma. This dissertation explored the relationship between HIV-related stigma and 1) antiretroviral therapy adherence and viral suppression and 2) symptoms of anxiety and depression. Additionally, it sought to develop and validate a scale to measure community PrEP-related stigma.

We used data from the Florida Cohort Study which include 932 people living with HIV (PLWH). The …

Factors Predicting High Risk Sex Practices And Incidence Of Stis Among Women Veterans In Florida, Beverly M. Fray

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background and Aims: High-risk sexual behaviors are more prevalent among female Veterans, than among women in the general population. Studies have demonstrated that this risk is associated with factors such as young age at enlistment into the military, history of sexual abuse, illicit drug use, multiple sex partners and history of military sexual trauma, inclusive of other forms of abuse. STIs and their consequences exact heavy financial burdens on the military Veterans’ services with millions of dollars spent treating STI-related illnesses, cognitive and functional disabilities, unplanned pregnancies, miscarriages and infertility. Despite the high prevalence of STIs in this population, …

Development Of Gaussian Learning Algorithms For Early Detection Of Alzheimer's Disease, Chen Fang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia affecting 10% of the population over the age of 65 and the growing costs in managing AD are estimated to be $259 billion, according to data reported in the 2017 by the Alzheimer's Association. Moreover, with cognitive decline, daily life of the affected persons and their families are severely impacted. Taking advantage of the diagnosis of AD and its prodromal stage of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an early treatment may help patients preserve the quality of life and slow the progression of the disease, even though the underlying disease cannot …

Gut Integrity, Microbial Translocation, Immune Activation, Inflammation And Vitamin D In Drug Users Living With Hiv, Jacqueline S. Hernandez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between MT, immune activation, inflammation, gut integrity and vitamin D status in the context of cocaine use among People Living with HIV (PLWH). One hundred cocaine and non-cocaine users living with HIV were selected from the Miami Adult Studies in HIV cohort. Blood samples were collected to assess MT (LPS), immune activation (sCD163 and sCD27), inflammation (IL-6, TNF-a, hs-CRP, IL-17 and IL-22), gut integrity damage (I-FABP) and vitamin D status. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, anthropometrics, diet and disease progression were collected. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, multiple linear and logistic regressions were …

Hpv Vaccination Intentions In Black Young Adults, Kayla Mathis-Gamble

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study in HPV vaccine naïve, Black college students aged 18-24, enrolled in a minority serving institution (MSI) and/or historically black college/university (HBCU), is to assess perceived: vulnerability, severity, benefits, barriers; and risk behavior factors (trust/mistrust, social influence, and prior sexual behavior) regarding intent to initiate and complete the HPV vaccination series.

Methodology: After IRB approval was obtained, Black college students were recruited from the MSI/HBCU(s). The study was guided by the Health Belief Model. The participants completed paper and pencil surveys.

Findings: The research was conducted in pursuit of four aims. There were one …

Scalable Profiling And Visualization For Characterizing Microbiomes, Camilo Valdes

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metagenomics is the study of the combined genetic material found in microbiome samples, and it serves as an instrument for studying microbial communities, their biodiversities, and the relationships to their host environments. Creating, interpreting, and understanding microbial community profiles produced from microbiome samples is a challenging task as it requires large computational resources along with innovative techniques to process and analyze datasets that can contain terabytes of information.

The community profiles are critical because they provide information about what microorganisms are present in the sample, and in what proportions. This is particularly important as many human diseases and environmental disasters …

Randomized Clinical Trial Of The Effect Of Oral Supplementation With N-Acetyl Cysteine And Glycine On Biomarkers Of Oxidative Stress And Inflammation In People Living With Hiv (Plwh) From The Mash Cohort, Alhanoof Al-Ohaly

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

HIV infection has been associated with glutathione (GSH) depletion, oxidatively damaged DNA, and inflammation. People living with HIV (PLWH) have subnormal levels of GSH and elevated levels of inflammation biomarkers such as C-Reactive Protein (CRP). Failure of the antioxidant enzymatic system increases oxidatively damaged DNA. The objective of this double-blinded randomized clinical trial was to supplement PLWH with a combination of N-acetylcysteine, a powerful antioxidant, and glycine, a precursor of GSH or placebo for three months to decrease oxidative stress and inflammation.

The trial recruited 30 PLWH from the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) cohort at the FIU Research …

Factors Associated With Hiv Testing Behaviors Among Latino Emerging Adults, Daisy Ramirez Ortiz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Latino emerging adults account for a significant proportion of incident HIV cases among emerging adults aged 18-24 in the United States, but have a lower prevalence of HIV testing compared to other racial/ethnic emerging adult groups. Yet, factors that influence HIV testing behaviors among Latino emerging adults are poorly understood. This dissertation examined sociocultural and psychological factors of HIV testing behaviors among a sample of 157 sexually active Latino emerging adults aged 18 to 25. Cross-sectional data from the Project on Health among Emerging Adult Latinos (Project HEAL) were used. Robust Poisson regressions were used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios …

Developing Triage Tools For Retention In Care And Viral Suppression, And Identifying Predictors Of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among People With Hiv, Merhawi T. Gebrezgi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study developed risk prediction tools for non-retention in HIV care and non-viral suppression, and identified factors associated with self-reported chlamydia and gonorrhea diagnosis among people with HIV (PHIV) in the Miami-Dade County Ryan White Program (RWP). Using retrospective cohort study data, we used stepwise logistic regression to develop score-based risk prediction tools for non-retention in care and non-viral suppression. We then used bootstrapping to internally validate the risk prediction tools. We also assessed the prevalence of self-reported chlamydia and gonorrhea diagnoses and factors associated with the diagnoses cross-sectionally using multivariate logistic regression.

Among the 7439 people meeting the inclusion …

Longitudinal Association Between Video Game Use And Physical, Mental, And Social Health Outcomes In Young Adults In The United States, Ari D. Hozman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Increasing adolescent engagement in video game use and its associations with public health outcomes has been a controversial topic over the last several decades, with studies conducted in the United States only managing to produce contradictory results. This dissertation explores the statistical associations between video game use in adolescents and various physical, mental and social health outcomes as they develop into adulthood in the United States.

Methodology: Secondary data analysis was conducted, guided by Life Course Theory, utilizing publicly available data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health.

Results: Video game use during adolescence was significantly …