Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Food Selection And Consumption During The Covid-19 Pandemic/Quarantine, Shawnyse Debaun, Pui Tan Lau

Loma Linda University Research Reports

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) created an unexpected outbreak that led to a pandemic and the fear of scarcity regarding food. Due to those who shopped in panic, grocery stores began to limit the number of specific items purchased per family. The COVID-19 is a novel disease that has changed society by wearing face-coverings when out in public, temporarily closing indoor dining at restaurants, and converting schools online. The over-purchase of toilet paper and water caused many grocery and department stores to exhaust their inventory. This situation may have instilled fear of scarcity and leave to the over-purchase …

A Comparative Study Of Recovery Ecosystems For Opioid Use Disorder In Portugal And Appalachia, Jonathan David Mullins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

A comparison of the structure and effectiveness of recovery ecosystems for opioid use disorder in Portugal and Appalachia, with a focus on identifying areas for improvement within the Appalachian region.

Factors Associated With Reduced Infliximab Exposure In The Treatment Of Pediatric Autoimmune Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Prospective Convenience Sampling Study., Ryan S. Funk, Valentina Shakhnovich, Yu Kyoung Cho, Kishore Polireddy, Taina Hudson, Kyle Gress, Mara L. Becker

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Inadequate systemic exposure to infliximab (IFX) is associated with treatment failure. This work evaluated factors associated with reduced IFX exposure in children with autoimmune disorders requiring IFX therapy.

METHODS: In this single-center cross-sectional prospective study IFX trough concentrations and anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) were measured in serum from children diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (n = 73), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) (n = 16), or uveitis (n = 8) receiving maintenance IFX infusions at an outpatient infusion clinic in a tertiary academic pediatric hospital. IFX concentrations in combination with population pharmacokinetic modeling were used to estimate IFX clearance. Patient …

Critical Need For Pharmacologic Treatment Options In Nafld: A Pediatric Perspective., Chance S. Friesen, Sherwin S. Chan, Jonathan B. Wagner, Chelsea Hosey-Cojocari, Iván L Csanaky, Valentina Shakhnovich

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects up to 70% of children with obesity and has become the number one etiology for liver transplant in the United States. Early, effective intervention is critical to prevent disease progression into adulthood. Yet, it is seldom achieved through lifestyle modification alone. Thus, children must be included in NAFLD pharmacology trials, which, to date, continue to focus primarily on adult populations. This commentary serves as a call to action.

Unlocking Knowledge To Benefit The Patient : How Connecting Km And Qrm Can Strengthen Science And Risk-Based Decision Making, Martin J. Lipa

Doctoral

This thesis explored knowledge management effectiveness in the pharmaceutical sector and included an examination of the critical relationship between knowledge management (KM) and quality risk management (QRM) as the dual enablers of an effective pharmaceutical quality system. The primary research objectives were to improve understanding and effectiveness of the interdependency between KM and QRM and to improve knowledge management across the pharmaceutical product lifecycle, starting with a focus on knowledge transfer during technology transfer. The thesis explored how improved KM across the product lifecycle coupled with thoughtful and intentional connectivity between KM and QRM as defined by this study could …

Developing A 2-Week Surgery Bootcamp: A Needs Assessment Of Aspiring General Surgeons, Darci C. Foote, Victoria A. Roach

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

The Evolving Effectiveness Of Biologics In Avoiding Surgery In Children With Ulcerative Colitis., Mohineesh Kumar, Samuel K. Osei, Ayesha Fatima, Rachel N. Harvey, Alexander Menning, Anthony Stallion, Nathan Novotny

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose

Pediatric ulcerative colitis (UC) treatment has changed dramatically with the introduction of multiple biologics in recent years. The purpose of this study was to assess effectiveness of biologic agents in achieving remission and incidence of surgery.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed UC patients that were seen at gastroenterology clinic between January 2012-August 2020. We analyzed demographic characteristics, colonoscopy, clinic and hospital records. Patients were divided into four groups: 1) patients treated medically without biologics or surgery; 2) patients treated with one biologic; 3) patients treated with multiple biologics; and 4) patients that underwent colectomy. Pearson Chi-square test was used to …

Development Of A Heparin Dosing Guideline For Vascular Surgery, Brittany Bertoni, Anna Holdener

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Unfractionated heparin is administered to provide anticoagulation for the prevention of thrombosis and ischemia during vascular surgery. The intraoperative goals of heparin administration are the achievement of adequate anticoagulation and maintaining a steady-state plasma concentration throughout the procedure to prevent thrombotic events. Due to patient variation in heparin sensitivity, the standard within vascular surgery is to obtain the intraoperative activated clotting time (ACT) as a means of monitoring heparin activity and guiding dosing regimens. Measuring the intraoperative ACT allows for evaluation of the intrinsic pathway to assist the provider in achieving a steady-state heparinization with high-dose heparin administration.

To reduce …

Mental Health Resources For The Pediatric And Adolescent Populations In The Rural Setting, Devon Shafer, Kyle Aldridge, Amy Lilly

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a mainstay of treatment for problems such as anxiety and depression. However, access to this form of psychotherapy treatment is limited in rural areas, especially in pediatrics. The purpose of this project was to increase access to CBT through the use of smart phone CBT applications for patients at one rural midwest pediatric clinic. An extensive literature review revealed that mobile cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) applications can be an effective option for adjunct therapy when provider access is limited. Two CBT mobile applications were selected for the project and training was provided to clinic providers. …

Integration Of The Svs Wifi Classification System For Ulcer Staging And Management In An Amputation Prevention Program, Allison Campos

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Chronic limb-threatening ischemia is a significant problem with increased morbidity and mortality along with the risk of amputation. With the increased prevalence of diabetes worldwide, the population of patients presenting with nonhealing ulcers shifted from purely ischemic ulcers to a more complex picture for wound healing. Amputation prevention programs were developed to care for this heterogeneous population of patients. However, with multiple disciplines, there was no unified classification system in use. The historical classification systems were not inclusive to evaluate all aspects of wound healing, the extent of the wound, amount of ischemia, and the presence of infection. The Society …

Rurality As A Moderator Of Perception Of Need For Medical Care And Patient Satisfaction, Kyndal Grammer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many individuals experience barriers to accessing medical care, especially in rural areas. Some barriers are attitudinal and represent perceptions of quality care. Patient satisfaction and perceived need for medical care are two such attitudinal barriers related to health care utilization, yet the relationship between these variables has not been explored. Using data from an online survey, the current study examined the association between these variables, and further, whether rurality status moderated this association. Results indicated a significant correlation between patient satisfaction and perception of need. Although the overall moderation model was significant, perception of need was not significantly associated with …

Vitamin B12 Deficiency Does Not Stimulate Amyloid-Beta Toxicity In A Ceanorhabditis Elegans Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Opeyemi F. Showemimo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is symptomized by amyloid-beta plaques in the brain and accounts for more than 65 percent of dementia cases. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency can result in similar cognitive impairment and roughly 15% of the elderly are vitamin B12 deficient. Vitamin B12 deficiency results in the accumulation of toxic methylmalonic acid and homocysteine. Hyperhomocysteinemia is a strong risk factor for AD. To test if vitamin B12 deficiency stimulates amyloid-beta toxicity, Caenorhabditis elegans expressing amyloid-beta in muscle were fed either vitamin B12-deficient OP50-1 or vitamin B12-rich HT115(DE3) E. coli bacteria. Increased amyloid-beta toxicity was found in worms fed the …

“I Done Been Through Hell”: An Existential Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experience Of Fathers Who Have Lost A Child, Dynisha Wigginson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rise in American pediatric death led to a shift in pediatric end-of-life care from focusing care only on the dying pediatric patient to include focus on the family. Most literature has focused only on mothers’ experiences or the combined experiences of mothers and fathers. Fathers’ experiences at their child’s end of life, as an individual phenomenon, is overlooked and ignored. Hence, significant knowledge gaps exist related to the repeated exclusion of fathers’ individual experiences. This study aimed to begin to fill this gap. Using the lens of Merleau-Ponty, this existential phenomenological study aimed to describe the lived experiences of …

Geriatric Emergency Medicine Assessment In The Emergency Department Results In Yearly Savings Of $3 Million, Sarah Keene, Lauren Cameron-Comasco

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Background and Objectives: Older adult patients admitted to the hospital from the Emergency Department (ED) have a longer length of stay in the hospital on average compared to younger patients. Geriatric patients make up an increasing percentage of the patient population, and almost all health care for geriatric patients in the United States is paid for by Medicare. The cost of the inpatient care of geriatric patients is a significant contributor to the total cost of health care in the United States. Methods: We conducted a case-control study looking at the impact of a Geriatric Emergency Medicine Assessment (GEMA) team …

Telepractice In The Communication Treatment Of Individuals With Post-Stroke Aphasia: Systematic Review, Gayanthi Kodituwakku-Wewalwala

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Telepractice, a branch of telehealth, which is the delivery of services to distant sites employing telecommunication, has been developing rapidly nowadays. Owing to the nature of the condition and treatment foci in aphasia, telepractice has been identified as a potential mode for intervention to persons with aphasia (PWA) in the field of speech-language pathology. Based on the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (2005), telepractice is considered a means to extend services to a wider context overcoming the barriers of transportation, costs, and limited availability of services. Thus, exploration of treatment accessibility to underserved populations in middle/low-income countries or rural areas via …

An Adventure Therapy Mountain Bike Program For Middle School Students: A Pilot Study, Cian L. Brown

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is a time of significant physical, mental, emotional, and social development marked by numerous transitions and challenges. Middle school is one of the earliest and perhaps first times of significant social and physical transition that impacts early adolescent development. As a result, schools are becoming a primary care setting for children and families to identify and address mental health needs. However, only 2% of school mental health services are provided by licensed professionals. Therefore, schools and service providers continue to seek out comprehensive modalities that can efficiently provide preventative and responsive interventions to students beyond individual and school counseling …

I Matter: Understanding The Self-Care Practices Of School Counselors During The Covid-19 Pandemic And How Internal And External Factors Create Barriers, Alisha Rene Marie Jones

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diminished self-care practices and heightened stress of school counselors is a continuing problem in education. With role ambiguity, high student-to-counselor ratios, emotional exhaustion, and others adding pressure to the roles and responsibilities of school counselors, this study investigated the self-care practices of Missouri school counselors and the internal and external factors which influence them, specifically within the context COVID-19. Clayton Alderfer’s (1972) Existence, Relatedness, and Growth theory was used as a theoretical framework for chosen self-care practices represented in this study and was supported by Robert Kegan’s and Lisa Lahey’s (2009) Immunity to Change theory to understand the competing commitments …

A Descriptive Case Study Of The Challenges Of Drug And Alcohol Counselors, Ruben Herron

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Substance abuse is the number one public health problem in Oklahoma and nationally. Annual related expenses of substance abuse in Oklahoma are nearly $2 billion. This qualitative descriptive case study asks the question what are the challenges of substance-abuse counseling? The researcher will be describing in detail the history of drug and alcohol treatment and counseling in America. Using interviews, observations and document collection which will allow the interviews voices to be heard.

Distress Tolerance As A Potential Target For Change: The Relationship Between Distress Tolerance, Craving, And Alcohol Consumption In A Lab-Based Experiment, Isabel F. Augur

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Distress tolerance (DT) has recently been studied as a potential catalyst for the development ofalcohol use disorder (AUD). Research exploring the relationship between DT and craving is limited and has primarily focused on nicotine craving. Furthermore, there are no current studies examining the relationship between DT and alcohol consumption. This study was designed to fill this gap in the literature, which may shed light on a potentially important target for alcohol use treatment. Additionally, the role of mindfulness was explored in the context of the relationship between DT and alcohol craving and consumption, with the intention of expanding on the …

Laughter As A Priming Agent For Change, Linnea M. Heintz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze the importance of laughter as a factor in influencing employee job satisfaction ratings. The Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1985, 1997) and pulses of laughter were used in this study. To explore the relationship between laughter and job satisfaction, results of the Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1994) were collected quarterly (four times a year) for three consecutive years, beginning six months prior to the start of the two-year study and six months post. The study sample was composed of 545 employees (34% male, 66% female) operating out of 10 employee-owned retail chain locations …

Research Productivity Of India And Iran In Stomach Cancer: A Bibliometric Study, Rabiya Mushtaq, Fayaz Ahmad Loan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study aims to provide an insight into the global research productivity in stomach cancer with an in-depth analysis of the growth & development of India and Iran. The study focuses on the authorship collaborative patterns among Indian and Iranian medical scientists as well. The study was conceived with the selection of terms on “Stomach cancer”. The terms- “Stomach Cancer, Stomach Neoplasm, Gastric Cancer, and Gastric Neoplasm” were selected from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to retrieve the data from the Web of Science (WoS). The Boolean Operator “OR” was executed to retrieve the records. The data was retrieved …

Immigrant Families' Health-Related Information Behavior On Instant Messaging Platforms: Health-Related Information Exchange In Immigrant Family Groups On Instant Messaging Platforms, Lev Poretski, Taamannae Taabassum, Anthony Tang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

For immigrant families, instant messaging family groups are a common platform for sharing and discussing health-related information. Immigrants often maintain contact with their family abroad and trust information in shared IM family groups more than the information from local authorities and sources. In this study, we aimed to understand health-related information behaviors of immigrant families in their IM family groups. Based on the interviews with 6 participants from immigrant families to Canada, we found that immigrant families’ discourse on IM platforms is motivated by love and care for other family members. The families used local and international sources of information, …

Oidpr: Optimized Insulin Dosage Via Privacy‐Preserving Reinforcement Learning, Zuobin Ying, Yun Zhang, Shuanglong Cao, Shengmin Xu, Maode Ma

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The precision of insulin dosage is essential in the process of diabetes treatment. The fact is providing precise dosage is almost impossible for clinicians since blood sugar levels are dynamically affected by many factors. Even though some auxiliary dosing systems have been proposed, the required real‐time physical data about the health situation of diabetics is still hard to synchronize to the end‐devices instantly. The traditional personalized drug delivery frameworks for accurate dosing of insulin always collect and transmit medical data in cleartext, which raises privacy problems. In this article, we propose a framework for an optimized insulin dosage via privacy‐preserving …

A Novel Mra-Based Framework For Segmenting The Cerebrovascular System And Correlating Cerebral Vascular Changes To Mean Arterial Pressure, Fatma Taher, Heba Kandil, Yitzhak Gebru, Ali Mahmoud, Ahmed Shalaby, Shady El‐Mashad, Ayman El‐Baz

All Works

Blood pressure (BP) changes with age are widespread, and systemic high blood pressure (HBP) is a serious factor in developing strokes and cognitive impairment. A non‐invasive methodology to detect changes in human brain’s vasculature using Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) data and correlation of cerebrovascular changes to mean arterial pressure (MAP) is pre-sented. MRA data and systemic blood pressure measurements were gathered from patients (n = 15, M = 8, F = 7, Age = 49.2 ± 7.3 years) over 700 days (an initial visit and then a follow‐up period of 2 years with a final visit.). A novel segmentation algorithm …

Potassium For Two: Management Of Refractory Electrolyte Disturbances In Gitelman Syndrome During Pregnancy, Eric Torkildsen Md, Yesha K. Shah Do, Sharon E. Maynard Md

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Music In The Trauma Narrative And “Storytelling”: Perspectives Of Clinicians, Taylorlyn N. Mehnert

Masters Theses

There is a lack of detailed literature describing how music is used for expressing and processing the trauma narrative. This study used a constructivist grounded theory approach through an anti-oppressive lens to explore the ways in which music therapists use music in exploring clients’ stories. The term “story” is used as opposed to “narrative” or “memory” to incorporate a broader definition of expression including non-verbal, musical, metaphorical, or any other method the client chooses. Eight board-certified music therapists (MT-BC) were interviewed regarding their use of music in the context of clients’ stories. Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis was used …

Electroencephalography Resting-State Networks In People With Stroke, Dylan B. Snyder, Brian D. Schmit, Allison S. Hyngstrom, Scott A. Beardsley

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to characterize resting-state cortical networks in chronic stroke survivors using electroencephalography (EEG).

Methods

Electroencephalography data were collected from 14 chronic stroke and 11 neurologically intact participants while they were in a relaxed, resting state. EEG power was normalized to reduce bias and used as an indicator of network activity. Correlations of orthogonalized EEG activity were used as a measure of functional connectivity between cortical regions.

Results

We found reduced cortical activity and connectivity in the alpha (p < .05; p = .05) and beta (p < .05; p = .03) bands after stroke while connectivity …

Ancestry Specific Associations Of A Genetic Risk Score, Dietary Patterns And Metabolic Syndrome: A Longitudinal Aric Study, Dale S Hardy, Susan B Racette, Jane T Garvin, Hirut T Gebrekristos, Tesfaye B Mersha

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Associations have been observed among genetic variants, dietary patterns, and metabolic syndrome (MetS). A gap in knowledge is whether a genetic risk score (GRS) and dietary patterns interact to increase MetS risk among African Americans. We investigated whether MetS risk was influenced by interaction between a GRS and dietary patterns among Whites and African Americans. A secondary aim examined if molecular genetic clusterings differed by racial ancestry.

METHODS: We used longitudinal data over 4-visits (1987-1998) that included 10,681 participants aged 45-64y at baseline from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study (8451 Whites and 2230 African Americans). We constructed a …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On The Well-Being And Cognition Of Older Adults Living In The United States And Latin America, Ganesh M Babulal, Ana Baena, Jorge Llibre-Guerra, Et Al

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: In the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults from vulnerable ethnoracial groups are at high risk of infection, hospitalization, and death. We aimed to explore the pandemic's impact on the well-being and cognition of older adults living in the United States (US), Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru.

METHODS: 1,608 (646 White, 852 Latino, 77 Black, 33 Asian; 72% female) individuals from the US and four Latin American countries aged ≥ 55 years completed an online survey regarding well-being and cognition during the pandemic between May and September 2020. Outcome variables (pandemic impact, discrimination, loneliness, purpose of life, subjective cognitive concerns) were …

Acetyl-Coa And Metabolite Fluxes Regulate White Adipose Tissue Expansion, Jessica B Felix, Aaron R Cox, Sean M Hartig

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

White adipose tissue (WAT) depends on coordinated regulation of transcriptional and metabolic pathways to respond to whole-body energy demands. We highlight metabolites that contribute to biosynthetic reactions for WAT expansion. Recent studies have precisely defined how byproducts of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism affect physiological and endocrine functions in adipocytes. We emphasize the critical emerging roles of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolites that connect lipogenesis to WAT energy balance and endocrine functions. These insights address how adipocytes use small molecules generated from central carbon metabolism to measure responses to nutritional stress.