Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Evaluation Of Repair Strength Of Conventional, Milled, And Printed Resin Provisional Crown Materials With Different Surface Treatments And Repair Resins, Bright Jesuk Chang

All ETDs from UAB

Statement of Problem: Provisional (also known as interim or transitional) restorations are important in fixed prosthodontics to evaluate long-term esthetics, phonetics, and function while protecting the tooth preparation from bacterial infiltration and maintaining periodontal health. Recent advances in CAD/CAM technologies have allowed these restorations to be either milled or printed. However, there is a lack of literature regarding the repair and reline of these milled and/or printed restorations. Purpose: To evaluate the repair strength of conventional, milled, and printed resin provisional crown materials with different surface treatments and repair resins. Materials and Methods: This in vitro study examined the shear …

Physical And Mental Health Of Family Caregivers Of Older Parents And Grandchildren In China, Yujun Liu, M. Courtney Hughes, Karen A. Roberto, Jyoti Savla

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Background: Families have been recognized as the primary source of care for younger and older family members in Chinese tradition. The aim of this study was to examine the association between informal caregiving for aging parents and/or grandchildren and health outcomes of family caregivers in mainland China.

Methods: Using data from the 2013 and 2018 waves of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we conducted univariate comparisons of demographics characteristics between informal caregivers and non-caregivers using t -test and chi square test. We used linear regression and negative binomial regression to examine the physical and mental health outcomes of …

Using The “Teach-Back” Education Method With Type Ii Diabetic Patients And Health Literacy: An Integrative Review, Sonia Romero

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Effective communication provides healthcare providers and patients an opportunity to address issues or concerns. Effective communication is linked to improving patient outcomes. Patients with low health literacy are unable to understand, read, comprehend, or discuss the information provided by their healthcare providers. Poor health literacy directly affects disease management and leads to poor patient outcomes. The increase rate of obesity worldwide has quadrupled, the unhealthy lifestyle is one of the risk factors causing adults to develop Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). T2DM is a condition in where the pancreas does not produce sufficient insulin to absorb the glucose consumed. T2DM …

Knowledge, Attitudes, And Expectations Among Certified Nursing Assistants Providing Oral Care To Individuals With Alzheimer's Disease Or Another Form Of Dementia Utilizing Music Therapy, Gina Dunn

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Purpose: Current literature was aimed to explore CNAs attitudes, knowledge, and expectations on the use of music for individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)/dementia while providing oral care.

Methods: A single survey, 5-point Likert scale survey that included demographic and qualitative questions, was posted on a private CNA Facebook group page. The survey was posted to explore attitudes, knowledge, and expectations of CNAs towards the use of music therapy. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and thematic coding.

Results: A convenience sample of (N = 55) CNAs participated in the study. IBM SPSS® version 28.0.1 was used to analyze the …

Positive Motivational Self-Talk: The Influence Of Gender On Performance, Perception Of Self-Talk, And Performance Anxiety During A Disc Golf Putting Exercise Before And After A Self-Talk Intervention, Samantha L. Hennessy

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Scientific Payload Carrying Spirulina Onboard Blue Origin’S New Shepard Vehicle, Pedro J. Llanos, Morgan Shilling, Kristina Andrijauskaite, Kody Kidder, Vijay V. Duraisamy

Publications

The research team at ERAU and UTHSCSA analyzed the effects of suborbital flight stressors and various light conditions (red, white, no light) on the Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina), onboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle. Commercially available cyanobacterium species were cultivated and closely monitored in mother colonies several months before the suborbital flight mission. The aim of this study was to estimate the biomass production and growth as a potential dietary alternative for prospective human spaceflight's life support system. Spirulina samples were flown in a NanoLab with adjacent avionics supporting the light conditions and sensors to monitor the temperature, relative humidity, and …

Response To "Lt's A Win-Win: The Effect Of Medical Students On Clinic Productivity"., Nicholas Anderson

Medical Education Articles

No abstract provided.

Barriers And Facilitators To Conducting Physical Activity Interventions In Children's Camps, Silvia Q. Giraudo, Jordan Merideth, Barbara M. Grossman

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Background: Previous research has sought to uncover various behavior factors that contribute to childhood physical activity, but have primarily relied on quantitative methods or within the context of schools. Summer day camps offered potential for increasing activity of youth, but research is required to determine how best to convert camp activity into outreach interventions.

Methods: The University of Georgia Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved all methods and procedures prior to the start of the study (STUDY00004692, MOD00005513). A total of 112 campers ages 9-13 participated in the data collection. This research used semi-structured interviews, surveys, and observations to …

Video Game Rehabilitation For Outpatient Stroke (Vigorous): A Multi-Site Randomized Controlled Trial Of In-Home, Self-Managed, Upper-Extremity Therapy., Lynne V Gauthier, Deborah S Nichols-Larsen, Gitendra Uswatte, Nancy Strahl, Marie Simeo, Rachel Proffitt, Kristina Kelly, Roger Crawfis, Edward Taub, David Morris, Linda Pax Lowes, Victor Mark, Alexandra Borstad

Neuroscience Articles

BACKGROUND: Integrating behavioral intervention into motor rehabilitation is essential for improving paretic arm use in daily life. Demands on therapist time limit adoption of behavioral programs like Constraint-Induced Movement (CI) therapy, however. Self-managed motor practice could free therapist time for behavioral intervention, but there remains insufficient evidence of efficacy for a self-management approach.

METHODS: This completed, parallel, five-site, pragmatic, single-blind trial established the comparative effectiveness of using in-home gaming self-management as a vehicle to redirect valuable therapist time towards behavioral intervention. Community-dwelling adults with post-stroke (>6 months) mild/moderate upper extremity hemiparesis were randomized to receive one of 4 different …

Effects Of Different Types Of Augmented Feedback On Spatiotemporal Gait Performance And Intrinsic Motivation With Individuals Post Stroke, Saleh M. Alhirsan

All ETDs from UAB

After a stroke, an individual can be left with physical and psychological deficits, including decreased walking speed, reduced step length, and reduced intrinsic motivation. These deficits affect their performance during rehabilitation sessions, limit daily activities such as walking and stepping, and restrict participation in social roles that involve mobility. Current clinical practice guidelines recommend providing augmented feedback using virtual reality (VR) to enhance walking outcomes after six months of stroke onset. This dissertation shows two novel VR applications designed, especially for individuals’ post-stroke, to induce their fast-walking speed and maximum step length performance, and intrinsic motivation. Three performance conditions were …

Prolonged Prone Positioning For Covid-19-Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Randomized Pilot Study, David Brian Page

All ETDs from UAB

ationale: Prone positioning is one of the few interventions shown in a robust, randomized, controlled clinical trial to reduce mortality in severe ARDS. Ideal duration of prone positioning is unknown. A 16-hour prone positioning period has been studied and is considered standard, although longer duration may be beneficial. Objectives: Determine if a prolonged prone positioning strategy for patients with COVID-19-induced ARDS is feasible and safe. Methods: We performed a pilot, randomized, parallel-arm feasibility study in patients with COVID-19-induced ARDS. Patients were randomized to either a prolonged 24-hour or a traditional 16-hour prone positioning strategy. Measurements & Main Results: 52 patients …

Photothermal Desorption Of Volatile Organic Compounds From Buckypaper Sorbents, For Occupational Exposure Assessment, Jacob S. Shedd

All ETDs from UAB

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a common source of occupational exposures. To prevent adverse health effects in employees, industrial hygienists must regularly conduct occupational air sampling to ensure exposures remain below regulatory limits. As such, the need for sensitive and reliable exposure assessment methodologies becomes apparent. Currently, diffusive sampling is popular and well-established exposure assessment method amongst professionals. However, its reliance on diffusion-driven mass uptake and chemical extraction, results in limited analytical sensitivity. In response to this, a pre-analytical technology, known as photothermal desorption (PTD), has been in development over the past decade. PTD uses pulses of high-energy light to …

Characterization Of The Phenotype And Functional Properties Of Myeloid Subpopulations In Chronic Inflammatory Conditions, Krystle Leandra Ong

All ETDs from UAB

Myeloid cells represent a subset of leukocytes traditionally recognized as first responders to acute inflammatory stimuli. In recent years, there has been a growing appreciation of the role of myeloid cells as critical regulators of the immune system in disease pathogenesis and progression. Chronic inflammatory diseases including viral infections, autoimmune diseases, and malignancies are frequently associated with altered myelopoiesis characterized by a profound shift in the myeloid cell phenotype and function. The work presented in this dissertation provides an insight into dysregulated myelopoiesis and myeloid heterogeneity in multiple myeloma (MM), human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), and coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). We identify …

The Role Of Nitric Oxide And Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate Signaling In Arteriovenous Fistula Maturation, Maheshika S. Somarathna

All ETDs from UAB

Vascular access is the single most important component of the hemodialysis procedure and the arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the most preferred type. However, 60% of AVFs created fail to mature successfully for dialysis use (AVF maturation failure). AVF maturation failure is primarily the result of 1) intimal hyperplasia formation (IH) and 2) poor vascular outward remodeling. Currently, a major unmet clinical need in the field is the lack of effective therapies to treat/prevent AVF maturation failure due to the poor understanding of molecular mechanisms. This proposal is designed to: 1) elucidate the pathologic significance of nitric oxide (NO) and cyclic …

Life-Space Mobility In The Older Adult, Community-Dwelling Cancer Survivor In The Deep South: A Secondary Data Analysis, Richard A. Taylor

All ETDs from UAB

By 2040, the U.S. is projected to have 26.1 million cancer survivors; 73% of these will be over 65 years old. Much is known about life-space mobility (LSM) in patients with non-cancer serious illnesses. Restricted LSM affects every aspect of an older adult’s life; their independence, autonomy, and quality of life (QOL). To date, there are no studies examining LSM in older cancer survivors. Therefore, we examined LSM, factors that affect LSM, and the relationship between LSM and QOL in older cancer survivors using existing data from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Study of Aging (SOA) (NIA AG15062). …

The Roles Of Repressive And Activating Epigenetic Factors In Vertebrates Neural And Neural Crest Development, Saeid Mohammad Parast

All ETDs from UAB

The vertebrate nervous system comes from specific regions of the ectoderm that comprises of the neural plate and the neural crest. Although genetic mechanisms governing vertebrate neural development have been investigated in depth, there is a knowledge gap regarding the roles of epigenetic mechanisms in this process. As epigenetic modulators, the COMPASS (also known as SET1/MLL complex) and HP1 proteins are responsible for regulating chromatin accessibility to transcription factors. COMPASS is responsible for deposition of activating histone H3K4 methylation marks at promoters and enhancers and thus creates open chromatin domains. The critical structural and regulatory subunits of COMPASS, Dpy30 and …

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease After Receiving The Second Dose Of Pfizer-Biontech Covid-19 Vaccine, Andrea J. Folds, Melanie-Belle Ullrich, Sann Htoo, Anjeza Chukus

Internal Medicine

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On First-Generation Women Test-Takers: Magnifying Adversities, Stress, And Consequences For Bar Exam Performance., Freiburger Erin, Victor D. Quintanilla, Kurt Hugenberg, Sam Erman, Nedim Yel, Anita Kim, Mary C. Murphy

Articles

By magnifying gender- and socioeconomic status-based inequalities, the COVID-19 pandemic caused stress and disrupted career progress for professional students. The present work investigated the impact of pandemic-related stress and prevailing barriers on structurally disadvantaged women preparing for a high-stakes professional exam. In Study 1, we found that among US law students preparing for the October 2020 California Bar Exam—the professional exam that enables one to become a practicing attorney in California—first-generation women reported the greatest stress from pandemic-related burdens and underperformed on the exam relative to others overall, and particularly compared to continuing-generation women. This underperformance was explained by pandemic-related …

Covid-19 Mortality May Be Reduced Among Fully Vaccinated Solid Organ Transplant Recipients, Micaela Sandoval, Duc T Nguyen, Howard J Huang, Stephanie G Yi, R Mark Ghobrial, A Osama Gaber, Edward A Graviss

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 due to their immunosuppressed state and reduced immunogenicity from COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. This investigation examined the association between COVID-19 mRNA vaccination status and mortality among SOT recipients diagnosed with COVID-19.

METHODS & FINDINGS: A retrospective, registry-based chart review was conducted investigating COVID-19 mortality among immunosuppressed solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients in a large metropolitan healthcare system in Houston, Texas, USA. Electronic health record data was collected from consecutive SOT recipients who received a diagnostic SARS-CoV-2 test between March 1, 2020, and October 1, 2021. …

Desired Resources For Changing Diet Among Persons With Multiple Sclerosis: Qualitative Inquiry Informing Future Dietary Interventions, Stephanie L Silveira, Emma V Richardson, Robert W Motl

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: There are approximately 1 million adults in the United States with multiple sclerosis (MS). Persons with MS are interested in diet as a second-line therapy for improving MS symptoms and disease progression. Examination of desired resources regarding diet among persons with MS is necessary for supporting behavior change.

METHODS: Twenty-five adults with MS completed 1-on-1, online semistructured interviews. An inductive, 6-phase, semantic thematic analysis was applied to identify themes associated with participant preferences for dietary behavior change.

RESULTS: The research team crafted 4 key themes from the data that encompassed participants' desired resources for dietary behavior change. Theme 1, …

2022 Annual Report For Ebp Workforce Development, Evidence To Practice, Cep Annual Reports, Lisa Staples, Ronnie Rubin, Brooke Dupre, Gabrielle Gonzalez, Willandra Whiting, J. Henning, Sonita Singh, Stephen Phillippi

Policy & Position Papers

No abstract provided.

The Healthy Native Youth Implementation Toolbox: Using Implementation Mapping To Adapt An Online Decision Support System To Promote Culturally-Relevant Sexual Health Education For American Indian And Alaska Native Youth, Christine M Markham, Stephanie Craig Rushing, Jane Manthei, Michelle Singer, Cornelia Jessen, Gwenda Gorman, Melissa F Peskin, Belinda F Hernandez, Lea Sacca, Gabrielle S Evans, Claudia Luna-Meza, Zoe Merritt, Ross Shegog

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth experience serious disparities in sexual and reproductive health, including the highest teen birth rate among racial/ethnic groups, and disproportionate rates of sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV. A growing number of evidence-based programs (EBPs) that integrate the strengths and cultural teachings of Native communities exist. Yet, multiple factors, including lack of trained personnel, limited resources, and geographic isolation, may hinder their adoption and implementation. Innovative implementation strategies that facilitate the adoption and implementation of sexual health EBPs in Native communities may help reduce these disparities.

METHODS: We applied Implementation Mapping, a systematic …

Perceptions Of Physical Activity Guidelines Among Wheelchair Users With Multiple Sclerosis, Stephanie L Silveira, Brenda Jeng, Gary Cutter, Robert W Motl

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Physical activity guidelines provide prescriptive resources for population-level promotion of behavior change to improve health outcomes. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) recently created and disseminated physical activity guidelines for persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) across the disease spectrum.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess perceptions of the updated NMSS Physical Activity Guidelines among wheelchair users with MS.

METHODS: One hundred thirty-four wheelchair users with MS participated in a cross-sectional study examining health behaviors. Outcomes were measured using an online questionnaire that included items related to demographic and clinical characteristics and a battery of questions regarding perceptions of the …

Application Of Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning For Hiv Prevention Interventions, Yang Xiang, Jingcheng Du, Kayo Fujimoto, Fang Li, John Schneider, Cui Tao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In 2019, the US Government announced its goal to end the HIV epidemic within 10 years, mirroring the initiatives set forth by UNAIDS. Public health prevention interventions are a crucial part of this ambitious goal. However, numerous challenges to this goal exist, including improving HIV awareness, increasing early HIV infection detection, ensuring rapid treatment, optimising resource distribution, and providing efficient prevention services for vulnerable populations. Artificial intelligence has had a pivotal role in revolutionising health care and has shown great potential in developing effective HIV prevention intervention strategies. Although artificial intelligence has been used in a few HIV prevention intervention …

A Qualitative Investigation Of Organizational Challenges And Facilitators To Screening Individuals Experiencing Homelessness For Hepatitis C Virus (Hcv) In Houston, Texas, Alane Celeste-Villalvir, J Michael Wilkerson, Christine Markham, Lourdes Rodriguez, Vanessa Schick

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Individuals experiencing homelessness may be at a disproportionately high risk for hepatitis C (HCV) because they may be more likely to engage in HCV risk behaviors. Community organizations that provide services to these vulnerable individuals can effectively screen, diagnose, and navigate them into HCV care. However, screening people experiencing homelessness for HCV at such organizations is limited by various challenges that remain understudied, including budgetary considerations and strategies to improve teamwork and communication. Accordingly, this study investigated the organizational challenges and facilitators to HCV screening of individuals experiencing homelessness as reported by homeless services providers.

METHODS: Staff (N = …

The Neighborhood Environment And Hispanic/Latino Health, Natalia I Heredia, Tianlin Xu, Minjae Lee, Lorna H Mcneill, Belinda M Reininger

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Hispanic/Latino adults on the Texas-Mexico border have high rates of chronic disease. Neighborhoods can influence health, though there is a limited research on neighborhood environment and health in Hispanics/Latinos. The purpose of this study was to assess the relation of neighborhood environment with health variables in Hispanic/Latino adults, including physical activity [PA], depression, anxiety, and lab-assessed conditions (type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and chronic inflammation).

METHODS: Participants were randomly-selected from a Hispanic/Latino cohort on the Texas-Mexico border. Neighborhood environment, self-reported PA, anxiety, and depression were assessed through questionnaires. Laboratory values determined Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and C-reactive protein …

Maternal Occupational Exposures And Fetal Growth In A Spanish Birth Cohort, Jennifer Ish, David Gimeno Ruiz De Porras, Elaine Symanski, Ferran Ballester, Maribel Casas, George L Delclos, Mònica Guxens, Jesús Ibarluzea, Carmen Iñiguez, Loreto Santa-Marina, Michael D Swartz, Kristina W Whitworth

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

While the epidemiologic literature suggests certain maternal occupational exposures may be associated with reduced measures of size at birth, the occupational literature employing fetal biometry data to assess fetal growth is sparse. The present study examines associations between maternal occupational exposures and ultrasound-measured fetal growth. We included 1,739 singleton pregnancies from the INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) project (2003-2008). At 32 weeks of pregnancy, interviewers ascertained mothers' employment status and assessed job-related physical loads, work schedules, and job strain during pregnancy. Job titles were linked to a job-exposure matrix to estimate exposure to 10 endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) groups. We …

Covid-19 Outcomes In Myasthenia Gravis Patients: Analysis From Electronic Health Records In The United States, Youngran Kim, Xiaojin Li, Yan Huang, Minseon Kim, Aziz Shaibani, Kazim Sheikh, Guo-Qiang Zhang, Thy Phuong Nguyen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune, neuromuscular condition and patients with MG are vulnerable due to immunosuppressant use and disease manifestations of dyspnea and dysphagia during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Optum® de-identified COVID-19 Electronic Health Record (EHR) dataset. Primary outcomes, such as hospitalization, ventilator use, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and death in COVID-19 patients with MG, were compared with those of COVID-19 patients without MG: the subgroups of non-MG included those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus (SLE), and multiple sclerosis (MS). We further analyzed factors affecting …

Associations Between Vascular Diseases And Alzheimer's Disease Or Related Dementias In A Large Cohort Of Men And Women With Colorectal Cancer, Xianglin L Du, Lulu Song, Paul E Schulz, Hua Xu, Wenyaw Chan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Long term risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) associated with vascular diseases in people with colorectal cancer is unknown.

OBJECTIVE: to determine the risk of ADRD in association with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), stroke, hypertension, and diabetes in a cohort of patients with colorectal cancer.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study consisted of 210,809 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age≥65 years in 1991-2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database with follow-up from 1991-2016, who were free of any ADRD at the baseline (< 30 days after the date of cancer diagnosis).

RESULTS: The crude 26-year cumulative incidence of total ADRD in …

Effect Of Tracheostomy Timing On Outcomes In Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury, Talha Mubashir, Hongyin Lai, Emmanuella Oduguwa, Rabail Chaudhry, Julius Balogh, George W Williams, Vahed Maroufy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Tracheostomy following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common, yet the outcomes associated with tracheostomy timing are unclear. The objective of this study was to assess hospital outcomes of tracheostomy timing in TBI patients. We retrospectively analyzed data from the National Inpatient Sample database of adult patients aged ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of TBI. Indexed hospitalizations of TBI patients who underwent either percutaneous or surgical tracheostomy between 1995 and 2015 in the United States were included. The interventional groups were 1) early tracheostomy (≤7 days) vs standard tracheostomy (8-14 days), vs late tracheostomy (≥15 days), and 2) tracheostomy …