Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Therapeutic Interventions For Adolescents With Non-Epileptic Seizures, Noah Trantel

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Although there have been some studies that explore the lived experiences of adults with non-epileptic seizures, there have been limited studies that examine the lived experiences of adolescents and emerging adults with non-epileptic seizures. This qualitative study explored the experiences of emerging adults who had been diagnosed with non-epileptic seizures during adolescence. The study focused on specific interventions utilized in therapy that they found helpful, highlighted what their experiences were throughout their daily lives, and what treatment recommendations were provided. The research will also help guide parents, clinicians, and individuals with NES towards treatment recommendations. Eight participants completed an in-depth, …

Are They Well? Examining Emotional Intelligence Competencies Of Female College Athletes, Anne E. Funke

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In this dissertation, I explore the emotional intelligence (EQ) competencies of 19 female student-athletes at one Division III institution. College students are suffering from a collective brain health crisis in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2021). Students’ social and emotional needs and skills have continued to steadily decline. Colleges have a responsibility to prioritize the social-emotional health of all students above performance and achievement. Student-athletes in particular face unique challenges and pressures that non-athlete students do not. Managing time commitments of athletic schedules and coursework, navigating publicity and increased attention, and …

The Anatomy Of Physician Fulfillment: Strategies Beyond Burnout, Brook Hale

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The persistent tension and power struggle between healthcare executives and physicians is a prevalent issue in healthcare organizations, often leading to a culture of organizational mistrust. This dynamic stems from perceived conflicting goals: executives are frequently seen as primarily focused on financial outcomes, while physicians are viewed as resistant to change. This study explored how physician fulfillment is experienced at work, with the ultimate goal of identifying potential interventions to bridge the gap between these groups. There is vast research and literature available regarding burnout in healthcare; this research focused on understanding what physicians find fulfilling in their work and …

Needs Assessment For Sexual Violence Trauma-Informed Care In The Dental Field, Joshua Garufi

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Trauma-informed care provides a framework for health care providers to more effectively treat their patients who have a history of trauma (Hamberger et al., 2019). Upon reviewing the literature, there is a paucity of research on trauma-informed care in the dental field. This research performed a needs assessment to determine if trauma-informed care is being implemented into the curriculum at a specific dental school, SUNY Buffalo. This research also inquired about residential dentist and faculty attitudes toward trauma-informed care being implemented in the dental field. Two short, original surveys were administered to residential dentists who recently graduated from the University …

Exploring Angiotensin Ii And Oxidative Stress In Radiation-Induced Cataract Formation: Potential For Therapeutic Intervention, Vidya P. Kumar, Yali Kong, Riana Dolland, Sandra R. Brown, Kan Wang, Damian Dolland, David Mu, Milton L. Brown

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Radiation-induced cataracts (RICs) represent a significant public health challenge, particularly impacting individuals exposed to ionizing radiation (IR) through medical treatments, occupational settings, and environmental factors. Effective therapeutic strategies require a deep understanding of the mechanisms underlying RIC formation (RICF). This study investigates the roles of angiotensin II (Ang II) and oxidative stress in RIC development, with a focus on their combined effects on lens transparency and cellular function. Key mechanisms include the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative damage to lens proteins and lipids, as well as the impact of Ang II on inflammatory responses and cellular apoptosis. …

From Pollution To Resource: Advancing Swine Waste Treatment In The Usa, Viney P. Aneja, Ryke Longest, Matias B. Vanotti, Ariel A. Szogi, Gudigopuram B. Reddy

Faculty Scholarship

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have led to environmental challenges, specifically waste management. Swine CAFOs generate large amounts of waste, requiring proper treatment to avoid air and water pollution. Conventional waste management technologies, such as lagoon and spray field systems, do not prevent air and water pollution impacts. Research for the past few decades led to recommendations for waste treatment technologies superior to lagoons and spray fields. Private environmental sustainability initiatives focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the food supply chain have implemented biogas digester projects for capturing methane in covered swine lagoons to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, …

Use Of Hydroxychloroquine In Multidrug Protocols For Sars-Cov-2, Eleftherios Gkioulekas, Peter A. Mccullough

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

We review the available evidence supporting the use of hydroxychloroquine-based multidrug protocols in the treatment of COVID-19, in response to a recently published editorial in the Tasman Medical Journal.

Technoference In Parenting And Impacts On Parent–Child Relationships And Child Development, Brandon T. Mcdaniel Phd, Lisa Linder, Mariek M.P. Vanden Abeele, Alison K. Ventura, Sarah M. Coyne, Rachel Barr

Health Services and Informatics Research

“Technoference” is a term that describes how parent media use (e.g., phone use) can interfere with parent–child relationships and interactions. Research has shown technoference effects on parents and children ranging in age from infancy to adolescence, such as decreased parent responsiveness and adverse child behavioral outcomes. However, potential benefits of parent media use have also been identified, such as media use to cope with stress, stay connected, increase breastfeeding perseverance, and seek parenting information. Technoference has only been researched for about a decade, and there are large research gaps. We propose a research agenda to parse out long-term or cumulative …

Daily Smartphone Use Predicts Parent Depressive Symptoms, But Parents' Perceptions Of Responsiveness To Their Child Moderate This Effect., Brandon T. Mcdaniel Phd, Sabrina Uva, Jessica Pater, Victor P. Cornet Ms, Michelle Drouin Phd, Jenny Radesky

Health Services and Informatics Research

INTRODUCTION: Smartphone use during caregiving has become increasingly common, especially around infants and very young children, and this use around young children has been linked with lower quality and quantity of parent-child interaction, with potential implications for child behavior, and parent-child attachment. To understand drivers and consequences of parent phone use, we were interested in the daily associations between parent phone use and depressed mood, as well as the potential for parent perceptions of their responsiveness toward their infant to alter the association between parent phone use and mood.

METHODS: In the present study, we explored associations between day-to-day changes …

Heavy Users, Mobile Gamers, And Social Networkers: Patterns Of Objective Smartphone Use In Parents Of Infants And Associations With Parent Depression, Sleep, Parenting, And Problematic Phone Use., Brandon T. Mcdaniel Phd, Jenny Radesky, Jessica Pater, Adam M Galovan, Annalise Harrison, Victor P. Cornet Ms, Lauren Reining, Alexandria Schaller, Michelle Drouin

Health Services and Informatics Research

Smartphone use during parenting is common, which may lead to distraction (also known as technoference). However, it is likely that some phone activities are less disruptive to parents and children. In this study, we explored smartphone use (via passive sensing across 8 days) within 264 parents of infants, measuring parents' application use on their phone (e.g., messaging, social media, mobile gaming, video chat) and phone use across contexts (e.g., during feeding and at bedtime). We utilized latent profile analysis to identify profiles of users, revealing five user types:

Attachment Security And Problematic Media Use In Infancy: A Longitudinal Study In The United States., Jane Shawcroft, Sarah M Coyne, Lisa Linder, Brandon N Clifford, Brandon T. Mcdaniel Phd

Health Services and Informatics Research

Media use during childhood has quickly become a norm across the United States and in other countries. One area still not well understood is the development of problematic (or maladaptive and disruptive) media use in children. This research examines the role of attachment security as a central component in the development of problematic media use over time in a sample of 248 parent-child dyads (9.50% African American, 20.66% Hispanic, 62.81% White, 2.07% Asian, 4.96% other ethnicities). We examined the relationship between attachment security and problematic media use one and 2 years later. We then constructed a mediation model examining parent …

Image-To-Mesh Conversion Method For Multi-Tissue Medical Image Computing Simulations, Fotis Drakopoulos, Yixun Liu, Kevin Garner, Nikos Chrisochoides

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Converting a three-dimensional medical image into a 3D mesh that satisfies both the quality and fidelity constraints of predictive simulations and image-guided surgical procedures remains a critical problem. Presented is an image-to-mesh conversion method called CBC3D. It first discretizes a segmented image by generating an adaptive Body-Centered Cubic mesh of high-quality elements. Next, the tetrahedral mesh is converted into a mixed element mesh of tetrahedra, pentahedra, and hexahedra to decrease element count while maintaining quality. Finally, the mesh surfaces are deformed to their corresponding physical image boundaries, improving the mesh’s fidelity. The deformation scheme builds upon the ITK open-source library …

Enhancing Heart Disease Prediction With Reinforcement Learning And Data Augmentation, Gayathri R., Sangeetha S. K. B., Sandeep Kumar Mathivanan, Hariharan Rajadurai, Benjula Anbu Malar Mb, Saurav Mallik, Hong Qin

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The study presents a novel method to improve the prediction accuracy of cardiac disease by combining data augmentation techniques with reinforcement learning. The complex nature of cardiac data frequently presents challenges for traditional machine learning models, which results in subpar performance. In response, our fusion methodology improves predictive capabilities by augmenting data and utilizing reinforcement learning's skill at sequential decision-making. Our method predicts cardiac disease with an astounding 94 % accuracy rate, which is an outstanding result. This significant improvement outperforms existing techniques and shows a deeper comprehension of intricate data relationships. The amalgamation of reinforcement learning and data augmentation …

Enhanced Skin Cancer Diagnosis Through Grid Search Algorithm-Optimized Deep Learning Models For Skin Lesion Analysis, Rudresh Pillai, Neha Sharma, Sheifali Gupta, Deepali Gupta, Sapna Juneja, Saurav Malik, Hong Qin, Mohammed S. Alqahtani, Amel Ksibi

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Skin cancer is a widespread and perilous disease that necessitates prompt and precise detection for successful treatment. This research introduces a thorough method for identifying skin lesions by utilizing sophisticated deep learning (DL) techniques. The study utilizes three convolutional neural networks (CNNs)-CNN1, CNN2, and CNN3-each assigned to a distinct categorization job. Task 1 involves binary classification to determine whether skin lesions are present or absent. Task 2 involves distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions. Task 3 involves multiclass classification of skin lesion images to identify the precise type of skin lesion from a set of seven categories. The most optimal …

Flexible Fitting Of Alphafold2-Predicted Models To Cryo-Em Density Maps Using Elastic Network Models: A Methodological Affirmation, Maytha Alshammari, Jing He, Willy Wriggers

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Motivation: This study investigates the flexible refinement of AlphaFold2 models against corresponding cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) maps using normal modes derived from elastic network models (ENMs) as basis functions for displacement. AlphaFold2 generally predicts highly accurate structures, but 18 of the 137 models of isolated chains exhibit a TM-score below 0.80. We achieved a significant improvement in four of these deviating structures and used them to systematically optimize the parameters of the ENM motion model.

Results: We successfully refined four AlphaFold2 models with notable discrepancies: lipid-preserved respiratory supercomplex (TM-score increased from 0.52 to 0.69), flagellar L-ring protein (TM-score increased from 0.53 …

Sccad: Cluster Decomposition-Based Anomaly Detection For Rare Cell Identification In Single-Cell Expression Data, Yunpei Xu, Shaokai Wang, Qilong Feng, Jiazhi Xia, Yaohang Li, Hong-Dong Li, Jianxin Wang

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies have become essential tools for characterizing cellular landscapes within complex tissues. Large-scale single-cell transcriptomics holds great potential for identifying rare cell types critical to the pathogenesis of diseases and biological processes. Existing methods for identifying rare cell types often rely on one-time clustering using partial or global gene expression. However, these rare cell types may be overlooked during the clustering phase, posing challenges for their accurate identification. In this paper, we propose a Cluster decomposition-based Anomaly Detection method (scCAD), which iteratively decomposes clusters based on the most differential signals in each cluster to effectively separate …

Identifying Patterns For Neurological Disabilities By Integrating Discrete Wavelet Transform And Visualization, Soo Yeon Ji, Sampath Jayarathna, Anne M. Perrotti, Katrina Kardiasmenos, Dong Hyun Jeong

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Neurological disabilities cause diverse health and mental challenges, impacting quality of life and imposing financial burdens on both the individuals diagnosed with these conditions and their caregivers. Abnormal brain activity, stemming from malfunctions in the human nervous system, characterizes neurological disorders. Therefore, the early identification of these abnormalities is crucial for devising suitable treatments and interventions aimed at promoting and sustaining quality of life. Electroencephalogram (EEG), a non-invasive method for monitoring brain activity, is frequently employed to detect abnormal brain activity in neurological and mental disorders. This study introduces an approach that extends the understanding and identification of neurological disabilities …

Triphlapan: Predicting Hla Molecules Binding Peptides Based On Triple Coding Matrix And Transfer Learning, Meng Wang, Chuqi Lei, Jianxin Wang, Yaohang Li, Min Li

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) recognizes foreign threats and triggers immune responses by presenting peptides to T cells. Computationally modeling the binding patterns between peptide and HLA is very important for the development of tumor vaccines. However, it is still a big challenge to accurately predict HLA molecules binding peptides. In this paper, we develop a new model TripHLApan for predicting HLA molecules binding peptides by integrating triple coding matrix, BiGRU + Attention models, and transfer learning strategy. We have found the main interaction site regions between HLA molecules and peptides, as well as the correlation between HLA encoding and binding …

In Vivo Measurement Of Nadh Fluorescence Lifetime In Skeletal Muscle Via Fiber-Coupled Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting, Kathryn M. Priest, Jacob V. Schluns, Nathania Nischal, Colton L. Gattis, Jeffery C. Wolchok, Timothy J. Muldoon

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is a cofactor that serves to shuttle electrons during metabolic processes such as glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). NADH is autofluorescent, and its fluorescence lifetime can be used to infer metabolic dynamics in living cells. Fiber-coupled time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) equipped with an implantable needle probe can be used to measure NADH lifetime in vivo, enabling investigation of changing metabolic demand during muscle contraction or tissue regeneration. This study illustrates a proof of concept for point-based, minimally-invasive NADH fluorescence lifetime measurement in vivo. Volumetric muscle loss (VML) injuries were …

Loss Of Β-Cell Identity And Dedifferentiation, Not An Irreversible Process?, Sumit Patel, Maria S Remedi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a polygenic metabolic disorder characterized by insulin resistance in peripheral tissues and impaired insulin secretion by the pancreas. While the decline in insulin production and secretion was previously attributed to apoptosis of insulin-producing β-cells, recent studies indicate that β-cell apoptosis rates are relatively low in diabetes. Instead, β-cells primarily undergo dedifferentiation, a process where they lose their specialized identity and transition into non-functional endocrine progenitor-like cells, ultimately leading to β-cell failure. The underlying mechanisms driving β-cell dedifferentiation remain elusive due to the intricate interplay of genetic factors and cellular stress. Understanding these mechanisms holds the …

Multiple Genes Core To Erad, Macroautophagy And Lysosomal Degradation Pathways Participate In The Proteostasis Response In Α1-Antitrypsin Deficiency, Jie Li, Tunda Hidvegi, Sanja Sviben, James A J Fitzpatrick, Hemalatha Sundaramoorthi, Stephen C Pak, Gary A Silverman, David H Perlmutter, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND & AIMS: In the classic form of α1-antitrypsin deficiency (ATD), the misfolded α1-antitrypsin Z (ATZ) variant accumulates in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of liver cells. A gain-of-function proteotoxic mechanism is responsible for chronic liver disease in a subgroup of homozygotes. Proteostatic response pathways, including conventional endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation and autophagy, have been proposed as the mechanisms that allow cellular adaptation and presumably protection from the liver disease phenotype. Recent studies have concluded that a distinct lysosomal pathway called endoplasmic reticulum-to-lysosome completely supplants the role of the conventional macroautophagy pathway in degradation of ATZ. Here, we used several state-of-the-art approaches …

Cep120 Is Essential For Kidney Stromal Progenitor Cell Growth And Differentiation, Ewa Langner, Tao Cheng, Eirini Kefaloyianni, Charles Gluck, Baolin Wang, Moe R Mahjoub

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Mutations in genes that disrupt centrosome structure or function can cause congenital kidney developmental defects and lead to fibrocystic pathologies. Yet, it is unclear how defective centrosome biogenesis impacts renal progenitor cell physiology. Here, we examined the consequences of impaired centrosome duplication on kidney stromal progenitor cell growth, differentiation, and fate. Conditional deletion of the ciliopathy gene Cep120, which is essential for centrosome duplication, in the stromal mesenchyme resulted in reduced abundance of interstitial lineages including pericytes, fibroblasts and mesangial cells. These phenotypes were caused by a combination of delayed mitosis, activation of the mitotic surveillance pathway leading to apoptosis, …

Best Practice Recommendations For Coaching Gymnasts To Avoid Burnout And Reframe Performance Anxiety, Clare A. Mccall

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Gymnastics is deemed a psychologically demanding sport, with associated risk factors of burnout and performance anxiety. To date, relatively little research has explored the specific goal and perfectionistic processes of gymnasts, despite these risks. This body of work identified the specific goal-related constructs and perfectionistic orientation of young athletes and examined how these associated with burnout and performance anxiety. It comprised of two studies with a mixed methods design. The first study aimed to systematically review literature investigating how goal-related constructs and perfectionism associate with burnout and performance anxiety in young athletes. This review focused on summer and winter Olympic …

Expression Of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (Gdf-15) In Placental Tissue Of Full- Term Pregnant Women With Hypertensive Disorders In A Western Australian Population, Elsa H. L. Chew

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Women who experience hypertensive pregnancy disorders (HPDs) during pregnancy, mainly pre-eclampsia (PE), are four times more likely to develop hypertension after pregnancy and therefore have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the future. Pregnancy involves a high level of cardiovascular stress and the development of some complications. This has the potential to increase a woman’s susceptibility to vascular or metabolic disease risk in the future. In this research, pre-eclampsia (PE) and pregnancyinduced hypertension (PIH) were representatives of HPDs and were analysed together for the expression of Growth Differentiation Factor-15 (GDF-15) relative to their healthy agematched controls.

GDF-15 …

Understanding Mental Wellbeing Of Family Day Care Educators In Australia: A Mixed Methods Study, Theresa Rayfield

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Family Day Care (FDC) is an essential service within the Australian early childhood education and care sector. FDC educators support Australian families who require convenience, flexibility, and versatility in the education and care of their children. FDC educators’ mental wellbeing (MWB) is vital to ensure optimal education and care is provided, however this is often overlooked by educators. This research aimed to gauge Australian FDC educators’ MWB, identify factors positively or negatively affecting MWB and strategies employed to maintain and support MWB.

Primarily, a cross-sectional quantitative questionnaire measuring MWB and ten predictor variables determining relationship with food, food insecurity, alcohol …

Novel Methods For Assessing Pulmonary And Cardio-Vascular Limitations To Aerobic Performance In Older And Younger Populations, Toni Haddad

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Around the world, life expectancy is increasing, the ageing population is growing, and maintaining quality of life at an older age currently represents a major global challenge. While ‘successful ageing’ relies on a variety of factors, aerobic performance and exercise capacity are key determinants and attenuating their decline is of the utmost importance. The decrease in maximal oxygen consumption is often considered as a major determinant explaining the age[1]related decline in aerobic performance. Yet, multiple physiological systems are impaired with ageing and their contribution to aerobic limitation in older individuals is unclear. Understanding how the limitations to aerobic performance may …

Exploring Treatment Burden In People With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2dm) In Primary Care Settings, Kai Lin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Introduction

Treatment burden is the perceived workload of care by individuals. The treatment burden experienced by individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a major obstacle to achieving effective healthcare outcomes. The aim of this research is to facilitate better management of treatment burden in people with T2DM in primary care settings.

Methods

A systematic review, encompassing narrative analysis was used to characterise the treatment burden of T2DM and critical appraisal was used to identify the appropriate patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for measuring this burden. The selected instruments were employed with subsequent questionnaires, followed by patient focus groups. A …

The Physiological And Performance Consequences Of The Australian Special Forces Selection Course, Angela Uphill

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Special Forces (SF) soldiers are the most elite element of military forces, who have undergone rigorous training in order to prepare them for a wide array of specialised missions. In Australia, entry into the SF is determined through the highly competitive SF Selection Course (SF-SC), which is a gruelling program involving extreme physical demands, psychological stress, and restricted access to sleep and nutrition. The stressors involved in arduous military training events such as the SF-SC can result in significant losses of fat mass and lean mass, disruption to hormonal homeostasis, and significant decreases in neuromuscular capacity, which can potentially increase …

Western Australian Mothers' Experiences Of Breastfeeding Support In Hospital After Birth: A Mixed Methods Study, Justine Van Der Watt

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: The benefits of breastfeeding are well established for infants, mothers and the community, with the World Health Organisation recommending that infants be exclusively breastfed up to six months of age with an achievable goal of 70% globally. Yet in Australia only 15-37% may be reaching that goal. There have also been reported benefits and desires for mothers to be supported with their breastfeeding in order to increase and prolong breastfeeding duration and exclusivity, especially early after birth. However, there is limited research or literature exploring what experiences mothers are having with breastfeeding support, especially during their hospital admissions in …

Prevalence Trends Of Foodborne Pathogens, Bacillus Cereus, Non Stec Escherichia Coli And Staphylococcus Aureus In Ready-To-Eat Foods Sourced From Restaurants, Cafés, Catering And Takeaway Food Premises, Nicole Foxcroft

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The foodborne pathogens of Bacillus cereus (B. cereus), non STEC Escherichia coli (non STEC E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are currently non-notifiable in Australia unless attributed to a food poisoning outbreak. Due to the lack of data around individual cases and isolations in foods, any changes in prevalence may go undetected. The aim of the study was to determine any changes in prevalence of B. cereus, non STEC E. coli and S. aureus in ready-to-eat foods (RTE) sampled from Western Australian restaurants, cafés, catering facilities, and takeaway food premises during the period July 2009 to June 2022. The …