Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Kangaroo Care And Improved Physiological Status In Preterm Infants: An Integrative Review, Kira Juunia Harkonen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Preterm births continue to cause long-term sequelae for infants worldwide. Interventions in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that promote better outcomes can make an impact on preterm infants’ futures. The purpose of this review was to determine if kangaroo care has positive physiological effects on preterm infants in the NICU. Practice changes to enhance kangaroo care in the NICU include reducing barriers such as medical complexity and staff misconceptions as well as facilitating increased parental presence. The review of the literature found evidence to support the positive outcomes that kangaroo care has on neonates’ growth, vital signs, stress outcomes, …

Neuropsychiatric Sequelae Of Traumatic Brain Injury: The Impact Of Aggression And Self-Perception On The Quality Of Life Of The Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors, Aida Bazarganpour

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The occurrence of neuropsychiatric sequelae is frequently observed among survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI). These neuropsychiatric sequelae can characterize the quality of life of TBI survivors. Among these neuropsychiatric conditions, aggression and self-perception are significant because of their potential to impair survivors’ well-being. Long-term social isolation, common among TBI survivors, has also been linked with an increased likelihood of aggressive behavior. However, research investigating the effects of aggression and self-perception on quality of life of TBI survivors is limited. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationships connecting aggression and self-perception with quality of life of …

Meeting The Psychological Needs Of Astronauts In The Flourishing Human Spaceflight Frontier: The Case For Astronaut-Trained Psychologists, Skylar Jordan Laham

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Space psychology (i.e., astronaut psychological counseling and support) has remained largely unchanged since the onset of long-duration low-Earth-orbit (LEO) human spaceflight missions, with teletherapy utilized as the primary means of psychotherapy delivery. However, with NASA’s plans to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon, the suitability of teletherapy – as well as astronaut-trained psychologists, an alternative space psychology method suggested for human spaceflight beyond LEO – must be ascertained. The aim of this novel space psychology investigation was to identify and compare the effectiveness of three astronaut psychotherapy treatment conditions (i.e., teletherapy with a 2 second Earth to LEO …

Reducing Medication Errors In Inpatient Hospital Settings By Implementing The Barcode Medication Administration Technology: An Integrative Review, Kali A. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Medication administration errors adversely affect patient outcomes, satisfaction, safety, and quality of care. Barcode medication administration (BCMA) technology automates the verification process during medication administration by requiring that nurses scan the barcode on the medication and the patient identification wristband to confirm the five rights of medication administration. The BCMA thus helps to intercept medication errors that occur at the point of administration. A review of 32 articles published within the past six years was conducted to explore the impact of using BCMA technology on medication error rates in inpatient hospital settings. The review findings indicate that systemic and individual …

Improved Education For Caregivers Of Hospice Heart Failure Patients To Reduce Hospital Admissions: An Integrative Review, Sierra Spain Sanford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Heart disease is the second-leading cause of death in the United States, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being the leading cause of death, heart failure only comprises 15% of hospice deaths and remains the most likely to be discharged from hospice services due to acute hospitalizations compared to all other hospice diagnoses. This leads to low patient and family satisfaction as well as high medical costs. This integrative review synthesizes current published evidence highlighting the need to improve caregiver education for symptom management of terminal heart failure patients in hospice. The literature supports that improved caregiver education can lead to …

Deeper Seated Than Skin Deep: Report Of A Rare Case Of Follicular Occlusion Tetrad And A Literature Review, Yilen K. Ng-Wong, Blesset Alexander, Mery Bartl, Christine E. Loftis, Dina Hammad, Emilia C. Dulgheru, Mauricio De La Garza, Aidee C. Nunez

School of Medicine Publications

Follicular occlusion tetrad (FOT) is a clinical syndrome consisting of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), acne conglobata (AC), dissecting cellulitis of the scalp (DCS), and pilonidal cyst (PC). These entities typically occur independently, but occasionally present simultaneously comprising FOT. The four components share similar pathophysiology affecting the apocrine glands, follicular hyperkeratinization being the hallmark of each entity.Understanding shared similarities of each disease is paramount for the treatment approach as the relapsing and chronic nature of this syndrome can be burdening to patients. We present the case of a 22- year-old obese Hispanic man with a history of tobacco use who presented with …

Simple Combination Of Multiple Somatic Variant Callers To Increase Accuracy, Alexander J Trevarton, Jeffrey T Chang, W Fraser Symmans

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Publications comparing variant caller algorithms present discordant results with contradictory rankings. Caller performances are inconsistent and wide ranging, and dependent upon input data, application, parameter settings, and evaluation metric. With no single variant caller emerging as a superior standard, combinations or ensembles of variant callers have appeared in the literature. In this study, a whole genome somatic reference standard was used to derive principles to guide strategies for combining variant calls. Then, manually annotated variants called from the whole exome sequencing of a tumor were used to corroborate these general principles. Finally, we examined the ability of these principles to …

A Hierarchical Decision Model To Evaluate Healthcare Organization's Readiness To Implement Clinical Decision Support Systems, Mohammed Oussama Laraichi

Dissertations and Theses

Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) are essential tools for healthcare organizations as well as for healthcare providers to improve clinical care. However, successful implementation of CDSS can be challenging. Therefore, before implementing CDSS, it is crucial to assess the readiness of healthcare organizations to implement these tools.

Through a literature review, the first step of this research explores the concept of clinical decision support and CDSS, discussing their features, characteristics, and organizational hurdles to implementation. It also provides perspectives on CDSS adoption in the context of Information Systems and Health Technology. The review helped identify research gaps, objectives, and questions. …

Tau Accumulation In Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer's Disease: A Longitudinal [18f]Flortaucipir Study, Antoinette O'Connor, Shaney Flores, Russ Hornbeck, Eric Mcdade, Brian A Gordon, Randall J Bateman, Tammie L S Benzinger, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Cortical tau accumulation is a key pathological event that partly defines Alzheimer's disease (AD) onset and is associated with cognitive decline and future disease progression. However, an improved understanding of the timing and pattern of early tau deposition in AD and how this may be tracked in vivo is needed. Data from 59 participants involved in two longitudinal cohort studies of autosomal dominant AD (ADAD) were used to investigate whether tau PET can detect and track presymptomatic change; seven participants were symptomatic, and 52 were asymptomatic but at a 50% risk of carrying a pathogenic mutation. All had baseline flortaucipir …

Induction Of A Torpor-Like Hypothermic And Hypometabolic State In Rodents By Ultrasound, Yaoheng Yang, Jinyun Yuan, Rachael L Field, Dezhuang Ye, Zhongtao Hu, Kevin Xu, Lu Xu, Yan Gong, Yimei Yue, Alexxai V Kravitz, Michael R Bruchas, Jianmin Cui, Jonathan R Brestoff, Hong Chen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Torpor is an energy-conserving state in which animals dramatically decrease their metabolic rate and body temperature to survive harsh environmental conditions. Here, we report the noninvasive, precise and safe induction of a torpor-like hypothermic and hypometabolic state in rodents by remote transcranial ultrasound stimulation at the hypothalamus preoptic area (POA). We achieve a long-lasting (>24 h) torpor-like state in mice via closed-loop feedback control of ultrasound stimulation with automated detection of body temperature. Ultrasound-induced hypothermia and hypometabolism (UIH) is triggered by activation of POA neurons, involves the dorsomedial hypothalamus as a downstream brain region and subsequent inhibition of thermogenic …

Usability And Acceptability Testing Of A Plan Of Safe Care In A Mobile Health Platform, Krystyna R. Isaacs, Elina Bajracharya, Shantae Taylor, Katie Chung, Yukiko Washio, Trenee Parker, David A. Paul, Tony X. Ma

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Papers

Purpose: Women who are pregnant or parenting while recovering from substance use disorder (SUD) are at risk for insufficient recovery support. With the federal mandate, implementation has been left to each state for the Plan of Safe Care (POSC), leading to challenges in providing comprehensive care coordination and meeting federal reporting requirements.

Methods: This research tests the usability and acceptability of a POSC platform, called SAFE4BOTH, which combines a mobile health (mHealth) app for use by mothers with substance use disorder (MSUD) with a web-based case management system for use by stakeholders to reduce the issue of fragmented postnatal maternal …

Sports Wagering In The United States: What We Do And Don't Know, Joshua B. Grubbs, Shane W. Kraus

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract

In the wake of the Murphy vs. NCAA decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, over 30 states now permit sports betting and a majority of Americans now have access to this activity. Even so, much remains unknown about the effects of widespread access to sports betting in the U.S. The present work reports interim results of multi-year data collection efforts in the U.S. In April of 2022, a U.S. nationally representative sample of 2,806 Americans and an additional sample of 1,553 sports wagering people were recruited by YouGov opinion polling, with follow up data collected in …

When Data Tell Their Own Story: Measuring Health System Performance Over Time, Jeanette Ward, Janice Bell

Talking Heads Seminar Series

While Australia’s current health care system can seem impossible to comprehend and navigate, one design principle holds for all sustainable health care systems. This is that the first point of call should be at the level of primary care. An effective, equitable and efficient primary care system acts early in response to need, integrates person-centred evidence-based therapeutic interventions and prevents disease progression while knowing the local context including social determinants of health and community resources. Primary care must be accessible to all. This is why the World Health Organisation advocates for significant government investments in a well-trained and geographically distributed …

Addressing Disparities For Gambling Treatment Service Use In The Latinx Community: Outreach, Education, Screening, And Referral By Community Health Workers, Michael D. Campos Phd, Abraham J. Caballero Bs, Hugo Ramirez Bs, Hanssel Walker Bba

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

ABSTRACT

Problem gambling/gambling disorder prevalence among Latinx individuals in the U.S. is similar to that seen in the non-Latinx Caucasian community (Alegria et al., 2009). However, there are disparities in the use of State-funded treatment for such problems in California. This is true for mental health service use for ethnic/racial minorities in the US overall (Alegria et al., 2008; Dua et al., 2011; Wells et al., 2001). The California Office of Problem Gambling (OPG), the UCLA Gambling Studies Program (UGSP), and Visión y Compromiso (VyC) are conducting a 2-year pilot project using community health workers (promotores/as) to increase Latinx utilization …

Measurement Models Matter: How Retrospective Calendar Versus Global Reports Yield Different Estimates Of Treatment Outcome, Margaret L. Paul Bs, Maria E. Meinerding Ms, Jeremiah Weinstock Phd, Meredith K. Ginley, James P. Whelan Phd, Rory A. Pfund

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract: Retrospective reports are less accurate than objective measures of behavior and must be interpreted with consideration of the amount of distortion and error introduced by this methodology. The Gambling-Timeline Followback (G-TLFB) method is the gold standard retrospective assessment tool that is designed to minimize such error by asking for a specific recall of precise gambling behavior day-by-day using recall aids as compared to a global summation over time (e.g., how many gambling days in last month, how much money gambled in the last month). It remains an empirical question whether this difference in measurement format, G-TLFB versus global reports, …

High Illusion Of Control Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Analyses Of The Effects Of Forms Of Counterfactual Thinking And Gender In Problem Gambling And Gaming, Larry Okechukwu Awo Dr., George Nzeadi Duru Mr.

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract

Three studies (Study 1, N = 322 male adolescents, Study 2, N = 401 male and female adolescents, and Study 3, longitudinal, N = 56 male and female adolescents) analyzed the effects cognitive and psychographic variables in the relationships among illusion of control (IC), problem gambling and problem gaming. Moderated mediation analyses results using PROCESS macro in the three studies confirmed: (1) the positive mediating effect of upward CFT in the association between IC and problem gambling and problem gaming; (2) the negative mediating effect of downward CFT in the association between IC and problem gambling and problem gaming; …

The Academy At Mite Report Of Activities 2022, Mmc Institute For Teaching Excellence

Journal of Maine Medical Center

No abstract provided.

Improving Pubmed For The Novice At The Expense Of The Expert: Surveying Librarians 3 Years Post-New Pubmed, Tim Kenny, Heather Kemp

Journal of Maine Medical Center

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Perceived Weight Status And Bmi Perception On Food Attitudes And Food Relationships, Sahil K. Patel, Ryan Gericke, Jaime Dougherty, Adarsh Gupta

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

CONTEXT: Obesity has been a national epidemic throughout the United States due to the increasingly sedentary western lifestyle, paired with calorically dense abundant low-nutritional food options. Discussing weight necessitates the conversation of not only the numerical value (body mass index [BMI]) associated with obesity but also the perceived weight or how an individual categorizes their weight, irrespective of their calculated BMI classification. Perceived weight can influence food relationships, overall health, and lifestyle habits.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify differences in dietary habits, lifestyle habits, and food attitudes among three groups: those correctly identifying as "obese" with …

Tapped Twice: A Case Of A Rapidly Re-Accumulating Hepatic Hydrothorax In A Patient With Spontaneous Bacterial Empyema, Amir Khalil, Suma Alzouhayli, Silvia Novakova, Saad Shams, Ahmad Baiyasi, Maria Khalil, Mohammed Uddin, Aryan Shiari, Kareem Bazzy

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Hepatic hydrothorax (HH) is a complication of decompensated liver cirrhosis that only occurs in about 5–6% of cirrhosis patients, defined as a pleural fluid in the setting of known liver disease, with the absence of any other cardiopulmonary etiology. Infected HH is a rare complication, designated as spontaneous bacterial empyema (SBEM), found in only 13–16% of patients with HH. This case follows a patient with SBEM who developed a recurrent pleural effusion minutes after thoracentesis. Our patient is a 56-year-old female with a history of alcoholic cirrhosis with pleuritic pain found to have right-sided pleural effusion with decompensation. She had …

Exploring The Potential Of Nanotechnology In Pediatric Healthcare: Advances, Challenges, And Future Directions., Hossein Omidian, Kwadwo Mfoafo

HPD Articles

The utilization of nanotechnology has brought about notable advancements in the field of pediatric medicine, providing novel approaches for drug delivery, disease diagnosis, and tissue engineering. Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of materials at the nanoscale, resulting in improved drug effectiveness and decreased toxicity. Numerous nanosystems, including nanoparticles, nanocapsules, and nanotubes, have been explored for their therapeutic potential in addressing pediatric diseases such as HIV, leukemia, and neuroblastoma. Nanotechnology has also shown promise in enhancing disease diagnosis accuracy, drug availability, and overcoming the blood-brain barrier obstacle in treating medulloblastoma. It is important to acknowledge that while nanotechnology offers significant opportunities, there …

The Impact Of Operation Bushmaster On Medical Student Decision-Making In A High-Stress, Operational Environment., Rebekah Cole, Audra G Garrigan, Sidney A Peters, Sean P Conley, Sherri L Rudinsky, Laura Tilley, Leslie Vojta, James Schwartz, Christopher Weston, Craig Goolsby

Health Sciences Education Research

INTRODUCTION: Operation Bushmaster is a high-fidelity military medical field practicum for fourth-year medical students at the Uniformed Services University. During Operation Bushmaster, students treat live-actor and mannequin-based simulated patients in wartime scenarios throughout the five-day practicum. This study explored the impact of participating in Operation Bushmaster on students' decision-making in a high-stress, operational environment, a crucial aspect of their future role as military medical officers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A panel of emergency medicine physician experts used a modified Delphi technique to develop a rubric to evaluate the participants' decision-making abilities under stress. The participants' decision-making was assessed before and after …

Shifting Gears: - The Expected Post-Transplant Survival (Epts) Usefulness In The Era Of Continuous Distribution- Examination Of The United Network Of Organ Sharing (Unos) Database 2000-2020, Vaughn Whittaker, Vaughn Easton Whittaker

NYMC Student Theses and Dissertations

The allocation of organs is a constantly evolving area of transplantation. The latest iteration of this process is a move toward continuous distribution of organs. This process considers dynamic factors instead of static constraints that box patients into certain categories. The expected post-transplant survival of patients is one of these dynamic factors that will be included in the assessment of patients' place in a continuous distribution allocation process. However, the predictive value of this construct is questionable, given that it uses only four factors (age, diabetes diagnosis, years on dialysis, and previous transplant) to represent complex patients who are on …

Differential Response Of C9orf72 Transcripts Following Neuronal Depolarization, Layla T. Ghaffari, Davide Trotti, Aaron R. Haeusler

Farber Institute for Neuroscience Faculty Papers

The (G4C2)n nucleotide repeat expansion (NRE) mutation in C9orf72 is the most common genetic cause of ALS and FTD. The biological functions of C9orf72 are becoming understood, but it is unclear if this gene is regulated in a neural-specific manner. Neuronal activity is a crucial modifier of biological processes in health and neurodegenerative disease contexts. Here, we show that prolonged membrane depolarization in healthy human iPSC-cortical neurons leads to a significant downregulation of a transcript variant 3 (V3) of C9orf72, with a concomitant increase in variant 2 (V2), which leads to total C9orf72 RNA transcript levels remaining unchanged. However, the …

The Effect Of Doulas On Maternal And Birth Outcomes: A Scoping Review., Alexandria Sobczak, Lauren Taylor, Sydney Solomon, Jodi Ho, Scotland Kemper, Brandon Phillips, Kailey Jacobson, Courteney Castellano, Ashley Ring, Brianna Castellano, Robin J. Jacobs

HPD Articles

A source of support during birth could be the solution to negative outcomes for the mother and her baby. To improve the birthing experience and increase positive birthing outcomes, sources of support during pregnancy should be evaluated and understood. The goal of this review was to synthesize the existing literature on how doulas might improve birth outcomes. This scoping review also aimed to shed light on the positive impact emotional support during childbirth can have on the health and well-being of mother and child. PubMed and EBSCOhost were used to identify articles using the search words with Boolean operators "doulas" …

Intersections In Clowning And Drama Therapy’S Core Processes, Brett Alters

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores potential intersections of drama therapy and an embodied clowning exercise known as leading centers. The aim is to further establish relations and a common lexicon between therapeutic circus arts and drama therapy. To guide this coupling, drama therapy’s newly revised core processes per Frydman et al. (2022) were utilized as a framework when coding the leading center exercise. Three out of seven drama therapy core processes were investigated: embodiment, dramatic projection, and distancing. These were determined to be most salient for the purposes of this thesis as they were recently the most emergent core processes coded in …

The Effect Of Spinal Cord Stimulation And Video Games Training On Body-Machine Interface Control, Jie Fei

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Damage to the spinal cord causes long-lasting loss of motor and sensory function, and currently, there is no ‘cure’ for paralysis. However, even people with severe spinal cord injuries (SCI) have some residual mobility. Studies have shown that transcutaneous electrical spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) combined with functional training targeting residual mobility can further improve the motor function of individuals with SCI. In this study, we present a technical framework that aims to enhance rehabilitation outcomes by targeting residual mobility through a motor training-based approach. Our technical framework centers around a non-invasive body-machine interface (BoMI) that relies on the use of …

Developmental Boxes, Karina Ryabinina, Lauren Kelly, Marissa Bankey, Kaila Medeiros, Sammy Schultz

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Developmental Boxes

The assigned facility is a resource center that operates to assist families in need. Services offered include housing placement, homelessness prevention, securement of affordable childcare, after-school programs, and health education. The center has served the Mount Baker community for nearly three years and intends to continue partnering with public services to end the cycle of poverty and create brighter futures for those who need it most (Mercy Housing, 2021).

Our team conducted a windshield survey of the community served by the facility and determined there to be limited access to childcare in the area as well as minimal …

Transmission Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis To Healthcare Personnel Resulting From Contaminated Bone Graft Material, United States, June 2021–August 2022, Ruoran Li, Molly Deutsch-Feldman, Tamasin Adams, Michelle Law, Chinpar Biak, Erika Pitcher, Marci Drees, Alfonso C Hernandez-Romieu, Thomas D Filardo, Tracina Cropper, Angelica Martinez, W Wyatt Wilson, Sandy P Althomsons, Sapna Bamrah Morris, Jonathan M Wortham, Isaac Benowitz, Noah G Schwartz, Kelly White, Maryam B Haddad, Janet B Glowicz, Bone Allograft Tuberculosis Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A nationwide tuberculosis outbreak linked to a viable bone allograft product contaminated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis was identified in June 2021. Our subsequent investigation identified 73 healthcare personnel with new latent tuberculosis infection following exposure to the contaminated product, product recipients, surgical instruments, or medical waste.

Is There Really A Difference In Outcomes Between Men And Women With Hepatocellular Cancer?, Andrea Fa, Denise M. Danos, Lauren Maniscalco, Yong Yi, Xiao Cheng Wu, Mary A. Maluccio, Quyen D. Chu, John M. Lyons

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a male-dominated disease. Currently, gender differences remain incompletely defined. Data from the state tumor registry were used to investigate differences in demographics, comorbidities, treatment patterns, and cancer-specific survival (HSS) among HCC patients according to gender. Additional analyses were performed to evaluate racial differences among women with HCC. 2627 patients with HCC were included; 498 (19%) were women. Women were mostly white (58%) or African American (39%)—only 3.8% were of another or unknown race. Women were older (65.1 vs. 61.3 years), more obese (33.7% vs. 24.2%), and diagnosed at an earlier stage (31.7% vs. 28.4%) than men. …