Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Mental Health And Burnout In Medicine In Relation To The Wilson Model Of Leadership, Kevin Beck

Senior Honors Projects

The purpose of this project is to determine the effects that burnout and poor mental health can have on the ability of health care professionals to effectively do their job and lead others in medicine. Burnout, as defined by Merriam Webster, is “the exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.” This is a self-reported quantitative study analyzing information acquired via a survey to determine if there is a relation to burnout and poor mental health in medicine and the ability to effectively lead others and complete work tasks and this …

Integration Into Professional Practice: Emergency Medical Services, Eva Finkelstein

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Nutrition Education In U.S. Medical Schools: An Analysis And Discussion Of Its Necessity, Marie G. Fam

Senior Honors Projects

MARIE FAM

(Dietetics)

Nutrition Education in U.S. Medical Schools: An Analysis and Discussion of its Necessity

Sponsor: Sarah Amin (Nutrition and Food Sciences)

Although approximately 80% of chronic diseases across all ages can be treated, prevented, or even cured with proper nutrition therapies, preliminary evidence suggests that medical schools in the United States deemphasize its importance by not allotting appropriate time and resources to nutrition education. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the accrediting organization for U.S. medical schools, recommends no less than 25 hours of nutrition education. The objective of this study was to evaluate how nutrition education content …

Erac (Enhanced Recovery After Cesarean): A Safer And More Efficient Recovery Protocol, Allison Deluca

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Multiple Sequence Alignment Guided By Clam, Emily Light

Senior Honors Projects

For my honors project, I am continuing my research with my academic advisor, Dr. Daniels on creating an approach to the Multiple Sequence Alignment problem in the Rust programming language. This approach will be attached to Dr. Daniels’ CLAM (Clustered Learning for Approximate Manifolds) to enable it to globally and locally align DNA sequences. This research was divided into three separate parts: building the algorithms, implementing them into CLAM’s metric, and measuring and improving the performance of the algorithms. This project includes two separate but related algorithms; Needleman-Wunsch algorithm and the Smith-Waterman algorithm.

The Needleman-Wunsch algorithm takes in two DNA …

Uri Athletics Fueling Station, Caitlin O'Leary

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

One Thing Leads To Another: Embracing Complexity In Geriatric Cardiology, Ashok Krishnaswami, Min Ji Kwak

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Does The Type Of Chronic Heart Failure Impact In-Hospital Outcomes For Aortic Valve Replacement Procedures?, Talha Mubashir, John Zaki, Sin Yeong An, Ismael A Salas De Armas, Yafen Liang, Travis Markham, Han Feng, Mehmet H Akay, Angelo Nascimbene, Bindu Akkanti, George W Williams, Fabricio Zasso, Maria Patarroyo Aponte, Igor D Gregoric, Biswajit Kar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: This study assessed in-hospital outcomes of patients with chronic systolic, diastolic, or mixed heart failure (HF) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR).

METHODS: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample database was used to identify patients with aortic stenosis and chronic HF who underwent TAVR or SAVR between 2012 and 2015. Propensity score matching and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine outcome risk.

RESULTS: A cohort of 9,879 patients with systolic (27.2%), diastolic (52.2%), and mixed (20.6%) chronic HF were included. No statistically significant differences in hospital mortality were noted. Overall, patients with diastolic HF …

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2023, 143rd Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Thirty-Third Annual Meeting, April 21, 2023

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Humans Past and Present

Applied Science and Technology Section

Biology

Biomedical Sciences

Chemistry

Earth Sciences

Environmental Science

Physics

Science Education

2023 Maiben Lecture: Jason Bartz

2023 Friend of Science Award: Ray Ward and Jim Lewis

Flood Fatalities In Eastern Kentucky And The Public Health Legacy Of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining, W. Jay Christian, Beverly May, Jeffery E. Levy

UK CARES Faculty Publications

Heavy rains at night caused severe flooding in eastern Kentucky on 28 July 2022, resulting in 39 deaths. Using publicly available information, we assembled a database of these fatalities, including demographic characteristics and location of death. We perturbed fatality locations and plotted them on a topographical map highlighting mountaintop removal mining with valley fill sites, where mountaintops were excavated to mine thin seams of coal. This map reveals many flood fatalities occurred along rivers or streams near such sites. Previous research suggests that surface mining has contributed to the majority of land cover change in this region, and this has …

Report: North Dakota Alzheimer’S And Dementia State Plan: Current Status Of, And Recommendations For, Meeting The Needs Of Individuals And Families With Alzheimer’S Disease And Other Dementias, Shawnda Schroeder, Rebecca Quinn, Laura Hand, Gretchen Dobervich

Indigenous Health Faculty Publications

North Dakota reports the fourth highest mortality rate for Alzheimer’s disease in the United States (U.S.) at 52.9 per 100,000 North Dakota residents. The rate for the U.S. is 37 per 100,000 residents. Although leading in mortality, North Dakota is one of a few states with a State Plan for Alzheimer’s and Dementia over 12 years old. This plan was written in July of 2007 and is less than two pages. Although it does mention Alzheimer’s and other other dementias, it does not specifically outline a plan to address services for those living with, or supporting those living with, dementia …

Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative’S Benefits, Effectiveness, And Relevance To Internship At A Women’S Hospital, Katherine Locke

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background: This review was conducted to analyze the benefits and effectiveness of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and compare it to my internship at a Baby-Friendly designated women’s hospital.

Purpose: The purpose of this review was to compile and compare existing research on Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative to determine its benefits, effectiveness, and relevance to my internship.

Method: Two databases, CINAHL Complete and MEDLINE, were used to find a total of 18 peer-reviewed journal articles on Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative benefits and effectiveness. Key words consisted of “baby friendly,” “hospital,” and “benefits or advantages.”

Results: The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative …

Pilot Study: The Effect Of Individual Versus Group Animal-Assisted Therapy On Undergraduate Student Anxiety, Jessica Hanson, Hannah Tucker

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship of Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) on undergraduate student test anxiety; comparing an individual AAT session to a group AAT session. AAT may be a solution for decreasing anxiety for undergraduate students. The study adds empirical knowledge to the field of AAT and student anxiety coping methods. The study question was: What is the effect of one-on-one and group Animal-Assisted Therapy sessions on undergraduate student anxiety?

Methods: This study used a convenience sample randomly assigned to either a group of 3 to 5 students (n=9) or an individual AAT session (n=10) …

Toolkit: Healing Our Protectors: Building Resilience Among Tribal Law Enforcement Officers Through Cultural Interventions, Lavonne Fox, Leo Sr. Belgarde, Thomasine Heitkamp, Shawnda Schroeder

Indigenous Health Faculty Publications

Introduction: The U.S. and Native Americans have a government-to-government relationship. The result of 375 treaties, established laws and instituted policies promote Tribal sovereignty and are intended to support the general wellbeing Indigenous persons and protect their lands and resources. The Tribal sovereignty includes law enforcement. This resource is intended to provide a broad understanding of the challenges both Tribal and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) law enforcement officers face; many struggle dealing with the traumatic events they have experienced. We acknowledge that there is a scarcity of current information related to Tribal and BIA police officers’ mental health. This document …

Methodical Madness: How Adhd Affects Daily Life, Samuel Gonzalez '23

Honor Scholar Theses

Let me begin by saying that this project is not a kind of “self-help” document. While it may come off that way, that is not the primary objective of my project. My primary objective is to provide people with necessary, and in my opinion, essential information surrounding the experiences and struggles of daily life with ADHD. I am not here to make anyone feel guilty for treating someone with ADHD poorly, nor am I here to convince you that people with ADHD are the same as their neurotypical peers (spoiler alert, we aren’t). Additionally, this is not the kind of …

Improving Nurses' Knowledge In Caring For Children With Challenging Behaviors, Caroline R. Conley, Lisa Wendt, Christine A. Schindler

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Hospital admission can be particularly difficult for children with known behavioral health challenges, such as children on the autism spectrum disorder. Nurses are in an ideal role to ease the burden associated with hospitalization. The aims of this quality improvement (QI) project include creating and implementing an evidence-based visual schedule for use with children who have challenging behaviors, and designing and implementing education for nurses specifically intended to describe evidence behind the use of visual activity schedules (VAS) for children with challenging behaviors. A Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) method was used, and the intervention was evaluated via pre- and …

Expanded Directly Binds Conserved Regions Of Fat To Restrain Growth Via The Hippo Pathway, Alexander D Fulford, Leonie Enderle, Jannette Rusch, Didier Hodzic, Maxine V Holder, Alex Earl, Robin Hyunseo Oh, Nicolas Tapon, Helen Mcneill

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The Hippo pathway is a conserved and critical regulator of tissue growth. The FERM protein Expanded is a key signaling hub that promotes activation of the Hippo pathway, thereby inhibiting the transcriptional co-activator Yorkie. Previous work identified the polarity determinant Crumbs as a primary regulator of Expanded. Here, we show that the giant cadherin Fat also regulates Expanded directly and independently of Crumbs. We show that direct binding between Expanded and a highly conserved region of the Fat cytoplasmic domain recruits Expanded to the apicolateral junctional zone and stabilizes Expanded. In vivo deletion of Expanded binding regions in Fat causes …

Effect Of Trainee Level On Surgical Time And Postoperative Complications Of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, Priyanka Parameswaran, Yash Tarkunde, J. Sam Broughton, Michael G. Rizzo, Jake H. Goldfarb, Robert H. Brophy

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between trainee level and surgical time and postoperative complications of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

METHODS: A retrospective chart review of patients who underwent ACLR at an academic orthopaedic ambulatory surgery center collected demographic and clinical information, including the number of trainees present and trainee level. Unadjusted and adjusted regression analyses assessed the association between trainee number and level with surgical time (time from skin incision to closure) and postoperative complications.

RESULTS: Of 799 patients in this study operated on by one of five academic sports surgeons, 87% had …

Factors Associated With No-Show To Ambulatory Tele-Video Neurology Visits., Aashrai Sai Venkat Gudlavalleti, John O Elliott, Rafah Asadi

Neuroscience Articles

Introduction Telehealth visits (TH) have become an important pillar of healthcare delivery during the COVID pandemic. No-shows (NS) may result in delays in clinical care and in lost revenue. Understanding the factors associated with NS may help providers take measures to decrease the frequency and impact of NS in their clinics. We aim to study the demographic and clinical diagnoses associated with NS to ambulatory telehealth neurology visits. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of all telehealth video visits (THV) in our healthcare system from 1/1/2021 to 5/1/2021 (cross-sectional study). All patients at or above 18 years of age …

Efficacy Of Information Extraction From Bar, Line, Circular, Bubble And Radar Graphs, Hiddadura Isura Malinda Mendis Abeynayake, Ravindra S. Goonetilleke, Albert Wijeweera, Uwe Reischl

Public and Population Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

With the emergence of enormous amounts of data, numerous ways to visualize such data have been used. Bar, circular, line, radar and bubble graphs that are ubiquitous were investigated for their effectiveness. Fourteen participants performed four types of evaluations: between categories (cities), within categories (transport modes within a city), all categories, and a direct reading within a category from a graph. The representations were presented in random order and participants were asked to respond to sixteen questions to the best of their ability after visually scanning the related graph. There were two trials on two separate days for each participant. …

Reducing Medical Errors For Patients With Substance Use Disorders With A Medical Information Card, Michael V. Hughes

Doctoral Dissertations & Projects

Background

Approximately 98,000 Americans perish annually due to medical errors and adverse events associated with the limited access to or incomplete pertinent patient health information (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2022; Obrien et al., 2021). Pertinent patient health information includes patients’ allergies, current medications, current medical diagnosis, blood type, insurance, and emergency contact. The purpose of this project was to examine the efficacy in using File of Life cards in reducing medical errors among patients with substance use disorders (SUDs), and the perception of patients and healthcare providers ease of use, satisfaction of using the File of Life …

Viability Of Equine Assisted Activities And Therapies For Individuals With Developmental Disorders: A Systematic Review, Faith Pinson

Honors Theses

The objective of this review is to determine whether Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT) are a viable form of therapy for people with various developmental disorders. A viable form of therapy is one that is more beneficial than traditional forms of therapy that already exist, as traditional therapies may be generally less expensive and have plentiful research to support their use). In order to be beneficial, EAAT would need to yield improved results when either compared side by side with traditional therapy or used as a complementary therapy with traditional therapy. In this systematic review, the included studies examined the …

Introduction Of Probiotics To Improve Eczema Symptoms In Children In One Pediatric Primary Care Practice: A Quality Improvement Project, Christie Potter

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Background: There is emerging interest in alternative approaches to treating children with eczema because there is currently no allopathic cure. Non-pharmacological approaches are regarded as generally safe, well tolerated, and cost effective. Eczema is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory, itchy skin condition that adversely affects quality of life in many individuals, including children. Eczema interferes with sleep, leads to secondary skin infections, and causes intractable itching. Topical steroids are the current standard of practice in treating patients but, evidence suggests that they can cause unwanted side effects and can lead to serious systemic reactions. The purpose of this quality improvement project …

Adolescent Depression Management: An Inner City Federally Qualified Health Center Program Evaluation, Aurora Wernette

Masters Projects

Background: Within the state, approximately 119,000 adolescents aged 12-17 have depression, and it is estimated that 57.8% do not receive any mental health care (National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI], 2021).

Objectives: The purpose of this program evaluation is to evaluate the management of adolescent depression. This evaluation focused on adolescent depression screening rates, medication prescribing and adherence, counseling referrals and initiation, barriers to treatment, follow-up visits, and parent feedback about the care received.

Methods: All adolescents who did not have previously diagnosed depression or developmental delay were included in this program evaluation., A weekly manual chart review was used …

The Influence Of Vitamin D Levels On Dental Caries: A Retrospective Study Of The United States Population, Canon C Cornelius, Stephen Warner, Joel Thomas, David Rodriguez-Quintana

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction

Periprosthetic femur fractures (PPFF) are increasing in incidence and management of such injuries requires a specialized skill set combined with detailed knowledge of component design. To assist with planning, computed tomography (CT) can be used pre-operatively to give a surgeon more information. No study to date has shown the utility of obtaining preoperative CT. The goal of this study is to show that CT is a useful diagnostic adjunct and report any differences in how subspecialties such as orthopedic traumatologists and arthroplasty surgeons use it.

Methods

Seventeen PPFF cases met our inclusion criteria. They were shown to six faculty, …

Role Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Exoenzymes S, T, And Y In The Modulation Of Intrinsic Apoptosis In Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Cells, Andrea M. Vavrinek

Honors Theses

P. aeruginosa is the most common cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia in ICU patients. P. aeruginosa uses a type III secretion system to inject exoenzymes S, T, U, and Y into host cells, exhibiting unique effects. Pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) are used to evaluate cellular changes caused by exoenzymes. ExoY infection of PMVECs leads to cell rounding but does not lead to cell death, unlike ExoS/T. The current study evaluated the exoenzyme-induced modulation of intrinsic apoptosis in endothelial cells. Strain PAK, producing ExoS, T, and Y, was compared to isogenic strains expressing either S, SY, T, TY, Y, or none …

Evaluating The Impact Of A No-Show Policy: A Quality Improvement Project, Adrianne S. Harding

DNP Projects

Significance and Background: No- shows are a global problem that creates a significant challenge for the healthcare system. When a patient misses an appointment, it decreases health care staff productivity, creates a waste of resources and it negatively impacts revenue (Lance et. al, 2021). Current evidence supports interventions that incorporate voluminous data and artificial intelligence with strategies such as overbooking, appointment notification systems and financial incentives to reduce outpatient no-shows (Oikonomidi et al., 2022). This project will evaluate the impact of a no-show policy and provide insights to improve primary care attendance and inform decisions.

Purpose: To evaluate an outpatient …

Differences In Trapezius Muscle H-Reflex Between Asymptomatic Subjects And Symptomatic Shoulder Pain Subjects, Ana S.C. Melo, Janet L. Taylor, Ricardo Ferreira, Bruno Cunha, Manuel Ascenção, Mathieu Fernandes, Vítor Sousa, Eduardo B. Cruz, J. Paulo Vilas-Boas, Andreia S.P. Sousa

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In chronic shoulder pain, adaptations in the nervous system such as in motoneuron excitability, could contribute to impairments in scapular muscles, perpetuation and recurrence of pain and reduced improvements during rehabilitation. The present cross-sectional study aims to compare trapezius neural excitability between symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects. In 12 participants with chronic shoulder pain (symptomatic group) and 12 without shoulder pain (asymptomatic group), the H reflex was evoked in all trapezius muscle parts, through C3/4 nerve stimulation, and the M-wave through accessory nerve stimulation. The current intensity to evoke the maximum H reflex, the latency and the maximum peak-to-peak amplitude of …

Childhood Sleep Health And Epigenetic Age Acceleration In Late Adolescence: Cross-Sectional And Longitudinal Analyses, David Balfour, Phillip E. Melton, Joanne A. Mcveigh, Rae-Chi Huang, Peter R. Eastwood, Sian Wanstall, Amy C. Reynolds, Sarah Cohen-Woods

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aim: Investigate if childhood measures of sleep health are associated with epigenetic age acceleration in late adolescence. Methods: Parent-reported sleep trajectories from age 5 to 17, self-reported sleep problems at age 17, and six measures of epigenetic age acceleration at age 17 were studied in 1192 young Australians from the Raine Study Gen2. Results: There was no evidence for a relationship between the parent-reported sleep trajectories and epigenetic age acceleration (p ≥ 0.17). There was a positive cross-sectional relationship between self-reported sleep problem score and intrinsic epigenetic age acceleration at age 17 (b = 0.14, p = 0.04), which was …

Immobilization And Its Effects On Functional Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury., William H. Gregory

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Recovery, or rather the failure to recover, is a perplexing issue of spinal cord injury that is currently being investigated. This issue becomes more puzzling when investigating models in which spinal cord injury (SCI) is studied. There appears to be greater functional recovery experienced by animals within these models after injury as compared to patients in the clinical setting. While many things could contribute to this disparity, one difference that stands out when comparing the basic research model and clinical experience of SCI is the inactivity and limb disuse after the injury. This same level of immobility is rarely accounted …