Diseases Commons^™

A Pilot Study To Investigate Concerns In Patients Undergoing Neck Dissection Surgery, Daniel Sundar Raj Arulananda Doss

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract:

This study investigates concerns in patients undergoing neck dissection surgery. Forty patients were recruited at Pre-surgery, Discharge and 1-month Post-surgery. The Patient Concerns Inventory - Level of Importance questionnaire (PCI-LOI), Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), Neck Dissection Impairment Index (NDII) and the University of Washington - Quality of Life questionnaire (UWQOL) were used.

The study identified "Anxiety" at Pre-surgery and "Appearance" at Discharge and 1-month Post-surgery as the important patient concerns. Patients’ concerns were found to change over time. Support for cross-sectional convergent validity of the PCI-LOI was evidenced by significant correlations between the PCI-LOI and the UWQOL …

Scanned Ion Beam Therapy For Thoracic Tumors, John Gordon Eley

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Although frequently cured of Hodgkin lymphoma, adolescents and young adults can develop radiation induced second cancers. These patients could potentially benefit from scanned ion radiotherapy yet likely would require motion mitigation strategies. In theory, four-dimensional (4D) optimization of ion beam fields for individual motion states of respiration can enable superior sparing of healthy tissue near moving targets, compared to other motion mitigation strategies. Furthermore, carbon-ion therapy can sometimes provide greater relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for cell sterilization in a target but nearly equivalent RBE in tissue upstream of the target, compared to proton therapy. Thus, we expected that for some …

Image Quality Of Energy-Dependent Approaches For X-Ray Angiography, Jesse Evan Tanguay

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is an x-ray-based imaging method widely used for diagnosis and treatment of patients with vascular disease. This technique uses subtraction of images acquired before and after injection of an iodinated contrast agent to generate iodine-specific images. While it is extremely successful at imaging structures that are near-stationary over a period of several seconds, motion artifacts can result in poor image quality with uncooperative patients and DSA is rarely used for coronary applications.

Alternative methods of generating iodine-specific images with reduced motion artifacts might exploit the energy-dependence of x-ray attenuation in a patient. This could be performed …

Characterization Of Differentiation And Prognostic Biomarkers On Cd8+ Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes In Metastatic Melanoma, Richard C. Wu

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

CD8⁺ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) frequently infiltrate tumors, yet most melanoma patients fail to undergo tumor regression. We studied the differentiation of the CD8⁺ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) from 44 metastatic melanoma patients using known T-cell differentiation markers. We also compared CD8⁺ TIL against the T cells from matched melanoma patients’ peripheral blood. We discovered a novel subset of CD8⁺ TIL co-expressing early-differentiation markers, CD27, CD28, and a late/senescent CTL differentiation marker, CD57. This CD8⁺CD57⁺ TIL expressed a cytolytic enzyme, granzyme B (GB), yet did not express another cytolytic pore-forming molecule, perforin (Perf). In …

The Relationship Between Vitamin D Status Of Adult Women And Diet, Sun Exposure, Skin Reflectance, Body Composition, And Insulin Sensitivity, Marisa M. Mcadler

Master's Theses

As the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency continues to grow, mounting evidence supporting its link with chronic disease strengthens suggesting vitamin D’s candidacy in the prevention and treatment of multiple disease states and their complications. Dietary guidelines, however, do not take sun exposure into account. The present study sought to explore the impact of sun exposure on vitamin D status (serum 25(OH)D), and identify other significant determinants of serum levels which may have the greatest effects on overall health. Participants (n = 34) were pre-menopausal women aged 18 to 50 years (mean age 39 ± 6 years), who had their …

Automated Point-Of-Care Image Processing Methodology For The Diagnosis Of Malaria, Michael B. Jorgensen

Master's Theses

Malaria has profoundly influenced human history for over four thousand years and despite numerous attempts at eradication, the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of malaria have been largely ineffective. More than five hundred million people are affected by malaria every year resulting in over one million deaths. Drug resistance development by the parasite has diminished the effectiveness of numerous treatment options due, in part, to overtreatment of negative patients based on insufficient clinical algorithms and diagnostic methods. The goal of this research was to develop an image analysis algorithm to diagnose malaria with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity in …

Practitioners' Use Of Clinical Practice Guidelines: An Evidence-Based Approach, Sondra Michelle Phipps Santana

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pre-diabetes is a serious health problem in the United States. Distinguished by plasma glucose levels that are above the normal threshold, patients with pre-diabetes are 10 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Patients with pre-diabetes suffer the same complications as patients with diabetes including diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy, and microalbuminuria.

There is considerable evidence to support the idea that early identification and aggressive treatment of pre-diabetes has the potential to delay disease progression. The American Diabetes Association’s clinical practice guideline recommends management of with lifestyle modification and metformin for patients who are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. …

Is Local Infiltration Analgesia (Lia) A Safe And Effective Method For Post-Operative Pain Management After A Unilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty (Tka)?, Brooke A. Bonnette

PCOM Physician Assistant Studies Student Scholarship

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review is to determine whether or not local infiltration analgesia (LIA) is a safe and effective method for post-operative pain management after a unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
STUDY DESIGN: Review of three English language primary studies published in 2010 and 2011.

DATA SOURCES: Three randomized controlled trials comparing local infiltration analgesia to three separate controls: epidural analgesia, placebo infiltration and femoral nerve block found using PubMed.

OUTCOMES MEASURED: Clinical outcome was measured by total morphine use postoperatively and average knee pain intensity at rest and upon movement postoperatively. Total morphine use …

What Is The Effectiveness Of Onabotulinumtoxina (Botox®) In Reducing The Number Of Chronic Migraines (Cm) In Patients 18-65 Years Old?, Kristin A. Beddingfield

PCOM Physician Assistant Studies Student Scholarship

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not onabotulinumtoxinA (Botox®) is effective in reducing the number of chronic migraines (CM) in patients 18-65 years old? Study Design: Review of three published, double blind randomized controlled trials were used for this review, which were found on PubMed; were selected based on their relevance to the clinical question and if they included patient oriented outcomes.

OUTCOMES MEASURED: The outcomes measured were headache/migraine free days measured by >50% responder rate analysis, the Treatment Responder Rate based on Physician Global Assessment, and total adverse events reported by …

Is Modafinil (Provigil®) Effective In Improving Cognitive Function In Adults With Narcolepsy?, Stephanie V. Bui

PCOM Physician Assistant Studies Student Scholarship

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not modafinil (Provigil®) is effective in improving cognitive function in adults with narcolepsy.

STUDY DESIGN: Review of all English language primary randomized controlled trials from 1996 to 2010.

DATA SOURCES: Double-blind, randomized controlled trials that compared modafinil (Provigil®) to a visually matched placebo were found using OVID, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Databases.

OUTCOME(S) MEASURED: Each of the three trials assessed the effect of modafinil on cognitive and executive function by Low-Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography (LORETA), and the following assessment tools: Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Multiple Sleep …

Generation And Characterization Of Peptide Fusion Proteins, Brianna L. Probasco

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Pathogenic Th17 cells drive progression of many autoimmune diseases. Th17 cells develop from naïve T cells in the immune system after antigen-driven stimulation in a specific cytokine environment. Normally, T cells act to fight off infection, but when not properly controlled, they can cause disease. The cytokine interleukin-23 (IL-23) plays an essential role in the expansion of pathogenic Th17 cells. IL-23 is a heterodimeric protein, composed of a p19 alpha chain and a p40 beta chain. The p40 is also part of IL-12 and binds to the IL-12 receptor beta 1 (IL-12Rβ1) subunit. Thus, it follows that the IL-23 receptor …

A Dna Computer For Glioblastoma Multiforme Diagnosis And Drug Delivery, Sumaiya F. Hashmi

CMC Senior Theses

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a debilitating malignant brain tumor with expected patient survival of less than a year and limited responsiveness to most treatments, often requiring biopsy for diagnosis and invasive surgery for treatment. We propose a DNA computer system, consisting of input, computation, and output components, for diagnosis and treatment. The input component will detect the presence of three GBM biomarkers: vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), caveolin-1α (CAV), and B2 receptors. The computation component will include indicator segments for each of these genes, and ensure that output is only released if all the biomarkers are present. The output component …

A Machine Learning Approach To Diagnosis Of Parkinson’S Disease, Sumaiya F. Hashmi

CMC Senior Theses

I will investigate applications of machine learning algorithms to medical data, adaptations of differences in data collection, and the use of ensemble techniques.

Focusing on the binary classification problem of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) diagnosis, I will apply machine learning algorithms to a primary dataset consisting of voice recordings from healthy and PD subjects. Specifically, I will use Artificial Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines, and an Ensemble Learning algorithm to reproduce results from [MS12] and [GM09].

Next, I will adapt a secondary regression dataset of PD recordings and combine it with the primary binary classification dataset, testing various techniques to consolidate …