Investigative Techniques Commons^™

Multimorbidity In Diverse Populations: Stratified Analysis Of Race/Ethnicity, Age, Obesity, And Healthcare Costs, Manal Alshakhs

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

This research aims to fill an essential gap in understanding how Body Mass Index (BMI) cutoffs relate to multimorbidity across races in the United States (US). Given the significant and growing rates of obesity and multimorbidity, as well as the known differences in healthy fat distribution among different races, this is an important area of research. BMI is a widely used but imperfect measure of obesity, as it does not account for differences in body composition. However, it is still used as a diagnostic tool. It is vital to ensure that the cutoffs used to define obesity are appropriate for …

Impacts Of Habitat, Resource Addition, And Predator Exclusion On Rodent Community Structure And Hantaviruses In The Neotropics, Briana Spruill-Harrell

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Understanding how climate and human land use change impacts trophic interactions is essential in the face of ongoing biodiversity loss and the continued emergence of RNA viruses and zoonosis. Human land use changes such as agricultural expansion, deforestation, and habitat degradation all have been linked to zoonotic disease emergence. Despite these commonalities, our mechanistic understanding of what drives them is lacking. Moreover, genomic surveillance in wildlife populations is critical for risk assessment and mitigation. Herein, using data collected from field studies within the Reserva Natural del Bosque Mbaracayú (RNBM), a protected area of the Interior Atlantic Forest (IAF), I examined …

Impact Of Opioid-Free Anesthesia Versus Opioid-Based Anesthesia On Time To Extubation: A Scoping Review, Mary K. Connor Rn, Bsn, Srna, Dexter Browning Rn, Bsn, Srna, Ariel Clark Rn, Bsn, Srna, Erica B. Gates Rn, Bsn, Srna, Madison T. Mccaskill Rn, Bsn, Srna, Dwayne L. Accardo Dnp, Crna, Faana

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Purpose/Background

Opioids during surgery have been clinically proven to lengthen the time between intubation and post-op extubation. Increased time to extubation is associated with negative patient outcomes. This scoping review aims to evaluate the use of ketamine with opioid free analgesia (OFA) versus traditional opioid usage and its outcomes on extubation times.

Methods

From September 2021 to November 2021, we conducted a literature search using the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s (UTHSC) online library. Through the PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, and Cochrane databases, we identified seventy-one articles that matched our criteria. Of those articles, we selected twenty-five to undergo rapid …

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Medication-Assisted Treatment For First Episode Psychosis: A Scoping Review, Chanel Thomas Msn, Aprn, Fnp-Bc, Rn-Bc, Alexandra Wittenberg Bsn, Rn-Bc, Anttrenika Anderson Bsn, Rn, Tracy Mcclinton Dnp, Aprn, Agacnp-Bc, Ebp-C

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Purpose/Background

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recommends that individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) receive medicated-assisted treatment (MAT), as a complete approach to substance use treatment (SAMHSA, 2019). However, treatment measures using combination treatment for SUD in individuals experiencing first episode psychosis (FEP) are seldom used. This scoping review assesses the efficacy of MAT in conjunction with antipsychotics compared to the use of antipsychotic monotherapy for FEP individuals on hospital readmission rates.

Methods

The authors conducted a literature review utilizing PubMed, EBSCO, Elsevier, Google Scholar, PsychINFO, and Medline from August 2020 to November 2022. Key phrases …

A Design, Development, And Evaluation Of Bio-Patch For Myocardial Tissue Repair, Yaya Zhang

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Introduction. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a major concern of human health issue. The structural repair and functional recovery of injured hearts is a major challenge in the clinical setting. Preclinical studies over last 10 years have demonstrated the potential of using stem cells to treat IHD, but the efficacy of this therapy is jeopardized by uncontrollable migration and low survival of the injected stem cells. An approach based on tissue engineering enabling target-specific stem cell delivery such as cardiac patches has emerged as an alternative solution for stem cell therapy for IHD. It employs scaffold materials to engulf various …

Modulation Of Cerebral Artery Smooth Muscle Bk Channel Function By Neurosteroids, Kelsey Caroline Cleland North

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Voltage-gated and Ca2+ activated K+ channels of large conductance (BK) channels are essential for many key physiological processes, such as controlling the contraction of smooth muscle, including cerebrovascular smooth muscle. Importantly, BK channels are made up of a homotetramer of α subunits which associate with accessory β subunits. These β subunits alter the activity of the channel; this modulation is subunit-specific. Moreover, these accessory subunits have tissue-specific expression, such that the β1 subunit is highly expressed within cerebrovascular smooth muscle and greatly increases the open probability of BK channels. Increased BK channel open probability is linked to increased dilation of …

Vascular Mechanisms Of Rhabdomyolysis-Induced Acute Kidney Injury, Jeremiah Moyinolu Afolabi

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

In patients with rhabdomyolysis, the overwhelming release of myoglobin into circulation is the primary cause of kidney injury. Myoglobin causes direct kidney injury as well as severe renal vasoconstriction. An increase in renal vascular resistance (RVR) results in renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) reduction, tubular injury, and acute kidney injury (AKI). The mechanisms that underlie rhabdomyolysis-induced AKI are not fully understood but may involve the local production of vasoactive mediators in the kidney. Myoglobin stimulated endothelin-1 (ET-1) production in proximal tubular cells, an effect driven by NADPH oxidase-dependent oxyradical generation. Rats subjected to glycerol-induced rhabdomyolysis also …

Molecular And Cellular Investigations Of Prader-Willi Syndrome, Anna K. Victor

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex multigenic neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in hypotonia, developmental delay, hypogonadism, sleep dysfunction and childhood onset obesity affecting 1 in 10,000 to 30,000 individuals. PWS is an imprinting disorder that is caused by a loss of expression of maternally imprinted genes in the 15q11.2-q13 region including NDN, MAGEL2, SNRPN/SNURF, and a cluster of snoRNAs. The majority of cases are caused by inheriting a paternal allele deletion of this region (65-75%) and a smaller number are caused by chromosome 15 maternal uniparental disomy (UPD) (20-30%) or imprinting center defects (1-3%). Here, we used dental pulp stem cells …

Diagnostic Performance Of Afirma And Interpace Diagnostics Genetic Testing In Indeterminate Thyroid Nodules: A Single Center Study †, Emad Kandil, Tyler A. Metz, Peter P. Issa, Mohamed Aboueisha, Mahmoud Omar, Abdallah S. Attia, Bert Chabot, Mohammad Hussein, Krzysztof Moroz, Mohamed Shama, Eman Toraih

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Indeterminate thyroid nodules (ITN) represent 20–30% of biopsied nodules, with a 10–60% risk of malignancy. Molecular testing can stratify the risk of malignancy among ITNs, and subsequently reduce the need for unnecessary diagnostic surgery. We aimed to assess the performance of these molecular tests at a single institution. Patients with Bethesda III, IV, and V nodules with Afirma and Interpace Diagnostics genetic testing data from November 2013 to November 2021 were included. Three cohorts were formed, including GSC + XA, ThyGeNEXT + ThyraMIR, and GSC + GEC. Statistical analysis determined the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value …

Chatgpt As Metamorphosis Designer For The Future Of Artificial Intelligence (Ai): A Conceptual Investigation, Amarjit Kumar Singh (Library Assistant), Dr. Pankaj Mathur (Deputy Librarian)

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to explore ChatGPT’s potential as an innovative designer tool for the future development of artificial intelligence. Specifically, this conceptual investigation aims to analyze ChatGPT’s capabilities as a tool for designing and developing near about human intelligent systems for futuristic used and developed in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Also with the helps of this paper, researchers are analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT as a tool, and identify possible areas for improvement in its development and implementation. This investigation focused on the various features and functions of ChatGPT that …

Digital 3d Brain Mri Arterial Territories Atlas, Chin-Fu Liu, Johnny Hsu, Xin Xu, Ganghyun Kim, Shannon M. Sheppard, Erin L. Meier, Michael I. Miller, Argye E. Hillis, Andreia V. Faria

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

The locus and extent of brain damage in the event of vascular insult can be quantitatively established quickly and easily with vascular atlases. Although highly anticipated by clinicians and clinical researchers, no digital MRI arterial atlas is readily available for automated data analyses. We created a digital arterial territory atlas based on lesion distributions in 1,298 patients with acute stroke. The lesions were manually traced in the diffusion-weighted MRIs, binary stroke masks were mapped to a common space, probability maps of lesions were generated and the boundaries for each arterial territory was defined based on the ratio between probabilistic maps. …

Dissociating Statistically Determined Normal Cognitive Abilities And Mild Cognitive Impairment Subtypes With Dctclock., Emily F. Matusz, Catherine C. Price, Melissa Lamar, Rod Swenson, Rhoda Au, Sheina Emrani, Victor Wasserman, David J Libon, Louisa I. Thompson

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the DCTclock can detect differences across groups of patients seen in the memory clinic for suspected dementia.

METHOD: Patients (n = 123) were classified into the following groups: cognitively normal (CN), subtle cognitive impairment (SbCI), amnestic cognitive impairment (aMCI), and mixed/dysexecutive cognitive impairment (mx/dysMCI). Nine outcome variables included a combined command/copy total score and four command and four copy indices measuring drawing efficiency, simple/complex motor operations, information processing speed, and spatial reasoning.

RESULTS: Total combined command/copy score distinguished between groups in all comparisons with medium to large effects. The mx/dysMCI group had the lowest total …

Are College Students Interested In Family Health History Education? A Large Needs Assessment Survey Study, Ming Li, Oi Man Kwok, Ping Ma, Tung-Sung Tseng, Lei Shih Chen

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Family health history (FHH) is an essential foundation for personalized disease prevention. As the incidence of early-onset chronic diseases is increasing among college students, it is important to provide them with the education required to learn about their FHH. This study aimed to assess college students’ interest in receiving FHH education, preferred topics, and desired learning methods. We invited college students to complete an online survey from a large research-intensive university. A total of 2276 college students completed the survey. Nearly half of the participants self-identified as non-Hispanic white (45.5%). Slightly more than half of the sample (53.9%) were not …

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Derived Microvascular Perfusion Modeling To Assess Peripheral Artery Disease, Olga A. Gimnich, Tatiana Belousova, Christina M. Short, Addison A. Taylor, Vijay Nambi, Joel D. Morrisett, Christie M. Ballantyne, Jean Bismuth, Dipan J. Shah, Gerd Brunner

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Computational fluid dynamics has shown good agreement with contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging measurements in cardiovascular disease applications. We have developed a biomechanical model of microvascular perfusion using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging signal intensities derived from skeletal calf muscles to study peripheral artery disease (PAD). METHODS AND RESULTS: The computational microvascular model was used to study skeletal calf muscle perfusion in 56 in-dividuals (36 patients with PAD, 20 matched controls). The recruited participants underwent contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and ankle-brachial index testing at rest and after 6-minute treadmill walking. We have determined associations of microvascular model parameters including the transfer …

Estimating Dementia Risk In An African American Population Using The Dctclock, Marissa Ciesla, Jeff Pobst, Joyce Gomes-Osman, Melissa Lamar, Lisa L Barnes, Russell Banks, Ali Jannati, David Libon, Rodney Swenson, Sean Tobyne, David Bates, John Showalter, Alvaro Pascual-Leone

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) is increasing. African Americans are twice as likely to develop dementia than other ethnic populations. Traditional cognitive screening solutions lack the sensitivity to independently identify individuals at risk for cognitive decline. The DCTclock is a 3-min AI-enabled adaptation of the well-established clock drawing test. The DCTclock can estimate dementia risk for both general cognitive impairment and the presence of AD pathology. Here we performed a retrospective analysis to assess the performance of the DCTclock to estimate future conversion to ADRD in African American participants from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Research …

Implementing Immediate Post-Endotracheal Intubation Chest Radiography May Reduce Patient Morbidity And Mortality, Ali Farhat, Ross Vitek, Cindy Ye, Sophie You

Far West Division GME Research Day 2023

No abstract provided.

Illicit Drug Use Patterns In Myrtle Beach, S.C. From 2017-2022, Michelle Fowler, Mark Plexousakis, Meg Riley, Blaine Rourke, Erin Artigiani, Amy Billing, Margaret Hsu, Ebonie Massey, Eric Wish

South Atlantic Division GME Research Day 2023

No abstract provided.

Investigation Into The Potential For Acquired Cross Tolerances Of Amphetamines, Benjamin Weldon

CMC Senior Theses

In the United States, the treatment of ADHD through use of psychostimulants in adolescents is a growing reality that many people know today and many more will know in the coming years. Although the effectiveness of psychostimulants is a known asset, the benefits of these medications may not be a permanent solution, suggesting not only the presence of a tolerance build up, but as many stimulants are prescribed in a joint effort to combat ADHD, a possible cross tolerance between two prescribed medications. There are minimal studies published that have addressed the topic of cross stimulation tolerance buildup between prescription …

Using Data And Evidence To Improve Quality Of Life For Patients With Alzheimer’S Disease, Ying Wang

2023

As an irreversible, progressive brain disorder, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) imposes a severe burden upon patients and their caregivers, as well as the healthcare system. Of the ten leading causes of death in the United States, Alzheimer’s disease is the only one without a pharmacological intervention that has been proven to cure or delay the onset of the disease. Aging is the primary risk factor contributing to Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly. With an aging population that continues to grow, the challenges for the healthcare system surrounding AD become more and more serious. My dissertation aims to contribute to a better …

One In Every Twenty-Six, Rey'na Riggans

Capstone Showcase

There is a disorder that is rather common within the world and yet is not well known. It is a something that affects one in every twenty-six individuals. It is called epilepsy. Epilepsy is a neurological disorder in which a person to experience bursts of random electrical activity within their brains, these bursts being called "seizures." This article discusses this disorder and goes into detail about the forms of it, procedures that are done to try and help those living with epilepsy, and artwork that is inspired by this disorder.