Other Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Multi-Modality Automatic Lung Tumor Segmentation Method Using Deep Learning And Radiomics, Siqiu Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Delineation of the tumor volume is the initial and fundamental step in the radiotherapy planning process. The current clinical practice of manual delineation is time-consuming and suffers from observer variability. This work seeks to develop an effective automatic framework to produce clinically usable lung tumor segmentations. First, to facilitate the development and validation of our methodology, an expansive database of planning CTs, diagnostic PETs, and manual tumor segmentations was curated, and an image registration and preprocessing pipeline was established. Then a deep learning neural network was constructed and optimized to utilize dual-modality PET and CT images for lung tumor segmentation. …

Simple Method For Cutoff Point Identification In Descriptive High-Throughput Biological Studies, Alexander Suvorov

Environmental Health Sciences Faculty Publication Series

Background

Rapid development of high-throughput omics technologies generates an increasing interest in algorithms for cutoff point identification. Existing cutoff methods and tools identify cutoff points based on an association of continuous variables with another variable, such as phenotype, disease state, or treatment group. These approaches are not applicable for descriptive studies in which continuous variables are reported without known association with any biologically meaningful variables.

Results

The most common shape of the ranked distribution of continuous variables in high-throughput descriptive studies corresponds to a biphasic curve, where the first phase includes a big number of variables with values slowly growing …

Community-Based Ot Program Planning: A Virtual Level Ii Fieldwork Program Developed In Response To The Global Pandemic, Tara Collins, Virginia E. Koenig, Stephanie J. Wong, Michelle Buccinna, Rena B. Purohit, Shifra K. Leiser, Debra Cullinane

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The purpose of this article is to explain how an occupational therapy (OT) program in a university setting developed a virtual Level II community-based fieldwork program in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. This virtual fieldwork program, guided by the PRECEDE-PROCEED Planning Model (PPM), was designed to help keep students on track with their academic goals while providing them with experiential learning that would increase their confidence in OT program planning and promote their professional development. Outcome measures for this study consisted of a pre-and post-fieldwork survey that asked participants to rank their self-perceived confidence in five distinct areas of …

Exploiting Modulation Of The Blood-Brain And Blood-Tumor Barrier Permeability By Translational Focused Ultrasound For Therapeutic Delivery To Cns Metastases, Tasneem A. Arsiwala

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Transcranial low-intensity focused ultrasound is a unique technology to modulate the integrity of tight endothelial junctions and transiently increase BBB/BTB permeability to enhance therapeutic delivery. Despite promising early studies, present literature lacks agreement on key experimental conditions, which restricts our knowledge and the technique's widespread translation. This dissertation first provides a critical review of the current gaps in knowledge regarding the universal use of LiFUS in preclinical and clinical use. We then identify key parameters for translational and predictable opening of the BBB using a 3T MRI coupled with a clinical device. Our investigation highlights that passive permeability of the …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Reference Services: A National Survey Of Academic Health Sciences Librarians, Deborah H. Charbonneau, Emily Vardell

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the scope and adaptive nature of reference services provided by academic health sciences librarians over a one-year period (between March 2020 and March 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:

In March 2021, academic health sciences librarians in the United States were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey about their experiences providing reference services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey was developed, pretested, and distributed to various listservs.

Results:

A total of 205 academic health sciences librarians and other information professionals with health sciences liaison …

Genetic And Genomic Architecture In Eight Strains Of The Laboratory Opossum Monodelphis Domestica, Xiao Xiong, Paul B. Samollow, Wenqi Cao, Richard Metz, Chao Zhang, Ana C. Leandro, John L. Vandeberg, Xu Wang

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

The gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) is an established laboratory-bred marsupial model for biomedical research. It is a critical species for comparative genomics research, providing the pivotal phylogenetic outgroup for studies of derived vs ancestral states of genomic/epigenomic characteristics for eutherian mammal lineages. To characterize the current genetic profile of this laboratory marsupial, we examined 79 individuals from eight established laboratory strains. Double digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing and whole-genome resequencing experiments were performed to investigate the genetic architecture in these strains. A total of 66,640 highquality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. We analyzed SNP density, average heterozygosity, nucleotide …

The Effects Of Caffeine On Health And Perceived Bitterness, Chyann Farlin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Caffeine is commonly consumed throughout the world in items such as coffee, chocolate, tea, energy drinks, and carbonated soft drinks. Consumers and food manufacturers benefit from discussion surrounding caffeine because consumers use information to drive their purchases. The purpose of this paper is to describe how caffeine effects health and perceived bitterness, and the ways that the food industry modifies bitter tastes in caffeine-containing products. Moderate caffeine intake is defined as 240-400 mg/day. Moderate intake of caffeine is not correlated to increased risk of premature death caused by disease or cancer. Excessive intake (>400mg/day) is neither protective nor harmful …

Adoption And Diffusion Of At-Home Medical Tests, Savannah Campbell, Mark Mitchell, Jerome Christia, Melissa Clark

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The purpose of this study is to understand the at-home medical test market including the medical and regulatory requirements to create at-home medical tests, as well as the market factors that influence consumer adoption in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. To address testing shortages of COVID-19 tests companies created at-home tests which were rapidly approved by the FDA, bringing at-home testing to the forefront.

History of at-home health testing is reviewed, the medical requirements for creating them, and how the pandemic has affected such testing. Tables are also included to demonstrate currently available tests and potential future tests. The …

The Phenomenon Of Integration Of Religious Practices As An Auxiliary Tool In Contemporary Medicine: Ukrainian Hospital Chapels In Modern Times, Mariia Ovchar, Yalovyk Anton, Igor Koreshchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The relevance of the research topic is ensured by the wide integration of such religious practices as an aid in contemporary medicine. The article describes the activities of more than 15 currently operating famous hospital chapels. The histories behind the foundation of each of them are analyzed, and the facts of public participation and the leadership of hospitals in the establishment of chapels at medical institutions are given. Special attention is paid to the characteristics of the psychological support component as an auxiliary factor along with the main course of treatment. For clarity of the descriptive part, the study presents …

The Dogma Of Tissue Ischemia With Local Anesthetic And Epinephrine Use, Laura Morrissey

Capstone Showcase

Epinephrine is often combined with Lidocaine for local anesthetic use as it improves the duration and quality of Lidocaine and promotes wound hemostasis.^1-2 Despite these benefits, epinephrine has been historically contraindicated from being injected into fingers, toes, ears and the nose due to concern over the vasoconstrictive properties of epinephrine leading to ischemia in these end-arteriole areas.^3-7 However, there is very little documented evidence of this happening with epinephrine use.^5-13 An exhaustive review done by Denkler in 2001 reviewed 21 cases between 1889-2001 that involve epinephrine local injection prior to digit ischemia. However, none of these cases …

Utilizing Virtual Reality Goggles During Pediatric Laceration Repairs To Reduce Perceived Pain In Pediatric Patients, Emily C. Bozzer

MSU Graduate Theses

In pediatric emergency departments, several providers assess pediatric patients in need a laceration repair, require procedural sedation in order to ensure compliance and complete the laceration repair. This study explored one safe alternative to procedural sedation during pediatric laceration repairs by assessing what pain scores pediatric patients report when undergoing a laceration repair utilizing virtual reality goggles. Pediatric patients ages 6-17 years old perceived pain scores utilizing FACES pain scale was documented. This study found a majority of patients reported lower pain scores during the laceration repair in comparison to their baseline pain score.

Enhancing Healthcare Professional Practice In The Philippines Toward Asean Integration Through The Continuing Professional Development Law, Kevin T. Crispino, Ian Christopher N. Rocha

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

The Republic Act 10912, otherwise known as the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Act of 2016, was passed into law to promote and upgrade the practice of healthcare professions in the Philippines. Since the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC), CPD has been considered an area of development through which Filipino professionals are trained to become globally competitive. The Philippine government upholds several agreements made among ASEAN member-states, including recognizing professionals in every ASEAN country, facilitating the mobility of professions within the region, exchanging expertise on standards and qualifications, promoting best practices, and providing valuable …

Prevalence And Associated Factors Of Dizziness Among A National Community-Dwelling Sample Of Older Adults In India In 2017–2018, Supa Pengpid, Karl Peltzer

Makara Journal of Health Research

Background: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of dizziness in older community-dwelling adults in India.

Methods: The cross-sectional sample was composed of 21,343 individuals (≥65 years) from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI) Wave 1 in 2017–2018. Dizziness was assessed by determining if the individuals suffered from “persistent or troublesome dizziness or light headedness” in the past 2 years.

Results: Women and men had the overall prevalence of 14.6%/17.2% and 11.6% in past 2-year dizziness, respectively. Adjusted logistic regression analysis revealed that sociodemographic factors (female sex), physical chronic conditions (angina), geriatric conditions …

Application Of Competitive Intelligence For Insular Territories: Automatic Analysis Of Scientific And Technology Trends To Fight The Negative Effects Of Climate Change, Henri Dou, Pierre Fournie

International Journal of Islands Research

Islands are fragile territories because of their geographical position. As a result, climate impacts can have serious consequences, of which some are irreversible. Therefore, it is necessary to allow insular territories to benefit from the latest scientific and technological advances in combating climate effects. The current article shows how to deal with automatic analysis of scientific information on the one hand, but also its applications via patents. We will analyse the latest scientific results as well as their possible applications using patent analysis. We will also focus on experts, laboratories, and leading companies, that are active on the field. The …

Likely Community Transmission Of Covid-19 Infections Between Neighboring, Persistent Hotspots In Ontario, Canada, Ben C. Shirley, Eliseos J. Mucaki, Peter Rogan

Biochemistry Publications

Introduction: This study aimed to produce community-level geo-spatial mapping of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ontario Canada in near real-time to support decision-making. This was accomplished by area-to-area geostatistical analysis, space-time integration, and spatial interpolation of COVID-19 positive individuals.
Methods: COVID-19 cases and locations were curated for geostatistical analyses from March 2020 through June 2021, corresponding to the first, second, and third waves of infections. Daily cases were aggregated according to designated forward sortation area (FSA), and postal codes (PC) in municipal regions Hamilton, Kitchener/Waterloo, London, Ottawa, Toronto, and Windsor/Essex county. Hotspots were identified with area-to-area tests including Getis-Ord Gi*, Global …

A Call To Create: Poetry As Healing And One Nurse’S Self-Discovery, Kim Cornett Henry, Kim Cornett Henry

English Theses

Florence Nightingale’s vision for nursing has changed greatly in the past one hundred and fifty years, with nursing’s identity replaced with an emphasis on science over caring. The fast-paced, technologically sophisticated environments, designed to meet the declining health of an American public, have resulted in nurses who are being pulled away from nurse-to-patient caring acts and the reasons they felt called to become nurses. These changes have had detrimental psychological and emotional effects on nurses and are especially evident in Intensive Care nurses. Expressive writing as poetry, autoethnography, and participation in vibrant writing communities offer nurses experiences for healing, voice, …

Are Polypills A Viable Option To Improve Health Outcomes In Those With Cardiovascular Disease?, Alexander Voytovich, Cara Mckee

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Objective: Does the use of polypill therapy improve systolic blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels more than usual care in adults with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) or with 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk >10%. Design: Systematic literature review. Methods: Searches were performed in PubMed and UpToDate using the following search terms polypill and cardiovascular. Other limits included: randomized control trials, adults, published in the last 10 years, LDL-C and systolic blood pressure. Results: Analysis of articles to ensure similar design, intervention and fit with the other inclusion/exclusion criteria yielded three studies: Labefer et al, Muñoz et al, and …

Evaluation Of Stratified Antibiograms For Use In Laboratory And Antimicrobial Stewardship, Linsey Donner

Theses & Dissertations

Antibiograms are critical for choosing empiric antimicrobial therapy. Cumulative antibiograms, which aggregate susceptibility data, can mask differences within specific patient subsets or clinical syndromes. This dissertation was done to determine if antibiotic susceptibilities showed substantial differences when comparing stratified antibiograms to cumulative antibiograms.

Antibiotic susceptibility data was retrospectively obtained from Nebraska Medicine January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 for Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis. The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s web antibiogram clinical decision support tool was used to export the data. Bacteria-antibiotic susceptibility rates of stratified antibiograms …

No One Told Me What Infertility Would Be Like For A Black Man. That's Because Nobody Knows., Keith "Jared" Wright, Zachary Smith

Capstones

I am a 34-year-old, 6-foot-3 Black man who weighed over 330 pounds. In navigating my infertility journey, I noticed a major disparity in donors throughout sperm banks all over the country. Additionally, I noticed that while male infertility is rarely discussed in general, it is significantly more suppressed in Black and Brown communities. An open dialogue and more transparency can hopefully ensure that those suffering from this condition can have an easier road in their journey than their predecessors.

https://zacharysmith90.github.io/capstone/

Effects On Adherence And Comprehension With Video Demonstration Support Versus Traditional Home Exercise Programs: Culminating Project, Emily E. Morales

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

This culminating project examines the need for video-supported home exercise programs (HEP) in outpatient hand therapy clinics in South Jersey by developing a YouTube channel. This YouTube channel will consist of HEPs for common upper extremity diagnoses including proper demonstration of each exercise and clear concise written instructions within a playlist correlating to diagnosis. Advance clinical skill in hand therapy is the main goal for this capstone project. An analysis was completed evaluating adherence and comprehension when clients are prescribed traditional HEP to HEP supported by a video demonstration. The ultimate goal of this project was to establish an easily …