Signature Honors Project

Building Buddies was created in 2019 on East Carolina University’s campus with a mission to ultimately increase high school graduation rates by creating mentorship relationships between college students and the local youth at an after school non profit organization, Building Hope. This thesis discusses the process in which our group made decisions, pivots, and how we confronted failure

Unit organization of four topics in American history

Thesis (Ed. M.)--Boston University, 193

Wenn Empathie zum Berufsrisiko wird : Compassion Fatigue in der Hebammenarbeit

Hintergrund: Die Hebammenarbeit fordert einen hohen Grad an Empathie. Diese und die Exposition gegenüber traumatischen Geburtserlebnissen werden in der Literatur als Risiken für Compassion Fatigue beschrieben. Ziele: Geprüft wird, welche Ursachen in der Hebammenarbeit zu Compassion Fatigue führen können. Ziel ist es, aus den Ursachen Präventionsmassnahmen abzuleiten und die Hebammen für das Thema zu sensibilisieren. Methode: In sechs verschiedenen Datenbanken wird nach passender Literatur gesucht. Anhand von zwei Mixed-Methods-Studien und drei quantitativen Studien wird eine Literaturarbeit verfasst. Ergebnisse: Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Alter und die Arbeitserfahrung, die Exposition zu traumatisierenden Geburten oder Geburtserfahrungen, persönliche Faktoren, die Unterstützung der Stationsleitung, die Aus- und Weiterbildung und die Arbeits-belastung einen Einfluss auf Compassion Fatigue haben. Schlussfolgerung: Compassion Fatigue stellt ein Problem für Hebammen und weitere Gesundheits-professionen dar. Zur Prävention werden unter anderem formelle Mentoring-Programme, Inter- und Supervision, Aus- und Weiterbildung und Resilienz-Training vorgeschlagen. Die Sensibilisierung der Hebammen für das Thema Compassion Fatigue findet optimalerweise bereits während der Ausbildung statt und ist massgebend für den Erfolg der Prävention. Um weitere Ursachen evidenzbasiert eruieren zu können, ist eine genauere Definierung von Compassion Fatigue sowie hochwertige und umfangreiche Forschung notwendig

Polyhexamethylene Biguanide: Polyurethane Blend Nanofibrous Membranes for Wound Infection Control

Polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) is a broad-spectrum antiseptic which avoids many efficacy and toxicity problems associated with antimicrobials, in particular, it has a low risk of loss of susceptibility due to acquired antimicrobial resistance. Despite such advantages, PHMB is not widely used in wound care, suggesting more research is required to take full advantage of PHMB’s properties. We hypothesised that a nanofibre morphology would provide a gradual release of PHMB, prolonging the antimicrobial effects within the therapeutic window. PHMB:polyurethane (PU) electrospun nanofibre membranes were prepared with increasing PHMB concentrations, and the effects on antimicrobial activities, mechanical properties and host cell toxicity were compared. Overall, PHMB:PU membranes displayed a burst release of PHMB during the first hour following PBS immersion (50.5–95.9% of total released), followed by a gradual release over 120 h (≤25 wt % PHMB). The membranes were hydrophilic (83.7–53.3°), gradually gaining hydrophobicity as PHMB was released. They displayed superior antimicrobial activity, which extended past the initial release period, retained PU hyperelasticity regardless of PHMB concentration (collective tensile modulus of 5–35% PHMB:PU membranes, 3.56 ± 0.97 MPa; ultimate strain, >200%) and displayed minimal human cell toxicity (<25 wt % PHMB). With further development, PHMB:PU electrospun membranes may provide improved wound dressings

The importance of inflammation control for the treatment of chronic diabetic wounds

Diabetic chronic wounds cause massive levels of patient suffering and economic problems worldwide. The state of chronic inflammation arises in response to a complex combination of diabetes mellitus-related pathophysiologies. Advanced treatment options are available; however, many wounds still fail to heal, exacerbating morbidity and mortality. This review describes the chronic inflammation pathophysiologies in diabetic ulcers and treatment options that may help address this dysfunction either directly or indirectly. We suggest that treatments to reduce inflammation within these complex wounds may help trigger healing

Social-model Mothers: Disability, Advocacy, and Activism

How do mothers of disabled children navigate the roles of advocate and activist? This paper reflects on the experiences of mothers of disabled children, exploring the impact upon families who take on responsibilities for working for disabled children’s rights. It is from these experiences that, as mothers, we join other activists and academics in the growing radical disability rights movement. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the labour of advocate mothers and to tell our stories of success. We also aim to provide recommendations to mothers, fathers, families, schools, academic communities and those invested in social justice, to work toward future positive action on behalf of disabled children. &nbsp

Identity change and the human dissection experience over the first year of medical training

The aim of this study is to explore identity change in medical students over their first year of medical training, particularly in relation to their experience of human dissection. Each of our four participants completed two repertory grids at the end of term one and, again, towards the end of term three. One grid tapped their identity construction, and the other, their experience of human dissection. Our participants were optimistic about becoming similar to a doctor they admired and, towards the end of term three, began to develop a stable identity as a medical student. Their identity constructs involved three common themes: dedication, competence, and responsibility. However, the data also revealed negative reactions to the demands of training, such as feeling driven and stressed. Three major themes were apparent in their experience of human dissection: involvement, emotional coping, and ability. Our participants’ dedication to their studies was reflected in their appreciation of the need to become involved actively in the process of dissection but some experienced an erosion of their self-confidence and perceived some of their colleagues to have lost much of their enthusiasm for learning. Emotional coping could be an additional challenge within this context and their reaction tended to reflect distancing processes previously identified in the literature. In all, we see a development of a vulnerable sense of professionalism alongside a frustration of losing out potentially on wider aspects of personal development due to the high work demands

The genetics of cardiovascular disease

Recent advances in genotyping technology and insights into disease mechanisms have increased interest in the genetics of cardiovascular disease. Several candidate genes involved in cardiovascular diseases were identified from studies using animal models, and the translation of these findings to human disease is an exciting challenge. There is a trend towards large-scale genome-wide association studies that are subject to strict quality criteria with regard to both genotyping and phenotyping. Here, we review some of the strategies that have been developed to translate findings from experimental models to human disease and outline the need for optimizing global approaches to analyze such results. Findings from ongoing studies are interpreted in the context of disease pathways instead of the more traditional focus on single genetic variants

Stimulation of the cuneiform nucleus enables training and boosts recovery after spinal cord injury

Severe spinal cord injuries result in permanent paraparesis in spite of the frequent sparing of small portions of white matter. Spared fibre tracts are often incapable of maintaining and modulating the activity of lower spinal motor centres. Effects of rehabilitative training thus remain limited. Here, we activated spared descending brainstem fibres by electrical deep brain stimulation of the cuneiform nucleus of the mesencephalic locomotor region, the main control centre for locomotion in the brainstem, in adult female Lewis rats. We show that deep brain stimulation of the cuneiform nucleus enhances the weak remaining motor drive in highly paraparetic rats with severe, incomplete spinal cord injuries and enables high-intensity locomotor training. Stimulation of the cuneiform nucleus during rehabilitative aquatraining after subchronic (n = 8 stimulated versus n = 7 unstimulated versus n = 7 untrained rats) and chronic (n = 14 stimulated versus n = 9 unstimulated versus n = 9 untrained rats) spinal cord injury re-established substantial locomotion and improved long-term recovery of motor function. We additionally identified a safety window of stimulation parameters ensuring context-specific locomotor control in intact rats (n = 18) and illustrate the importance of timing of treatment initiation after spinal cord injury (n = 14). This study highlights stimulation of the cuneiform nucleus as a highly promising therapeutic strategy to enhance motor recovery after subchronic and chronic incomplete spinal cord injury with direct clinical applicability

Netrin-1 Peptide Is a Chemorepellent in \u3cem\u3eTetrahymena thermophila\u3c/em\u3e

Netrin-1 is a highly conserved, pleiotropic signaling molecule that can serve as a neuronal chemorepellent during vertebrate development. In vertebrates, chemorepellent signaling is mediated through the tyrosine kinase, src-1, and the tyrosine phosphatase, shp-2. Tetrahymena thermophila has been used as a model system for chemorepellent signaling because its avoidance response is easily characterized under a light microscope. Our experiments showed that netrin-1 peptide is a chemorepellent in T. thermophila at micromolar concentrations. T. thermophila adapts to netrin-1 over a time course of about 10 minutes. Netrin-adapted cells still avoid GTP, PACAP-38, and nociceptin, suggesting that netrin does not use the same signaling machinery as any of these other repellents. Avoidance of netrin-1 peptide was effectively eliminated by the addition of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, genistein, to the assay buffer; however, immunostaining using an anti-phosphotyrosine antibody showed similar fluorescence levels in control and netrin-1 exposed cells, suggesting that tyrosine phosphorylation i s not required for signaling to occur. In addition, ELISA indicates that a netrin-like peptide is present in both whole cell extract and secreted protein obtained from Tetrahymena thermophila. Further study will be required in order to fully elucidate the signaling mechanism of netrin-1 peptide in this organism