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Do Frenectomies Improve Health Outcomes for Mother and Baby: A Retrospective Chart Review
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if early labial and/or lingual frenectomy corresponded with improved health outcomes for mother and child.
Methods: This study was a retrospective chart review of patients followed for frenectomy intervention at a Frisco private pediatric dental office between 1/04/2021 and 5/25/22. Inclusion criteria were healthy patients under age 1. Exclusion criteria included non-healthy patients or those with craniofacial conditions. Pre- and post-frenectomy questionnaires and dental records were assessed for the following: prematurity, delivery route, weight gain, ability to latch, gassiness, leakage, nursing pain and trauma.
Results: 385 charts were reviewed. Mean age at frenectomy procedure was 49.63 days; 344 patients received a lingual frenectomy while 355 received a maxillary frenectomy. Mean weight gain after the procedure was 7.02% with a range of % weight lost/gain of -5.56 to 26.44. Post-operative improvement was seen in ability to latch, gassiness, leakage, nursing pain and blisters.
Conclusions: Lingual and labial frenectomy had a positive significant effect for both the mother and baby. Lingual frenectomy had a positive significant effect on tongue mobility
Self-Sustaining Reaction Enabled Additive Manufacturing of Inorganic Compounds and Composites
No full textAdditive manufacturing (AM) is transforming the manufacturing industry due to its design flexibility, material efficiency, and supply chain resilience. Traditional AM predominantly relies on external power sources such as lasers, heat, or electron beams to induce material phase transformation or consolidation. Transitioning beyond external energy-dependent methodologies, this dissertation explored harnessing the chemical energies inherent in feedstock materials, thereby revolutionizing the energy supply framework, and enhancing AM efficiency.
Chapter 3 introduced a rapid and energy-efficient strategy for AM of complex ceramic structures. The approach integrates extrusion and layer-by-layer deposition of preceramic polymer binding reactive feedstock, photothermal in-situ solidification, and self-sustaining ceramization which consumes only 1.92 kJ energy. A processing map for photothermal-assisted printing was developed, identifying processing conditions for achieving a high degree of cure (>90%). It was also found that low open porosity Ti3SiC2 composite can be obtained when using a high degree of cure preceramic polymer binder. The fabrication and operation of complex ceramic gyroid heat exchangers using this method were successfully demonstrated.
This dissertation further explored geopolymer integrated reactive feedstock in Chapter 4 to fabricate Ti-Si-C ceramic composite. Results showed that the geopolymer-integrated reactive feedstock has desirable rheological properties for digitally controlled extrusion. A low geopolymer Si/Al ratio decreases the open porosity of Ti-Si-C composites to 20%.
Chapter 5 focused on binder-free self-sustaining reaction-enabled AM of metallic structures. Multilayer foils are compressed into a hybrid rod with compact bi-continuous Ni and Al phases as feedstock, followed by initiation and synchronized layer-by-layer deposition to form 3D dense structures. The reactive feedstock structural configurations were found to be critical for controlling the deposition rate and mechanical strength of the printed part. The printed structure achieves a flexural strength of 170.1 MPa, which can be further improved by post-treatment. This method stands out in existing metal AM processes for its fastest manufacturing rate of 30.0 kg/h and lowest energy consumption of 3 �� 10���4 kWh/kg.
The insights acquired pave the way for employing self-sustaining reactions in the low-carbon, efficient manufacturing of high-performance inorganic structures, presenting a novel avenue for AM
Reducing the Risk of Groundwater Contamination by Improving Milking Center Wastewater Treatment
No full textInsure Your Future: HealthCare.gov and Health Insurance Literacy of Young Adults in America
Get PDFAs a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed in 2010, the United States (US) government created HealthCare.gov, a website where individuals can access the Health Insurance Marketplace��. The Marketplace�� is an online service that allows individuals to shop and enroll in health insurance policies that are specific to them based on their financial situations. HealthCare.gov since its launch has been marketed across YouTube and X, formerly Twitter, to raise awareness of easily accessible insurance. Despite the ACA���s initiative to increase overall coverage rates across the US, the ages of 18-34 are the highest uninsured population with research identifying a lack of health insurance literacy at the forefront of the issue. Health insurance literacy encompasses the ability to understand health insurance-related concepts and make informed decisions regarding one���s health insurance coverage. Thus, our question is: through its social media presence is HealthCare.gov addressing young adult health insurance literacy? Our approach to understanding this phenomenon was to analyze strategies HealthCare.gov uses through social media to appeal to young adult consumers, specifically through their YouTube channel. As of October 29, 2023, over 120 videos were uploaded onto the HealthCare.gov YouTube channel. We independently reviewed each video to see if it met the preliminary criteria. The criteria included if the video was in English, related to health insurance literacy, and/or young adult healthcare coverage. We then came together to confirm whether we had selected the same videos, and a comprehensive list was made of 39 commonly chosen videos. For those selected videos, we completed a video content analysis that noted presentation choices such as actor demographics, spoken words, and visual components. Both verbal and visual aspects of each video were compiled into categorical themes used to convey the benefits of healthcare coverage. Most of the collected videos were roughly 15-30 seconds long with a few videos around the 3-minute mark. As for view per video, we found that the number of views did not correlate with the type of video that was displayed. The YouTube algorithm would need to be researched further to understand how views are counted for videos ran as ads rather than a video specifically selected to watch. By coding the thematic elements found in videos, our team gathered 5 major themes and 15 subthemes that were commonly found in all the videos. Through our collection of data, the subthemes identified suggest words and sentiments that invoke emotions have been utilized significantly more than plainly explaining jargon. Yes, HealthCare.gov is addressing young adult health insurance literacy, but a much greater focus is placed on persuasive language to increase enrollment. There is still plenty of research that needs to be done on how HealthCare.gov can utilize YouTube as an informational tool to combat low health insurance literacy. The implications provided will ideally guide future efforts to create meaningful media content advocating young adult health insurance literacy and coverage
Multiplexed Sensing System for Biomolecules Using Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
Get PDFMyocardial infarction (MI) is a critical disease that affects a large population and has a high rate of mortality. Development of a point-of-care (POC) system for the detection of a biomarker panel composed of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), copeptin, and heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (h-FABP), is better than detection of a single biomarker because it can achieve an improved diagnosis of MI and a rapid rule-out of the non-MI patients in the field. Further, using a multiplex POC testing approach is more efficient for detecting a biomarker panel, because it requires a less total volume of sample, shorter analysis time, and lower total cost.
In this work, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), a sensitive optical modality, was used as the transduction mechanism for the detection of the biomarkers for MI. Assays developed on paper-based microfluidic platforms were used to achieve the recognition of the biomarker and afforded the ability to be low cost and user-friendly. A silica shell nanoparticle was first developed to provide a stable and strong SERS signal. Using this SERS active particle, a single biomarker assay for the detection of cTnI was developed. To enhance the sensitivity, the paper-based microfluidic platform was improved by designing a localized dissolvable delay to tune the flow rate in the paper channel. In addition, a horizontal motion mechanical valve was designed to automatically finish the multiple steps in the assay. However, the sensitivity of the assay still needs to be improved. To overcome this, a new SERS active particle using a Raman reporter molecule (RRM) as a spacer to form a nanometer gap between a gold core and a gold shell was developed. The nanometer gap largely enhanced the SERS signal; the gold shell protects the RRM and ensures a stable SERS signal. Using the improved SERS active particle, a multiplexed assay for detection of the biomarker panel (cTnI, copeptin, h-FABP) was developed. The signal from each biomarker on a single test line was resolved by using separate peaks from different RRMs in SERS active particles. The detection ranges of the assay successfully covered the clinically relevant range of the three biomarkers
Jefferson Comprehensive Plan
No full textThe Jefferson Economic Development Corporation and the Jefferson City Council contacted Texas Target Communities at Texas A&M University to help the community plan for the future. While the City had conducted a planning and capacity study in 2019, the community had never come together to discuss their needs and priorities. The new partnership with TAMU presented an opportunity to connect with residents, review and validate the findings of the previous planning study, and foster a collaborative envisioning of the future
Course Learning Outcomes by Competency and Developmental Level
No full textA twelve-page document.Derived from the program outcomes and essential competencies, the competencies by developmental level served to identify course learning outcomes. The course level outcomes provide observable behavior that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and competencies that students will gain upon completion of the course.Texas A&M University College of Nursing
Content contributor: College of Nursing (Re)Design Tea