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Unraveling the Role of Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in Prostate Cancer progression; an RNA Sequencing Approach
No full textProstate cancer (PC) is one of the leading causes of cancer related death among men on the global scale. In the US, almost 300,000 new cases are expected every year, and PC remains the second most common cancer in men worldwide, accounting for 15.1% of all cancers diagnosed in 2020. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is an enzyme known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, making it an important enzyme in cellular stress responses. The cytoprotective effects of HO-1 are mediated through scavenging Reactive Oxygen Species, and regulating inflammation, as well as apoptosis. The Abdalla lab at the University of Nebraska Medical Center is dedicated to uncovering the role of HO-1 in PC response to chemotherapy, and its role in PC progression and metastasis. They conducted bulk RNA sequencing on HO-1 knockout PC cell lines to compare them against the parental cells. This comparison will provide insights into the downstream effects of HO-1 on various aspects of prostate cancer, including disease development, metastasis, and therapeutic response. In this study, I have received the bulk RNA sequence dataset from the Abdalla lab to perform the cell line comparison. As part of the pipeline, I have performed quality assessment for the raw RNA sequence, sequence processing to remove adapters, as well as sequence alignment. The outcome of this computational pipeline will be a summary of genetic variants and annotations on their impact in HO-1 knockouts versus parental controls
AQUATIC TREADMILL WALKING IMPROVES PELVIC DYNAMICS OF TYPICALLY DEVELOPING AND CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY
No full textCerebral palsy (CP) encompasses a range of lifelong neuromuscular disabilities, manifesting as moderate to severe postural and movement-related limitations. Persons with CP experience balance deficits attributed to poor trunk control and pelvic movement asymmetry. This makes them prone to falls, emphasizing the necessity for rehabilitation interventions like treadmill training to enhance movement coordination and balance to elevate their quality of life. A conventional (dry) treadmill variant, aquatic treadmills, has been shown to benefit the CP population, but there is insufficient evidence for its impact on postural control. This study utilized Sample Entropy (SE), a measure of variability, to assess pelvis dynamics in both typically developing (TD) children and those with CP. Both subject groups completed aquatic and dry treadmill trials at a fast, normal, and slow speed based on their self-selected pace. We hypothesized that there would be less pelvic entropy for the CP group compared to the TD group in slow-walking, wet conditions compared to other trials. The mediolateral-(ML) and anteroposterior-(AP) pelvis angles SE results were analyzed with a multilevel model. The results showed a significant model involving speed and environment, with lower entropy at the slow speed (compared to normal and fast) and wet environment (compared to dry) for the ML angles. This result was similar for both groups. For the AP, an interaction effect of environment and speed resulted in low entropy at the wet-slow condition compared to other conditions. This study shows the tenability of aquatic treadmills in improving pelvic control and the postural dynamics of children with CP
Relationship Between Perceived and Functional Strength and Mobility in Stroke Survivors
No full textIntroduction:
Differences between perceived ability and functional capability in stroke survivors may cause differences in an individual’s performance of a motor task compared to their capability to perform that task. This study aimed to determine if perceived strength and mobility are associated with observed gait function in stroke survivors.
Methods:
Clinical outcome measures were collected, including the Stroke Impact Scale (SIS), Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), and Timed Up and Go Test (TUG). Individuals were divided into groupings based on whether they were considered safe or at-risk during community ambulation according to their 6MWT (safe \u3e 0.8 m/s) and TUG (safe \u3c 12 seconds) results.
Results:
There were moderate positive correlations between 6MWT and SIS mobility and negligible correlations between 6MWT and SIS strength for both the safe and at-risk groups, with no significant differences between risk groups. TUG performance and perceived mobility had a moderate negative correlation for the safe group and a weak negative correlation for the at-risk group, but the differences between risk groups were not significant. There was no significant difference between TUG vs SIS strength relationships between risk groups.
Discussion:
The results of this study call attention to a gap between perceived performance and ambulation risk assessment. The lack of a strong relationship between SIS subdomains and 6MWT/TUG results indicates that SIS strength and mobility subdomains cannot be used to differentiate between those considered at-risk and safe during ambulation as determined by the 6MWT and TUG test performance thresholds
The Effect of Unstable Treadmill Gait Training on Healthy Young Adults: A Pilot Study
No full textCerebral palsy (CP) is the most common neuromuscular disability affecting a child’s overall mobility and balance. To address these deficits, treadmill gait training has been used in rehabilitation but lacks task variability experienced in the real world. Therefore, we speculate that using unstable treadmill gait training may promote robust walking strategies more efficiently. To determine if this novel paradigm would be appropriate for children with CP, we assessed six healthy young adults (3M:3F; age: 26.5 ± 4.67 years; height: 1.68 ± 0.11 m; weight: 65.49 ± 16.45 kg). Each participant completed bouts of overground (OG) walking before and after four treadmill bouts (U0 = 0%, U1 = 120%, U2 = 160%, U3 = 200%), with higher percentages indicating more movement to the walking surface. When comparing both OG conditions, no differences were observed in step length, step width, or margin of stability in the mediolateral or anteroposterior directions. During unstable treadmill walking, there were decreases in the margin of stability in the anteroposterior direction for U0 to U2 (p = 0.01; Δ = -0.23 mm) and U0 to U3 (p \u3c 0.01; Δ = -0.26 mm). Preliminary results suggest that this paradigm may not appropriately assess how children with CP adapt to varied walking surfaces. Therefore, the results of this study have been used to iterate our unstable walking paradigm to a new exposure for investigating how children with CP adjust to an unstable walking surface
Comparison of push-off forces during softball pitching with other dynamic movement
No full textIntroduction:
Ground reaction forces (GRFs) are important in pitching because the muscles of the lower extremity and trunk are larger than those in the upper extremity, and the only external contact a pitcher has is between the feet and the ground. To understand pitching mechanics, GRFs give us an idea of how pitchers generate energy from the ground. To our knowledge, few research studies report the GRFs at the push-off leg. The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of GRFs during softball and to compare GRFs at the push-off leg during softball pitching with GRFs in other sports movements. It is hypothesized that GRFs in softball will show relatively lower peak vertical GRFs than those in other sports movements.
Methods:
Seven female collegiate softball pitchers (age: 20.9 ± 1.6 years, height: 1.72 ± 0.1 m, weight: 78.0 ± 4.6 kg) were recruited. Following the warm-up, the subjects were instructed to perform a pitching motion, and force data was collected during the motion on a custom-built softball mound with four force plates. Peak GRFs and force ratio (peak vertical GRF/ peak horizontal GRF) were calculated from the force data and force variables were normalized by body weight (%BW). The mean values of the pitchers were compared to those of other dynamic movements to assess the characteristics of the force products.
Results & Discussion:
Peak vertical and horizontal GRF at the push-off leg was 144.2 ± 18.2% BW and 34.9 ± 3.9%BW respectively. The force ratio was 24.6 ± 4.2%. Figure 1 displays the peak GRFs and force ratio in other push-off movements. The GRFs in softball push-off demonstrated similarity with baseball push-off movement due to the similarity of the movement. It implies that similar techniques, training strategies and research can be transferred between two sports. When compared to other explosive push-off movements, the GRFs in softball are relatively lower than others, and the vertical GRF is almost half of that in the vertical jump. However, it should be noted that softball pitching movement is repeated 80-120 times in a game, resulting in accumulated stress on the muscles. The results provide insight into the direction of a training program. Further research will be conducted on the force waveforms to examine how the GRFs are developed during softball pitching
Fueling Prosperity: The Positive Economic Ripple Effects of Increasing Wages for Nebraska’s Direct Care Workforce
Get PDFThe goals of this study are to estimate the impact of increasing support for direct service providers for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and its impact on the state economy. Specific goals of the study are to: 1. Estimate the economic impact to Nebraska if the state increased the pay to direct service providers delivering care to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (hereafter IDD) to a level more competitive with other states. a. Estimate the impact on the overall state economy, employment in the state and on the top 20 Nebraska industries. b. Estimate the impact of state and local tax collections and the overall rate-of-return for taxpayer provided funding. 2. Quantify important social impacts, where appropriate, on the service provider community and the State of Nebraska 3. Quantify the spillover effects of the industry on new business venture formation, enterprise growth, employment, and state and local tax collections. The Goss & Associates research team thanks the Board of Directors and staff of the Nebraska Association of Service Providers (NASP) for their input. However, any errors, omissions, or misstatements are solely the responsibility of Goss & Associates and the principal investigators. This study, while funded by NASP, was developed independently of this organization
ASSESSING THE THEORETICAL CORRELATES OF SEXUAL AND PHYSICAL VICTIMIZATION IN ADULTHOOD
Get PDFAs research on victimization continues to adapt, scholars have begun to examine how certain variables in childhood affect the likelihood of being victimized in adulthood—much of which is focused on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Studying the impact of early experiences on later victimization outcomes is important for the field so practitioners can intervene early in an individual’s life before they experience further trauma. However, past research has neglected to use a comprehensive approach (e.g., using multiple theoretical frameworks, assessing the frequency of ACE occurrences). The current study addresses these gaps in the literature by assessing the impact of variables related to three frameworks on adulthood sexual and physical assault victimization: (1) state dependence theory, (2) population heterogeneity theory, and (3) target congruence theory. The respondents answered the ACE indicator questions using a Likert scale ranging from “never” to “very often.” Because of the varying frequencies, these answers were coded in two ways: (1) a more conservative approach in which only answers of “often” and “very often” were coded as “yes” for having experienced, and (2) a more inclusive approach in which answers of “rarely,” “sometimes,” “often,” and “very often” were coded as “yes” for having experienced. Both of these coding variations were examined in model estimations to determine whether they affected the substantive findings. Data were analyzed from an online survey administered by YouGov and completed by a national sample of adults (N = 1,693). Findings indicated support for all three theories. Factors related to state dependence theory (i.e., child sexual abuse), population heterogeneity theory (i.e., substance use), and target congruence theory (i.e., physical neglect, having an incarcerated family member, being Black or Hispanic) were positively correlated with both sexual and physical assault victimization in adulthood. Some variables, namely running away before age 18, were associated with adult sexual victimization only, while others, including impulsivity, substances in the home, and relying on strangers, were associated with adult physical victimization only. Regarding coding variations, some of these variables (i.e., substances in the home, physical neglect, having an incarcerated family member) were correlated with both sexual and physical assault victimization for just one of the ACE coding variations, while others (i.e., child sexual abuse, substance use) were correlated with both sexual and physical assault victimization regardless of the ACE coding variation. These findings provide direction for future research, such as using multiple theoretical approaches and coding ACEs with different variations, as well as guide future policymaking in the area of childhood trauma and adult victimization
A STUDY OF MATH ANXIETY IN TEACHERS
Get PDFThis dissertation presents a mixed-data investigation aiming to comprehensively understand math anxiety in teachers. Math anxiety is defined as “feelings of tension and anxiety that interfere with the manipulation of numbers and solving of mathematics problems in a variety of ordinary life and academic situations” (Richardson & Suinn, 1972, p. 551). The study focuses on rural Nebraska district comparing practicing Elementary and Secondary teachers on the variable of Mathematics Anxiety. Employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, the research seeks to explore the correlations between teacher’s self-efficacy and Math Anxiety.
The quantitative process involved the use of the Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (MTEBI) to measure teacher self-efficacy and the Math Anxiety Scale for Teachers (MAST) to measure Math Anxiety. Complementing these quantitative measures, a qualitative component utilizes a semi-structured interview process to uncover common experience of teachers with math. Previous studies on math anxiety in teachers often concentrated on elementary or pre-service teachers, emphasis teacher qualities rather than teacher’ experience with math influencing their instructional practices.
This study takes a distinctive approach, drawing on semi-structed interviews with eight (8) practicing teachers to gain deeper insights. By combining quantitative and qualitative data, the research provides a holistic understanding of the intricate relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy, math anxiety, and their instructional practices. The finding aims to contribute valuable insights for teacher training programs and cultivation of positive learning environment for mathematics education
10,000 Years of Happiness
No full textPoetry.
This thesis has been accepted for the faculty of the Writer’s Workshop, the School of the Arts and the College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Mathematics Majors in Medical School Admissions: A Comparative Evaluation of MCAT and GPA Performance
Get PDFChoosing a major as an incoming undergraduate student can be very stressful. This study investigates the differences in success that come with choice of undergraduate major, particularly focusing on the performance of mathematics majors. A large majority of medical school applicants come from a biological sciences background. Despite this preference, there is evidence that students from nontraditional majors produce higher Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and superior grade point averages (GPAs). Utilizing data visualization and analysis through R programming, this research examines public data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to understand the benefits of pursuing a math-focused education. Additionally, qualitative information was gathered through interviews with mathematics faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This information was used to help understand how mathematical skills might be useful for admissions to medical school and overall preparedness. The findings revealed that students majoring in mathematics consistently show greater MCAT scores and GPA performance than all other majors. Furthermore, interviews with professors gave insight as to why a mathematics background contributes to enhanced critical thinking and problem-solving strategies. They also emphasized the benefits of rigorous mathematical studies for success in medical school or a future in healthcare