Ion therapy has long been investigated as a potential modality to improve cancer treatments beyond what is currently feasible with photon irradiations. Ions offer both a physical and biological advantage over photons. The physical advantages are well understood, ions deposit their maximum dose at defined penetration depths, allowing for minimal...
In the United States, the utilization of digital media has assumed an omnipresent status and has altered the manner in which we communicate, conduct business, and create art and music. However, it has been demonstrated that art therapy lags behind the current culture of prolific use of digital media. To...
Equine-assisted group work has recently emerged in the empirical literature as a promising treatment approach for a variety of populations, including women trauma survivors (Whittlesey-Jermone, 2014; Shambo, Seely, & Vonderfecht, 2010). However, group therapeutic processes (e.g., therapeutic factors) and group leader characteristics have yet to be studied in equine-assisted groups....
Individuals who have been traumatized have the opportunity to experience posttraumatic growth, conceptualized as positive changes that result from navigating highly challenging life circumstances (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). The current model of posttraumatic growth (Calhoun, Cann, & Tedeschi, 2010) is based solely on cognitive-emotional processing yet by examining the role...
Drug policies in the United States are rapidly changing at the state and national level paralleling a shift in drug culture from a societal perspective. This dissertation addresses current public health policy topics with a focus on three recent drug policies. As of 2015, medical cannabis is legal in 23...
Moderate wine consumption, particularly pigment-rich red wine, is thought by many to be beneficial for the cardiovascular system. Both ethanol and phytochemicals are thought to contribute to this cardioprotective property. Metabolic disturbances associated with overconsumption of food are related to the initiation and progression of many chronic diseases, and cardiovascular...
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been applied as a hemostatic agent since the 1970s, and a potent source of autologous growth factors since the 1990s. PRP is rich in growth factors such as platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), fibroblast growth factor (FGF)...
Interweaving perspectives from both social cognitive psychology and Tibetan Buddhism, the present study examined common and differential effects of two styles of meditation: Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) and mindfulness meditation (MM). Psychological theories of construct accessibility postulate that cognitive constructs activated frequently are more readily available for processing stimuli. Researchers in...
This work sought to characterize a link between Vitamin C and nitroglycerin at the level of enzymatic bioactivation. Before we could proceed, we needed to develop a method that sensitively and selectively identified the product of bioactivation, nitrite. We successfully adapted traditional diaminonaphthalene derivatization with the use of stable isotope...
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is defined as excess hepatic lipid accumulation, in the absence of excess alcohol consumption and chronic liver disease. NAFLD can range in severity from simple fatty liver (steatosis) to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH is defined as hepatic steatosis with inflammation and hepatic injury and describes...