Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Improving the understanding of cognitive- motor function and lower-extremity biomechanics(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2021) Fischer, Patrick David; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Scott Monfort; Keith A. Hutchison, James N. Becker, and Scott M. Monfort were co-authors of the article, 'Evaluating the spectrum of cognitive-motor relationships during dual-task jump landing' in the journal 'Journal of applied biomechanics' which is contained within this dissertation.; Keith A. Hutchison, James N. Becker and Scott M. Monfort were co-authors of the article, 'Do dual-task demands generalize across sport-specific movements?' submitted to the journal 'Journal of applied biomechanics' which is contained within this dissertation.; Keith A. Hutchison, James N. Becker and Scott M. Monfort were co-authors of the article, 'Decoupling visual constraint from rapid decision-making effects during a jump-landing' submitted to the journal 'American journal of sports medicine' which is contained within this dissertation.Anterior cruciate ligament injuries present a considerable problem for athletic populations, especially those that engage in sports with open-skill movement demands like rapid changes of direction. These injuries typically occur in a non-contact setting, that is, the forces generated by the athlete's own movement overburden the ligaments in the knee and cause partial or total rupture of the tissue. Considerable effort has been devoted to researching and, by extension, counteracting the physical contributions to injury risk; for example, athletes are encouraged to develop better balance and lower-extremity strength to counteract the adverse effects of poor movement performance. However, anterior cruciate ligament injury risk is also tied to cognitive factors as well as physiological factors. This athlete-specific cognitive-motor relationship interacts with external distractions in the sporting environment to compromise an athlete's ability to move safely and effectively. The purpose of this research was to investigate contributions of different cognitive domains to movement performance in distracted, sport-relevant scenarios, to develop a better understanding of the cognitive-motor relationships that underpin injury rates in these athletic populations. A series of studies involving biomechanical and cognitive outcome measures demonstrated that cognitive function has an important, if not fully understood, role to play in mitigating an athlete's susceptibility to distractions during open-skill movement performance. This research adds to a critically underdeveloped body of work explaining the subject-specificity of dual-task movement performance in a lab setting and provides a foundation for developing new injury risk assessment and mitigation efforts for clinicians and coaches.Item Coordination and coordination variability during running with respect to internal loading and age(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2021) Hoffee, Allison Jane; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: James P. Becker; David Graham, Scott Monfort and James Becker were co-authors of the article, 'Coordination variability predicts achilles tendon and peak patellofemoral loading in healthy runners' submitted to the journal 'Clinical biomechanics' which is contained within this thesis.; Scott Monfort, David Graham and James Becker were co-authors of the article, 'Comparison of coordination and coordination variability between adolescent and adult runners' submitted to the journal 'Journal of sports sciences' which is contained within this thesis.Running is a largely popular and widely accessible form of exercise. However, running may pose risks to individuals due to its associations with high rates of injuries. Coordination between lower extremity joints and segments as well as coordination variability have linked to these running injuries. While mechanisms of injury are multifactorial, one theory suggests that reduced coordination variability may cause injury by increasing cumulative loading of soft tissue structures. This relationship may be important when assessing age, as prevalence of injuries differ between adolescents and adults. Therefore, this thesis aimed to 1) assess the relationship between coordination variability and loads in the Achilles tendon and patellofemoral joint during running 2) and evaluate differences in segmental coordination and variability between adolescent and collegiate runners. In Study 1, 64 healthy, adult runners ran on an instrumented treadmill while kinematics and kinetics were recorded. Coordination variability for knee-shank, knee-rearfoot, and shank-rearfoot couplings were calculated using vector coding. Achilles tendon and patellofemoral kinetics were calculated with musculoskeletal models. Surrogate variables were created for Achilles tendon and patellofemoral metrics using principal component analyses, and regressions were used to determine whether variability metrics predicted loading surrogates. One surrogate variable was created for Achilles loading, and lower knee-rearfoot variability predicted greater Achilles loading. Two surrogate variables were created for patellofemoral loading. Lower knee-rearfoot and knee-shank variability predicted greater peak patellofemoral loading, but no variability predicted cumulative patellofemoral loading. This suggests that a combination of low variability and large loads may be important for injury risk rather than cumulative loading. Study 2 assessed 21 competitive adolescent and 21 collegiate runners. Coordination variability was calculated using vector coding for various thigh, shank, and rearfoot couplings. Coordination patterns were analyzed using a binning frequency analysis. Adolescent and collegiate runners displayed different coordination patterns while running that primarily emerged from the transverse plane. Adolescent runners displayed greater coordination variability on average than collegiate runners. Combined with previous literature, this suggests a downward trend in coordination variability starting in adolescence and continuing through adulthood. In conclusion, coordination and its variability may be consequential in terms of injury mechanisms and different age populations.Item Concussion education practices among high school coaches in Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2021) Hughes, Patrick Michael; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Tricia SeifertConcussions in high school sports present a legitimate threat to athletes across the United States. In the absence of qualified healthcare providers, coaches are most often the individuals who are tasked with making sideline analyses of removing the injured athlete from participation. To help ensure the most optimal outcomes for these athletes, it is important to accurately determine the most effective ways of training coaches. This study analyzed high school coaches in the state of Montana to determine their familiarity with different types of concussion education programs. In addition, particular focus was placed on determining if coaches' familiarity of concussion education programs differed significantly between coaches in urban versus rural school settings and between coaches of different sports.Item The Y-balance test in runners: relationships between performance and running mechanics, and the influence of fatigue(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2020) Wilson, Charles Scott; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: James P. Becker; Allison Theobold, Sara Skammer, Sam Nelson and James Becker were co-authors of the article, 'A multivariate analysis between the Y-balance test and injury-linked running mechanics' submitted to the journal 'The American journal of sports medicine' which is contained within this thesis.; Sam Nelson, Sara Skammer and James Becker were co-authors of the article, 'The relationship between Y-balance test performance and running mechanics at the hip following fatigue' submitted to the journal 'The journal of orthopedic and sports physical therapy' which is contained within this thesis.The YBT is a widely known clinical movement screen used to measure strength, dynamic stability and neuromuscular control in a variety of athletic and clinical populations. The YBT is also used to predict injury risk across a range of sports. Strength and neuromuscular control of the muscles surrounding the hip are strong predictors of YBT performance. These same variables are also essential for running performance and the prevention of injury. Changes in injury-related running mechanics have been shown to occur along the course of a fatiguing run. Thus, the purpose of this thesis was twofold: 1) to evaluate the relationship between YBT performance and running mechanics and 2) to evaluate whether YBT performance can predict changes in injury-linked running mechanics after a run to fatigue. For the remainder of this paper the previous manuscripts will be referred to as Study 1 (A Multivariate Analysis of the Relationships Between Y-Balance Test Performance and Running Mechanics) and Study 2 (The Relationship Between Y-Balance Test Performance and Running Mechanics at the Hip Following Fatigue).Item Community-based prevention education on abusive head trauma in a Montana Native American community(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2019) Schmitt, Emily Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sandra KuntzThis scholarly project cultivated a partnership with a Montana Native American community to develop an implementation method of an evidence-based, abusive-head-trauma-prevention education program. The partnering community felt that more could be done to prevent abusive head trauma. Utilizing the framework of Community-Based Participatory Research and the Rural Nursing Theory, this project identified the best available evidence and then developed multiple methods to implement this prevention material. Multiple lessons were learned and important reflections developed from the project process. These lessons can be utilized to guide future projects. A model for program implementation was developed for future use and implementation of the evidence-based, abusive-head-trauma-prevention program.Item Store and forward wound teleconsultation in rural home health: a practice improvement project(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2019) Roche, Rebecca Lynn; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Susan RaphWound prevalence is increasing due to the aging demographics of the population and a rise in chronic diseases. Home health organizations face many challenges managing the rural home health patient with wounds as this population consumes a high number of resources and lacks access to wound experts. Store-and-forward (SAF) wound teleconsultation allows the home health patient to receive treatment recommendations from a wound expert using photographs taken by the home health nurse. The purpose of this practice improvement project was to explore patient, nurse, wound expert, and primary care provider satisfaction and perceived benefits of wound photography and SAF wound consultation in rural adult home health patients with wounds. Rozzano Locsin's Technological Competency as Caring in Nursing theory provided the guiding framework for this project. A standardized wound photography protocol utilizing the NE1 Tool was developed and implemented in a home health department as an adjunct to the weekly written assessment. One month later, three adult patients were recruited to a 12-week SAF wound consultation pilot using AthenaText application on mobile devices. Following the project period, a quantitative survey assessment of satisfaction and perceived benefits was conducted using three group-specific surveys. Seventeen participants completed the survey: (1) wound expert, (2) patients, (5) providers and (9) nurses. All groups reported moderately high satisfaction with photography and 100% indicated agreement that photographs should be a standard component of care. Additional perceived benefits were noted in communication and identifying wound changes. All participant groups were highly satisfied with SAF wound consultation. Patients and the wound expert rated SAF wound consultation the highest citing benefits of reduced travel and promotion of rapid changes in treatment. Patients reported SAF consultation was equivalent to clinic care; however, comments suggest home-based wound care is superior to clinic-care in cases of severe immobility and difficult to reach wounds. This project demonstrated high satisfaction and multidisciplinary benefits related to wound photography and SAF wound consultation in the rural home health population. Standardized wound photography and SAF consultation is a cost-efficient, feasible, and essential component of wound management that improves access to wound expertise in the rural home health setting.Item Regarding policy in chronic traumatic encephalopathy as a transhistoric disorder(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Negri, Adam Christopher; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael ReidyAn individual historian can be categorized as belonging to one of two mutually exclusive and exhaustive groups: transhistoricists, those that believe in an object's existence independent of external forces and its ability to remain fundamentally unaffected across time, or culturalists, believing an object's quality or features are dependent on the time and place of its reference. Disease entities have been examined through both perspectives quite fruitfully, expanding the whole of academia's appreciation of the relationship between disease and history. However, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, has recently been embroiled in a nationwide National Football League scandal wherein the livelihood of many affected retired players depends on the court's decision in the accompanying tort case to deal out appropriate justice. The nosological understanding of CTE is crucial in the debate - to include all affected players, despite dramatic revisions in our understanding of CTE as a disease across the 20th-century, all parties must recognize CTE, originating in a 1928 case study as 'punch drunk syndrome,' as a timeless entity that has undergone progressive iterations in categorization. In this instance, the culturalist perspective would render the disease's history sufficiently fragmented and prevent a cohesive narrative that includes all manner of diagnostic varieties. Even if antithetical to the present state of the humanities, the transhistoric approach is the only satisfactory perspective to uphold justice in the case of suffering football players.Item Understanding the physiology of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in an in vitro chronic wound model(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2016) White, Benjamin Michael; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael FranklinPseudomonas aeruginosa is a common colonizer of cutaneous abrasions and burns. These Gram-negative, aerobic bacteria are problematic due to their natural resilience to antibiotics and their metabolic versatility. P. aeruginosa can produce a prodigious extracellular matrix. Within this matrix P. aeruginosa can divide and form a multicellular community called a biofilm. Biofilms have become a health concern worldwide, as these communities are highly resistant to antibiotics. This thesis reports the effort to model the wound environment. A chronic wound exudate medium was designed and P. aeruginosa was grown at 33°C under low flow in a drip-flow biofilm reactor. Bacterial cells were grown planktonically and in biofilms. Biofilms were treated with the fluoroquinone, ciprofloxacin for 24 hours and transcriptomic and metabolomic data were collected from treated and untreated biofilms and planktonic cells. Cells growing in biofilms demonstrated a shift in in the regulation of their tricarboxylic acid cycle, amino acid degradation, and siderophore biosynthesis genes as compared to planktonic cells. Ciprofloxacin treatment altered the transcriptomic landscape within the biofilm. Changes were observed in the transcription of DNA repair, prophage, and phenazine biosynthesis genes. An important virulence factor, the type VI secretion system, was also differently regulated in these samples and is likely important for the persistent infection of wounds. From the information collected, target genes have been identified for future gene-knockout and ciprofloxacin susceptibility assays. A reduction in fitness may indicate genes that are relevant drug targets to enhance antibiotic treatment of these resilient communities.Item The medical resources available during selected varsity athletic events in Montana's Class AA and A schools(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1969) Deglow, Hubert A.Item A survey of football knee injuries and causes on synthetic surfaces as compared to regular football surfaces(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1970) Watson, Richard Loys; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Gary Evans