Digital Commons Network^™

An Examination Of Intimate Partner Violence And Cigarette Smoking Among African American Women In 12 States, Eboneka Coleman

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Abstract

Introduction. African American female intimate partner victims (IVP) are more likely to abuse substances, suffer from depression and anxiety, and experience mental health issues, including PTSD, all of which are risk factors for smoking. The purpose of this study is to determine among African American women who have ever experienced IPV the prevalence of smoking and whether it is influenced by education and income.

Methods. Data for this study comes from the 2005 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state-based Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). This primary study population was African American females who answered IPV-related questions …

Development Of In Vitro Denture Biofilm Models For Halitosis Related Bacteria And Their Application In Testing The Efficacy Of Antimicrobial Agents, Tingxi Wu, Xuesong He, David J. Bradshaw, Alyson Axe, Zvi G. Loewy, Honghu Liu, Renate Lux

Touro College of Pharmacy (New York) Publications and Research

Objective: Since dentures can serve as a reservoir for halitosis-causing oral bacteria, halitosis development is a concern for denture wearers. In this study, we surveyed the prevalence of four selected halitosis-related species (Fusobacterium nucleatum, Tannerella forsythia, Veillonella atypica and Klebsiella pneumoniae) in clinical denture plaque samples, and developed denture biofilm models for these species in vitro to facilitate assessment of antimicrobial treatment efficacy. Design: Denture plaque from ten healthy and ten denture stomatitis patients was screened for the presence of aforementioned four species by PCR. Biofilm formation by these halitosis-associated species on the surfaces of denture …

Public Health System Partnerships And The Scope Of Maternal And Child Services: A Longitudinal Study, Sharla Smith, Glen Mays, Tommy Mac Bird, Michael A. Preston

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Local health departments (LHDs) struggle to serve their communities in the face of ongoing fiscal constraints. Fiscal constraints have led to the elimination and reduction of maternal and child health services (MCH). LHDs have used various strategies to minimize the negative impact fiscal constraints of elimination or reduction of services provided to their communities. Many LHDs have used strategies such as developing partnerships. While these strategies are assumed to increase the delivery of services and improve outcomes, there is limited research on the type of partnerships needed to service delivery. Our interest was identifying the type of partnerships associated with …

Exploring The Process, Models, And Outcomes Of Hospital-Public Health Partnerships, Danielle M. Varda, Jessica H. Retrum, Carrie Chapman

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Health care reform has resulted in changes throughout the health system, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that hospitals conduct community health needs assessments, taking into greater consideration the public health of their respective communities. This has led to growing strategies to develop partnerships between hospitals and public health (PH) as a way to meet these needs¹. Meantime, there is a need for data on Hospital-PH partnerships, due to the growing emphasis that these types of partnerships get implemented in practice. In this paper we analyze a secondary data set to explore how hospitals and public health …

A Case Study Of Cross-Jurisdiction Resource Sharing: The Merger Of Two Tuberculosis Clinics In East Tennessee., Anne Kershenbaum, Margaret A. Knight, Martha L. Buchanan, Janet Ridley, Paul C. Erwin

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Cross-jurisdiction resource sharing is considered a possible means to improve efficiency and effectiveness of public health service delivery. A merger of the Tuberculosis (TB) clinics of a rural and a metropolitan jurisdiction in East Tennessee provided an opportunity to study service provision changes in real time. A mixed methods approach was used, including quantitative data on latent TB treatment outcomes and qualitative data from staff interviews, as well as documentation of changes in staffing time in TB services. Results showed a mix of efficiency changes, indicating probable increased pressure on key service providers after the merger, in addition to expected …

Health Communication As A Public Health Training And Workforce Development Issue, Nancy L. Winterbauer, Ann P. Rafferty, Katherine A. Jones, Mary Tucker-Mclaughlin, Colleen Bridger

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Effective communication is one of the core competencies for public health professionals and is required for local health department (LHD) accreditation. Public health communication specialists play a critical role as conduits of health information, particularly with regard to managing relationships with media and the message that is ultimately represented by news outlets. However, capacity for engagement with traditional media in community health improvement at the local level has not been well-described. As part of a larger study examining the use and impact of the County Health Rankings in North Carolina, LHD media staffing and interaction with traditional media were examined …

What “Community Building” Activities Are Nonprofit Hospitals Reporting As Community Benefit?, Erik Bakken, David Kindig, Jo Ivey Boufford

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

In 2008, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revised and standardized the reporting policy for community benefit expenses for nonprofit hospitals. These expenses are required for tax exemption. At that time, the IRS designated some categories of activities as non-eligible as a community benefit, but still mandated their reporting on hospitals’ Form 990, the annual tax filing for nonprofit organizations. One such category was community building, which encompasses a broad range of nonmedical determinants of health and an important potential source of population health revenue. This is the first study to analyze community-building dollars at any level, examining New York State’s …

The Status Of Tracheostomy Patients Receiving Speech Therapy: A Pilot Study, Cai-Jhen Lu, Ya-Hui Wang

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

Objectives: Many patients with tracheostomy have significant communication and swallowing difficulties, impairing their quality of life. They also have eating problems because they cannot eat by mouth, and require tube-feeding to receive adequate nutrition. Furthermore, most conscious tracheostomy patients need to communicate with body language because they have difficulties in verbal communication. The patients' treatment rate in speech therapy is not high, and the medical staff in different medical branches have varying degrees of awareness. Few studies exist in Taiwan on the needs of tracheostomy patients to treat the problems of their communication and swallowing. Methods: We conducted a survey …

Visual Restoration In Vertebral Artery Dissection With Cortical Blindness: A Casereport, Wen-Chih Lin, Yi-Ru Chen, Pin-Hsiu Chen, Pei-Chi Hsiao, Daniel Chiung-Jui Su, Jung-Tai Liu, Willy Chou

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

The annual incidence of vertebral artery dissection is 1 in 100,000. The clinical manifestations are diverse, including dizziness, occipital headache, neck pain and posterior circulation ischemia. One fourth of patients with vertebral artery dissection develop posterior circulation stroke, so vertebral artery dissection is considered one of the common causes of young stroke. The most common ophthalmic signs after posterior circulation ischemia are blurry vision followed by diplopia, whereas complete visual loss is uncommon. This report describes a 34-year-old woman who presented with complete cortical blindness caused by spontaneous vertebral artery dissection with ischemic stroke in the posterior circulation. In addition …

Efficacy Of Female Rat Models In Translational Cardiovascular Aging Research, Kevin M. Rice, J. C. Fannin, C. Gillette, Eric Blough

Pharmaceutical Science and Research

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States. Aging is a primary risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease as well as cardiovascular-related morbidity and mortality. Aging is a universal process that all humans undergo; however, research in aging is limited by cost and time constraints. Therefore, most research in aging has been done in primates and rodents; however it is unknown how well the effects of aging in rat models translate into humans. To compound the complication of aging gender has also been indicated as a risk factor for various cardiovascular diseases. …

The Wild West Of Edible Insects, Kyle Ligman

Capstones

After the UN came out with a report in 2013 recommending insects for human consumption, businesses and restaurants in the U.S. have been racing to grow a new industry. This project explores the psychological, regulatory and production challenges they face.

Antibacterial Activity Of Novel Cationic Peptides Against Clinical Isolates Of Multi-Drug Resistant Staphylococcus Pseudintermedius From Infected Dogs, Mohamed F. Mohamed, G. Kenitra Hammac, Lynn F. Guptil, Mohamed N. Seleem

Department of Comparative Pathobiology Faculty Publications

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is a major cause of skin and soft tissue infections in companion animals and has zoonotic potential. Additionally, methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) has emerged with resistance to virtually all classes of antimicrobials. Thus, novel treatment options with new modes of action are required. Here, we investigated the antimicrobial activity of six synthetic short peptides against clinical isolates of methicillin-susceptible and MRSP isolated from infected dogs. All six peptides demonstrated potent antistaphylococcal activity regardless of existing resistance phenotype. The most effective peptides were RRIKA (with modified C terminus to increase amphipathicity and hydrophobicity) and WR-12 (α-helical peptide consisting exclusively …

The Application Of Age-Predicted Maximal Heart Rate In Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients, Yan-Wen Chen, Yan-Kai Wen, Shyi-Kuen Wu, Chih-Yang Tang, Shin-Tsu Chang, Shin-Shan Lu

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

Heart rate is a very simple measurement values, can be used to monitor reaction of the heart to exercise response. The maximum heart rate is widely used for clinical diagnosis, exercise tolerance and exercise prescription for related diseases. The traditional formula for predicting maximum heart rate (220-age) prediction formula has large errors (overestimation or underestimation) phenomenon may overestimate or underestimate heart rate values, and thus may not reflect the actual amount of stress on the heart. Acute myocardial infarction is a common heart disease in the clinical setting. The safety and effectiveness of exercise intensity is particularly important in post-myocardial …

The Method Of Primary Cell Culture Of Rat's Gastrocnemius Muscle And Comparison Between Skeletal Muscle Cell And Tendon Cell In Protein Expressions Of Myogenic Factor 5, Paired Box 7, And Desmin, Ying-Hsun Chen, Wen-Chung Tsai, Miao-Sui Lin, Jong-Hwei S. Pang, Kuan-Chen Pan, Tung-Yang Yu

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

Skeletal muscle cells generate force and produce joint movement and are easily injured. A good understanding of the biological, physiological, and pathological mechanisms of skeletal muscle cells is essential for exploring the regulation of muscle repair, which occurs in the event of an injury. A method for reproducing skeletal muscle cells is essential for studying skeletal muscles. Most studies use cell lines as study models because these are capable of reproducing numerous times. However, the function of cell lines is markedly deviated from that of normal cells. Skeletal muscle cells from primary cell culture more closely represent muscle cells in …

Result Analysis Of The New Disability Assessment Plan For The Year 2011, Pao Huang, Pei-Lin Wu, Clement Shih-Hsien Yang, Jen-Hung Wang, Chih-Cheng Fan, Wei-Chih Kuo, Chung-Chao Liang

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

Purpose: This study aims to compare the differences between the levels of disability in the old system and various scores in the disability assessment in the new system. In addition, the study explores the correlation between body function, body structure, scores on the World Health Organization (WHO) Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0), environmental factors, movement performance, and employment status. Methods: The study collected a total of 9446 cases from people over 18 years old with a single disability. Cases were collected from July 2011 to June 2012. The participants in the ＂Disability Assessment Instrument of the New System＂ used …

The Influence Of Virtual Environment Parameters On Elderly People Standing On One Leg, Tien-Lung Sun

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

Kinect-based exergames enable players to undertake physical exercise in an interactive manner through visual stimulation. Previous studies focused on investigating physical fitness based on calories or heart rate to ascertain the effectiveness of exergames. However, designing an exergame for specific training purposes, with intensity levels suited to the needs and skills of the players, requires the investigation of motion performance to study player experience. This study investigated how the parameters of a Kinect-based exergame combined with balance training exercises influence the balance control of the player and the intensity level that the player can tolerate by analyzing both objective and …

Effects Of Acetaminophen, Etodolac And Indomethacin On Migration, Proliferation And Collagen Expression Of Tendon Cells, Yun-Ming Yang, Hsiang-Ning Chang, S Jong-Hwei Pang, Chung-Bao Hou, Wen-Chung Tsai

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

Background: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used to treat tendinopathy. Tendon healing requires migration of tendon cells to the repair site, followed by proliferation of these cells and collagen synthesis. Purpose: This study evaluated the effects of acetaminophen, etodolac, and indomethacin on tenocyte migration, proliferation, and synthesis of type I and III collagen. Methods: Rat Achilles tendon cells were treated with acetaminophen, etodolac, and indomethacin. Tendon cell migration and proliferation were assessed using transwell filter migration assay and MTT assay, respectively. The expression of collagen I and III mRNA were evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Unlike …

Well-Born: Black Women And The Infertility Crisis No One Is Talking About, Kaara Baptiste

Capstones

Black women are twice as likely to experience infertility than white women, but are less likely to seek treatment or to have successful fertility results once treated. Despite this alarming number, this topic is not often discussed, even among the black community. My narrative piece t tells the story of a black woman confronting her infertility diagnosis and the role her race played in her fertility treatment, while exploring the role racism and sexuality have had in keeping this issue in the shadows.

Lady Luck: The Rise Of Women Problem Gamblers, Antonia Massa

Capstones

Gambling addiction, once considered a nearly exclusively male affliction, is becoming more common among women. This story looks at the lives and addictions of two women problem gamblers. The project includes text, audio, images and a web app for smartphones, designed to help women who think they may have a gambling problem.

Sending Drugs Into The Fast Lane, Ross Keith

Capstones

Speedy drug approvals have become increasingly the norm at the FDA, a trend that began in 1992 with the passage of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. Over the past 20 years, the approval process has shrunk, on average, from three years to ten months. As speed has risen, the number of safety issues has as well. Some notoriously harmful drugs, such as Vioxx and Avandia, that were pulled from the market because of dangerous side effects, were fast-tracked. Some doctors and industry analysts question whether the agency’s laissez faire approach is essentially moving the testing phase of drugs from …

Overcoming Obstacles, Melisa Stumpf

Capstones

the contributing factors that lead to the purported low life expectancy for transgenders (suicide, high risks of HIV, lack of healthcare access, refusal of care, etc.) which some experts, advocates and transgender individuals themselves think it's of about 35 years-old.

Mcdonald's Or Mesquite: Struggles On The Salt River Pima Reservation, Stefani Kim

Capstones

The Salt River Pima Indians, prior to colonization, had a strong tradition of harvesting and food sovereignity. As the tribe adapted to a more Westernized diet which consisted mainly of processed food rations, the rate of diabetes began to skyrocket on the reservation and, at one point, the tribe had one of the highest per capita diabetes rates in the world. This year, the tribe's cultural resources department will resurrect a 16-year-old community garden program originally funded by a USDA/Habitat for Humanity grant as a way to help combat health problems related to a poor diet such as diabetes and …

Turning Waste Into Resources In Haiti, Alexis Barnes

Capstones

Sanitation infrastructure in Haiti is an ongoing problem- one that only exacerbated a massive cholera epidemic brought to the country by Nepalese United Nations peacekeeping troops. SOIL is an NGO that works in alternative sanitation- using "urine-diverting dry toilets" to turn waste into a fertile resource. In my capstone, I explore the potential for alternative sanitation in Haiti, how it works and what internal and external political and economic factors lead to the current state of water and sanitation infrastructure in the country.

Urgent Cares Outpace Health Policy In The U.S., Ashley Rodriguez

Capstones

More and more medical practices across the country are rebranding themselves as urgent care centers to meet the growing demand for fast, affordable health care. In many states, they are regulated like physicians groups. However, there is a debate brewing among health care policy experts and government officials over whether these centers should have their own regulations. Such oversight could help patients expecting acute care avoid confusion to such a degree that they receive poor treatment from professionals who aren’t prepared to offer emergency services, or delayed treatment because they are bounced around from facility to facility.

Mapping A City's Invisible Residents, Kelly Dickerson

Capstones

A scientist is mapping the microbes of New York City in hopes of eventually creating a real-time map that could help prevent the spread of diseases.

When You Can't Watch What You Eat: Examining The Fda’S Recall Process For Food Allergies, Jacob Passy

Capstones

Over a third of all recalls for food products in the United States occur due to an undeclared allergen. In these situations, a food product is often mislabeled or contaminated in some way, resulting in the unknown presence of allergen. For food-allergic consumers, a company's mistake can become life-threatening. By investigating data from the Food and Drug Administration, I found that supermarket chains are responsible for about a fifth of all recalls, and that many recalls occur past the product's expiration date. These factors point to the need to improve the FDA's handling of food allergies in food manufacturing.

The Effect Of Static Wrist Position On Median Nerve Over Six Hours, Ching-Ning Hsu, Yu-Sheng Yang, Jui-Jen Hsu, Yi-Chun Tsai, Pei-Hua Lin, Chia-Ling Lee

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common entrapment neuropathy, caused by the compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel over the wrist. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how different wrist positions change median nerve image and their corresponding results of nerve conduction study (NCS). In this study, we investigated 40 normal wrists and 32 wrists with CTS. In both groups, subjects were randomly assigned to wear a splint, and the wrist was placed at 0, 15, 30 and 45 degrees of extension. Ultrasonography was performed before splinting, immediately after splinting and repeated again 2, …

Disability And Rehabilitation -The Challenge And Opportunity Of Physiatrists In Disability, Kwang-Hwa Chang, Tsan-Hon Liou

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

Disability, a long-standing problem affecting mankind, is associated with medical, social welfare, political, and human rights problems and, therefore, is complex. The World Health Organization (WHO) promulgated the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) in 2001, facilitating the study of disability in recent years. According to the WHO Disability Report, the worldwide prevalence of disability is 15%, and the minimal worldwide prevalence is estimated to be 1 billion cases. Before 2012, disability evaluation was based mainly on the medical model in Taiwan, and, therefore, the prevalence was lower than 5%, which is much lower than the international level. …

The Prevalence And Related Factors Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Subjects With Spinal Cord Injury, Ching-Chi Chang, Yu-Ting Yang, Shu-Han Yu, Nai-Yin Chang, Vincent Chin-Hung Chen, Su-Ju Tsai

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

There are approximately 1200 new cases of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) each year in Taiwan. Traumatic SCI often results from motor vehicle crashes, acts of violence or sports injuries. These are potentially leading patients to suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The characteristic symptoms of PTSD include persistent re-experiencing of the event, increased arousal and avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness. The symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning. Our purpose was to identify the prevalence and related factors of posttraumatic stress disorder …

Weakness Of Bilateral Upper Limbs Since Birth Caused By Encephalocraniocutaneous Lipomatosis: A Casereport, I-Hsien Wu, Chia-Chi Wang, Ling-Jung Lee, Hui-Chun Juan

Rehabilitation Practice and Science

Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis (ECCL) is a very rare neurocutaneous syndrome with hallmark lesions including cranial lipomas, ocular lipodermoids and brain abnormalities. ECCL was first described by Haberland and Perou in 1970, and it is sometimes referred to as Haberland syndrome. The genetics of ECCL are unknown, however it is generally considered to be a genetically mosaic condition. Herein, we report the case of a 20-day-old infant girl who presented with weakness of bilateral upper limbs since birth. Subcutaneous masses over her right cheek, eye, inguinal area and limbs were also noted on examination. Brain and spinal magnetic resonance imaging revealed intradural …