Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling The Incubation Period Of Anthrax, Ron Brookmeyer, Elizabeth Johnson, Sarah Barry

Ron Brookmeyer

Models of the incubation period of anthrax are important to public health planners because they can be used to predict the delay before outbreaks are detected, the size of an outbreak and the duration of time that persons should remain on antibiotics to prevent disease. The difficulty is that there is little direct data about the incubation period in humans. The objective of this paper is to develop and apply models for the incubation period of anthrax. Mechanistic models that account for the biology of spore clearance and germination are developed based on a competing risks formulation. The models predict …

Alternative Probeset Definitions For Combining Microarray Data Across Studies Using Different Versions Of Affymetrix Oligonucleotide Arrays, Jeffrey S. Morris, Chunlei Wu, Kevin R. Coombes, Keith A. Baggerly, Jing Wang, Li Zhang

Jeffrey S. Morris

Many published microarray studies have small to moderate sample sizes, and thus have low statistical power to detect significant relationships between gene expression levels and outcomes of interest. By pooling data across multiple studies, however, we can gain power, enabling us to detect new relationships. This type of pooling is complicated by the fact that gene expression measurements from different microarray platforms are not directly comparable. In this chapter, we discuss two methods for combining information across different versions of Affymetrix oligonucleotide arrays. Each involves a new approach for combining probes on the array into probesets. The first approach involves …

Cross-Cultural Reliability Of The Health Control & Competence Index And The Health Perception Index, Dr. Vincent L. Salyers

Dr. Vincent L Salyers

It is well documented that men of Latino origin are subject to health disparities with an increased morbidity and mortality from preventable diseases. Despite their proclivity for health problems, these men also have the lowest participation in health promotion services. This may be due to health disparity factors, health access factors, cultural factors, gender role factors, and constraints to receiving culturally competent health care. Addressing such factors as health knowledge, health perceptions, access to care, and culturally/linguistically competent care is essential to increasing participation in health care, health promotion and screening activities by men of Latino origin. This mixed-measures exploratory …

Child Laundering: How The Intercountry Adoption System Legitimizes And Incentivizes The Practices Of Buying, Trafficking, Kidnapping, And Stealing Children, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

This article documents and analyzes a substantial incidence of "child laundering" within the intercountry adoption system. Child laundering occurs when children are taken illegally from birth families through child buying or kidnapping, and then "laundered" through the adoption system as "orphans" and then "adoptees." The article then proposes reforms to the intercountry adoption system that could substantially reduce the incidence of child laundering.

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Antiretroviral Adherence Interventions: Using Marginal Structural Models To Replicate The Findings Of Randomized Controlled Trials., Maya L. Petersen, Yue Wang, Mark J. Van Der Laan, David R. Bangsberg

Maya Petersen

Randomized controlled trials of interventions to improve adherence to antiretroviral medications are not always feasible. Marginal Structural Models (MSM) are a statistical methodology that aims to replicate the findings of randomized controlled trials using observational data. Under the assumption of no unmeasured confounders, three MSM estimators are available to estimate the causal effect of an intervention. Two of these estimators, G-computation and Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighted, can be implemented using standard software. G-computation relies on fitting a multivariable regression of adherence on the intervention and confounders. Thus, it is related to the standard multivariable regression approach to estimating causal …

Public Health Preparedness Of Health Providers: Meeting The Needs Of Diverse, Rural Communities, Chiehwen Ed Hsu, Francisco Soto Mas, Holly Jacobson

Francisco Soto Mas

No abstract provided.

Youth And Adult Community Member Beliefs About Inupiat Youth Suicide And Its Prevention, Lisa Wexler, Brenda Goodwin

Lisa Wexler

Objectives. To better understand youth and adult community members’ perceived causes and possible preventative steps to address the high Inupiat youth suicide rates in Northwest Alaska. Study Design. A five-item, open-ended survey focusing on community members’ perceptions of suicide causes, warning signs, and protective factors was administered in the twelve Native villages served by the Maniilaq Association, a native non-profit organization. Methods. A total of 382 surveys were completed. Qualitative answers were assigned to categories by two reviewers. Main categories are described reflecting the percentages of all response categories and those of youth and adult respondents. To discern whether the …

Spirometric Screening - Does It Work?, David M. Mannino

David M. Mannino

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2104769/

Psychosocial And Spiritual Factors Associated With Smoking And Substance Use During Pregnancy In African-American And Caucasian Low-Income Women, Darlene Elizabeth Jesse

D. Elizabeth Jesse

No abstract provided.

Physician Assistants And Bioterrorism Preparedness, Francisco Soto Mas, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Despite the resources dedicated since 2001 to training health providers in emergency and bioterrorism preparedness and response, the literature on the participation of physician assistants (PAs) is very limited. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the training level and experiences of PAs in the diagnosis and treatment of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive agents that could be used in a bioterrorism attack. The study population consisted of licensed PAs in 37 northern Texas counties. Data were collected through a mailed survey. Response rate was 36%. More than half of the respondents (58.6%) had not participated in …

Changing The Burden Of Copd Mortality, David M. Mannino, Victor A. Kiri

David M. Mannino

COPD is a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide with an estimated 2.75 million deaths in 2000 (fourth leading cause of death). In addition to the considerable morbidity and mortality associated with COPD, this disease incurs significant healthcare and societal costs. Current COPD guidelines acknowledge that the following can improve COPD mortality: smoking cessation; long-term oxygen therapy; and lung volume reduction surgery in small subsets of COPD patients. To date, no randomized controlled trials have demonstrated an effect of pharmacological treatment on mortality, although several observational studies suggest that both long-acting bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids may provide a survival …

Women And Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Does Sex Influence Survival?, David M. Mannino

David M. Mannino

Comment on

Sex differences in survival of oxygen-dependent patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. [Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006]

Surveillance Of The Colorectal Cancer Disparities Among Demographic Subgroups: A Spatial Analysis, Chiehwen Ed Hsu, Francisco Soto Mas

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Objective: The literature suggests that colorectal cancer mortality in Texas is distributed inhomogeneously among specific demographic subgroups and in certain geographic regions over an extended period. To understand the extent of the demographic and geographic disparities, the present study examined colorectal cancer mortality in 15 demographic groups in Texas counties between 1990 and 2001. Methods: The Spatial Scan Statistic was used to assess the standardized mortality ratio, duration and age-adjusted rates of excess mortality, and their respective p-values for testing the null hypothesis of homogeneity of geographic and temporal distribution. Results: The study confirmed the excess mortality in some Texas …

Beliefs About Essences And The Reality Of Mental Disorders, Woo-Kyoung Ahn, Elizabeth H. Flanagan, Jessecae K. Marsh, Charles A. Sanislow

Charles A. Sanislow, Ph.D.

Do people believe mental disorders are real and possess underlying essences? The current study found that both novices and practicing clinicians held weaker essentialist beliefs about mental disorders than about medical disorders. They were also unwilling to endorse the idea that mental disorders are real and natural. Furthermore, compared with novices, mental health clinicians were less likely to endorse the view that there is a shared cause underlying a mental disorder and that one needs to remove the cause to get rid of the mental disorder. Clinicians were polarized on their views about whether mental disorders are categorical or dimensional. …

Relations Of Caregiving Stress And Health Depend On The Health Indicators Used And Gender, Hsin-Hua C. Lin

H. Cynthia Lin

No abstract provided.

A Transforming Met Mutation Discovered In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Using Microarray-Based Resequencing, Torstein Tengs

Dr. Torstein Tengs

We have designed resequencing microarrays to test the performance of this platform when interrogating a large number of exons (164 total) from genes associated with cancer. To evaluate false positive and negative rates, dideoxy sequencing was done for 335,420 bases interrogated by the arrays. From the array data, calls could be made forw97.5% of the bases, and false positive rates were very low with only a single mutation reported from the array dataset for which the corresponding dideoxy trace had a clean wildtype sequence. For the nucleotide positions where array calls were made, false negative rates were 1.41% for heterozygous …

Hospitalization For Patients With Sarcoidosis: 1979-2000, M. G. Foreman, David M. Mannino, L. Kamugisha, G. E. Westney

David M. Mannino

BACKGROUND AND AIM:

Sarcoidosis is a multi-system granulomatous disease of unknown etiology with significant racial and gender differences in disease severity, incidence, and prevalence. Primarily treated in outpatients, limited information is available on hospital outcomes in patients with sarcoidosis. The National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) was analyzed over a 22-year period to determine trends in hospitalization and the impact of concurrent comorbidities.

METHODS:

Secondary analysis was done of the NHDS, a national survey of inpatient medical care for short stays in nonfederal facilities.

RESULTS:

There were a total of 750 million hospitalizations over this 22-year period, with 593,455 (0.08%) hospitalizations …

Digit Force Control In Older Adults: Benefits Of Resistance-Training?, Justin W.L. Keogh

Justin Keogh

This paper seeks to review the effect on digit force control of: 1) the ageing process; and 2) the resistance-training in older adults. Significant age-related decreases in finger-pinch force control were observed in many but not all studies. Those that didn't report age-related differences involved bi-digit finger-pinch tasks requiring the production of constant forces only. This suggests that the age-related decline in force control becomes more pronounced the more challenging the force production task. While three studies reported that resistance-training improved older adults' digit force control capabilities, it is unclear if these improvements would occur in tasks that: 1) require …

Injury Prevalence Among Children And Adolescents With Mental Retardation, Elspeth M. Slayter, Deborah W. Garnick, Joanna M. Kubisiak, Christine E. Bishop, Daniel M. Gilden, Rosemarie B. Hakim

Elspeth Slayter

Relationship Between Mechanisms And Activities At The Time Of Pedestrian Injury And Activity Limitation Among School Adolescents In Kathmandu, Nepal, Kalpana Poudel-Tandukar, Shinji Nakahara, Masao Ichikawa, Krishna Poudel, Susumu Wakai

Kalpana Poudel-Tandukar

Evidence Of Altered Brain Sexual Differentiation In Mice Exposed Perinatally To Low, Environmentally Relevant Levels Of Bisphenol A, Beverly S. Rubin, Jenny R. Lenkowski, Cheryl M. Schaeberle, Laura Vandenberg, Paul M. Ronsheim, Ana M. Soto

Laura Vandenberg

Humans are routinely exposed to bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogenic chemical present in food and beverage containers, dental composites, and many products in the home and workplace. BPA binds both classical nuclear estrogen receptors and facilitates membrane-initiated estrogenic effects. Here we explore the ability of environmentally relevant exposure to BPA to affect anatomical and functional measures of brain development and sexual differentiation. Anatomical evidence of alterations in brain sexual differentiation were examined in male and female offspring born to mouse dams exposed to 0, 25, or 250 ng BPA/kg body weight per day from the evening of d 8 of …

Predictors Of 2-Year Outcome For Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder, John G. Gunderson, Maria T. Daversa, Carlos M. Grilo, Thomas H. Mcglashan, Mary C. Zanarini, M. Tracie Shea, Andrew E. Skodol, Shirley Yen, Charles A. Sanislow, Donna S. Bender, Ingrid R. Dyck, Leslie C. Morey, Robert L. Stout

Charles A. Sanislow, Ph.D.

OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of this report was to investigate whether characteristics of subjects with borderline personality disorder observed at baseline can predict variations in outcome at the 2-year follow-up.

METHOD: Hypothesized predictor variables were selected from prior studies. The patients (N=160) were recruited from the four clinical sites of the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study. Patients were assessed at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 months with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders; the Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, a modified version of that instrument; the Longitudinal Interval Follow-Up Evaluation; and the Childhood Experiences …

Genetic Investigation Of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (Mthfr) And Catechol-O-Methyl Transferase (Comt) In Multiple Sclerosis, Lotti Tajouri, Virginie Martin, Claudia Gasparini, Micky Ovcaric, Rob Curtain, Rod Lea, Larisa Haupt, Peter Csurhes, Michael Pender, Lyn Griffiths

Lotti Tajouri

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease characterized by central nervous system (CNS) inflammation and demyelination. The C677T substitution variant in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene has been associated with increased levels of circulating homocysteine and is a mild risk factor for vascular disease. Higher blood levels of homocysteine have also been reported in MS. Thus, the C677T mutation of the MTHFR gene may influence MS susceptibility. Noradrenaline, a neurotransmitter believed to play an immunosupressive role in neuroinflammatory disorders, is catabolized by catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT). The COMT G158A substitution results in a three- to four-fold decreased activity of the …

Synchrony Of Change In Depressive Symptoms, Health Status, And Quality Of Life In Persons With Clinical Depression, Paula Diehr

Paula Diehr

BACKGROUND: Little is known about longitudinal associations among measures of depression, mental and physical health, and quality of life (QOL). We followed 982 clinically depressed persons to determine which measures changed and whether the change was synchronous with change in depressive symptoms. METHODS: Data were from the Longitudinal Investigation of Depression Outcomes (LIDO). Depressive symptoms, physical and mental health, and quality of life were measured at baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 9 months. Change in the measures was examined over time and for persons with different levels of change in depressive symptoms. RESULTS: On average, all of the measures …

Distinct Toll-Like Receptor Expression In Monocytes And T Cells In Chronic Hcv Infection, Angela Dolganiuc, Catherine Garcia, Karen Kodys, Gyongyi Szabo

Gyongyi Szabo

AIM: Hepatitis C virus often establishes chronic infections. Recent studies suggest that viral and bacterial infections are more common in HCV-infected patients compared to controls. Pathogens are recognized by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) to shape adaptive and innate immune responses.

METHODS: In this study, to assess the ability of HCV-infected host to recognize invading pathogens, we investigated Toll-like receptor expression in innate (monocytes) and adaptive (T cells) immune cells by real-time PCR.

RESULTS: We determined that RNA levels for TLRs 2, 6. 7, 8, 9 and 10 mRNA levels were upregulated in both monocytes and T cells in HCV-infected patients compared …

2016 Tschochner Identifying Patient Specific Ebna1.Pdf, M Tschochner

Monika Tschochner

No abstract provided.

Longitudinal Changes In Visual Acuity In Keratoconus, Larry J. Davis, Kenneth B. Schechtman, Brad S. Wilson, Carol E. Rosenstiel, Colleen H. Riley, David P. Libassi, Ralph E. Gundel, Louis Rosenberg, Mae O. Gordon, Karla Zadnik

Larry Davis

Longitudinal Changes In Visual Acuity In Keratoconus, Edward Bennett, Larry J. Davis, Kenneth B. Schechtman, Brad S. Wilson, Carol E. Rosenstiel, Colleen H. Riley, David P. Libassi, Ralph E. Gundel, Louis Rosenberg, Mae O. Gordon, Karla Zadnik

Edward Bennett

A Critical Case Study Of Program Fidelity In Tenncare, Carole R. Myers Dr.

Carole R. Myers, PhD, RN Associate Professor

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fidelity of the design of Tennessee’s Medicaid managed care program in comparison to the actual program operation. Program fidelity is a broad measurement of how true the implemented program is to the intended program (Heflinger & Northrup, 2000). Background: In the span of only 15 years, the introduction of managed care and other market-based strategies from the private sector precipitated a transformation of the delivery of Medicaid services in the United States. These monumental changes remain poorly understood. The implementation of managed care in Tennessee’s Medicaid program is an excellent …

Faculty And Male Football And Basketball Players On University Campuses: An Empirical Investigation Of The "Intellectual" As Mentor To The Student Athlete, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

No abstract provided.