Legal Remedies To Address Stigma-Based Health Inequalities In The United States: Opportunities And Challenges, Valarie K. Blake, Mark L. Hatzenbuehler

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Stigma is an established driver of population-level health outcomes. Antidiscrimination laws can generate or alleviate stigma and, thus, are a critical component in the study of improving population health.

Currently, antidiscrimination laws are often underenforced and are sometimes conceptualized by courts and lawmakers in ways that are too narrow to fully reach all forms of stigma and all individuals who are stigmatized.

To remedy these limitations, we propose the creation of a new population-level surveillance system of antidiscrimination law and its enforcement, a central body to enforce antidiscrimination laws, as well as a collaborative research initiative to enhance the study …

Evaluability Assessment Of “Growing Healthy Communities,” A Mini-Grant Program To Improve Access To Healthy Foods And Places For Physical Activity, Christiaan G. Abildso, Angela Dyer, Shay M. Daily, Thomas K. Bias

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Mini-grants have been used to stimulate multisector collaboration in support of public health initiatives by funding non-traditional partners, such as economic development organizations. Such mini-grants have the potential to increase access to healthy foods and places for physical activity through built environment change, especially in small and rural towns in the United States. Although a promising practice, few mini-grant evaluations have been done. Therefore, our purpose was to conduct an Evaluability Assessment (EA), which is a process that can help promising programs that lack evidence advance toward full-scale evaluation. Specifically, we conducted an Evaluability Assessment of a statewide mini-grant program, …

Differences Between Occupational And Non-Occupational-Related Motor Vehicle Collisions In West Virginia: A Cross-Sectional And Spatial Analysis, Toni Marie Rudisill

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

Motor vehicle collisions comprise the majority of occupational-related fatalities in the United States and West Virginia has one of the highest occupational-related fatality rates in the nation. The purpose of this study was to compare work and non-work-related collisions, crash locations, and the characteristics of in-state and out-of-state drivers ≥18 years of age who were fatally injured in work-related collisions in West Virginia.

Methodology

Data were from the 2000–2017 Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Work and non-work-related crashes and characteristics in-state vs. out-of-state drivers were compared using binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Crash locations were compared via spatial analyses …

Barriers To Using New Needles Encountered By Rural Appalachian People Who Inject Drugs: Implications For Needle Exchange, Stephen M. Davis, Alfgeir L. Kristjansson, Danielle Davidov, Keith Zullig, Adam Baus, Melanie Fisher

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

Using a new needle for every injection can reduce the spread of infectious disease among people who inject drugs (PWID). No previous study has examined new needle use barriers among PWIDs residing in the rural Appalachian part of the United States, an area currently in the midst of a heroin epidemic.

Objective

Therefore, our primary aim was to explore self-reported barriers to using a new needle by PWID attending a needle exchange program (NEP).

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of PWID attending two NEPs in rural West Virginia located in the heart of Central Appalachia. A convenience sample …

Integrated Transcriptomics, Metabolomics, And Lipidomics Profiling In Rat Lung, Blood, And Serum For Assessment Of Laser Printer-Emitted Nanoparticle Inhalation Exposure-Induced Disease Risks, Nancy Lan Guo, Tuang Yeow Poh, Sandra Pirela, Mariana T. Farcas, Sanjay H. Chotirmall, Wai Kin Tham, Sunil S. Adav, Qing Ye, Yongyue Wei, Sipeng Shen, David C. Christiani, Kee Woei Ng, Treye Thomas, Yong Qian, Philip Demokritou

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

settings Open AccessArticle

Integrated Transcriptomics, Metabolomics, and Lipidomics Profiling in Rat Lung, Blood, and Serum for Assessment of Laser Printer-Emitted Nanoparticle Inhalation Exposure-Induced Disease Risks

by Nancy Lan Guo 1,*,Tuang Yeow Poh 2,Sandra Pirela 3,Mariana T. Farcas 4,Sanjay H. Chotirmall 2,Wai Kin Tham 5,Sunil S. Adav 5,Qing Ye 1,Yongyue Wei 6,Sipeng Shen 2,David C. Christiani 2,Kee Woei Ng 3,7,8,Treye Thomas 9,Yong Qian 4 andPhilip Demokritou 3 1 West Virginia University Cancer Institute/School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA 2 Lee Kong Chian …

Exercise And Adiposity In Overweight And Obese Children And Adolescents: A Systematic Review With Network Meta-Analysis Of Randomised Trials, George A. Kelley, Kristi S. Kelley, Russell R. Pate

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Objectives Determine both the effects and hierarchy of effectiveness for exercise interventions (aerobic, strength training or both) on selected measures of adiposity (body mass index (BMI) in kg/m2 , fat mass and per cent body fat) in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Design Network meta-analysis of randomised exercise intervention trials. Setting Any setting where a randomised trial could be conducted. Participants Overweight and obese male and/or female children and adolescents 2–18 years of age. Interventions Randomised exercise intervention trials>4 weeks, published between 1 January 1973 and 22 August 2018, and which included direct and/or indirect evidence for aerobic, …

Mitsui-7,Heat-Treated, And Nitrogen-Doped Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Elicit Genotoxicity In Human Lung Epithelial Cells, Katelyn J. Siegrist, Steven H. Reynolds, Dale W. Porter, Robert R. Mercer, Allison K. Bauer, David Lowry, Lorenzo Cena, Todd A. Stueckle, Michael L. Kashon, John Wiley, Jeffrey L. Salisbury, John Mastovich, Kristin Bunker, Mark Sparrow, Jason S. Lupoi, Aleksandr B. Stefaniak, Michael J. Keane, Shuji Tsuruoka, Mauricio Terrones, Michael Mccawley, Linda M. Sargent

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The unique physicochemical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) have led to many industrial applications. Due to their low density and small size, MWCNT are easily aerosolized in the workplace making respiratory exposures likely in workers. The International Agency for Research on Cancer designated the pristine Mitsui-7 MWCNT (MWCNT-7) as a Group 2B carcinogen, but there was insufficient data to classify all other MWCNT. Previously, MWCNT exposed to high temperature (MWCNT-HT) or synthesized with nitrogen (MWCNT-ND) have been found to elicit attenuated toxicity; however, their genotoxic and carcinogenic potential are not known. Our aim was to measure the genotoxicity of …

Association Between Cellphone Use While Driving Legislation And Self-Reported Behaviour Among Adult Drivers In Usa: A Cross-Sectional Study, Toni Marie Rudisill, Motao Zhu, Haitao Chu

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Objectives Cellphone use behaviours can vary demographically in the USA. This study examined whether legislation restricting cellphone use while driving was associated with lower self-reported hand-held cellphone conversations or texting behaviours among adult drivers of different ages (19–24, 25–39, 40–59,≥60 years), sex, race/ethnicity (white non-Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, Hispanic, Other) or rurality (urban, rural). Design Cross-sectional study. Setting USA. Participants Individuals ≥19 years of age who indicated they were a current driver and participated in the 2011– 2014 Traffic Safety Culture Index Surveys (n=9706). Primary outcome The exposure was the presence of a hand-held calling or texting ban applicable to all …

Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Induced Gene Expression Biomarkers For Medical And Occupational Surveillance, Brandi N. Snyder-Talkington, Chunlin Dong, Salvi Singh, Rebecca Raese, Yong Qian, Dale W. Porter, Michael G. Wolfarth, Nancy L. Guo

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

As the demand for multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) incorporation into industrial and biomedical applications increases, so does the potential for unintentional pulmonary MWCNT exposure, particularly among workers during manufacturing. Pulmonary exposure to MWCNTs raises the potential for development of lung inflammation, fibrosis, and cancer among those exposed; however, there are currently no effective biomarkers for detecting lung fibrosis or predicting the risk of lung cancer resulting from MWCNT exposure. To uncover potential mRNAs and miRNAs that could be used as markers of exposure, this study compared in vivo mRNA and miRNA expression in lung tissue and blood of mice exposed …

Maternal Characteristics Associated With Injury-Related Infant Death In West Virginia, 2010-2014, Wilson A. Koech, Toni M. Rudisill, Ian R. H. Rockett

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Although injury-related deaths have been documented among children and adult populations, insufficient attention has been directed towards injury-related infant deaths. The objective of this retrospective study was to investigate maternal and infant characteristics associated with injury-related infant deaths in West Virginia. Birth and infant mortality data for 2010–2014 were sourced from the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, Charleston. Relative risk was calculated using log-binomial regression utilizing generalized estimating equations. Maternal characteristics associated with injury-related infant mortality in West Virginia were race/ethnicity ( = 7.48, p = .03), and smoking during pregnancy (, p < .00). Risk of a Black Non-Hispanic infant suffering an injury-related death was 4.0 (95% CL 1.7, 9.3) times that of infants of other races/ethnicities. Risk of an infant dying from an injury-related cause, if the mother smoked during pregnancy, was 2.9 (95% CL 1.6, 5.0) times the risk of such a death if maternal smoking status during pregnancy is unknown or no smoking, controlling for race/ethnicity. This study provides important information to public health stakeholders at both the state and local levels in designing interventions for partial reduction or prevention of injury-related infant mortality in West Virginia.

Interventions To Increase Completion Of Hepatitis B Vaccination In People Who Inject Drugs: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Stacy Tressler, Ruchi Bhandari

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abstract

Increases in opioid misuse and injection drug use have resulted in a rise in acute cases of hepatitis B. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized studies to determine the effect (pooled odds ratio) of interventions to increase hepatitis B vaccination completion in people who inject drugs (PWID). Odds ratios from the included studies were combined to create a pooled odds ratio (OR) using the Inverse Heterogeneity Model. Eleven studies met the eligibility criterion of having a randomized intervention to increase hepatitis B virus vaccination completion among PWID. The odds of vaccine completion in the intervention group …

Expenditure, Coping, And Academic Behaviors Among Food-Insecure College Students At 10 Higher Education Institutes In The Appalachian And Southeastern Regions, Rebecca L. Hagedorn, Laura H. Mcarthur, Lanae B. Hood, Maureen Berner, Elizabeth T. Anderson Steeves, Carol L. Connell, Elizabeth Wall-Bassett, Marsha Spence, Oyinlola Toyin Babatunde, E Brooke Kelly, Julia F. Waity, J Porter Lillis, Melissa D. Olfert

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

A number of studies have measured college student food insecurity prevalence higher than the national average; however, no multicampus regional study among students at 4-y institutions has been undertaken in the Appalachian and Southeast regions of the United States.

Objectives

The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of food insecurity among college students in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, and to determine the association between food-insecurity status and money expenditures, coping strategies, and academic performance among a regional sample of college students.

Methods

This regional, cross-sectional, online survey study included 13,642 college …