Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Donor-Specific Cell-Based Assays In Studying Sensitivity To Low-Dose Radiation: A Population-Based Perspective, Dora Il'yasova, Alexander Kinev, C. David Melton, Faith G. Davis

Public Health Faculty Publications

Currently, a linear no-threshold model is used to estimate health risks associated with exposure to low-dose radiation, a prevalent exposure in the general population, because the direct estimation from epidemiological studies suffers from uncertainty. This model has been criticized based on unique biology of low-dose radiation. Whether the departure from linearity is toward increased or decreased risk is intensely debated. We present an approach based on individual radiosensitivity testing and discuss how individual radiosensitivity can be assessed with the goal to develop a quantifiable measure of cellular response that can be conducted via high-throughput population testing.

The Etiology Of Multiple Sclerosis And Correlation Of The Distribution Of The Disease With Migration And Settlement History Of Northern Europeans, Kristin M. Gunderson

Public Health Theses

The geographic disparity of multiple sclerosis has been noted in the literature for well over a century. The frequency of the disease varies significantly both within countries and in different parts of the world. The goal of this project is to give new insight regarding the etiology of multiple sclerosis. Several theories regarding the etiology of the disease have been reviewed, including a geographic theory, a nutritional theory, and a genetic theory. Although the geographic and nutritional theories have been thoroughly investigated by researchers, neither of them provides a conclusive explanation for the etiology of the disease, and there are …

Multiple Sclerosis Disease Distribution And Potential Impact Of Environmental Air Pollutants In Georgia, Anthony Charles Gregory

Public Health Theses

This study’s purpose is to examine the potential relationships between MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and environmental outdoor air pollutants in GA (Georgia). We used secondary, cross-sectional data received from the member’s list of the National Multiples Sclerosis Society’s GA chapter (NMSS-GA), the U.S. census, and scorecard.org, a database based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory (to 2002) and National Emissions Inventory (1999) data. The study population was 9,072,576 including 6,247 self-reported MS cases from NMSS-GA. Using stepwise multivariate linear regression of census and EPA data, the best predictive model in GA for female or total prevalence rates …

Observation And Model Error Effects On Parameter Estimates In Susceptible-Infected-Recovered Epidemiological Models, Tom L. Burr, Gerardo Chowell

Public Health Faculty Publications

Recently, confidence intervals (CIs) associated with parameter estimates in the susceptibleinfected-recovered epidemiological model have been developed. When model assumptions are met and the observation error is relatively small, these CIs are relatively short. This work describes the behavior of CIs for parameters as observation and/or equation or model error becomes larger, and includes a comparison of two estimation procedures. One procedure demonstrates significant bias as observation error increases; the other procedure demonstrates significant bias as model error increases.

Violent Attacks On Middle Easterners In The United States During The Month Following The September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, Monica H. Swahn, R R. Mahendra, L J. Paulozzi, R L. Winston, G A. Shelley, J Taliano, L Frazier, J R. Saul

Public Health Faculty Publications

Objectives: To document and describe hate related violent attacks on Middle Easterners or those perceived to be Middle Easterners during the month following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC.

Methods: The LexisNexis database of newspaper reports were used to identify incidents of hate related violent acts against Middle Easterners or those perceived to be Middle Easterners in the US between September 1 and October 11, 2001. A total of 100 incidents of hate related violence were identified in the 2659 news articles that were reviewed.

Results: Of the 100 incidents of violent victimization …

Tobacco Use By Youth: A Surveillance Report From The Global Youth Tobacco Survey Project, Charles W. Warren, Leanne Riley, Samira Asma, Michael Eriksen, Lawrence Green, Curtis Blanton, Scott Batchelor, Derek Yach

Public Health Faculty Publications

The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) project was developed by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track tobacco use among youth in countries across the world, using a common methodology and core questionnaire. The GYTS is school based and employs a two-stage sample design to produce representative data on smoking among students aged 13–15 years. The first stage consists of a probabilistic selection of schools, and the second consists of a random selection of classes from the participating schools. All students in the selected classes are eligible for the survey. In 1999, …