Digital Commons Network^™

Using Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Models To Incorporate Chemical And Non-Chemical Stressors Into Cumulative Risk Assessment: A Case Study Of Pesticide Exposures, Susan C. Wason, Thomas J. Smith, Melissa J. Perry, Jonathan I. Levy

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Cumulative risk assessment has been proposed as an approach to evaluate the health risks associated with simultaneous exposure to multiple chemical and non-chemical stressors. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) models can allow for the inclusion and evaluation of multiple stressors, including non-chemical stressors, but studies have not leveraged PBPK/PD models to jointly consider these disparate exposures in a cumulative risk context. In this study, we focused on exposures to organophosphate (OP) pesticides for children in urban low-income environments, where these children would be simultaneously exposed to other pesticides (including pyrethroids) and non-chemical stressors that may modify the effects of these exposures …

Asthma Management: An Ecosocial Framework For Disparity Research, Robin A. Evans-Agnew

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background: Asthma management disparities (AMD) between African and White Americans are significant and alarming. Various determinants have been suggested by research frameworks that affect the unfair distribution of resources for asthma management to groups who are more or less advantaged socially. Ecosocial models organize determinants into individual/family, healthcare, community, and sociocultural levels. Multilevel interventions can affect AMD through simultaneous actions on different levels and pathways between determinants.

Objective: Provide a comprehensive summary of the known determinants of AMD.

Method: Peer reviewed research frameworks of AMD from 1998-2009 were retrieved from PubMed/ Web of Science databases using (“Socioeconomic Factors”[Mesh] OR (“Healthcare …

Poverty And Mortality Disparities In Central Appalachia: Mountaintop Mining And Environmental Justice, Michael Hendryx

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Objectives. This study investigated the associations between poverty rates, Appalachian mountaintop coal mining, and age-adjusted total mortality rates to determine if persons exposed to this form of mining experience greater poverty and higher death rates compared to other types of mining or other areas of Appalachia.

Methods. Mortality rates, poverty rates, Appalachian designation and mining activity were examined for counties in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia (N=403). Linear least squares models tested for annual group differences from 2000-2007 in total and child poverty, and total mortality, based on mining type and Appalachian location. Nested linear models accounting for state-level …

Factors That Influence Food Access In The United States: A Snapshot Of Food Access In Ohio And Kentucky, Maimouna Falls

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: The United States is one the richest countries in the world with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of $48,442, yet many communities lack access to affordable nutritious food. Access to food impacts health outcomes such as obesity and diabetes. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between food access and rates of obesity and diabetes in the states of Ohio and Kentucky.

Methods: County level food access data from 120 counties in Kentucky and 88 counties in Ohio were obtained from the USDA website. The dataset included demographic variables and poverty rates. Food access …

Identifying Risk Factors For Disparities In Breast Cancer Mortality Among African-American And Hispanic Women, Nancy Tian, Pierre Goovaerts, F. Benjamin Zhan, T. Edwin Chow, Jeff Gaines Wilson

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: This study evaluated the risk factors associated with racial disparities in female breast cancer mortality for African-American and Hispanic women at the census tract level in Texas from 1995 to 2005.

Methods: Data on female breast cancer cases were obtained from the Texas Cancer Registry. Socioeconomic and demographic data were collected from Census 2000. Network distance and driving times to mammography facilities were estimated using Geographic Information System techniques. Demographic, poverty and spatial accessibility factors were constructed using principal component analysis. Logistic regression models were developed to predict the census tracts with significant racial disparities in breast cancer mortality …

The Effect Of Disinfectants, Cleaning, And Drying Practices On Oriental Rugs Flooded With Contaminated River Water: Public Health And Policy Implications, Daniel Bernazzani

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Oriental rugs contaminated with Category 3 floodwater potentially harbor environmental bacteria known to be human pathogens. River water inoculated with three species of gram positive and gram negative environmental bacteria (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were used to assess the effectiveness of disinfectant type, cleaning methodology and drying practices by examining the survival rates of bacteria. Rug sections were immersed for one hour in contaminated water, saturated in one of three EPA registered disinfectant products (Phenol, Quaternary chloride, and Thyme oil) or tap water as a control, followed by cleaning and drying. The results showed that all disinfectants reduced …

Community-Based Participatory Research, Talat Danish, Richard Douglass

Michigan Journal of Public Health

No abstract provided.

Mountains Of Injustice : Social And Environmental Justice In Appalachia, Michele Morrone, Geoffrey L. Buckley

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Research in environmental justice reveals that low-income and minority neighborhoods in our nation’s cities are often the preferred sites for landfills, power plants, and polluting factories. Those who live in these sacrifice zones are forced to shoulder the burden of harmful environmental effects so that others can prosper. Mountains of Injustice broadens the discussion from the city to the country by focusing on the legacy of disproportionate environmental health impacts on communities in the Appalachian region, where the costs of cheap energy and cheap goods are actually quite high.

Through compelling stories and interviews with people who are fighting for …

Using Mixed-Methods To Measure The Perception Of Community Capacity In An Academic-Community Partnership For A Walking Intervention, Charkarra Anderson-Lewis, Diana Cuy-Castellanos, Arnecca Byrd, Karen Zynda, Alicia Sample, Vickie Blakely Reed, Mary Beard, Latessa Minor, Kathleen Yadrick

Faculty Publications

H.U.B. City Steps is a 5-year community-based participatory research walking intervention designed to help lower blood pressure in a majority African American population in southern Mississippi via community collaboration and capacity building, increased walking, culturally tailored health education sessions, and motivational interviewing. Building community capacity for physical activity is a key component of this intervention. Qualitative and quantitative methods have been used to assess how project stakeholders perceive the community capacity-building efforts of the project. This article illustrates the baseline results of this mixed methods approach from the perspective of three groups of stakeholders: project researchers and staff, community advisory …

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Maternal And Umbilical Cord Blood From Pregnant Hispanic Women Living In Brownsville, Texas, Ken Sexton, Jennifer J Salinas, Thomas J Mcdonald, Rose M Z Gowen, Rebecca P Miller, Joseph B Mccormick, Susan P Fisher-Hoch

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Venous blood was drawn from 35 pregnant Hispanic women living in Brownsville, Texas, and matched cord blood was collected at birth. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used to measure concentrations of 55 individual PAHs or groups of PAHs. Results indicate that these women and their fetuses were regularly exposed to multiple PAHs at comparatively low concentrations, with levels in cord blood generally exceeding levels in paired maternal blood. While the possibility of related adverse effects on the fetus is uncertain, these exposures in combination with socioeconomically-disadvantaged and environmentally-challenging living conditions raise legitimate public health concerns.

Media Attention On African Americans With Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Charles S. Beverley Jr., Edith M. Williams, Saundra H. Glover

Faculty Publications

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a disease that has captured the attention of the media in various ways and to varying degrees. One of the ongoing debates and areas of research in HIV that provide many opportunities for discovery is the disproportionate number of African Americans infected with HIV compared to the amount of attention they receive in the media. This manuscript addresses the question that has preoccupied the minds of many people: Why have African Americans infected with HIV received so little media attention? Analysis of this question suggests that there are many reasons for this lack of media …

Update - June 2011, Loma Linda University Center For Christian Bioethics

Update

In this issue:

[ Clinical Bioethics and Religion: Robert Orr's Medical Ethics and the Faith Factor ]
-- Forging a Path for Christian Ethics (Review)
-- A Passionate, Faith-Inspired Physician - Ethicist (Review)
-- Excepts from Robert Orr's Medical Ethics and the Faith Factor

-- 2012 Jack W. Provonsha lecture opens the Alumni Postgraduate Convention
-- Editorial

[ Claritás - Clarity in Ethics Essay Contest - White Coats: Purple Pens ]
-- First-place 2010 essay winner, Gregory A, Lammert, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University

-- Dental Ethics at Loma Linda University
-- Non-violent Revolution: Blessed Are the Peacemakers
-- …

Vulnerability, Risk Perception, And Health Profile Of Marginalized People Exposed To Multiple Built-Environment Stressors In Worcester, Massachusetts: A Pilot Project, Timothy Downs, Laurie Ross, Robert Goble, Rajendra Subedi, Sara Greenberg, Octavia Taylor

Sustainability and Social Justice

Millions of low-income people of diverse ethnicities inhabit stressful old urban industrial neighborhoods. Yet we know little about the health impacts of built-environment stressors and risk perceptions in such settings; we lack even basic health profiles. Difficult access is one reason (it took us 30 months to survey 80 households); the lack of multifaceted survey tools is another. We designed and implemented a pilot vulnerability assessment tool in Worcester, Massachusetts. We answer: (1) How can we assess vulnerability to multiple stressors? (2) What is the nature of complex vulnerability-including risk perceptions and health profiles? (3) How can findings be used …

Update - March 2011, Loma Linda University Center For Christian Bioethics

Update

In this issue:

-- Quid Pro Quo, Quid Vadis - Conflict of Interest Policy of Loma Linda University School of Medicine
-- San Bernardino - A Case Study in Environmental Justice
-- Editorial

[ Claritás - Clarity in Ethics Essay Contest - Health Care: Business or Service? ]
-- First-place 2009 graduate essay winner, Mark Warren, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University
-- Second-place 2009 undergraduate essay winner, Sidney E. Irving, School of Nursing, Loma Linda University

-- 2009 Contributor's Convocation: A New View
-- 2010 Contributor's Convocation: Ethics in the Inland Empire
-- Ethics Alumni Updates

From Good Intentions To Proven Interventions: Effectiveness Of Actions To Reduce The Health Impacts Of Air Pollution, Luisa V. Giles, Prabjit Barn, Nino Kuenzli, Isabelle Romieu, Murray A. Mittleman, Stephan Van Eeden, Ryan Allen, Chris Carlsten, Dave Stieb, Curtis W. Noonan, Audrey Smargiassi, Joel D. Kaufman, Shakoor Hajat, Tom Kosatsky, Michael Brauer

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Associations between air pollution and a multitude of health effects are now well established. Given ubiquitous exposure to some level of air pollution, the attributable health burden can be high, particularly for susceptible populations. OBJECTIVES: An international multidisciplinary workshop was convened to discuss evidence of the effectiveness of actions to reduce health impacts of air pollution at both the community and individual level. The overall aim was to summarize current knowledge regarding air pollution exposure and health impacts leading to public health recommendations. DISCUSSION: During the workshop, experts reviewed the biological mechanisms of action of air pollution in the …

Lessons Learned Conducting Breastfeeding Intervention Research In Two Northern Plains Tribal Communities, Mary Beth Stepans, S Wilhelm, K Rodehorst-Weber, T Aguirre, M Hertzog, M Clarke, A Herboldsheimer

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

AIM:

The overall purpose of this article was to describe the challenges and benefits of conducting breastfeeding intervention research with two Native American Tribal communities.

METHODS:

A focus group with an interpretive approach was used to collect data within this qualitative study as a means of incorporating a complex, holistic, subjective interpretation of the case managers' perceptions and experiences. In addition, researchers' field notes were used. Findings are discussed in relation to Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Framework.

RESULTS:

Themes that emerged during the focus group discussions were related to innovation, relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, trialability, and observability.

CONCLUSIONS:

Conducting research …

Prevalence, Knowledge, And Concern About Bed Bugs, Mary Beth Kaylor

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Recent research suggests that the United States and the world are on the verge of a bed bug pandemic. Assumptions have been made that socioeconomic status is not an indicator and that bed bugs are not competent disease vectors. However, little information is available at the local level about the prevalence of bed bugs in private homes. This study aimed to identify prevalence, knowledge, and concern about bed bugs in one village in Ohio. Responses from 96 individuals who completed the Prevalence, Knowledge, and Concern about Bed Bugs (PK CABB) survey were utilized for data analysis. The majority of the …

Racial, Ethnic, And Socioeconomic Disparities In Exposure To Fast Food In Hillsborough County, Florida, Dana Oppenheim Stein, Jayajit Chakraborty

Florida Public Health Review

Recent studies have linked the alarming obesity epidemic in the U.S. to the growth of the fast-food restaurant industry, which offers convenient service alongside inexpensive and high-calorie food. As the number of fast-food outlets increases, research demonstrates that their geographic location plays a significant role in creating obesogenic environments, potentially exposing socially disadvantaged groups to unhealthy nutrition choices provided by these outlets. Whereas previous studies have examined the distribution of positive health amenities such as supermarkets and health-food stores, there is a growing need to evaluate the socio-demographic characteristics of neighborhoods that contain negative health entities such as fast-food outlets. …

Today - November 3, 2010, Loma Linda University

TODAY

Inside this issue:

-- Annual convocation chapel celebrates spiritual roots of Loma Linda University
-- Free flu shots and health screenings offered at LLUMC Family Health Fair
-- LLU Medical Center ophthalmologist named among 'Best Doctors in America'
-- Japanese exchange program enriches GIS at Loma Linda University
-- Wholeness lecture series begins with lesson in personality
-- Marine officer shares his personal story of recovery from addition
-- Doctor of nursing practice program experiences rapid growth
-- Adults needed as subjects for an avocado research study
-- School of Religion hosts roundtable discussion on young Adventists
-- Pharmacy student …

Today - September 24, 2010, Loma Linda University

TODAY

Inside this issue:

-- Ninth annual Stater Bros. Charities K-Froggers for Kids Radiothon raises $431,360
-- LLU School of Nursing alumnus serves as nurse leader for California prison reform
-- Nursing research conference spotlights research as a map to wholeness
-- Community supports LLU Children's Hospital, raising $29,089 through Ralphs Food 4 Less Charitable Campaign
-- Nursing professor chosen for NLN/Johnson & Johnson Faculty Leadership and Mentoring Program
-- International service learning in the LLU School of Dentistry
-- LLU psychoneuroimmunogist interviewed for program to air on KTIE 590 AM radio
-- Five-time IDP Teacher of the Year
-- Senior …

Community-Based Approaches To Reduce Toxins In Housing: Lessons Learned From Working With Diverse Communities, Erin Mcnally, Ian Blazina, Stephanie Farquhar

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article will review lessons learned from a community-based participatory research project with Latino and Somali residents in Portland, Oregon. The aim of the Healthy Futures Collaborative (HFC) project was to reduce in-home environmental health hazards associated with childhood respiratory illness and asthma through a process that strengthened social support and civic engagement. Using a community-based approach, the HFC trained community residents as community scientists to ensure local leadership and participation. Results suggest an increase in Somali and Latino residents' knowledge of environmental stressors and changes in behavior that may improve indoor environmental quality. Especially when working with historically marginalized …

Today - August 27, 2010, Loma Linda University

TODAY

Inside this issue:

-- $2.1 million NIH grant will enable pharmacy professor to study HIV/AIDS prevention
-- Loma Linda University Medical Center sweeps its categories at Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards
-- The future of parking at LLU
-- Researchers at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and George Mason University find promising biomarker source in early detection of Alzheimer's
-- BMC administrator speaks out on the stigma of mental illness
-- LLU Medical Center boasts largest hyperbaric oxygen chamber on West Coast
-- Phil-Anne Krogman leaves the door open as she says farewell to FMO
-- Loma Linda University operators …

Climate Change, Environmental Justice, And Vulnerability: An Exploratory Spatial Analysis, Sacoby M. Wilson, Roland Richard, Lesley Joseph, Edith M. Williams

Faculty Publications

Research has demonstrated that vulnerable populations including disadvantaged populations of color live in areas that may place them at higher risk of exposure to social and environmental hazards. Due to climate change, these populations may experience worse health outcomes and environmental health disparities. The purpose of this project was to explore the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assess areas that may be vulnerable to climate change across the United States. We employed ArcGIS 9.3 to create vulnerability scores for areas across the country that may be that may be impacted by climate change at the county level in …

Campaigns To Change Health Damaging Corporate Practices, Nicholas Freudenberg

Publications and Research

When corporations claim the same citizenship rights as human citizens, they exercise an undue influence on health policy and democratic processes. Surprisingly, the same basic repertoire of tactics has been found to be employed by corporations to effect this influence, regardless of the specific industry at work. In this book, authors from around the world reveal the range of tactics used across the corporate world that ultimately favor the bottom line over the greater good.

The Bottom Line or Public Health deconstructs some of the most ubiquitous tactics at play, including public relations, political influence, legal maneuvering, and financial power, …

Ethnicity And Health Disparities In Alcohol Research, Karen G. Chartier, Raul Caetano

Social Work Publications

Recent advances in alcohol research continue to build our understanding of alcohol consumption and related consequences for U.S. ethnic minority groups. National surveys show variations across ethnicities in drinking, alcohol use disorders, alcohol problems, and treatment use. Higher rates of high-risk drinking among ethnic minorities are reported for Native Americans and Hispanics, although within-ethnic group differences (e.g., gender, age-group, and other subpopulations) also are evident for ethnicities. Whites and Native Americans have a greater risk for alcohol use disorders relative to other ethnic groups. However, once alcohol dependence occurs, Blacks and Hispanics experience higher rates than Whites of recurrent or …

Community Violence As Psychosocial Stressor: The Case Of Childhood Asthma In Boston, Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Takeo Fujiwara, Sabrina Selk, Meghan Woo

Counseling, School Psychology & Sport Faculty Publication Series

Childhood asthma is a critical public health problem of urban centers in the United States and other industrialized nations. Population-based and laboratory research studies indicate that psychosocial stress differentially affects asthma expression. Witnessing or experiencing community violence is a psychosocial stressor that results in long-term biological changes that may in turn contribute to asthma morbidity. This is a review of the literature that examines the exposure to violence as a psychosocial stressor that is independently associated with asthma morbidity even after adjustment for income, housing, and other adverse life events. In addition to acting as a physiological trigger for the …

Prolonged Injustice In Urban America, Jametta Magwood, Edith M. Williams, Saundra H. Glover

Faculty Publications

Environmental inequality is the suggestion that the working class, the poor, persons of color, and ultimately the economically disadvantaged are subjected to living conditions that may prove to be hazardous both personally, professionally, and also to the infrastructure of the urban communities that these people inhabit. These injustices affect not only housing but education, quality healthcare access, and access to employment. This article investigates the distinct relationship of environmental inequalities imposed in urban communities that are promoted by a prominent institution: the government. It has been suggested that the government is primarily controlled by individuals who are incapable of identifying …

Understanding Environmental Health Disparities Of Roma Populations In Romania, Jennifer L. Hall

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Roma are the largest and most marginalized minority group of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with the highest number residing in Romania. Their problems and struggles are multi-faceted and deeply rooted in a long history of discrimination and stigmatization. Over the years, many strategies have been developed and implemented across CEE, yet very few studies have addressed their environmental and occupational health issues. Moreover, because the vast majority of these studies have employed quantitative methodology, they have had the unfortunate effect of dehumanizing and devaluing the Roma people through scientific reductionism.

The purpose of this study was to gain …

2009 Scholars And Artists Bibliography, Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University, Friends Of The Michael Schwartz Library, Michael Schwartz Ph.D.

Scholars and Artists Bibliographies

This bibliography was created for the annual Friends of the Michael Schwartz Library Scholars and Artists Reception, recognizing scholarly and creative achievements of Cleveland State University faculty, staff and emeriti. Dr. Michael Schwartz was the honored guest.

Agenda: World Energy Justice Conference And Appropriate Technology Arcade, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law

World Energy Justice Conference (October 23-24)

The 2009 CEES Energy Justice Conference took place at the University of Colorado Law School on October 23rd and 24th, 2009. It featured 11 sessions, more than 40 speakers, and attracted over 200 attendees. The Conference brought together leading international and U.S. decision-makers in politics, engineering, public health, law, business, economics, and innovators in the sciences to explore how best to address the critical needs of the energy-oppressed poor (EOP) through long-term interdisciplinary action, information sharing, and deployment of appropriate sustainable energy technologies (ASETs).

The Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy (CJIELP) at the University of Colorado Law …