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A Survey Of Antimicrobial Stewardship Practices In The Western United States: Successes And Challenges, Gayle Louise Allenback

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Antibiotics are one of the most important developments in medicine, and their ability to prevent and control infections has had a major impact in clinical medicine. However, the past three decades have shown an increase in multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in both hospital patients and in the community, decreasing our ability to successfully control infection. Complicating the depletion of effective antimicrobials is the fact that, in the last 10 years, there has also been a decrease in the development of new antibacterial agents. Resistant infections have resulted in increased morbidity and mortality, with a consequential increase in healthcare costs. The utilization …

Solving The Obesity Problem One Bite At A Time: A Review Of Interventions, Sally Catherine Davis

Honors Theses

Resource limitations contribute to obesity in southern rural populations. An examination of published research provides evidence related to factors that lead to obesity and to related health consequences. Resource limitations in southern rural areas include a lack of access to healthy foods, a lack of safe areas to exercise or fitness equipment, and a lack of funding to promote the hiring of adequate numbers of healthcare workers to implement prevention programs and treat obesity related diseases. An investigation of obesity rates in Mississippi and Louisiana demonstrate that high rates of obesity exist. Through an exploration of published interventions in both …

The Lived Experience Of Black African Nurses Educated Within The United States, Amy Elizabeth Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite the unprecedented growth of minority populations in the United States, the nursing profession has remained relatively homogenous. Nursing education has increased the number of minority students entering nursing programs; however, attrition rates for minority nursing students are as high as 85% (Gilchrist & Rector, 2007). As the population grows in diversity, the need for nurses who are fluent in foreign languages and who understand minority values, traditions, and cultural practice will be essential in delivering culturally competent care. Improving the retention of minority nursing students is an important step in increasing the diversity within the nursing workforce.

Although several …

Expanding The Dialogue On Patient Experience, Jason A. Wolf Phd

Patient Experience Journal

It is with great excitement that I welcome you to the inaugural issue of Patient Experience Journal (PXJ). This publication in so many ways epitomizes all that is right and good about the patient experience movement itself. That being: no one individual or organization owns this conversation or can claim to have every answer, but rather it is a true effort of a community of voices from research to practice, from caregivers to patients and family members, across the care continuum and into the reaches of resources provided and concepts yet unknown.

This journal is a product of and …

Suppression Of Basophil Histamine-Release And Other Ige-Dependent Responses In Childhood Schistosoma Mansoni Hookworm Co-Infection, Angela Pinot De Moira, Colin M. Fitzsimmons, Frances M. Jones, Shona Wilson, Pierre Cahen, Edridah Tukahebwa, Harriet Mpairwe, Joseph K. Mwatha, Jeffrey M. Bethony, Per S. Skov, Narcis B. Kabatereine, David W. Dunne

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

Background. The poor correlation between allergen-specific-IgE (asIgE) and clinical signs of allergy in helminth infected populations suggests that helminth infections could protect against allergy by uncoupling asIgE from its effector mechanisms. We investigated this hypothesis in Ugandan schoolchildren coinfected with Schistosoma mansoni and hookworm.

Methods. Skin prick test (SPT) sensitivity to house dust mite allergen (HDM) and current wheeze were assessed pre-anthelmintic treatment. Non-specific (anti-IgE), helminth-specific and HDM-allergen-specific basophil histamine release (HR), plus helminth- and HDM-specific IgE and IgG4 responses were measured pre- and post-treatment.

Results. Non-specific- and helminth-specific-HR, and associations between helminth-specific-IgE and helminth-specific-HR increased post-treatment. Hookworm infection appeared …

A Method For Identifying Positive Deviant Local Health Departments In Maternal And Child Health, Tamar A. Klaiman, Athena Pantazis, Betty Bekemeier

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Local health departments (LHDs) are under increasing pressure to improve performance with limited resources. While research has found that financial resources may be associated with better health outcomes, there are some LHDs that maintain exceptional performance, even with limited budgets. Our interest was identifying LHDs that positively deviate in MCH outcomes compared to their peers while taking into account local context including geography and finances. We found that our method for identifying positive deviants was effective, and that LHD expenditures may not be linked to MCH outcomes. The next step in our work is to conduct in-depth analysis with positive …

Comparing Dietary Patterns Of College Students When Eating In America Versus Eating In China: Impact On Nutrition Intake, Body Weight And Waist Circumference, Maoxinyu (Daisy) Wu

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

No abstract provided.

Federal Disaster Declarations And Denials: Analyzing Spatial Equity In The Implementation Of The Stafford Act, Richard Salkowe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Federal disaster declarations are authorized by the president under the provisions of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988. Prior studies have found varying levels of political influence associated with the declaration process. Factors including electoral votes, reelection years, congressional committee appointments, geographic location, and party favoritism have been implicated in claims of inequity associated with the distribution of federal disaster assistance. Compounding these concerns is evidence of recurring problems associated with disparities in the long-term recovery from disasters based on social and economic factors. This dissertation is a response to the call for further …

Historical Health Conditions In Major Us Cities: The Hue Data Set, Carlos Villareal, Brian Bettenhausen, Eric Hanss, Jonathan Hersh

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

The Historical Urban Ecological data set is a new resource detailing health and environmental conditions within seven major U.S. cities during the study period from 1830 to 1930. Researchers collected and digitized ward-level data from annual reports of municipal departments that detail the epidemiological, economic, and demographic conditions within each city. They then drafted new geographic information system data to link the tabular records to ward geographies. These data provide a new foundation to revisit questions surrounding the urban mortality transition and the growth of U.S. cities.

2014 - The Nineteenth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Nineteenth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 17, 2014. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Using Cbct As A Diagnostic Tool For Evaluation Of Infrabony Defects In Vivo, Anya Rost

Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Clinicians rely on radiographs and clinical exam to assess infrabony defects. However, two-dimensional radiographs have many limitations. Three-dimensional imaging has shown promise and has provided more precise measurements of defects created in skulls. The aim of this study is to compare the diagnostic efficacy of cone beam computed tomography to clinical measurements in patients presenting with infrabony defects. METHODS: The study population included 20 patients with 25 infrabony defects. Clinical measurements of pocket depth (PD), gingival margin (GM), bone sounding (BS) were obtained and PD and BS were compared to CBCT measurements. RESULTS: The average difference between the means …

More Than Just Hospitals: An Examination Of Cluster Components And Configurations, Patrick Shay

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past 25 years, health care organization scholars have observed the dramatic emergence of hospital-based clusters in local markets throughout the U.S. These important organizational forms require same-system ownership of multiple general, acute care hospitals operating within a single local market, and as such they include multi-hospital systems that are entirely contained in a single urban market as well as clustered extensions or subsystems of larger regional and national systems. However, despite their noted growth as powerful forces in local markets, relatively few studies have examined these clusters, and as a result there remains a significant gap in our …

Proceedings - Wright State University Boonshoft School Of Medicine Sixth Annual Medical Student Research Symposium: Celebrating Medical Student Scholarship, Office Of Research Affairs, Boonshoft School Of Medicine

Medical Student Research Symposium Proceedings

The student abstract booklet is a compilation of abstracts from students' oral and poster presentations at Wright State University's Sixth Annual Boonshoft School of Medicine Medical Student Research Symposium held on April 10, 2014.

Developing Service Delivery Measures For Studies Of Practice Variation: The Mprove Study, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

The Multi-Network Practice and Outcome Variation (MPROVE) Study supports investigations of the causes and consequences of variation in public health service delivery through collecting a standardized set of delivery measures across more than 300 local practice settings in 6 states. The measures characterize volume, intensity, quality, efficiency, and equity of service delivery in three core domains of chronic disease prevention, communicable disease control, and environmental health protection.

An Evaluation Of Prenatal Care Clinic Selection And The Association With Subsequent Process/Outcome Measures Among Medicaid Beneficiaries, Lynn Vanderwielen

Theses and Dissertations

In 2010 Medicaid financed approximately 48% of all births in the United States and nearly 30% of all births in Virginia. Due to strict state-specific eligibility criteria, many low-income women qualify for Medicaid coverage exclusively as a result of pregnancy status. As the nation moves forward with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), state-elected Medicaid expansion has the potential to expand services to women of reproductive age that would precede pregnancy events and offer continuous access to care postpartum. Despite this potential influx of newly insured women, little is known about how this population may make decisions regarding …

Stragegies For Attracting And Retaining Teachers, Paul Bland, Edwin Church, Mingchu Luo

Administrative Issues Journal

Attracting and retaining high quality teachers is a challenge for many school districts. This is especially true in a time of increased accountability and limited resources. This report details best practice in the training, hiring, improvement, and retention of high quality teaching staff. The authors explain how school leaders can attract quality teaching staff, provide effective new teacher induction programs, and establish procedures that will assist in retaining the best of the best teaching staff.

The Edward Bliss Emerson Journal Project: Qualitative Research By A Non-Hierarchical Team, José G. Rigau-Pérez, Silvia E. Rabionet, Annette B. Ramírez De Arellano, Wilfredo A. Géigel, Alma Simounet, Raúl Mayo-Santana

The Qualitative Report Books

Edward Bliss Emerson (1805-1834), a younger brother of the renowned essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, lived in the Caribbean for the final three years of his life. His journal and letters are a rich manuscript source for the history of the Danish Virgin Islands (1831-1832) and Puerto Rico (1831-1834). The texts also reflect the contemporary political and cultural situation in the United States, and Edward's search for health, economic independence, intellectual stimulation and metaphysical fulfillment.

These writings ignited an intellectual passion in José G. Rigau-Pérez, a physician, medical epidemiologist, and historian in Puerto Rico. Furthering access to these unique …

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2014, 134th Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Twenty-Fourth Annual Meeting, April 11, 2014

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Collegiate Academy: Biology

Chemistry and Physics

Collegiate Academy: Chemistry and Physics

Applied Science and Technology

Biological and Medical Sciences

Aeronautics and Space Science, Poster Session

Anthropology

Maiben Memorial Lecture: "Education, Careers and Opportunities in Engineering and Metallurgy in Nebraska," Terry Rasmussen, Nucor Steel, Norfolk, Nebraska

Teaching of Science and Mathematics

Anthropology

Earth Science

Evidence-Based Health Literacy Training Program For Occupational Therapy Professionals : Program Development And Evaluation, Cheryl Miller-Scott

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This capstone project is a training program development and evaluation project. The purpose of the project was to develop, pilot, and evaluate an

evidence-based health literacy training program for occupational therapy professionals. Occupational therapy strives to be a science-driven profession, which provides client-centered care. Health literacy is a client-centered factor for which occupational therapy professionals require additional training to best serve their clients in all settings and across the lifespan. A review of health literacy literature was used in this project to develop the training program and offers a science-driven approach to this client-centered factor for occupational therapists to better …

Narco-Trauma: The Phenomenology Of The Mexican Drug War Among Binational Students At The Border, Kathleen A. O'Connor

Nursing Faculty Publications

In this article, I present research conducted among 242 university students living in the binational metropolitan area encompassing El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, that has been affected by drug violence. The particular focus is on narratives of social suffering and lived experience in the context of drug violence.

Forecasting The Spread Of Raccoon Rabies Using A Purpose-Specific Group Decision-Making Process., Aaron M. Anderson, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Richard B. Chipman, Todd C. Atwood, Tyler Cozzens, Frank Fillo, Robert Hale, Brody Hatch, Joanne Maki, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Erin E. Rees, Charles E. Rupprecht, Rowland Tinline, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Dennis Slate

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and USDA Wildlife Services (WS) have been involved in an oral rabies vaccination (ORV) program for raccoons (Procyon lotor) that has slowed the westward spread of raccoon rabies. The objective of this study was to forecast the spread of the disease if an ORV zone was not maintained. A group decision-making process was designed to address the forecasting problem and was implemented using a group of 15 experts and 4 support personnel at a meeting at the USDA National Wildlife Research Center. Ten expansion regions were constructed that described the spread of …

Resources Matter: The Role Of Social Capital And Collective Efficacy In Mediating Gun Violence, Jennifer Lynne Dean

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This study explains how community activists make use of available social capital and collective efficacy while attempting to mediate gun violence. It specifically focuses on twelve in-depth interviews of activists' perspectives, processes and rationales to alleviate community gun violence, based on informal social control models. Findings suggest activists must establish trust and respect with youth they work with before mediation begins, which is established through similar life experiences or backgrounds. Once a strong bond is established with youth, activists identified five core processes to reduce violence: 1) improve the mindset, 2) provide life skills, 3) assist youth as their …

Pathways Of Embodiment: Drug Use Among Adolescents In Popay[Aacute]N Colombia, Sarah Louise Fishleder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the interrelated biological and cultural factors that determine pathways by which recreational drug use is manifest to addiction in the lives of youth aged 12-18 in Popay[aacute]n, Colombia. It utilizes existing data from mixed methods research conducted between 2004-2005 examining epidemiological risk factors, drug use, perceptions about drugs, and a biological phenomenon of the brain known as incentive salience. Perceptions and experiences related to drugs were gathered using structured methods. MDS and hierarchical plots of drug perceptions are presented in order to demonstrate the power of culture and expectation on perception and choice. Structural equation modeling was …

Inferences & Connections, Tamara Kneese

Media Studies

Data-oriented systems are inferring relationships between people based on genetic material, behavioral patterns (e.g., shared geography imputed by phone carriers), and performed associations (e.g., "friends" online or shared photographs). What responsibilities do entities who collect data that imputes connections have to those who are implicated by association? For example, as DNA and other biological materials are collected outside of medicine (e.g., at point of arrest, by informatics services like 23andme, for scientific inquiry), what rights do relatives (living, dead, and not-yet-born) have? In what contexts is it acceptable to act based on inferred associations and in which contexts is it …

Ada News - 03/17/2014, American Dental Association, Publishing Division

ADA News

Established in 1970 as the official newspaper of the American Dental Association, the ADA News serves practicing dentists and others allied to the dental profession in the U.S. and internationally. It is the No. 1 source of news and information about the many benefits and services the ADA delivers to members daily as well as timely information on scientific, social, political and economic developments affecting dentistry and health care.

Understanding Racial Hiv/Sti Disparities In Black And White Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Multilevel Approach, Patrick S. Sullivan, John Peterson, Eli S. Rosenberg, Colleen F. Kelley, Hannah Cooper, Adam Vaughan, Laura F. Salazar, Paula M. Frew, Gina Wingood, Ralph Diclemente, Carlos Del Rio, Mark Mulligan, Travis H. Sanchez

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

Background The reasons for black/white disparities in HIV epidemics among men who have sex with men have puzzled researchers for decades. Understanding reasons for these disparities requires looking beyond individual-level behavioral risk to a more comprehensive framework. Methods and Findings

Pedigree Structure And Kinship Measurements Of A Mid-Michigan Community: A New North American Population Isolate Identified, Joseph D. Bonner, Rachel Fisher, James Klein, Qing Lu, Ellen Wilch, Karen H. Friderici, Jill L. Elfenbein, Debra L. Schutte, Brian C. Schutte

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Previous studies identified a cluster of individuals with an autosomal recessive form of deafness that resides in a small region of mid-Michigan. We hypothesized that affected members from this community descend from a defined founder population. Using public records and personal interviews, we constructed a genealogical database that includes the affected individuals and their extended families as descendants of 461 settlers who emigrated from the Eifel region of Germany between 1836 and 1875. The genealogical database represents a 13-generation pedigree that includes 27,747 descendants of these settlers. Among these descendants, 13,784 are presumed living. Many of the extant descendants reside …

Why Hospital Improvement Efforts Fail: A View From The Front Line., Paul D. Longenecker, Clinton O. Longenecker

Health and Sport Sciences Faculty Scholarship

In the 21st century, healthcare executives are facing changes of unprecedented magnitude in virtually every area, affecting their ability to compete. That hindrance brings with it a greater need for rapid and effective organizational change and improvement. Yet changes in the U.S. healthcare delivery system have historically been criticized as slow and less than effective in responding to the changes necessary for rapid performance improvement. To that end, the purpose of this applied research study was to help healthcare executives better understand the barriers to effective organizational change and improvement from the perspective of frontline leaders. Focus groups were conducted …

Mental Health In Mississippi: Analysis And Recommendations, Harvard Law School Mississippi Delta Project

Delta Directions: Publications

Thousands of Mississippians struggle with some type of mental illness, and their experiences illustrate that mental health is more than just a medical issue. Mental health has a profound impact on Mississippi’s economy and overall standard of living; it is deeply connected to education, unemployment rates, crime, drug use, and public assistance. Given the far-­‐reaching impact of mental health, it is important that all stakeholders (e.g., mental health professionals, state legislators, local policymakers, educators, attorneys), have access to detailed information about the current state of Mississippi’s mental health system as well as an in-­‐depth analysis of the system’s most pressing …

Lactase Persistence Variants In Arabia And In The African Arabs, Edita Priehodova, Abdelhay Abdelsawy, Evelyne Heyer, Viktor Cerny

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Lactase persistence (LP), the state enabling the digestion of milk sugar in adulthood occurs only in some human populations. The convergent and independent origin of this physiological ability in Europe and Africa is linked with animal domestication that had either started in both places independently or had spread from the Near East by acculturation. However, it has recently been shown that at least in its southern parts, the population of Arabia not only has a different LP-associated mutation profile than the rest of Africa and Europe but had also experienced an independent demographic expansion occurring before the Neolithic around the …