Digital Commons Network^™

Implications For Nursing Practice: Delivering The Folic Acid Message, Kimberly Townsend Little

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 1995, North Carolina (NC) had one of the highest prevalence rates of neural tube defects (NTDs) in the United States. Since the NC Folic Acid Council began focusing their efforts on educating women of childbearing age regarding NTDs in 1994, the prevalence of NTDs has declined overall by 40%; however, NTD prevalence among Hispanics in NC continues to be double the rate of non-Hispanics. Research has found daily consumption of a multivitamin with folic acid significantly decreases NTDs. Healthy People 2010 include in their objectives the need to increase folic acid consumption in women and reduce the NTD rates. …

An Evaluation Of Lead Hazards In Pre-1978 Residental Housing Within Clark County, Nevada, Usa, Erika Raquel Torres

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lead poisoning remains a public health concern due to leads persistence in the environment from anthropogenic uses. Initial efforts to address the impacts of lead on vulnerable communities have included secondary prevention measures which typically occur after a child has been poisoned. However, in recent years there has been a pragmatic shift toward primary prevention efforts.

This study evaluates lead hazards identified through primary prevention activities in residential housing within Clark County, Nevada, USA. It is the first study to systematically address and evaluate pre-1978 housing in Southern Nevada. Risk assessments were conducted in 81 dwellings built prior to 1979 …

Maturation Of The Human Fetal Startle Response: Evidence For Sex-Specific Maturation Of The Human Fetus, Claudia Buss, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Quetzal A. Class, Matt Gierczak, Carol Pattillo, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the evidence for early fetal experience exerting programming influences on later neurological development and health risk, very few prospective studies of human fetal behavior have been reported. In a prospective longitudinal study, fetal nervous system maturation was serially assessed by monitoring fetal heart rate (FHR) responses to vibroacoustic stimulation (VAS) in 191 maternal/fetal dyads. Responses were not detected at 26 weeks gestational age (GA). Sex-specific, age-characteristic changes in the FHR response to VAS were observed by 31 weeks' GA. Males showed larger responses and continued to exhibit maturational changes until 37 weeks'GA, females however, presented with a mature FHR …

Antibiotic Prophylaxis For Leptospirosis, David Brett-Major, Robert J. Lipnick

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

BACKGROUND: Leptospira infection is a global zoonosis with significant health impact for agricultural workers and those persons whose work or recreation takes them into endemic areas.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review assessed the current literature for evidence for or against use of antibiotic prophylaxis against Leptospira infection (leptospirosis).

SEARCH STRATEGY: The authors searched The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SCI-Expanded as well as relevant professional society meeting abstracts until January 2009.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Prospective, randomised clinical trials studying antibiotic prophylaxis against leptospirosis were selected.

DATA …

Promoting Breast Cancer Screening Among Chinese American Women Through Young Children's Theatrical Performance, Angela Sun

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has revealed that underutilization of breast cancer screening by ethnic minorities often is related to language difficulties and cultural values and beliefs about cancer. The problem addressed in this secondary data analysis was the late diagnosis of breast cancer in the Chinese immigrant community. The purpose of the quasi-experimental study was to test the efficacy of a theatrical preschool performance, guided by the diffusion of innovation theory, in educating Chinese American women about breast cancer detection. The research questions sought to determine whether the performance increased the participants' knowledge of breast cancer screening guidelines and whether country of origin, …

Studi Kualitatif : Pelayanan Rujukan Asfiksia Bayi Baru Lahir Di Kabupaten Cirebon Jawa Barat, Ella Nurlaella Hadi

Kesmas

Pada tahun 2005, studi penatalaksanaan asfiksia bayi baru lahir (BBL) oleh bidan di desa Kabupaten Cirebon menemukan kematian asfiksia BBL yang dirujuk ke rumah sakit masih tinggi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan informasi yang mendalam tentang proses rujukan, alur penanganan rujukan kasus asfiksia BBL di RS dan kualitas pelayanan di RS rujukan Kabupaten Cirebon. Untuk itu, digunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode studi kasus. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan BdD sudah menangani asfiksia BBL dengan benar, tetapi rujukan sering terlambat karena adanya faktor penghambat dari keluarga (ekonomi dan keputusan merujuk harus melibatkan keluarga besar) dan faktor lingkungan (transportasi di desa terpencil sulit terutama …

Learning From Near Misses In Medication Errors: A Bayesian Approach, Jessica A. Myers, Francesca Dominici, Laura Morlock

Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of Biostatistics Working Papers

Medical errors originating in health care facilities are a significant source of preventable morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Voluntary error report systems that collect information on the causes and contributing factors of medi- cal errors regardless of the resulting harm may be useful for developing effective harm prevention strategies. Some patient safety experts question the utility of data from errors that did not lead to harm to the patient, also called near misses. A near miss (a.k.a. close call) is an unplanned event that did not result in injury to the patient. Only a fortunate break in the chain of …

A Small Sample Correction For Estimating Attributable Risk In Case-Control Studies, Daniel B. Rubin

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

The attributable risk, often called the population attributable risk, is in many epidemiological contexts a more relevant measure of exposure-disease association than the excess risk, relative risk, or odds ratio. When estimating attributable risk with case-control data and a rare disease, we present a simple correction to the standard approach making it essentially unbiased, and also less noisy. As with analogous corrections given in Jewell (1986) for other measures of association, the adjustment often won't make a substantial difference unless the sample size is very small or point estimates are desired within fine strata, but we discuss the possible utility …

Do Black Msm Have More Idu And Hiv Positive Partners Compared To White Men Having Sex With Men ?, Shankar Krishnappa

Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: This study estimates the proportion of intravenous drug use (IDU) partners and HIV positive sexual partners among black and white and examine the association between repeat HIV testing and sex with high risk partners. Methods: A cross-sectional study of MSM was conducted by using pooled data from counseling, Testing, Referral services in Virginia, USA 2002-2007. Results: We obtained a sample of 19679 MSM out of which 10924(56%) and 6739(34%) were white and black MSM respectively. The proportion of IDU partners and HIV positive partners were among white MSM (5% and 11%) and black MSM (3% and 9%) respectively. Age …

Season Of Birth And Risk For Schizophrenia, Seth Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic, debilitating mental disorder characterized by positive (e.g., hallucinations, delusions) and negative (e.g., catatonia, flat affect) signs and symptoms. Many studies suggest that individuals born in winter or spring months are at increased risk for schizophrenia. Study Objectives: 1) To determine whether season of birth affects risk for schizophrenia in the Irish Study of High Density Schizophrenia Families (ISHDSF). 2) To examine, by computer simulation, power to detect genetic associations with schizophrenia under a variety of conditions and using different analytic strategies. 3) To test whether specific genes are associated with schizophrenia in the Irish Case …

Effect Of Metro Living On Oral Cancers In Virginia: 2001-2005, Preeti Sastry

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Forty percent of all head and neck cancers occur in the oral cavity. According to ICD-O (International classification of diseases for oncology) C00-C14 includes cancers of the lip, oral cavity and pharynx. Studies have indicated that increased population density or Metro living have increased oral cancer incidence. The objectives of this study are to look at the distribution of Oral and Oro pharyngeal Cancers in Virginia from 2001-2005 The study aims to determine if there is an association between metro living (beale code 3) and advanced Oral Cancers. This study is also being done to determine if Metro living …

Spatial Misalignment In Time Series Studies Of Air Pollution And Health Data, Roger D. Peng, Michelle L. Bell

Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of Biostatistics Working Papers

Time series studies of environmental exposures often involve comparing daily changes in a toxicant measured at a point in space with daily changes in an aggregate measure of health. Spatial misalignment of the exposure and response variables can bias the estimation of health risk and the magnitude of this bias depends on the spatial variation of the exposure of interest. In air pollution epidemiology, there is an increasing focus on estimating the health effects of the chemical components of particulate matter. One issue that is raised by this new focus is the spatial misalignment error introduced by the lack of …

An Analysis Of Current Healthcare Proposals: Obama And Mccain, Dan Terrell

Honors Projects in Economics

The healthcare system of the U.S. is broken. The next opportunity for overwhelming healthcare system reform will be when the next president takes office. This paper analyzes the 2008 presidential election candidates McCain and Obama healthcare proposals through a look at key players in the current healthcare system (government, pharmaceuticals, doctors, hospitals, and health insurance companies) and the affects of implementing such a plan. The presidential plans are presented side by side. Projected outcomes of the changes offered by Obama will be an increased role of the government and decreased power of the health insurance companies while increasing coverage. The …

Psychological Distress And Change In A Pediatric Obesity Population, Amy Rebecca Beck

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Pediatric overweight and obesity is a growing national epidemic with 15 percent of children ages 6-19 considered obese and at least 22 percent considered overweight. While there is considerable research pointing to contributing factors of obesity, there is a paucity of research which elucidates what contributes to successful intervention. Considering that by the year 2050, nearly 50 million Americans may be obese, understanding the factors delineating success of weight loss and prevention is a necessity. The purpose of this study was to utilize archival data from the LLU Growing Fit Program to evaluate the levels of psychological distress experienced by …

Ecological Niche Of The 2003 West Nile Virus Epidemic In The Northern Great Plains Of The United States, Michael Wimberly, Michael B. Hildreth, Stephen P. Boyte, Erik Lindquist, Lon Kightlinger

United States Public Health Resources

Background: The incidence of West Nile virus (WNv) has remained high in the northern Great Plains compared to the rest of the United States. However, the reasons for the sustained high risk of WNv transmission in this region have not been determined. To assess the environmental drivers of WNv in the northern Great Plains, we analyzed the county-level spatial pattern of human cases during the 2003 epidemic across a seven-state region.
Methodology/Principal Findings: County-level data on WNv cases were examined using spatial cluster analysis, and were used to fit statistical models with weather, climate, and land use variables as predictors. …

Young People's Blood Alcohol Concentration And The Alcohol Consumption City Law, Brazil, Raquel De Boni, Carl G. Leukefeld, Flavio Pechansky

Center on Drug and Alcohol Research Faculty Publications

The paper assesses blood alcohol concentration and risk behaviors for traffic accidents before and after the implementation of a law which prohibits the use of alcoholic beverages on city gas stations. In Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil, young people go out at night and drive to gas station convenience stores to buy alcoholic beverages which are consumed on the premises of parking lots in gas stations. Data were obtained from self-administered questionnaires and breath analyzers in two cross-sectional collections with purposive samples of youngsters in May and July 2006 (n=62, and n=50, respectively). There were no significant differences between the groups …

How Does A Riverine Setting Affect The Lifestyle Of Shellmound Builders In Brazil?, Sabine Eggers, C. C. Petronilho, K. Brandt, C. Jericó-Daminello, J. Filippini, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

The contact of inland and coastal prehistoric groups in Brazil is believed to have been restricted to regions with no geographical barrier, as is the case in the Ribeira de Iguape valley. The inland osteological collection from the riverine shellmound Moraes (5800–4500 BP) represents a unique opportunity to test this assumption for this region. Despite cultural similarities between riverine and coastal shellmounds, important ecological and site distribution differences are expected to impact on lifestyle. The purpose of this study is thus to document and interpret health and lifestyle indicators in Moraes in comparison to coastal shellmound groups. Specifically we test …

Utilitaires Informatiques Pour La Gestion Des Contraintes Thermiques (Document Archivé), Daniel Drolet, Pierre C. Dessureault

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Pendant les périodes très chaudes, les travailleurs qui exercent leur métier à l’extérieur peuvent être sujets à des malaises allant parfois jusqu’au coup de chaleur. Le Règlement sur la santé et la sécurité du travail (RSST) prévoit des valeurs d’exposition admissibles (VEA) à la chaleur basées sur la Wet Bulb and Globe Temperature (WBGT). L’application de cette mesure exige toutefois des moyens techniques dont les milieux de travail ne disposent pas toujours. C’est pourquoi la CSST propose depuis plusieurs années le Guide de prévention des coups de chaleur qui utilise le paramètre nommé démarche de la température d’air corrigée (TAC), …

The Effect Of Knowledge And Attitudes Of Emergency Contraception On Its Use In Undergraduate Students, Amanda Marie Waldrup

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A web-based cross sectional analysis utilizing the Spearman Coefficient was used to examine the relationship between 341 college students’ knowledge and attitudes toward emergency contraception. Personal characteristics and background factors such as age, race, gender, past and current use of contraception, past unintended pregnancies, and type of sex education in high school were compared to current knowledge levels and attitudes as related to use among college students. Results indicated that general knowledge is high, but detailed knowledge is lacking. Confusion between emergency contraception and RU-486 exist, which could lead to concerned attitudes ultimately effecting use. Most high schools that offer …

Breast Cancer Fatalism: The Role Of Women's Perceptions Of The Health Care System, Allyson G. Hall, Amal J. Khoury, Ellen D.S. Lopez, Nedra Lisovicz, Amanda Avis-Williams, Amal K. Mitra

Faculty Publications

Cancer fatalism, which can be understood as the belief that cancer is a death sentence, has been found to be a deterrent to preventive cancer screening participation. This study examines factors associated with breast cancer fatalism among women. We analyzed data from a 2003 survey of women 40 years of age. The survey collected information about respondents' knowledge and attitudes regarding breast health. Analyses compared the characteristics of women who reported and those who did not report a fatalistic attitude. Women with a fatalistic attitude were more likely to be African American, to have a family history of breast cancer, …

Neuroimaging And Recovery Of Language In Aphasia, Cynthia K. Thompson, Dirk B. Den Ouden

Faculty Publications

The use of functional neuroimaging techniques has advanced what is known about the neural mechanisms used to support language processing in aphasia resulting from brain damage. This paper highlights recent findings derived from neuroimaging studies focused on neuroplasticity of language networks, the role of the left and right hemispheres in this process, and studies examining how treatment affects the neurobiology of recovery. We point out variability across studies as well as factors related to this variability, and we emphasize challenges that remain for research.

Roofing Foreman Dies From Telescopic Boom Lift Fall, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Falls

On a winter day in 2008, a male roofer/ foreman died after falling from a telescopic boom lift. He and four other roofing crew members were installing a new roof at a residence undergoing restoration. They had arrived at the job site at approximately 7:45 AM.

At approximately 8:00 AM, the foreman and two roofers were installing flashing on the roof of an alcove on the south side of the house while two other roofers were in a pickup truck putting on coveralls. The crew on the roof needed red rosin underlayment (paper) which was in the pickup truck. Using …

Concept, Design And Implementation Of A Cardiovascular Gene-Centric 50 K Snp Array For Large-Scale Genomic Association Studies, Brendan J. Keating, Sam Tischfield, Sarah S. Murray, Tushar Bhangale, Thomas S. Price, Joseph T. Glessner, Luana Galver, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Struan F A Grant, Deborah N. Farlow, Hareesh R. Chandrupatla, Mark Hansen, Saad Ajmal, George J. Papanicolaou, Yiran Guo, Mingyao Li, Stephanie Derohannessian, Paul I W. De Bakker, Swneke D. Bailey, Alexandre Montpetit, Andrew C. Edmondson, Kent Taylor, Xiaowu Gai, Susanna S. Wang, Myriam Fornage, Tamim Shaikh, Leif Groop, Michael Boehnke, Alistair S. Hall, Andrew T. Hattersley, Edward Frackelton, Nick Patterson, Charleston K W Chiang, Cecelia E. Kim, Richard R. Fabsitz, Willem Ouwehand, Alkes L. Price, Patricia Munroe, Mark Caulfield, Thomas Drake, Eric Boerwinkle, David Reich, A Stephen Whitehead, Thomas P. Cappola, Nilesh J. Samani, A Jake Lusis, Eric Schadt, James G. Wilson, Wolfgang Koenig, Mark I. Mccarthy, Sekar Kathiresan, Stacey B. Gabriel, Hakon Hakonarson, Sonia S. Anand, Muredach Reilly, James C. Engert, Deborah A. Nickerson, Daniel J. Rader, Joel N. Hirschhorn, Garret A. Fitzgerald

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A wealth of genetic associations for cardiovascular and metabolic phenotypes in humans has been accumulating over the last decade, in particular a large number of loci derived from recent genome wide association studies (GWAS). True complex disease-associated loci often exert modest effects, so their delineation currently requires integration of diverse phenotypic data from large studies to ensure robust meta-analyses. We have designed a gene-centric 50 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array to assess potentially relevant loci across a range of cardiovascular, metabolic and inflammatory syndromes. The array utilizes a "cosmopolitan" tagging approach to capture the genetic diversity across approximately 2,000 …

Aggressive Vs Conservative Phototherapy For Infants With Extremely Low Birth Weight, Brenda H Morris, William Oh, Jon E Tyson, David K Stevenson, Dale L Phelps, T Michael O'Shea, Georgia E Mcdavid, Rebecca L Perritt, Krisa P Van Meurs, Betty R Vohr, Cathy Grisby, Qing Yao, Claudia Pedroza, Abhik Das, W Kenneth Poole, Waldemar A Carlo, Shahnaz Duara, Abbot R Laptook, Walid A Salhab, Seetha Shankaran, Brenda B Poindexter, Avroy A Fanaroff, Michele C Walsh, Maynard R Rasmussen, Barbara J Stoll, C Michael Cotten, Edward F Donovan, Richard A Ehrenkranz, Ronnie Guillet, Rosemary D Higgins

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether aggressive phototherapy to prevent neurotoxic effects of bilirubin benefits or harms infants with extremely low birth weight (1000 g or less).

METHODS: We randomly assigned 1974 infants with extremely low birth weight at 12 to 36 hours of age to undergo either aggressive or conservative phototherapy. The primary outcome was a composite of death or neurodevelopmental impairment determined for 91% of the infants by investigators who were unaware of the treatment assignments.

RESULTS: Aggressive phototherapy, as compared with conservative phototherapy, significantly reduced the mean peak serum bilirubin level (7.0 vs. 9.8 mg per deciliter [120 …

Calibrating Parametric Subject-Specific Risk Estimation, Tianxi Cai, Lu Tian, Hajime Uno, Scott D. Solomon, L. J. Wei

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Tending To Richmond's Children: Community Strategies To Bridge Service Gaps, Judith D. Moore, Jessamyn Taylor

National Health Policy Forum

The National Health Policy Forum sponsored a site visit to Richmond, Virginia, in October 2008 to explore social and environmental determinants of children’s health, including the impacts that poverty and exposure to lead-based paint have on birth outcomes, child development, and school readiness; and the community's efforts to address them. Though not large in population terms, Richmond faces many of the social and economic problems often common in larger urban areas—concentrated poverty, migration of wealth and services to the surrounding counties, a high infant mortality rate, and troubled schools. The site visit explored community strategies to improve birth outcomes and …

Medicaid And Mental Health Services, Cynthia Shirk

National Health Policy Forum

Medicaid is the largest payer of mental health services in the United States, contributing more than any other private or public source of funding. This background paper highlights the variety of services and supports needed by individuals with mental illness and Medicaid’s increasing role in mental health coverage. It provides an overview of Medicaid coverage of mental health services and identifies some of the key challenges in providing that coverage.

Evaluating Subject-Level Incremental Values Of New Markers For Risk Classification Rule, Tianxi Cai, Lu Tian, Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, L. J. Wei

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Study Design And Biostatistics For The Bedside Healthcare Professional., Sherrine Eid Mph

Department of Community Health and Health Studies

No abstract provided.

College Students’ Knowledge About Meningococcal Disease And Preferences For Health Information

Florida Public Health Review

The purpose of this study was to measure college students’ knowledge about meningococcal disease, preferred sources of health information, and vaccine intentions. Participants included 519 students taking online undergraduate courses in public health. We developed and administered a brief, ten-question online survey, which was posted on BlackBoard®. Students demonstrated a high level of knowledge about risk factors for meningococcal disease, but reported a need for more information, preferably delivered through electronic media. About a third of students had received the meningococcal vaccine prior to the survey; students who lived on campus were more likely to be vaccinated. Further research is …