Digital Commons Network^™

Determination Of The Efficacy Of Two Building Decontamination Strategies By Surface Sampling With Culture And Quantitative Pcr Analysis, Mark P. Buttner, Patrica Cruz, Linda Stetzenbach, Amy Klima-Comba

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

The efficacy of currently available decontamination strategies for the treatment of indoor furnishings contaminated with bioterrorism agents is poorly understood. Efficacy testing of decontamination products in a controlled environment is needed to ensure that effective methods are used to decontaminate domestic and workplace settings. An experimental room supplied with materials used in office furnishings (i.e., wood laminate, painted metal, and vinyl tile) was used with controlled dry aerosol releases of endospores of Bacillus atrophaeus (“Bacillus subtilis subsp. niger,” also referred to as BG), a Bacillus anthracis surrogate. Studies were performed using two test products, a foam decontaminant and chlorine dioxide …

Jefferson Medical College Annual Report, 2004, Thomas J. Nasca

Jefferson Medical College Administrative Documents and Reports

No abstract provided.

Racial Discrepancies In The Association Between Paternal Vs. Maternal Educational Level And Risk Of Low Birthweight In Washington State, Christina Nicolaidis, Cynthia W. Ko, Somnath Saha, Thomas D. Koepsell

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: The role of paternal factors in determining the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes has received less attention than maternal factors. Similarly, the interaction between the effects of race and socioeconomic status (SES) on pregnancy outcomes is not well known. Our objective was to assess the relative importance of paternal vs. maternal education in relation to risk of low birth weight (LBW) across different racial groups.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study using Washington state birth certificate data from 1992 to 1996 (n = 264,789). We assessed the associations between maternal or paternal education and LBW, adjusting for …

Commencement Program 2004, Loma Linda University

Commencement Programs

CONTENTS

2 | 2004 Events of Commencement

3 | The Academic Procession

4 | Significance of Academic Regalia

5 | The Speakers

12 | The University Honorees

19 | The School Honorees

27 | The Program

• School of Medicine, 28
• School of Dentistry, 35
• Graduate School, 44
• School of Nursing, 54
• School of Allied Health Professions - Physical Therapy, 59
• School of Allied Health Professions, 65
• School of Public Health, 73

The Association Of Blood Type On The Five Factors Of Personality In Chinese Adolescents, Kunher Wu

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to identify the number of personality factors in Chinese adolescents using the Chinese Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and to determine whether blood type is associated with personality. It is widely accepted by psychologists that the five-factor model can provide an adequate representation of adult personality dimensions, but there is less agreement on the number of factors observable in adolescence. A total of 3,396 11^th graders from the city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan completed the Chinese NEO-PI-R. Principle component analysis with varimax rotation showed five factors of personality in these Taiwanese adolescents, which clearly …

The Anti-Proliferation Effects Of Lycopene On Breast Cancer Cells, Tixieanna Dissmore

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background: The incidence and deaths from breast cancer represent the most cause of all cancer deaths among women. Lycopene, the carotenoid in tomatoes has been associated with decreasing risk of prostate, breast, and digestive tract cancers. Various mechanisms of lycopene action have been proposed, including antioxidant activity and pro-differentiation activities. Identifying changes in the expression of proteins modified by lycopene can provide information to study the modulating effects of lycopene carcinogenesis and tumorigenesis development.

Objective: The objective was to study the anti-proliferative effects of lycopene on MCF- 7 human breast cancer cells and to identify changes in protein expression patterns. …

Osha Laboratory Safety Standard 29 Cfr 1910.1450 And Achieving Compliance In The Microelectronic Laboratory, Danielle M. Digironimo

Theses

This thesis is a practical application of occupational exposures to hazardous substances in a microelectronics laboratory. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard for the safety in laboratories is (29 CFR 1910.1450). The application is a demonstration of the implementation of the standard in a university setting. Hazards that exist in laboratory settings are very complex and the task of providing a safe workplace can become increasingly complicated. A laboratory can and does impose different health and safety concerns that a standard industrial workplace setting might not have. The need for a laboratory safety standard program to be implemented …

Predicting The Use Of Personal Respiratory Protection Among Workers In Swine Confinement Buildings, M. Susan Jones

Nursing Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to identify the variables that influence the frequency of personal respiratory protection (PRP) use by workers in swine confinement buildings (SCBs). The study was designed to answer four research questions: 1). What is the validity and reliability of the Personal Respiratory Protection Survey (PRPS)? 2). How frequently do workers in SCBs wear PRP? 3). How do demographics, occupational histories, and self-reported respiratory health histories influence the use of PRP in SCBs? and 4). What are the relationships of the constructs (benefits, barriers, susceptibility, severity, norms) to the use of PRP by workers in SCBs? …

On Corrected Score Approach For Proportional Hazards Model With Covariate Measurement Error, Xiao Song, Yijian Huang

UW Biostatistics Working Paper Series

In the presence of covariate measurement error with the proportional hazards model, several functional modeling methods have been proposed. These include the conditional score estimator (Tsiatis and Davidian, 2001), the parametric correction estimator (Nakamura, 1992) and the nonparametric correction estimator (Huang and Wang, 2000, 2003) in the order of weaker assumptions on the error. Although they are all consistent, each suffers from potential difficulties with small samples and substantial measurement error. In this article, upon noting that the conditional score and parametric correction estimators are asymptotically equivalent in the case of normal error, we investigate their relative finite sample performance …

Religion And Crime: A Study Of Inmates In State And Federal Prisons In The United States., Dhanalakshmi Thirumalai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Persistent high levels of crime in this country have provided support for the need for public programs that help in reducing crime rates through effective interventions. Spirituality and religion are considered to play a major part in determining an individual's attitude towards committing a crime. This study analyzed if inmates in State and Federal prisons in the US are involved in prison religious activities and personal prayers in order to determine if criminality (measured by offense type) of inmates affects their participation in religious activities. Based on logistic regression analysis, gender, race, and marital status of inmates were found to …

Investigation And Calculation Of Dose Coefficients For Radionuclides Produced In A Spallation Neutron Source Using The Ensdf And Nubase Nuclear Databases, Yayun Song

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Dose coefficients are useful for risk assessment during the design and siting of accelerator-driven nuclear facilities including the Spallation Neutron Source. There are seventy-two radionuclides with half-lives equal to or greater than one minute that will be produced by the spallation of a mercury target for which no published dose coefficients exist. Out of these seventy-two, twenty-four currently have conflicting published nuclear data in the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data Files (ENSDF) and the NUBASE data files. In this research these twenty-four radionuclides have been studied. Because of missing ENSDF records, internal and external dose coefficients were determined for only six …

Confronting The Impending Public Health Workforce Crisis In America: Perspectives From Academia And Public Health Practice.

Florida Public Health Review

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Hiv/Aids Risk In Higher Education Students In Yerevan, Armenia, Talin Babikian, Mary Catherin Freier, Gary L. Hopkins, Ralph Diclemente, Duane C. Mcbride, Matt Riggs

Faculty Publications

Armenia's current sociopolitical and economic instability and the alarming HIV incidence rates in neighboring countries amplify its risk for a national epidemic. The goals of this study were to assess HIV/AIDS knowledge and risk behaviors among higher education students in Yerevan. Knowledge of HIV transmission through sexual intercourse was markedly higher than that on intravenous transmission and prevailing myths; however, HIV/AIDS knowledge was not related to risk behaviors. Tobacco and alcohol prevalence was relatively high. Students reported risky sexual behaviors, including inconsistent condom use, casual sex, and multiple partners. In addition to descriptive statistics delineating gender differences across the target …

Birth Of An Electronic Journal – The Florida Public Health Review

Florida Public Health Review

No abstract provided.

Pressure Ulcer Development And Prevention In Long-Term Care Facilities In Virginia: A Descriptive Survey, Audrey D. Arthur

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

The development of pressure ulcers is a common occurrence among older persons who may be temporarily immobilized or confined to a bed. An estimated 60,000 deaths annually can be attributed to complications from pressure ulcers. Guidelines recommended by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research have been disseminated nationally and continue to be recommended as the standard of care for pressure ulcer prevention. In spite of the use of the recommended guidelines, pressure ulcer rates persist, suggesting there are other factors contributing to pressure ulcer development in long-term care facilities.

A survey was conducted to investigate which provider related …

Once Upon A Virus: Aids Legends And Vernacular Risk Perception, Diane E. Goldstein

All USU Press Publications

Once Upon a Virus explores how contemporary, or "urban," legends are indicators of culturally complex attitudes toward health and illness. Tracing the rich tradition of AIDS legends in relation to current scholarship on belief, Diane Goldstein shows how such stories not only articulate widespread perceptions of risk, health care, and health policy, they also influence official and scientific approaches to the disease and its management. Notions that appear in narratives of who gets AIDS, how and why, are indicators of broad issues involving health beliefs, concerns, and needs.

Wif-B Cells As A Model For Alcohol-Induced Hepatocyte Injury, Courtney S. Schaffert, Sandra L. Todero, Benita L. Mcvicker, Pamela L. Tuma, Michael F. Sorrell, Dean J. Tuma

United States Public Health Resources

A potential in vitro model for studying the mechanisms of alcohol-induced hepatocyte injury is the WIF-B cell line. It has many hepatocyte-like features, including a differentiated, polarized phenotype resulting in formation of bile canaliculi. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of ethanol treatment on this cell line. WIF-B cells were cultured up to 96 h in the absence or presence of 25 mM ethanol and subsequently were analyzed for ethanol-induced physiological and morphological changes. Initial studies revealed WIF-B cells exhibited alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity, expressed cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1), and efficiently metabolized ethanol in culture. This cell …

Natural And Technologic Hazardous Material Releases During And After Natural Disasters: A Review, Stacy Young, Lina Balluz, Josephine Malilay

United States Public Health Resources

Natural disasters may be powerful and prominent mechanisms of direct and indirect hazardous material (hazmat) releases. Hazardous materials that are released as the result of a technologic malfunction precipitated by a natural event are referred to as natural-technologic or na-tech events. Na-tech events pose unique environmental and human hazards. Disaster-associated hazardous material releases are of concern, given increases in population density and accelerating industrial development in areas subject to natural disasters. These trends increase the probability of catastrophic future disasters and the potential for mass human exposure to hazardous materials released during disasters. This systematic review summarizes direct and indirect …

Real-Time Fluorescence Pcr Assays For Detection And Characterization Of Heat-Labile I And Heat-Stable I Enterotoxin Genes From Enterotoxigenic Escherichia Coli, Udo Reischl, Mohammad T. Youssef, Hans Wolf, Eija Hyytia-Trees, Nancy A. Strockbine

United States Public Health Resources

To facilitate the diagnosis of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infections in humans, we developed and evaluated real-time fluorescence PCR assays for the Roche LightCycler (LC) against the enterotoxin genes commonly present in strains associated with human illness. Separate LC-PCR assays with identical cycling conditions were designed for the type I heat-labile enterotoxin (LT I) and the type I heat-stable enterotoxin (ST I) genes, using the LC hybridization probe format. A duplex assay for ST I with two sets of amplification primers and three hybridization probes was required to detect the major nucleotide sequence variants of ST I, ST Ia and …

West Nile Virus Blood Transfusion-Related Infection Despite Nucleic Acid Testing, Alexandre Macedo De Oliveira, Brady D. Beecham, Susan P. Montgomery, Robert S. Lanciotti, Jeffrey M. Linnen, Cristina Giachetti, Larry A. Pietrelli, Susan L. Stramer, Thomas J. Safranek

United States Public Health Resources

BACKGROUND: A case of West Nile virus (WNV) encephalitis associated with transfusion of blood that did not react when tested for WNV by minipool (MP) nucleic acid testing (NAT) is described. A Nebraska man developed clinical encephalitis 13 days after surgery and transfusion of 26 blood components. Antibody testing confirmed WNV infection. An investigation was initiated to determine the source of this infection.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The patient’s family members were interviewed to identify risk factors for WNV infection. Residual samples were retested for WNV RNA using transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) assay and two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. …

Agricultural Pesticide Use And Adenocarcinomas Of The Stomach And Oesophagus, W. J. Lee, W. Lijinsky, E. F. Heineman, R. S. Markin, D. D. Weisenburger, M. H. Ward

United States Public Health Resources

Aims: To evaluate the risk of the stomach and oesophageal adenocarcinomas associated with farming and agricultural pesticide use.
Methods: Population based case-control study in eastern Nebraska. Telephone interviews were conducted with men and women diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the stomach (n = 170) or oesophagus (n = 137) between 1988 and 1993, and controls (n = 502) randomly selected from the same geographical area. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for farming and for use of individual and chemical classes of insecticides and herbicides, including pesticides classified as nitrosatable (able to form N-nitroso compounds on …

Molecular Characterization Of Noroviruses Detected In Diarrheic Stools Of Michigan And Wisconsin Dairy Calves: Circulation Of Two Distinct Subgroups, Annabel G. Wise, Stephan S. Monroe, Lora E. Hanson, Daniel L. Grooms, Donald Sockett, Roger K. Maes

United States Public Health Resources

Noroviruses have emerged as the leading worldwide cause of acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis in humans. The presence of noroviruses in diarrheic stool samples from calves on Michigan and Wisconsin dairy farms was investigated by RT-PCR. Norovirus-positive samples were found on all eight farms studied in Michigan and on 2 out of 14 farms in Wisconsin. Phylogenetic analyses of partial polymerase and capsid sequences, derived for a subset of these bovine noroviruses, showed that these strains formed a group which is genetically distinct from the human noroviruses, but more closely related to genogroup I than to genogroup II human noroviruses. Examination of …

Advancing Toward Universal Coverage: Are States Able To Take The Lead?, Lisa Dubay, Christina Moylan, Thomas R. Oliver

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Adherence To Antiretroviral Therapy In Adults: A Guide For Trainers, Horizons Program, International Centre For Reproductive Health, Mombasa Coast Province General Hospital

HIV and AIDS

Over the last five years, there has been a rapid change in treatment strategies for HIV infection. With the advent of newer antiretrovirals, treatment has moved from mono-therapy and bi-therapy to triple drug therapy or Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy. One of the foremost concerns of ARV programs is the ability of people living with HIV/AIDS to maintain near perfect adherence over the long term. To achieve the goal of antiretroviral therapy (ART), undetectable levels of the virus in the blood, patients are required to maintain more than 90–95% adherence. Adherence is defined as a patient’s ability to follow a treatment …

Perceptions Of Pediatric Overweight And Weight Management: A Comparison Of Parents And Physicians, Lisa K. Thomason

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Pediatric overweight is of paramount importance in Kentucky, as studies show prevalence rates are higher in the state than the national average. Research suggests that comprehensive treatments involving diet training, exercise training, and psychological counseling are most effective at reducing overweight in children. Little research has been done, however, to compare parents' and physicians' perceptions of obesity, its treatment, or barriers to weight management.

The purpose of this study is to examine differences in attitudes toward pediatric obesity and weight management among parents and physicians, specifically related to the importance of diet training, exercise training, and psychological counseling. Surveys were …

Access To Health, Natalie Huls

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Access to health is an often-overlooked aspect of the right to health. Without practical access, the right to health becomes an empty promise. International human rights conventions and declarations do not directly mention access to health, but the above comment on the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights does address the issue.

Transitions To Adulthood In The Context Of Aids In South Africa: The Impact Of Exposure To Life Skills Education On Adolescent Knowledge, Skills, And Behavior, The Transitions To Adulthood Study Team

HIV and AIDS

This study is a collaborative research project of the University of Natal-Durban, the Horizons program, and Tulane University. One objective of the study was to contribute to understanding the effectiveness of life skills education in changing behavior in South Africa. The findings indicate substantial short-to-medium-term effects of exposure to life skills education on certain areas of sexual and reproductive health-related knowledge, confidence to use condoms, and condom use behavior. Further research is needed to assess whether the observed effects are transitory or long-term in nature, whether the observed behavioral changes have an impact on HIV infection rates among youth, and …

Improving The Reproductive Health Of Adolescents In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Heli Bathidja, Isseu Diop Toure, Thierno Dieng, Babacar Mane, Saumya Ramarao, Susan E. Adamchak, Emelita Wong, Adama Ndoye, Aboubacry Sy, Babacar Fall

Reproductive Health

In October 1999, the Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program began a three-year collaboration with the World Health Organization, the Senegal Ministries of Health, Education, and Youth, the Center for Research and Training in Health and Population, and the Population Training Group to test interventions to improve the reproductive health of youth aged 10–19. The community-based intervention included sensitization on adolescent reproductive health for community and religious leaders, reaching parents through women’s groups, and education sessions led by peer educators using a life-skills curriculum. As part of the clinic-based intervention, providers and peer educators were trained to offer youth-friendly services. …

Comparisons Among Parent Reports And Self-Reports Of Sleep In Adhd And Normal School-Aged Children, Diana M. Turner-Eadie

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The objective of the study was to investigate whether school-aged children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience greater sleep disturbance than do normally-developing children. Participants included 33 parents and their children with ADHD (mean age = 10.7 ± 1.7 years) and 33 parents and their children without ADHD (mean age = 10.7 ± 1.6 years). Both parents and their children completed sleep questionnaires developed to assess a number of sleep variables. Based on parental report, the Total Sleep Disturbance score was significantly greater for the ADHD group than for the comparison group. Parents indicated that children with ADHD had …

Caught Between Paradise And Power: Public Health, Pathogenic Threats, And The Axis Of Illness, David P. Fidler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.