Digital Commons Network^™

Making Teeth To Order: Conserved Genes Reveal An Ancient Molecular Pattern In Paddlefish (Actinopterygii), Moya M. Smith, Zerina Johanson, Thomas Butts, Rolf Ericsson, Melinda Modrell, Frank Tulenko, Marcus C. Davis, Gareth J. Fraser

Faculty Articles

Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) are the dominant vertebrate group today (+30 000 species, predominantly teleosts), with great morphological diversity, including their dentitions. How dental morphological variation evolved is best addressed by considering a range of taxa across actinopterygian phylogeny; here we examine the dentition of Polyodon spathula (American paddlefish), assigned to the basal group Acipenseriformes. Although teeth are present and functional in young individuals of Polyodon, they are completely absent in adults. Our current understanding of developmental genes operating in the dentition is primarily restricted to teleosts; we show that shh and bmp4, as highly conserved epithelial and mesenchymal genes for …

Détection Des Virus Respiratoires Et Entériques En Milieu Hospitalier : Une Étude Pilote, Caroline Duchaine, Marc Veillette, Julie Jean, Yves Longtin, Laetitia Bonifait, Nathalie Turgeon, Rémi Charlebois

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Selon l’Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), les infections nosocomiales constituent une cause majeure de complication des soins de santé avec comme impacts, une augmentation de la mortalité et de la morbidité, une prolongation de l’hospitalisation et une majoration importante des coûts de santé. Ces infections représentent la quatrième cause de mortalité au Canada et sont à l’origine d’un grand nombre de lésions professionnelles (Raka et coll. 2006). Bien que des efforts considérables soient faits sur le terrain pour endiguer ce problème, les infections nosocomiales perdurent et tendent à se complexifier : résistance aux antibiotiques, souches plus virulentes, …

The Public Health Service, Jennifer Jenson

National Health Policy Forum

This document provides an overview of the Public Health Service (PHS) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including a brief history and discussion of the agencies and offices that constitute the PHS today. Information on the mission, key programs, and budgets of PHS agencies and offices is also included.

Évaluation De L’Exposition Des Travailleurs Aux Sous-Produits De Désinfection En Piscine Intérieure Au Québec, Robert Tardif, Cyril Catto, Sami Haddad, Manuel Rodriguez

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Les sous-produits de désinfection (SPD) par chloration sont le résultat inévitable des réactions chimiques survenant entre le chlore ajouté à l’eau des piscines et les matières organiques et/ou azotées qui y sont naturellement présentes ou introduites par le biais des baigneurs.

Les SPD se déclinent en de nombreuses catégories et en bien plus de composés encore (>600), ce qui suscite, à l’échelle internationale, les préoccupations des législateurs et des scientifiques au regard de l’impact sanitaire de ces substances sur les travailleurs. Les problèmes d’irritation associés à l’exposition aux chloramines (CAM) qui polluent l’air ambiant sont les plus souvent pointés …

Appendix: Expand Wikipedia Stub On Supplier - Induced Demand, Robert D. Lieberthal, Phd, Juan Leon, Phd

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Appendix for article that has been accepted for Journal of Economic Education.

Abstract for article:

The authors describe a Wikipedia-based project designed for a graduate course introducing health economics to experienced healthcare professionals. The project allows such students to successfully write articles on niche topics in rapidly evolving health economics subspecialties. These students are given the opportunity to publish their completed projects in Wikipedia. Despite the lack of conventional classroom incentives, the authors have found that the students generally choose to enter their final projects intoWikipedia. The authors explore the motivators for this behavior from the perspective of human capital …

Creating A Healthier Campus: A Report On The Effectiveness Of Nsu’S “Slimming With The Sharks” Wellness Program, Corey Peacock, Tobin Silver, Pradeep Vanguri

Quadrivium: A Journal of Multidisciplinary Scholarship

With a recent increase in college obesity rates, it is imperative to assess the effectiveness of campus-wide fitness programs while encouraging other institutes of higher education to do so. It is presently uncertain whether these programs are advantageous or disadvantageous for improving campus-wide obesity rates; therefore, assessing campus-wide fitness programs and reporting results may bring awareness to college campus obesity rates and clarify a solution to the problem. NSU’s RecPlex offered “Slimming with the Sharks,” a structured, multiple-component, weight loss initiative available to all students, faculty, and staff. The following is a brief report of “Slimming with the Sharks” data …

Chhs February 2015 E-Newsletter, Dr. John Bonaguro, Dean, Vashon S. Wells, Editor, Wku College Of Health & Human Services

College of Health & Human Services Publications

No abstract provided.

Regional Disparities In Neurocritical Care Outcomes, Kali Graham

CwiC-PH

BACKGROUND

• Determinants of Neurocritical Care Outcomes: Social as opposed to biological disparities can frequently dictate health outcomes for neurocritically ill patients. Survival rates are determined both by a patient’s access to a NCU (Neurocritical Care Unit) as well as the level of inpatient care he or she receive once admitted to a NCU.
• Regional Inequality in Access to Care¹:
• Only 12.8% of Americans have access to a NCU within 45 min by ground transportation and 36.8% have access to a NCU within 45 minutes by air transportation.
• Racial Disparities in NCU Admissions and Outcomes²:
• Non …

Genetic Vulnerability To Diabetes And Obesity: Does Education Offset The Risk?, Sze Yan Liu, Stefan Walter, Jessica Daniel, David H. Rehkopf, Laura E. Kubzansky, M Maria Glymour

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity has recently increased dramatically. These common diseases are likely to arise from the interaction of multiple genetic, socio-demographic and environmental risk factors. While previous research has found genetic risk and education to be strong predictors of these diseases, few studies to date have examined their joint effects. This study investigates whether education modifies the association between genetic background and risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity. Using data from non-Hispanic Whites in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, n = 8398), we tested whether education modifies genetic risk for obesity …

Addiction: A Treatable Disease, Nathaniel Graham

CwiC-PH

Addiction: Definitions and Statistics

Nearly 1 in 7 Americans (~40 million people) are addicted to a chemical substance.

An additional 2 in 7 Americans (~80 million people) qualify as risky substance users; those who use chemical substances in ways that threaten their health and safety.

Target Zero: Why States Choose To Eradicate Infectious Diseases And How They Succeed, Gifty Abraham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Realism has remained the dominant paradigm within international relations for most of the modern era, emphasizing the competitive nature of the international arena and the unlikeliness of states to within it to cooperate. The attempts and further still, successes, by states to eradicate infectious diseases--which remain among the most cooperative enterprises--present a number of challenges to realism's assumptions, particularly with respect to the unlikely world historical-times during which the eradication campaigns took place. As such, a two-part puzzle arises. First, why would states, which are natural competitors, cooperate to eradicate infectious diseases given structural and situational incentives not to do …

Preconception And Early Pregnancy Air Pollution Exposures And Risk Of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Candace Robledo, Pauline Mendola, Edwina H. Yeung, Tuija Männistö, Rajeshwari Sundaram, Danping Liu, Qi Ying, Seth Sherman, Katherine Grantz

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Air pollution has been linked to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) but no studies have evaluated impact of preconception and early pregnancy air pollution exposures on GDM risk.

Methods: Electronic medical records provided data on 219,952 singleton deliveries to mothers with (n=11,334) and without GDM (n=208,618). Average maternal exposures to particulate matter (PM) ≤ 2.5μm (PM2.5) and PM2.5 constituents, PM ≤ 10μm (PM10), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3) were estimated for the 3-month preconception window, first trimester, and gestational weeks 1-24 based on modified Community Multiscale Air Quality models for delivery hospital referral regions. …

Short Course In The Microbiome, Kimberly Falana, Rob Knight, Camilia R. Martin, Romina Goldszmid, K. Leigh Greathouse, Joanne Gere, Howard Young, Winston Patrick Kuo

United States Public Health Resources

Over the past decade, it has become evident that the microbiome is an important environmental factor that affects many physiological processes, such as cell proliferation and differentiation, behaviour, immune function and metabolism. More importantly, it may contribute to a wide variety of diseases, including cancer, inflammatory diseases, metabolic diseases and responses to pathogens. We expect that international, integrative and interdisciplinary translational research teams, along with the emergence of FDA-approved platforms, will set the framework for microbiome-based therapeutics and diagnostics. We recognize that the microbiome ecosystem offers new promise for personalized/precision medicine and targeted treatment for a variety of diseases. The …

Validating Estimates Of Prevalence Of Non-Communicable Diseases Based On Household Surveys: The Symptomatic Diagnosis Study, Spencer L. James, Minerva Romero, Dolores Ramírez-Villalobos, Sara Gómez

Dartmouth Scholarship

Easy-to-collect epidemiological information is critical for the more accurate estimation of the prevalence and burden of different non-communicable diseases around the world. Current measurement is restricted by limitations in existing measurement systems in the developing world and the lack of biometry tests for non-communicable diseases. Diagnosis based on self-reported signs and symptoms (“Symptomatic Diagnosis,” or SD) analyzed with computer-based algorithms may be a promising method for collecting timely and reliable information on non-communicable disease prevalence. The objective of this study was to develop and assess the performance of a symptom-based questionnaire to estimate prevalence of non-communicable diseases in low-resource areas.

Common Threads: An Integrated Hiv Prevention And Vocational Development Intervention For African American Women Living With Hiv/Aids, Liza Marie Conyers, Yung-Chen Chiu, Aisha Shamburger-Rousseau, Vanessa Johnson, Mark Misrok

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Current policies and initiatives call for the integration of social determinants of health into HIV/AIDS prevention and care interventions. According to the World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health, the lower a person’s socioeconomic status, the worse the health outcomes. One way to alleviate poverty among African American women with HIV/AIDS is to help foster their vocational development and economic empowerment. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy Implementation Plan specifically directs federal agencies to find ways to integrate people living with HIV/AIDS into broader employment initiatives. The purpose of this manuscript is to examine medical, psychosocial, financial/legal and vocational social …

Project Thanks: A Socio-Ecological Framework For An Intervention Involving Hiv Positive African American Women With Comorbidities, Meena Mahadevan, Ndidiamaka Amutah, Lauren Juliette Ramos, Emily Rose Raines, Jerome King, Jodyann Mcintosh, Constance Leverett

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

HIV-positive individuals are living longer today as a result of continuing advances in treatment but are also facing an increased risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, and hypertension. These conditions result in a larger burden of hospitalization, outpatient, and emergency room visits. Impoverished African American women may represent an especially high-risk group due to disparities in health care, racial discrimination, and limited resources. This article describes an intervention that is based on the conceptual framework of the socio-ecological model. Project THANKS uses a community-based participatory, and empowerment building approach to target the unique personal, social, and environmental needs of …

Lessons Learned: Exploratory Study Of A Hiv/Aids Prevention Intervention For African American Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence, Michele A. Rountree

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Given the prevalence and co-occurring nature of HIV and intimate partner violence among African American women there is a need for a risk reduction intervention. This study explored the results from an exploratory study of an HIV/AIDS prevention intervention for African-American women who have experienced intimate partner violence. The emphasis of this study is to identify lessons learned to guide future research.

Recruitment for the feasibility study was done in two waves over a period of three months. During the first wave, 22 participants were recruited for the intervention group, and in the second wave, 25 participants were in the …

Dramatic Plays As A Tool To Educate Young African-American Females About Hiv/Aids, Jonathan N. Livingston, James Merryweather, Jessica Mohabir, Che' Smith, Nina Smith, Jacqueline Madry, Travis Knight, Dorothy M. Singleton, Seronda A. Robinson, Lisa Cothran, Dwayne Brandon, Alexis L. Slay, Camille Brown

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Rates of HIV/AIDS transmission have increased substantially, particularly among young African American women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIV/AIDS is the number one killer for African American women aged 25 to 34. Given that many of these young women are contracting the disease in their late teens and early twenties, there is a need to develop interventions that directly address the needs of this group. The current study sought to assess the effectiveness of theater in increasing knowledge of HIV/AIDS and the likelihood of healthier sexual behavior and choices among 219 young African American women …

Do Masculinity And Perceived Condom Barriers Predict Heterosexual Hiv Risk Behaviors Among Black Substance Abusing Men?, A, Kathleen Burlew, Jerika Wilson, Latrice Montgomery, Bridgette Peteet, Candace Johnson, Mary Hatch-Maillette

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Although HIV prevention during substance abuse treatment is ideal, existing HIV risk-reduction interventions are less effective among Black and other ethnic minority substance abusers. The Sexual Health Model (SHM) and the Person, Extended Family and Neighborhood-3 model (PEN-3) both highlight the importance of increasing our understanding of the relationship of sociocultural factors to sexual-decision making as a step towards developing more HIV prevention interventions for ethnic minorities. However, few studies examine sociocultural factors in the sexual decision-making process of Black substance abusing men. This secondary analysis of data collected in an evaluation of Real Men Are Safe (REMAS), a HIV …

Cultural Competence: New Conceptual Insights Into Its Limits And Potential For Addressing Health Disparities, Shireen S. Rajaram, Susan Bockrath

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The increasing interest in the role of racism and racialization in health disparities, calls for exploring new paradigms in addressing and eliminating health disparities related to race/ethnicity. Cultural competence is conceptualized as one of the keys ways to address racial/ethnic disparities in public health and healthcare. However, for cultural competence to fulfill this role, it requires a critical understanding of the underlying socio-political and economic processes of power, privilege and institutional racism that create, support and maintain existing health disparities. This paper outlines how the concept of cultural competence can be made more robust, by incorporating concepts such as Public …

Evaluation Of The Community Child Health Research Network (Cchn) Community-Academic Partnership, Rhonda Belue, Peter Schafer, Bowen Chung, Maxine Vance, Robin Lanzi, Patricia O'Campo, Child And Community Health Network (Cchn)

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background: The Community Child Health Network (CCHN) is a research collaborative network of five communities in the U.S. formed to study maternal and child health disparities, via a community-based participatory research study design. CCHN studies how community, family, and individual level influences interact with biological processes to affect maternal stress, resilience, and allostatic load; ultimately, the study evaluates whether such factors result in health disparities in pregnancy outcomes and infant and early childhood mortality and morbidity. The purpose of this paper is to assess the community-based participatory research (CBPR) process that governs the CCHN and offer lessons from our experiences. …

Race And Sex Differences In Correlates Of Systolic Blood Pressure In Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Cassandra Ford Phd, Patricia Sawyer, Patricia Parmelee, Olivio J. Clay, Martha Crowther, Richard M. Allman

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Objectives: To describe correlates of measured systolic blood pressure (SBP) among community-dwelling older African American and White Medicare beneficiaries.

Methods: Participants completed an in-home assessment and factors significantly correlated with SBP were tested using multivariable models.

Results: Among the 958 participants (mean age= 75.3 [SD = 6.8]; 49% African American; 49% female; 52% rural) African Americans were more often diagnosed with hypertension, more likely on anti-hypertensives, and on more anti-hypertensive medications. SBP was 2.7 mmHg higher in African Americans than Whites (p=.03). SBP was higher in women than men. Multivariable models revealed differences in the factors associated with SBP by …

Active Management Of The Third Stage Of Labor By Skilled Birth Attendants In A Rural Regional Hospital In Southern Ethiopia: A Qualitative Case Study, Marcella J. Gowan

Doctor of Education (EdD)

In Ethiopia, as in many developing countries, postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal mortality. PPH can be prevented through a three-step practice called active management of the third stage of labor (AMTSL), which can be learned by a skilled birth attendant (SBA). However, most SBAs have not adopted AMTSL into practice. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the use of AMTSL among SBAs in a rural regional hospital in southern Ethiopia. Six theoretical propositions and a conceptual framework were designed to guide the research and analysis. In-depth interviews were conducted with SBAs who worked …

Use Of Craigslist.Org To Hook Up: Age Differences In Sex Requests, Hiv Disclosure And Negotiated Safety Among Men-Seeking-Men, Kristen Clements-Nolle, Aliya Buttar, Lindsey Dermid-Gray, Tyler Peterson, Andrea Esp

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Data from 984 “men-seeking-men” Craigslist.org postings in five cities were analyzed to assess differences in sexual requests, HIV status disclosure, and negotiated safety between young (18-24 years) and older (25 years and older) men who have sex with men (MSM). Young MSM were less likely than older MSM to post their HIV status or the preferred status of a partner (p=0.04), disclose and/or request a partner who was disease and drug free (p=.01), and request use of a condom in their posting (p=0.01). Interventions aimed at changing the culture and content of postings on Craigslist.org by encouraging HIV status disclosure …

Cohort Of Birth Modifies The Association Between Fto Genotype And Bmi, James Niels Rosenquist, Steven F. Lehrer, A. James O'Malley, Alan M. Zaslavsky, Jordan W. Smoller, Nicholas A. Christakis

Dartmouth Scholarship

A substantial body of research has explored the relative roles of genetic and environmental factors on phenotype expression in humans. Recent research has also sought to identify gene-environment (or g-by-e) interactions, with mixed success. One potential reason for these mixed results may relate to the fact that genetic effects might be modified by changes in the environment over time. For example, the noted rise of obesity in the United States in the latter part of the 20th century might reflect an interaction between genetic variation and changing environmental conditions that together affect the penetrance of genetic influences. To evaluate this …

In Vivo Cigarette Smoke Exposure Decreases Ccl20, Slpi, And Bd-1 Secretion By Human Primary Nasal Epithelial Cells, James Jukosky, Benoit J. Gosselin, Leah Foley, Tenzin Dechen, Steven Fiering, Mardi A. Crane-Godreau

Dartmouth Scholarship

Smokers and individuals exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke have a higher risk of developing chronic sinus and bronchial infections. This suggests that cigarette smoke (CS) has adverse effects on immune defenses against pathogens. Epithelial cells are important in airway innate immunity and are the first line of defense against infection. Airway epithelial cells not only form a physical barrier but also respond to the presence of microbes by secreting antimicrobials, cytokines, and chemokines. These molecules can lyse infectious microorganisms and/or provide signals critical to the initiation of adaptive immune responses. We examined the effects of CS on antimicrobial secretions of …

Undergraduate Training In Public Health Should Prepare Graduates For The Workforce, Randy Wykoff, Amal Khoury, J. Michael Stoots, Robert P. Pack

ETSU Faculty Works

There has been a rapid growth in the number of programs awarding undergraduate degrees in public health and the number of students receiving such degrees (1). There has not, however, been a significant discussion of the purpose of such degree programs. What, if anything, are the recipients of these degrees being trained to do? What careers, if any, are they being prepared to enter? Is the degree designed primarily to prepare students to enter graduate training in public health or some other graduate or health professional programs? Alternatively, does the degree exist because “an understanding of public health is a …

The Relationship Of Female Physical Attractiveness To Body Fatness, Guanlin Wang, Kurosh Djafarian, Chima A. Egedigwe, Asmaa El Hamdouchi, Robert Ojiambo, Harris Ramuth, Sandra Johanna Wallner-Liebmann, Sonja Lackner, Adama Diouf, Justina Sauciuvenaite, Catherine Hambly, Lobke M. Vaanholt, Mark D. Faries, John R. Speakman

Faculty Publications

Aspects of the female body may be attractive because they signal evolutionary fitness. Greater body fatness might reflect greater potential to survive famines, but individuals carrying larger fat stores may have poor health and lower fertility in non-famine conditions. A mathematical statistical model using epidemiological data linking fatness to fitness traits, predicted a peaked relationship between fatness and attractiveness (maximum at body mass index (BMI) = 22.8 to 24.8 depending on ethnicity and assumptions). Participants from three Caucasian populations (Austria, Lithuania and the UK), three Asian populations (China, Iran and Mauritius) and four African populations (Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal) …

Mesothelioma Patients With Germline Bap1 Mutations Have 7-Fold Improved Long-Term Survival, F. Baumann, E. Flores, A. Napolitano, S. Kanodia, E. Taioli, H. Pass, H. Yang, M. Carbone

Journal Articles

BRCA1-associated protein-1 (BAP1) mutations cause a new cancer syndrome, with a high rate of malignant mesothelioma (MM). Here, we tested the hypothesis that MM associated with germline BAP1 mutations has a better prognosis compared with sporadic MM. We compared survival among germline BAP1 mutation MM patients with that of all MM (N = 10 556) recorded in the United States Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data from 1973 to 2010. We identified 23 MM patients-11 alive-with germline BAP1 mutations and available data on survival. Ten patients had peritoneal MM, ten pleural MM and three MM in both locations. Thirteen …

Circulating Adipokines And Inflammatory Markers And Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk, M. J. Gunter, T. Wang, M. Cushman, X. Xue, S. Wassertheil-Smoller, H. D. Strickler, T. E. Rohan, J. E. Manson, A. Mctiernan, G. Y. Ho, +5 Additional Authors

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: Adipokines and inflammation may provide a mechanistic link between obesity and postmenopausal breast cancer, yet epidemiologic data on their associations with breast cancer risk are limited. METHODS: In a case-cohort analysis nested within the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, a prospective cohort of postmenopausal women, baseline plasma samples from 875 incident breast cancer case patients and 839 subcohort participants were tested for levels of seven adipokines, namely leptin, adiponectin, resistin, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, hepatocyte growth factor, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and for C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker. Data were analyzed by multivariable Cox modeling that included established …