Digital Commons Network^™

Implications Of Tanzanian Culture On Nutrition And Their Effects In People Living With Hiv/Aids, Jennifer Pollard

Anthropology

Many Africans living with HIV/AIDS also suffer from malnutrition. Together, HIV and malnutrition greatly compromise the immune system of an individual, with each condition increasing the effects of the other. This field study examines Maasai in the Arusha region of Tanzania where approximately 5.6% of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS and 45% of children exhibit stunted growth, indicating chronic malnutrition within the population. Cultural factors including gender inequality, knowledge levels, and traditions associated with Maasai (the predominant tribe in the Arusha region) were analyzed in their contributions to malnutrition and HIV. The study was conducted over three months in …

Landscape Epidemiology And Machine Learning: A Geospatial Approach To Modeling West Nile Virus Risk In The United States, Sean Gregory Young

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The complex interactions between human health and the physical landscape and environment have been recognized, if not fully understood, since the ancient Greeks. Landscape epidemiology, sometimes called spatial epidemiology, is a sub-discipline of medical geography that uses environmental conditions as explanatory variables in the study of disease or other health phenomena. This theory suggests that pathogenic organisms (whether germs or larger vector and host species) are subject to environmental conditions that can be observed on the landscape, and by identifying where such organisms are likely to exist, areas at greatest risk of the disease can be derived. Machine learning is …

The Prospector, April 30, 2013, Utep Student Publications

The Prospector

Headline: Prostate Cancer Research Provided Funding

A Positive Dimension: Exploring Factors That Enhance Utilization Of And Adherence To Prevention Of Mother-To-Child Transmission (Pmtct) Of Hiv Services In An Urban Setting In Kenya, Lydia Murithi

Theses and Dissertations

Despite expansive scale-up of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV services in Kenya over the last decade, Kenya remains one of the countries contributing high numbers of children living with HIV globally and among the 22 PMTCT global plan priority countries. Using a mixed methods approach this study examined enabling factors –individual, social and structural – that enhance utilization of and adherence to PMTCT services in a plural urban setting in Kenya. The study was conducted from October-December of 2012 at St. Mary’s Mission Hospital, Lang’ata. HIV-positive birthmothers whose infants were HIV-negative at the time of the study were …

2013 - The Eighteenth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Eighteenth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 25, 2013. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

S&T Publications Output Of India: A Scientometric Analyses Of Publications Output, 1996-2011, B M. Gupta, Adarsh Bala, Avinash Kshitig

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study analyses India’s performance in science and technology (S&T), using publications data and different quantitative and qualitative measures. Its focuses on India’s global publication share, growth rate, citation quality, international collaborative publications share, its publication share and distribution in various broad and narrow subjects using 15 years data from the Scopus international multidisciplinary database. The study suggests the need to increase the pace of Indian scientific research and also improve its quality compared with other developed and developing countries. It also suggests the need for India to build up its scientific capacity, competence and knowledge base to help bridging …

Ms 015 Guide To Joseph Melnick, Phd Papers (1943-1989), Joseph Melnick (1914-2001)

Manuscript Finding Aids

Joseph Melnick, PhD papers contains correspondence and reprints that document the career of Dr. Melnick, who was a leading epidemiologist, best known for his research on polio. See more at MS 015.

Public Health Roi: Evidence, Experience And Remaining Questions, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Expanding the delivery of efficacious public health and prevention strategies holds considerable potential for improving health outcomes and constraining costs across the U.S. health system. Unfortunately, lingering certainties about the costs required to expand public health delivery systems and about the health and economic effects of such expansions has muted private and public support for increased public health expenditures. This lecture examines recent evidence from public health services and systems research studies that examine the health and economic value of public health delivery, and identifies remaining research needs for the field.

Clinic Connection: Spring 2013, Centracare Clinic

Clinic Connection

• Palliative Care helps to manage pain, symptoms
• Introducing our new CentraCare Clinic Specialists
• Atrial Fibrillation Clinic individualizes patient care
• President’s Message: "Ethical, moral and practical issues challenging us in caring for diverse patients"
• NIPD, NIPT, NIPS... What’s up with Down syndrome screening
• Electronic medical record helps to meet and report quality metrics
• New Transitional Care Management Services Codes
• Template assists provider with differentiating normal aging and dementia

Transport And Health: A Look At Three Latin American Cities, Janeth Mosquera Becerra, Rodrigo S. Reis, Lawrence D. Frank, Farah A. Ramirez-Marrero, Benjamin Welle, Eugenio Arriaga Cordero, Fabian Mendez Paz, Carlos J. Crespo, Veronica Dujon, Enrique Jacoby, Jennifer Dill, Lynn Weigand, Carlos M. Padin

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Transport is associated with environmental problems, economic losses, health and social inequalities. A number of European and US cities have implemented initiatives to promote multimodal modes of transport. In Latin America changes are occurring in public transport systems and a number of projects aimed at stimulating non-motorized modes of transport (walking and cycling) have already been implemented. Based on articles from peer-reviewed academic journals, this paper examines experiences in Bogota (Colombia), Curitiba (Brazil), and Santiago (Chile), and identifies how changes to the transport system contribute to encourage active transportation. Bus rapid transit, ciclovias, bike paths/lanes, and car use restriction are …

The Impact Of The Chinese Rural Healthcare System On Infectious Disease: A Study Of The History And Reform Of Chinese Healthcare, And The Global Implications Of Infectious Disease Control In China, John Barbadoro

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

China’s healthcare system has gone through significant changes in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. These changes have mirrored not only the political focus of the time, but also the social issues facing China. The NRCMCS for rural residents is a cheap annual fee that covers a percentage of medical costs. There are two urban equivalents, the BMIUE and BMIUR for urban employees through their job, and residency respectively. Despite the focus on cheaper healthcare for rural residents, the problems of income inequality and mistrust in the medical system are major problems that affect the health of this large …

Marginalia No. 33, Merrill-Cazier Library

Marginalia

The Digital Public Library of America and USU

In Memoriam: USU President Stanford O. Cazier

RW13: Research Week at the Library celebrating Faculty authors

The 2012 Leonard J. Arrington Writing Awards: Benjamin Harman, Peter Wosnik, Chad L. Nielsen

May Swenson's 100th Birthday Celebration, Exhibition

Founders Day 2013: the 125th Anniversary of Utah State University

Nota Bene: Merrill-Cazier Librarians' Presentations and Publications

Save the Date: Gregory A. Prince will speak at the Arrington Fall Lecture, September 19

Cover Story: Puck in Pasture, download free with LYRASIS

With Help From Our Friends: Ensuring the Library's Continuing Role

The Influences Of Climatic And Socioeconomic Variables On Cholera Incidence In India During The Seventh Pandemic, 1961-2008, Kathleen M. Henschel

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Cholera outbreaks result in significant morbidity worldwide. Transmission of the disease may be influenced by weather fluctuations, such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and excessive rainfall, and socioeconomic status (SES), including income and education. El Niño events may influence many aspects of the climate, including the amount of rainfall occurring in a given year and surface water temperature. This study aimed to assess the influences of extreme weather and SES factors on cholera incidence in India during the seventh cholera pandemic (1961-2008).

Methods: Data for all variables were obtained for 1961-2008. Indian population estimates and cholera incidence (IR) were …

The Effect Of Metacognitive And Self-Regulatory Strategy Instruction On Impoverished Students' Assessment Achievement In Physics, Jaunine Fouche

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this nonequivalent control group design study was to evaluate the effectiveness of metacognitive and self-regulatory strategy use on the assessment achievement of 215 9th-grade, residential physics students from low socioeconomic status (low-SES) backgrounds. Students from low-SES backgrounds often lack the self-regulatory habits and metacognitive strategies to improve academic performance. In an effort to increase these scores and to increase student self-regulation and metacognition with regard to achievement in physics, this study investigated the use of metacognitive and self-regulatory strategies specifically as they apply to students' use of their own assessment data. Traditionally, student performance data is used …

Global Patterns In Overweight Among Children And Mothers In Less Developed Countries, Jennifer Van Hook, Claire E. Altman, Kelly Stamper Balistreri

Sociology Faculty Publications

Objective: Past research has identified increases in national income and urbanization as key drivers of the global obesity epidemic. That work further identified educational attainment and urban residence as important moderators of the effects of national income. However, such work has tended to assume that children and adults respond in the same way to these factors. In the present paper, we evaluate how the socio-economic and country-level factors associated with obesity differ between children and their mothers. Design: We modelled the associations between maternal education, country-level income and urban residence with mother's and children's weight status. Setting We analysed ninety-five …

Perception Of Disease Risk And Vulnerability As A Function Of Proximity To National Park Boundaries In East Africa, Irene Bridget Feretti

Honors Theses and Capstones

Studies suggest households closest to parks and protected areas (PAs) are more likely to sustain park-related losses, but the relationship between human sickness and PAs has not been fully explored. Existing literature primarily focuses on human-wildlife conflicts (i.e. crop raiding) and the potential for zoonotic disease spillover and emergence at the human-livestock-wildlife interface at PA boundaries. Understanding local perceptions of disease risk and vulnerability is essential for assessing human health relative to conservation areas. This understanding will promote better-informed consideration of human health impacts in decision making for conservation. Data from surveys taken at 301 households around Kibale National Park …

Challenges In Migration Policy In Post-Soviet Russia, Lina Meilus

Honors Projects

The goal of this paper is to analyze Russian migration policy in order to understand why migration policy in post-soviet Russia has become inconsistent and ineffective. The problems of Russian migration are significant because they affect the estimated ten million labor migrants currently working in the Russian Federation who suffer from human rights abuses. Migration policy is also significant because the Russian Federation is the main receiver of labor exported from Central Asian states and without a consistent migration policy Russia risks endangering the social and political stability of Central Asia. By combining an analysis of migration policy with research …

Tackling The Global Ncd Crisis: Innovations In Law And Governance, Bryan P. Thomas, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

35 million people die annually of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), 80% of them in low- and middle-income countries—representing a marked epidemiological transition from infectious to chronic diseases and from richer to poorer countries. The total number of NCDs is projected to rise by 17% over the coming decade, absent significant interventions. The NCD epidemic poses unique governance challenges: the causes are multifactorial, the affected populations diffuse, and effective responses require sustained multi-sectorial cooperation. The authors propose a range of regulatory options available at the domestic level, including stricter food labeling laws, regulation of food advertisements, tax incentives for healthy lifestyle choices, …

Creating Sustainable Economic And Ecological Growth In The Congo Basin: Bushmeat Consumption And Biodiversity Protection, Richelle Lynn Warnock

Masters Theses

This research examines the economic and ecological sustainability of bushmeat hunting in the Congo Basin, specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo. Although bushmeat hunting has provided short term gain for individuals in the region, long term solutions focusing on micro and macro level interventions may provide community wide benefits, while protecting Congo Basin wildlife. Research shows that a focus on the development of key economic sectors such as agriculture, mineral resources and hydroelectricity, as well as the growth of infrastructure may provide viable economic gain for the Congo Basin. Ecotourism and improvements to forest management …

Rediscovering The Core Of Public Health, Steven Teutsch, Jonathan E. Fielding

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

The success of public health has been its ability to understand contemporary health problems, to communicate the needs successfully, to identify solutions, and to implement them through programs and policies. In the past 50 years, those successes can be attributed largely to control of infectious disease, improved maternal and child health, delivery of other personal health care services, and changes in behaviors, particularly smoking. Yet health is primarily a product of our social, cultural, and physical environments. To continue to improve the nation’s health and reduce disparities, public health needs to return to its historical roots and engage with other …

Sweet Freedom: Smokers’ Rights & The Rebranding Of Philip Morris, Amy Dipierro

Annual Undergraduate Conference on Health and Society

This paper discusses how Philip Morris invoked strong American values to defend its own corporate speech as well as “smoker’s rights.” In particular, it examines Philip Morris Company’s Bill of Rights advertising campaign of the early 1990s, especially focusing on an advertisement featuring Everett Alvarez, a prisoner of war during Vietnam. This strategy reveals how Philip Morris was able to manipulate the public conversation about smoking from one about health and disease to one about human rights and freedoms.

The Global Ability To Respond: Applying Sars Knowledge To H1n1 And Beyond, Meaghan Drees

Annual Undergraduate Conference on Health and Society

Influenza outbreaks may be alarming, but they are nothing new in the 21^st century. At this point, the various strains of influenza have broken into cities and homes, acted as silent killers by causing fear, death and destruction, and spreading uncontrollably. This repetitive cycle arouses the question of when people will learn how to take care of these epidemics. Well, according to Flahault and Zylberman, knowledge may not be the only factor necessary to stop influenza from disrupting lives. The authors reveal that “Influenza epidemics occur regularly and prediction of their conversion to pandemics and their impact is …

The Effects Of Pre-Existing Illnesses On Pediatric Acute Respiratory Infections In South Africa, Haley Dumke

Annual Undergraduate Conference on Health and Society

The intent of this study was to explore the effect of pre-existing illnesses on acute respiratory infections, focusing on HIV and malnutrition as infection development risk factors in South African children. It investigates the economic burden imposed by these infections and analyzes how the country’s current socio-economic situation plays a major part in propagating infection development. Pneumonia and RSV were individually examined for their current role in the disease burden and potential methods for reducing incidence of pediatric respiratory infections were evaluated based on effectiveness and affordability for the country of South Africa. Data for this paper was compiled mainly …

Aids: An Overview, Loretta Mclaughlin

New England Journal of Public Policy

"We stand nakedly in front of a very serious pandemic, as mortal as any pandemic there ever has been," said Halfdan Mahler, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). "I don't know of any greater killer than AIDS, not to speak of its psychological, social and economic maiming. Everything is getting worse and worse with AIDS and all of us have been underestimating it, and I in particular. We're running scared. I cannot imagine a worse health problem in this century." When asked to compare AIDS to other epidemics, such as smallpox, that have infected and killed over the course …

Bridging The Gap: Using The Theory Of Planned Behavior To Predict Hpv Vaccination Intentions In Men, Daniel Snipes

Theses and Dissertations

Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the US, with an estimated incidence rate of 6.2 million new cases each year. Men have higher instances of certain HPV related outcomes (e.g., head/neck cancers) when compared to women, so male vaccination with the HPV vaccine is also paramount to preventing cancer. The present study examined the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a model for predicting HPV vaccination intentions among men. Results suggest the TPB was a well-fitting model to the data, but not all aspects of the TPB model were predictive of HPV vaccination …

The Cowl - V.77 - N.17 - Mar 14, 2013

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol 77 - No. 17 - March 14, 2013. 28 pages.

Building The Science Of Public Health Delivery: Advances In Public Health Services And Systems Research, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Efforts to improve the health and economic performance of the U.S. health system require evidence about how best to deliver public health strategies that protect health and prevent disease and injury on a population-wide basis. The field of public health services and systems research is building a "science of delivery" in public health that complements the evidence-based practice movement in medical care.

Guidance On Performing Focused Ethnographies With An Emphasis On Healthcare Research, Gina M.A Higginbottom, Jennifer J. Pillay, Nana Y. Boadu

The Qualitative Report

Focused ethnographies can have meaningful and useful application in primary care, community, or hospital healthcare practice, and are often used to determine ways to improve care and care processes. They can be pragmatic and efficient ways to capture data on a specific topic of importance to individual clinicians or clinical specialties. While many examples of focused ethnographies are available in the literature, there is a limited availability of guidance documents for conducting this research. This paper defines focused ethnographies, locates them within the ethnographic genre, justifies their use in healthcare research, and outlines the methodological processes including those related to …

First Steps Phase I Initiative: Improving Immunizations For Children And Adolescents, Kimberley S. Fox Mpa, Carolyn E. Gray Mph

Population Health & Health Policy

This evalution report, authored by research staff at the USM Muskie School, assesses the change in immunization rates in participating pediatric and family practices that serve a high volume of children insured by MaineCare (Maine's Medicaid system). The authors also summarize lessons learned in implementing changes in practices and challenges in using the immunization measures at the practice-level to inform quality improvement.

Mt Scorp: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System: Outdoor Recreation And Resident Health, Alex L. Metcalf, Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf, Norma P. Nickerson

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) provides state-based data on health and risk behaviors among adults. Several supplemental outdoor recreation related questions were included in the 2011 questionnaire to assist with the State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan process and are analyzed in this report.