Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 15 of 15
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
The Relationship Between Sunlight And Cerebrovascular Health, Shia T. Kent
The Relationship Between Sunlight And Cerebrovascular Health, Shia T. Kent
All ETDs from UAB
Sunlight radiation may be related to stroke risk through increased vitamin D production. The latter has been associated with a number of conditions including stroke, cognitive function and cardiovascular disease. We performed three sets of analyses to determine whether higher levels of sunlight radiation were associated with lower rates of stroke incidence, all-cause mortality, and cognitive decline. We explored these relationships using the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, a national longitudinal cohort of 30,239 participants. We merged the participants' residential histories with a ground and satellite-derived NASA dataset to characterize 15-year average sunlight radiation and …
Hierarchical And Bayesian Approaches For Estimating Prevalence Based On Pool Screening, Thomas Birkner
Hierarchical And Bayesian Approaches For Estimating Prevalence Based On Pool Screening, Thomas Birkner
All ETDs from UAB
Pool screening is a method that combines individual items into pools. Each pool will either test positive (at least one of the items is positive) or negative (all items are negative). Pool screening is commonly applied to the study of tropical diseases where pools consist of vectors (e.g. black flies) that can transmit the disease. The goal is to estimate the proportion of infected vectors. In paper 1, we present a frequentist Bernoulli-Beta hierarchical model to relax the constant prevalence assumption underlying the traditional frequentist prevalence estimation approach. This assumption is called into question when sampling from a large geographic …
Robust Nonparametric Regression Approach For Competing Cause Censored Survival Mortality Data With Covariates, Milind Arvind Phadnis
Robust Nonparametric Regression Approach For Competing Cause Censored Survival Mortality Data With Covariates, Milind Arvind Phadnis
All ETDs from UAB
In the case of two or more competing risks when only the time to the event due to one risk is observable with times due to the other outcomes treated as censored observations, standard methods of survival analysis fall short of assessing the association of a set of predictors with the outcomes of interest. This problem is particularly severe when there is a differential association of a predictor with two competing risks (harmful for one risk and protective for the other risk) such as stroke and myocardial infarction and in situations where the predictor is associated with only one risk …
The Effect Of An Inclusive Trauma System On Homicide Risk In An Urban Population, Russell Griffin
The Effect Of An Inclusive Trauma System On Homicide Risk In An Urban Population, Russell Griffin
All ETDs from UAB
Homicide is a leading cause of mortality in the United States, with approximately 18,000 homicides occurring annually. Most prevention efforts for homicide are aimed at primary (e.g., culling aggressive behaviors among youth) or secondary (e.g., preventing repeat violence) efforts. To date, there has been limited research on tertiary prevention efforts of homicide (i.e., preventing homicide by preventing deaths from assault-related injuries). With the advent of trauma systems (TS), which allow for rapid emergency medical response for injured individuals, it is possible that these systems may be an ef-fective effort of tertiary prevention of homicides. Using data from the Jefferson County …
Pick It Up, Put It Down: A Grounded Theory Study Of How Low Income African American Patients In The Deep South Start Smoking And Quit Smoking, Jessica Hillman Williams
Pick It Up, Put It Down: A Grounded Theory Study Of How Low Income African American Patients In The Deep South Start Smoking And Quit Smoking, Jessica Hillman Williams
All ETDs from UAB
The purpose of this qualitative was to use data extracted from the narrative stories of African American patients to generate a grounded theory to explain the process and act of initiating and of quitting smoking among low income African American patients in the Deep South. This is important since African Americans are more likely to suffer from smoking-related illnesses, which are the leading cause of death among African Americans. Data were analyzed from interviews conducted in 2005 as part of the Stories Project and supplementary interviews conducted in 2011. Convenience sampling strategies guided participant recruitment for primary interviews and theoretical …
Statistical Methods In The Analysis Of Copy Number Variation Data, Nathan Wineinger
Statistical Methods In The Analysis Of Copy Number Variation Data, Nathan Wineinger
All ETDs from UAB
Copy number variation is a significant form of genetic variation that has been shown to influence many traits. However, current methods used to estimate copy number variation are imprecise and prone to errors. This property is demonstrated in a study examining copy number variation in African Americans recruited into the Hypertensive Genetic Epidemiology Network study, and who were genotyped on the Affymetrix 6.0 array. The effect this has on downstream association analyses is explored, an alternative methods are proposed. Finally, a method is proposed that uses linkage disequilibrium between copy number variants and single nucleotide polymorphisms to improve the accuracy …
Survival Analysis With Censored Outcomes, Henry T. Robertson
Survival Analysis With Censored Outcomes, Henry T. Robertson
All ETDs from UAB
This dissertation is arranged in the three-paper format. The unifying theme of the dissertation is estimating longevity in terms of years of life lost (YLL). The papers are presented in order of increasing methodological focus. The first paper, No compelling evidence that sibutramine prolongs life in rodents despite providing a dose-dependent reduction in body weight, was published in the International Journal of Obesity in 2010. Although sibutramine reduced food intake and body weight, it had no association with longevity. The conclusions were based on data from a 2-year toxicology trial required by the FDA. Although this paper was largely applied …
Individual, Socio-Cultural And Structural Factors Associated With Cervical Cancer Screening And Treatment In Tanzania, Renicha Tomeka Mccree
Individual, Socio-Cultural And Structural Factors Associated With Cervical Cancer Screening And Treatment In Tanzania, Renicha Tomeka Mccree
All ETDs from UAB
Most African countries including Tanzania have limited cervical cancer screening and treatment programs. Only about 5% of women have ever been screened for cervical cancer. A constellation of individual and structural factors contributes to the challenge of cervical cancer screening and treatment in countries that bear significant burdens of disease. Yet, little is known about country specific factors that may constrain or facilitate scale up of health services. This dissertation is an attempt to identify and understand the country specific individual and structural barriers along with facilitators to cervical cancer screening and treatment in Tanzania. Individual, institutional and structural level …
An Examination Of Statistical Methods For Longitudinal Mediation Modeling, John Paul Bentley
An Examination Of Statistical Methods For Longitudinal Mediation Modeling, John Paul Bentley
All ETDs from UAB
The use of mediation modeling is quite prevalent in a number of disciplines to answer questions about how or why one variable exerts its influence on another variable. Although mediation can be assessed in the context of several types of study designs, the use of cross-sectional data and a single-mediator model tend to be the most commonly reported features in empirical tests of mediation. There are several limitations associated with assessing mediation with cross-sectional data, perhaps the most significant is that mediated effect estimates are biased in the case of true longitudinal mediation. For this and several other reasons, there …
Investigation Of Numerical Approaches To Analyze Flapping Wings, Nitin Bhagat
Investigation Of Numerical Approaches To Analyze Flapping Wings, Nitin Bhagat
All ETDs from UAB
For centuries, the agility and maneuverability of flying insects have been an inspiration to fluid dynamists. A large number of research activities have been conducted within the biological, aerodynamics, and computational science communities to understand the complex flow fields around flapping insects and their capability for rapid maneuvers. However, the understanding of these natural phenomena is still in its infancy. Recent experimental flow visualizations have shown the complex vortical structures around flapping wings and vortex interactions. Even with the advent of faster and better computer processors and improved numerical algorithms, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques to accurately predict flow features …
Radiological Population Monitoring: Views Of Public Health Professionals In The Southeastern United States, Gwendolyn N. Hudson
Radiological Population Monitoring: Views Of Public Health Professionals In The Southeastern United States, Gwendolyn N. Hudson
All ETDs from UAB
In the immediate aftermath of a radiological disaster, it is essential to rapidly screen the population to identify contaminated persons, those needing urgent medical treatment, and those requiring long-term follow-up. This process, known as "radiological population monitoring," is vital to reducing morbidity and mortality and effectively addressing people's health needs and concerns. Radiological population monitoring has become a significant new focus of attention and responsibility for government agencies in recent years, due in large part to growing concerns about the possibility of a terrorist attack involving radioactive materials. The primary responsibility for radiological population monitoring resides within state and local …
Bayesian Hierarchical Generalized Linear Models For Detecting (Rare) Haplotype-Haplotype And Haplotype-Environment Interactions In Genetic Association Analysis, Jun Li
All ETDs from UAB
This dissertation research focuses on genetic association analysis based on haplotypes in the context of both population-based and family-based studies. Haplotype-based association analysis is powerful in the discovery and characterization of the genetic basis of complex human diseases. However, statistical models that fit haplotype-haplotype and haplotype-environment interactions have not yet been fully developed. Furthermore, statistical methods for detecting the association between rare haplotypes and disease have not kept pace with their counterpart of common haplotypes. For both population-based and family-based association analyses, we herein propose two efficient and robust methods to separately tackle these problems based on Bayesian hierarchical generalized …
Three Topics In Eye Injury Research, Justin Blackburn
Three Topics In Eye Injury Research, Justin Blackburn
All ETDs from UAB
Eye injuries are a leading cause of monocular blindness, with approximately 2 million Americans sustaining an eye injury annually. Occupational eye injuries resulting in at least one missed day of work total nearly 28,000 each year. Eye injuries have many different etiologies, although most are "minor" injuries such as corneal abrasions and foreign bodies. Chemical-related eye injuries have not been described epidemiologically. The most widely advocated prevention method for eye injuries is protective eyewear, but evidence to support this is surprisingly absent. Furthermore, the use of eye protection among workers who have previously sustained an eye injury remains a question …
Characterization And Modeling Of Styrene Emission From A Thermoset Composite Material, Shaun Anthony Crawford
Characterization And Modeling Of Styrene Emission From A Thermoset Composite Material, Shaun Anthony Crawford
All ETDs from UAB
Diffusive emissions of volatile compounds from building materials have been well documented as a source of indoor air pollution. While laboratory testing can quantify these emissions and predict volatile concentrations in indoor air, the ability to precisely model emission rates from any given building material would provide a useful tool to air quality professionals to anticipate, identify and mitigate potential sources of indoor air pollution. Composite materials, some made with vinyl ester resins, are replacing metal in transportation applications (bus bodies, airplane fuselages) but contain volatile styrene. Here, a mass transfer model for predicting volatile emissions from a dry building …
Adsorption Characteristics Of Activated Carbon Fibers (Acfs) For Toluene, Jo Anne Goot Balanay
Adsorption Characteristics Of Activated Carbon Fibers (Acfs) For Toluene, Jo Anne Goot Balanay
All ETDs from UAB
Granular activated carbon (GAC) is currently the standard adsorbent in respirators against several gases and vapors because of its efficiency, low cost and available technology. However, a drawback of GAC due to its granular form is its need for containment, adding weight and bulkiness to respirators. This makes respirators uncomfortable to wear, resulting to poor compliance in its use. Activated carbon fiber (ACF) is considered a viable alternative adsorbent material for developing thinner, light-weight and efficient respirators because of their larger surface area, lighter weight and fabric form. This study aims to determine the critical bed depth and adsorption capacity …