Digital Commons Network^™

Enhancing Communities Through The Design, Development And Dissemination Of Positive Parenting Interventions, John A. Pickering, Matthew R. Sanders

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Positive, healthy and happy families are the cornerstone of any healthy community. Parenting programs which address multiple aspects of family functioning are potentially the most effective means of creating positive family environments. However, the various constituents who “consume” parenting support and intervention often are not engaged to help shape program design and development. Using the challenge of parenting siblings as a case example, this paper describes a conceptual framework for enhancing the health and well-being of communities through the iterative development of empirically supported parenting interventions. A model of program development involving enhanced consumer involvement is presented to illustrate how …

Making A Community Ready For Oral Health, Paul Casamassimo, Catherine M. Flaitz

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

The challenges of resolving the oral health disparities among children and other vulnerable populations requires a well-organized community safety net, along with a sincere commitment to prioritize the elimination of this common, but preventable, dental disease. Adequate funding for basic health needs, while incorporating oral health care into a comprehensive primary care model in our neighborhoods provides the best chance for a successful outcome. In order to build better communities for our children, improvement in the access and delivery of dental care must be part of the equation.

Understanding Perceptions About Contraceptive Responsibility Among Adolescents, Silvia T. Linares, Lisa M. Hollier

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Invited Commentary on "Attitudes Surrounding Contraceptive Responsibility: Do Latino Adolescents Differ From Other Groups?"

Increasing Young People’S Active Modes Of Transport: An Urgent Review Of The Child-Friendliness Of Multi-Sector Policies Required, Billie Giles-Corti

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Invited Commentary on "Correlates of Active School Transport Immediately Before and After the Transition from Primary to Secondary School: A Pilot Study".

Commentary On "Trends In Child Health Insurance Coverage: A Local Perspective", Claire Elizabeth Bocchini

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Purpose: To provide commentary on the original research article, “Trends in Child Health Insurance Coverage: A Local Perspective,” by Jean Rapahel, Richard R. Batsell, Marc A. Kowalkowski, Aileen Beltran, Angelo P. Giardino, and Charles G. Macias.

Findings: The authors clearly show that in Houston, TX, over the past eight years, fewer children have employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and more children, especially low-income and minority children, are enrolled in public health insurance programs. These findings underscore the critical importance of preserving and strengthening our existing public insurance safety-net programs.

Conclusion: All children should have access to high quality health care and …

Pediatric Tropical Diseases And The World’S Children Living In Extreme Poverty, Peter J. Hotez

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Enormous strides have been made in reducing the number of global under-five child deaths through expanded development and use of vaccines under the auspices of the GAVI Alliance. However such successes have left behind a significant burden of child morbidity and mortality in developing countries from six major tropical diseases, ie, dengue, malaria, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminth infections, trachoma, and visceral leishmaniasis. Approximately 1.7 billion infections occur from these six diseases that result in disability-adjusted life years that exceed HIV/AIDs and result in 700,000 to 1.2 million deaths annually. International efforts are in place to reduce the disease burden of several …

Sexual Violence Against Girls In Schools: Addressing The Gaps Between Policy And Practice In Awaso, Ghana, Geneviève M. Proulx, Andrea Martinez

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Despite the established relationship between girls' education and several social development outcomes, gender disparities in education remain particularly concerning. Among the many obstacles that still hinder girls’ access to quality education, sexual violence against girls in schools (SVAGS) is one of the most worrying but also one that has received the least attention in light of recent efforts to increase girls’ attendance in school. This article explores the interface between the seemingly solid Ghanaian legal and policy framework to protect children in educational institutions and the high incidence of SVAGS in such institutions. Its purpose is twofold: to identify the …

Attitudes Surrounding Contraceptive Responsibility: Do Latino Youth Differ From Other Groups?, Kari White, Kristine Hopkins, Emily Schiefelbein

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Latina teens have lower rates of contraceptive use and higher rates of pregnancy compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Differences in attitudes about contraceptive responsibility have been suggested as reasons for these disparities. We conducted 36 gender- and race/ethnicity-specific focus groups with young women aged 15 to 21 years and young men aged 18 to 24 in four large Texas cities. To explore youths’ attitudes about contraceptive responsibility, we analyzed transcripts using thematic analysis and compared themes across race/ethnicity and gender. Across all groups, youth often reported that young women were primarily responsible for contraception because of the physical implications of …

Socioeconomic And Cultural County-Level Factors Associated With Race/Ethnic Differences In Body Mass Index In 4th Grade Students In Texas, Jennifer J. Salinas, Manasi S. Shah, Jennifer L. Gay, Ken Sexton, Eileen Nehme, Dorothy Mandell, Deanna M. Hoelscher

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between county-level socioeconomic environment and the propensity to be overweight or obese by race/ethnic group in a sample of fourth grade children the Texas public school system.

Methods: The data used come from the School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) surveillance study – a surveillance study of school-aged children in Texas. The outcome variable used was Body Mass Index (BMI) categorized as underweight/normal/healthy, overweight, and obese. Exposure variables were derived from county-level Hispanic and Black concentration and socioeconomic data using the Human Security Index (HSI) as a framework. We made comparisons between Non-Hispanic White, Black …

Memory Functioning For Personally Experienced And Witnessed Events In Children With Autism And The Implications For Educators, Mental Health Professionals, And The Law, Kelly A. Cornett, Deborah S. Miora, Tracy Fass, Dennis Dixon

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Several researchers have hypothesized a deficit in memory processing to exist in children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This hypothesis has been supported by findings of deficient recall and recognition ability in children with ASD. Specifically, research has pointed to greater deficits in their ability to recall events related to the self as opposed to others. However, such research has not explored how memory functioning would be impacted when an event with an emotional tenor was used and when a forced choice yes/no paradigm was used to extricate what was remembered from the event. The current study …

Injury And Illness Benchmarking And Prevention For Children And Staff Attending U.S. Camps: Promising Practices And Policy Implications, Barry A. Garst, Linda E. Erceg, Edward Walton

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Background: Camp experiences contribute to a range of positive developmental youth outcomes, but camp experiences also pose a risk for youth because of potential exposure to injuries and illnesses. The camp community has lacked both a methodology and effective benchmarks for injury and illness monitoring. Furthermore, camp-related policy recommendations have lacked the support of generalizable data addressing the risk of injuries and illnesses at camp. The need for systematic exploration of when, where, and how injuries and illness occur in camps created an opportunity for administrators and healthcare providers to improve camp safety by understanding injury and illness trends and …

Correlates Of Active School Transport Immediately Before And After The Transition From Primary To Secondary School: A Pilot-Study, Richard Larouche, Guy Faulkner, Mark S. Tremblay

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

The transition from primary to secondary school is a major life event associated with large decreases in physical activity levels. Cross-sectional studies also suggest that secondary school students are less likely to engage in active school transport (AST; e.g. walking and cycling to/from school). To our knowledge, no longitudinal study has previously examined the correlates of AST immediately before and after the school transition. This pilot-study assessed: 1) the concordance between child- and parent-perceived barriers to AST (with Spearman correlations); 2) the associations of AST with child- and parent-perceived barriers to AST, parental neighborhood selection factors and socio-demographic characteristics (using …

Trends In Child Health Insurance Coverage: A Local Perspective, Jean L. Raphael, Richard R. Batsell, Marc A. Kowalkowski, Aileen Beltran, Angelo P. Giardino, Charles G. Macias

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Background: Over the past decade, the percentage of Americans with access to employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) has declined. Dependents, specifically children, are the most likely to bear the burden of lost coverage.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to 1) describe trends in children’s health insurance taking into account the heterogeneity across different sub-populations and 2) assess the associations between individual, local (offers of ESI), and supply side (proximity to safety net hospitals) characteristics and children’s health insurance.

Methods: We analyzed locally collected survey data for children living in the 12 counties of greater Houston, Texas (years 2003, 2006, 2008, …

Accountable Communities: A Concept Broader Than Health Care, Angelo P. Giardino, Robert D. Sanborn

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Angelo Giardino and Robert Sanborn's introduction for Volume 4, Issue 2: Accountable Communities: Healthier Neighborhoods, Healthier Children.

Being A Child Today Is Simply Not Easy, Ira Colby, Catherine M. Flaitz

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Issue Editor, Ira Colby and Catherine M. Flaitz's, point of view and summary of the articles in Accountable Communities: Healthier Neighborhoods, Healthier Children.

Attributing Meaning To Online Social Network Analysis For Tailored Socio-Behavioral Support Systems, Sahiti Myneni

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Ubiquitous online social networks provide us with a unique opportunity to deliver scalable interventions for the support of lifestyle modifications in order to change behaviors that predispose toward cancer and other diseases. At the same time these networks act as rich data sources to inform our understanding of end-user needs. Traditionally, social network analysis is based on communication frequency among members. In this work, I introduce communication content as a complementary frame for studying these networks.

QuitNet, an online social network developed to provide smoking cessation support is considered for analysis. Qualitative coding, automated content analysis, and network analysis were …

Caring Minds, University Of Texas Health Science Center At Houston School Of Nursing

Caring Minds

• Greetings from Dean Patricia Stark
• Nursing faculty members receive endowment medals at dinner
• “AccPhD” program proves model for faculty growth
• Gifts topping $1.3 million support studies of future nursing educators
• Rozmus selected for 2013 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award
• New Practice Doctorate Advances Training for Nurse Anesthetists
• Partners 2013 Spring Luncheon: Cody Unser shares outlook with Partners
• Graduating students select 2013 McGovern Outstanding Teachers
• Diabetes researcher Wang named a 2013 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ‘Nurse Faculty Scholar’
• School celebrates 40th Anniversary
• UTHealth School of Nursing By the Numbers
• Armstrong inducted as 2013 FAAN, receives $2.4 million NINR grant
• TURN study aims …

Cxcr2 Expression In Tumor Cells Is A Poor Prognostic Factor And Promotes Invasion And Metastasis In Lung Adenocarcinoma, Erminia Massarelli

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

CXC chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2) is a G-protein coupled receptor which mediates signaling by binding to CXC chemokines CXCL1-3 and 5-8. In non-small cell lung cancer CXCR2 has been studied mainly in stromal cells and is known to increase tumor inflammation and angiogenesis. However, there is controversial data in the literature about CXCR2 expression in tumor cells and its role in the tumor microenvironment. We hypothesized that tumoral expression of CXCR2 and its ligands promote tumor invasion and metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer. The effect of CXCR2 expression on tumor cells was studied using stable knockdown clones derived from …

Symptoms In Early And Long-Term Breast Cancer Survivors Who Have Completed Primary Therapy, Faith Strunk

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Background

Many breast cancer survivors continue to have single or multiple symptoms after they have completed primary cancer therapy. The quantifiable, subjective experience of multiple symptoms and their impact is defined as symptom burden. Previous research has focused on symptoms during primary therapy or shortly after completion of treatment.

Objectives

Our study objectives were to determine whether symptom burden differed according to survivor status (early as opposed to long-term survival) and/or use of endocrine or hormonal adjuvant therapy. We hypothesized that there would be no difference in the symptoms expressed among early- and long-term survivors.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, …

Novel Functions Of Cetuximab In Egfr-Targeted Therapy: Radiosensitization, Glycolysis Inhibition, And Cellular Redox Status Regulation, Haiquan Lu

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in the majority of head and neck cancers. The anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of head and neck cancers, however, only a small fraction of patients respond to cetuximab treatment. Further investigation to understand the mechanisms underlying cetuximab-mediated EGFR-targeted therapy and to develop novel therapeutic strategies to improve the efficacy of cetuximab is urgently needed. In the present study, we elucidated the mechanism of cetuximab in radiosensitization, and discovered novel functions of cetuximab in glycolysis inhibition and cellular redox status regulation. We found that cetuximab inhibits …

Ezh2 T416 Phosphorylation Enhances Breast Cancer Tumorigenesis, Adam M. Labaff, Adam M. Labaff

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) is the catalytic subunit of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) and catalyzes the trimethylation of histone H3 on lysine 27 (H3K27Me3), to repress gene transcription. Many types of cancer stem and progenitor cells, including breast, have demonstrated EZH2 to be fundamental in the biology and promoting the expansion of their cellular populations. How EZH2 regulates each of these respective tumor initiating cells (TICs) populations has been studied, but the signaling transduction mechanisms that regulate EZH2 in these TIC populations is yet to be elucidated. Phosphorylation of EZH2 by cyclin dependent kinases (CDK) has been …

Radiogenic Second Cancer Risk Differences In Female Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients Treated With Proton Versus Photon Radiotherapies, Kenneth L. Homann

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL) is the most common cancer diagnosis of young adults in the United States. Advances in curative treatments for HL, including the use of photon radiation therapy (RT) techniques, have increased 10 year survival rates to approximately 90% among young patients. These RT treatments, however, contribute to an increased incidence of radiogenic second cancer (RSC) formation to the healthy tissue surrounding the tumor volume relative to the general population. These RSCs are the leading cause of death among long-term HL survivors. Proton therapy has been shown to reduce the therapeutic dose, and therefore, the risk of developing a …

Mtorc1 Signaling In Memory Formation And Dysfunction, Natalia S. Rozas De O'Laughlin

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway integrates cellular availability of growth factors, energy and amino acids to regulate protein synthesis and autophagy. The mTORC1 pathway has also been shown to be required for memory consolidation, and its dysregulation is associated with many neurological disorders. MTORC1 is negatively regulated by the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC1/2). When ATP and growth factors are available, TSC1/2 is inhibited and mTORC1 activity can be restored. In a complementary regulatory pathway, amino acids signal to mTORC1 through the Rag GTPases and Ragulator complex, which modulate the translocation of mTORC1 from the cytoplasm to …

Characterization Of The Role(S) Of Env Protein Of Human Endogenous Retrovirus-K In Multiple Human Cancers, Ming Li

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are remnants from ancient retroviral infections, and most of them are inactive in normal tissues. One family of HERV, HERV-K, is found to be associated with multiple human cancers including breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and melanoma, but the causal relationship between HERV-K and cancer is still unclear. Increased expression of HERV-K in melanoma cells correlates with malignant transformation, while a serological response to HERV-K in breast cancer or melanoma patients correlates with survival probability. However, the mechanism behind these observations remains obscure. Our laboratory reported that anti-HERV-K envelope (Env) protein antibodies show antitumor potential in targeting …

The Staphylococcus Pseudintermedius Adhesin Spsd Contains A Central Fibronectin-Binding Domain, Andrea S. Bordt

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is a Gram-positive bacterium significant because of its ability to cause costly and difficult to treat veterinary infections worldwide. It exhibits several similarities to Staphylococcus aureus, however, very little is known about its surface adhesins. Surface adhesins in S. aureus are significant contributors to pathogenesis. S. pseudintermedius encodes the surface protein SpsD, which contains characteristics of the microbial surface components recognizing adhesive matrix molecules family and confers attachment of the heterologous host Lactococcus lactis to fibronectin. This work has identified a centrally-located fibronectin binding domain in SpsD which binds the 30 kDa N-terminal domain of fibronectin with …

Investigating Apoptosis Pathway In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Stromal Influence And Therapeutic Activation, Viralkumar M. Patel

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a B-cell malignancy. High levels of Bcl-2 and IAP family proteins are responsible for apoptotic-resistance and accumulation of mature CLL lymphocytes in bone-marrow, lymph nodes and peripheral blood. Besides pro-survival proteins, supporting stromal cells as well as soluble factors in the microenvironment of bone-marrow and lymph nodes provide survival advantage to CLL leukemic cells.

Though the stromal – leukemia cell interactions has been studied extensively, in-depth-knowledge on the regulation of apoptotic pathway proteins in the context of microenvironment is still limited. To address this, the first part of our study focused on comprehensive analysis of …

Ventral Tegmental Area Neuronal Responses To Methylphenidate Correlated To Behavioral Responses Of Adolescent And Adult Rats, Zachary Jones

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Methylphenidate (MPD) is a psychostimulant used in the treat treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and more recently is being used as a cognitive enhancement and recreational drug. Its therapeutic effects are not fully understood, nor are the long term effects of the drug on brain development. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a site of psychostimulant action thought to be involved in behavioral sensitization. The aim of the this study was to first determine if there are differences in neuronal responses between individuals, with respect to neuronal firing patterns in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and whether these differences …

Basis For Targeting Met Activation Mediated Resistance To Pi3k Inhibition In Breast Cancer, Ana M. Gonzalez-Angulo

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The identification of resistance mechanisms to emerging therapies, such as those targeting the PI3K pathway and the MET receptor, has the potential to benefit a significant number of patients with breast cancer. In this study we hypothesized that concurrent aberrations in PI3K and MET will render breast cancers resistant to therapies targeting each pathway, and that combination therapy targeting the PI3K and MET pathway will optimize therapy-effect by preventing the acquisition of resistance.

We analyzed cMET and phospho-cMET levels in 257 breast cancer samples and found that high levels of both the proteins were seen in all breast cancer subtypes, …

Neural Correlates Of Audiovisual Speech Perception In Aphasia And Healthy Aging, Sarah H. Baum

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Understanding speech in face-to-face conversation utilizes the integration of multiple pieces of information, most importantly the auditory vocal sounds and visual lip movements. Prior studies of the neural underpinnings of audiovisual integration in the brain have provided converging evidence to suggest that neurons within the left superior temporal sulcus (STS) provide a critical neural hub for the integration of auditory and visual information in speech. While most studies of audiovisual processing focus on neural mechanisms within healthy, young adults, we currently know very little about how changes to the brain can affect audiovisual integration in speech. To examine this further, …

Development And Evaluation Of An Ontology-Based Quality Metrics Extraction System, Sina Madani

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The Institute of Medicine reports a growing demand in recent years for quality improvement within the healthcare industry. In response, numerous organizations have been involved in the development and reporting of quality measurement metrics. However, disparate data models from such organizations shift the burden of accurate and reliable metrics extraction and reporting to healthcare providers. Furthermore, manual abstraction of quality metrics and diverse implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems deepens the complexity of consistent, valid, explicit, and comparable quality measurement reporting within healthcare provider organizations.

The main objective of this research is to evaluate an ontology-based information extraction framework …