Digital Commons Network^™

Playforward: Elm City Stories Interactive Group-Based Curriculum: An Intervention On Hiv Risk Behaviors In Urban Racial And Ethnic Minority Youth, Anna North

Public Health Theses

There is a growing epidemic of HIV in young, racial and ethnic minority populations (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008). PlayForward: Elm City Stories is an evidence-based, theory-driven videogame intervention developed by the Yale School of Medicine research group, play2PREVENT to impact HIV risk behaviors in urban racial and ethnic minority youth, ages 11-14 (play2PREVENT). The PlayForward: Elm City Stories intervention manual seeks to build on the videogame by adding an in-person group dimension to the individualized intervention. The manual provides a group-based interactive, in-person curriculum addressing decision-making and risk behaviors for HIV exposure among 11-14 year olds, and …

Household Food Insecurity And Obesity Risk In An Urban Slum In Brazil, Krysta Peterson

Public Health Theses

Background: The prevalence of obesity is growing among the poor. Household food insecurity (HFI) may partly explain this trend as individuals experiencing it may cope by consuming low-cost high calorie meals with little nutritive value. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of HFI, identify its risk factors, and assess the relationship with obesity among adults in an urban slum community in Salvador, Brazil.

Design: This cross-sectional study interviewed participants at home to assess socioeconomic status, demographics, HFI (measured by the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA)), and health. Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist circumference) of each respondent were taken to …

Soil-Transmitted Nematode Infections Among School-Age Children In Rakai District, Uganda, Jensen Dalton Reckhow

Public Health Theses

One billion people are currently infected with at least one soil-transmitted nematode (STN), and over 161,600 school-aged children in sub-Saharan Africa live in areas where the prevalence exceeds 20%. STN infections cause malnutrition and cognitive deficits that limit productivity and may contribute to endemic poverty. Despite this significant and recognized disease burden, research on these diseases remains piecemeal; the majority of scientific understanding of these conditions is derived from a handful of small studies. Data regarding prevalence, intensity, and effectiveness of treatment of STN infections in Rakai District, Uganda is particularly limited, and the Ministry of Health has discontinued surveillance …

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Novel Ethnic-Specific Associations With Body Mass Index, Yasmmyn D. Salinas

Public Health Theses

Background. Obesity affects over one-third of the US population, and is a risk factor for various chronic conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. The disease results from a combination of behavioral and environmental risk factors and genetic predisposition. To date, over 50 genetic polymorphisms have been associated with increased body mass index (BMI), but these associations explain only a small percentage of the heritable risk of obesity. Moreover, the majority of these associations have been identified in populations of European ancestry. We sought to identify novel associations with BMI and to evaluate their generalizability across ethnic groups, …

Modeling The Zoonotic Transmission Dynamics Of Nipah Virus: Implications For Outbreak Control And Model-Guided Fieldwork, Natasha Wenzel

Public Health Theses

Introduction: Nipah virus is considered a biosafety level-4 pathogen that is endemic to bats of the genus Pteropus. Infection in humans presents clinically as febrile encephalitis with an extremely high case-fatality rate (78.2%). Outbreaks of Nipah virus infection have occurred in Bangladesh and India almost annually since 2001, most recently in January 2013.

Methods: To elucidate Nipah virus persistence at the endemic host and human population level we developed a Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered dynamic model and parameterized it from published epidemiological case data and serological bats surveys on the Nipah Virus-Bangladesh variant. We conducted a Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation to estimate …

Risk-Based Regulation Of Clinical Health Data Analytics, Deven Mcgraw, Alice Leiter

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Stress, Discrimination And Repeat Pregnancy In Adolescent Parents, Meghan Angley

Public Health Theses

Objective

Adolescent mothers are at high risk of repeat pregnancy and repeat birth with short birth intervals. Perceived stress is known to affect young women's use of contraception, and therefore risk of unintended pregnancy. The primary aim of the study was to examine how stress, stressful life events, discrimination and economic hardship affect adolescent mothers' risk for repeat pregnancy. Secondary aims included examining if the association between stress and repeat pregnancy was mediated by contraception use, if the stress experienced by the mother's partner was associated with risk of pregnancy and if the association between stress and repeat pregnancy was …

Epidemiology, Risk Factors, And Effectiveness Of Treatment Of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever In Turkey, 2007-2012, Eda Akyar

Public Health Theses

Objective: Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is caused by a Nairovirus of the Bunyaviridae family. It was first reported in Turkey in 2002. Infections commonly result from bites from ticks of Hyalomma marginatum marginatum or Rhipicephalus bursa species. Nosocomial infections also occur. CCHF infection occurs in over 30 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. No vaccine exists and the effectiveness of ribavirin treatment remains controversial. This study's objective was to identify significant epidemiological, environmental, and clinical risk factors associated with disease and death caused by CCHF in Turkey. This study also evaluated the effectiveness of ribavirin as treatment for patients …

Hpv Vaccine Effectiveness In New Haven County, Connecticut Women Age 18-39, 2008-2012, Jennifer Lynn Berry

Public Health Theses

Background: HPV vaccines have demonstrated high efficacy in clinical trials against cervical lesions and infections by HPV vaccine types 16 and 18. Together these two types are responsible for approximately 70% of cervical cancer. Data on HPV vaccine effectiveness in general populations is limited.

Methods: Surveillance data monitoring high-grade cervical lesions in Connecticut was used. Medical records were reviewed and patients were interviewed to ascertain HPV vaccine history. Patients' biopsy specimens were typed to determine the presence of vaccine or non-vaccine type HPV. Odds ratios were determined using logistic regression, adjusting for age at diagnosis, grade of cervical lesion, race/ethnicity, …

Risk Factors For Q Fever Seroconversion In A Cohort Of Veterinary Students: A Comparative Analysis, Jessica Bonthius

Public Health Theses

Introduction: Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) is an extremely infectious, environmentally persistent intracellular bacterium and the causative agent of the zoonosis Q fever. An unprecedented epidemic in the Netherlands between 2007 and 2010 revealed its public health importance. Recent investigations have focused on C. burnetii seroprevalence among livestock workers. The burden of disease in veterinary students, a group with arguably similar exposures, has been insufficiently characterized.

Methods: Students beginning veterinary study at Utrecht University's Veterinary Medical School in 2006 were invited to participate. Questionnaires and serum samples for the detection of IgM and IgG antibodies against C. burnetii were collected at …

Sustainability Of Sustainability: Exploring Alternatives In Alternative Energy, Corey C. Cooling

Honors Program Theses

In light of a gap in the literature of what makes or breaks student biodiesel conversion programs, this thesis will give a review and analysis of select existing biodiesel conversion programs and suggest a model reflecting the characteristics of successful student programs.

The study’s research questions are:

1. What are the common themes or factors successful programs exhibit?

2. What institutional factors create a productive environment for biodiesel programs?

3. Can the tactics of successful programs be generalized?

Firstly, I define successful programs as programs that are financially feasible, develop student skills, lower the environmental impact of universities and foster …

Minority Stress And Daily Affect Among Gay And Bisexual Men, Adam Ismail Eldahan

Public Health Theses

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to examine the possible time-variant relationship between daily minority stress and same-day affect among gay and bisexual men. Additionally, this study sought to determine whether a lagged association exists between daily minority stress and next-day affect. Lastly, this study examined trajectories of minority stress and affect during the course of the study period. Methods: 371 gay and bisexual men in New York City completed a 30-day daily diary, recording daily experiences of minority stress and daily measures of positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and anxious arousal (AA) (n = 8,415 diary …

Household Food Insecurity And Iron Deficiency Anemia In Mexican Women Of Reproductive Age, Nils Clement Fischer

Public Health Theses

Objective: To investigate the association of household food insecurity (HFI) with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in a nationally representative cross-sectional sample from Mexico of women of reproductive age (12-49 years old).

Material and Methods: We tested the association between HFI and IDA among 16,944 women of reproductive age using multiple logistic regression. HFI was measured using the Latin America and the Caribbean Food Security Scale (ELCSA). IDA was measured with capillary hemoglobin using HemoCue photometer and defined using the WHO standards.

Results: Multivariate analyses showed that adjusted odds for IDA were 33% and 36% higher among living in moderately and …

Dengue Epidemiology In An Urban Slum Community In Salvador, Brazil, Kristine Gauthier

Public Health Theses

Brazil has experienced a major increase in the incidence of dengue fever and severe dengue since the mid-1990s. Due to incomplete vector-control and transmission prevention efforts, all four serotypes of the dengue virus now circulate in Brazil. Communities such as Pau da Lima, an urban slum in the city of Salvador, Brazil, face a high burden of disease. Beginning in 2009 enhanced surveillance for dengue fever and other acute febrile illnesses has been conducted at the São Marcos Emergency Center (CESM), the only public urgent care health center in Pau da Lima. This sentinel surveillance site serves as a model …

Analysis Of The Gut-Specific Microbiome Of Field-Captured Tsetse Flies, And Its Potential Relevance To Host Trypanosome Vector Competence, Bridget Catherine Hamilton Griffith

Public Health Theses

The tsetse fly (Glossinasp.) gut is colonized by maternally transmitted and environmentally acquired bacteria. Maternally transmitted symbionts are well characterized, but little is known about the origin and function of environmentally acquired bacteria inhabiting the tsetse midgut. To address this shortcoming, culture dependent and independent methods were used to characterize and quantify bacterial communities that reside within the midgut of tsetse flies collected at five geographically isolated locations in Kenya and Uganda. Bacteria were isolated from 83.33% of flies using culture dependent methods. In total, 38 strains were isolated. To increase the depth of this analysis, Illumina-based deep-sequencing of the …

An Assessment Of Hookworm Infection And Albendazole Treatment Failure Among Children Ages 7-12 In Kintampo North Municipality, Ghana, Erin Leah Jaske

Public Health Theses

Background

Hookworm is a soil-transmitted nematode (STN) infection associated with rural poverty that infects 576-740 million people worldwide, 200 million of which reside in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2001, the WHO passed a resolution that recommended annual deworming for school-aged children where the prevalence of STNs is higher than 20%. Since this time, albendazole has been widely used across sub-Saharan Africa to treat hookworm infection. Given the widespread use of albendazole as a treatment for hookworms and other STNs in humans, it becomes pertinent to ensure that resistance is monitored at the local level, and detected as it emerges. Previous research …

Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces) And Their Influence On Social Connectedness, Tammie Kwong

Public Health Theses

Emerging evidence suggests that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are prevalent within the population and are linked to various negative long-term health and social consequences. The effect childhood maltreatment has on an individual's ability to maintain social connectedness may be a potential pathway as to how early adversity increases the likelihood of future negative health consequences. Using the 2011/12 National Survey of Children's Health, this thesis will explore the influence ACEs has on three areas of social connectedness: bonding, bridging, and linking. Results from the multivariate logistic regression model show that there was a significant association between ACEs and bonding as …

Detecting Knowledge Of Incidentally Acquired, Real-World Memories Using A P300-Based Concealed-Information Test, John B. Meixner Jr., J. Peter Rosenfeld

Scholarly Works

Autobiographical memory for events experienced during normal daily life has been studied at the group level, but no studies have yet examined the ability to detect recognition of incidentally acquired memories among individual subjects. We present the first such study here, which employed a concealed-information test in which subjects were shown words associated with activities they had experienced the previous day. Subjects wore a video-recording device for 4 hr on Day 1 and then returned to the laboratory on Day 2, where they were shown words relating to events recorded with the camera (probe items) and words of the same …

Latitude And Environmental Pressure: Their Impact On Carapace Morphology In Three Species Of Fiddler Crabs (Genus Uca) Across The Atlantic Ocean, Katherine Susannah Mary Thomas

Honors Program Theses

Among semi-terrestrial fiddler crabs, three species from the subgenus Uca (sensu stricto) appear to be basal in the phylogeny of the genus: Uca major (Herbst 1782-1804), Uca maracoani (Latreille 1802-1803) and Uca tangeri (Eydoux 1835). These species evolved vicariantly as tectonic plates separated to form the Atlantic Ocean. Currently, the three species, found in Africa, South America, and the Caribbean, exhibit a high affinity for their respective tectonic plates. Inter- and intra-specific variation in carapace shape was assessed using geometric morphometrics to analyze 12 surface landmarks in the three species. In 314 female specimens, surficial coordinates were superimposed, standardized, and …

Color Vision Variation As Evidenced By Hybrid L/M Opsin Genes In Wild Populations Of Trichromatic Alouatta New World Monkeys, Barbara Welker, Yuka Matsushita, Hiroki Oota, Mary S. Pavelka, Shoji Kawamura

Anthropology

Platyrrhine (New World) monkeys possess highly polymorphic color vision owing to allelic variation of the single-locus L/M opsin gene on the X chromosome. Most species consist of female trichromats and female and male dichromats. Howlers (genus Alouatta) are an exception; they are considered to be routinely trichromatic with L and M opsin genes juxtaposed on the X chromosome, as seen in catarrhine primates (Old World monkeys, apes, and humans). Yet it is not known whether trichromacy is invariable in howlers. We examined L/M opsin variation in wild howler populations in Costa Rica and Nicaragua (Alouatta palliata) and …

Marine Fish May Be Biochemically Constrained From Inhabiting The Deepest Ocean Depths, Paul H. Yancey, Mackenzie E. Gerringer, Jeffrey C. Drazen, Ashley A. Rowden, Alan Jamieson

Biology

No fish have been found in the deepest 25% of the ocean (8,400-11,000 m). This apparent absence has been attributed to hydrostatic pressure, although direct evidence is wanting because of the lack of deepest-living species to study. The common osmolyte trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) stabilizes proteins against pressure and increases with depth, going from 40 to 261 mmol/kg in teleost fishes from 0 to 4,850 m. TMAO accumulation with depth results in increasing internal osmolality (typically 350 mOsmol/kg in shallow species compared with seawater's 1,100 mOsmol/kg). Preliminary extrapolation of osmolalities of predicted isosmotic state at 8,000-8,500 m may indicate a possible …

The Earliest Colubroid-Dominated Snake Fauna From Africa: Perspectives From The Late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation Of Southwestern Tanzania, Jacob A. Mccartney, Nancy J. Stevens, Patrick M. O'Connor

Biology

The extant snake fauna has its roots in faunal upheaval occurring across the Paleogene - Neogene transition. On northern continents, this turnover is well established by the late early Miocene. However, this transition is poorly documented on southern landmasses, particularly on continental Africa, where no late Paleogene terrestrial snake assemblages are documented south of the equator. Here we describe a newly discovered snake fauna from the Late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation in the Rukwa Rift Basin of Tanzania. The fauna is small but diverse with eight identifiable morphotypes, comprised of three booids and five colubroids. This fauna includes Rukwanyoka holmani gen. …

Meiotic Drive Impacts Expression And Evolution Of X-Linked Genes In Stalk-Eyed Flies, Josephine A. Reinhardt, Cara L. Brand, Kimberly A. Paczolt, Philip M. Johns, Richard H. Baker, Gerald S. Wilkinson

Biology

Although sex chromosome meiotic drive has been observed in a variety of species for over 50 years, the genes causing drive are only known in a few cases, and none of these cases cause distorted sex-ratios in nature. In stalk-eyed flies (Teleopsis dalmanni), driving X chromosomes are commonly found at frequencies approaching 30% in the wild, but the genetic basis of drive has remained elusive due to reduced recombination between driving and non-driving X chromosomes. Here, we used RNAseq to identify transcripts that are differentially expressed between males carrying either a driving X (X SR ) or a standard X …

Sporulation In Bacteria: Beyond The Standard Model, Elizabeth Hutchison

Biology

Endospore formation follows a complex, highly regulated developmental pathway that occurs in a broad range of Firmicutes. Although Bacillus subtilis has served as a powerful model system to study the morphological, biochemical, and genetic determinants of sporulation, fundamental aspects of the program remain mysterious for other genera. For example, it is entirely unknown how most lineages within the Firmicutes regulate entry into sporulation. Additionally, little is known about how the sporulation pathway has evolved novel spore forms and reproductive schemes. Here, we describe endospore and internal offspring development in diverse Firmicutes and outline progress in characterizing these programs. Moreover, …

Landscape, Demographic And Climatic Associations With Human West Nile Virus Occurrence Regionally In 2012 In The United States Of America, John P. Degroote, Ramanathan Sugumaran, Mark Ecker

Faculty Work

After several years of low West Nile virus (WNV) occurrence in the United States of America (USA), 2012 witnessed large outbreaks in several parts of the country. In order to understand the outbreak dynamics, spatial clustering and landscape, demographic and climatic associations with WNV occurrence were investigated at a regional level in the USA. Previous research has demonstrated that there are a handful of prominent WNV mosquito vectors with varying ecological requirements responsible for WNV transmission in the USA. Published range maps of these important vectors were georeferenced and used to define eight functional ecological regions in the coterminous USA. …

A Full Greenhouse Gases Budget Of Africa: Synthesis, Uncertainties, And Vulnerabilities, R. Valentini, A. Arneth, A. Bombelli, S. Castaldi, R. Cazzolla Gatti, F. Chevallier, P. Ciais, E. Grieco, J. Hartmann, M. Henry, R. A. Houghton, M. Jung, W. L. Kutsch, Y. Malhi, E. Mayorga, L. Merbold, G. Murray-Tortarolo, D. Papale, P. Peylin, B. Poulter, P. A. Raymond, M. Santini, S. Sitch, G. Vaglio Laurin, G. R. Van Der Werf, Christopher A. Williams, R. J. Scholes

Geography

This paper, developed under the framework of the RECCAP initiative, aims at providing improved estimates of the carbon and GHG (CO2, CH4 and N2O) balance of continental Africa. The various components and processes of the African carbon and GHG budget are considered, existing data reviewed, and new data from different methodologies (inventories, ecosystem flux measurements, models, and atmospheric inversions) presented. Uncertainties are quantified and current gaps and weaknesses in knowledge and monitoring systems described in order to guide future requirements. The majority of results agree that Africa is a small sink of carbon on an annual scale, with an average …

Impacts Of Disturbance History On Forest Carbon Stocks And Fluxes: Merging Satellite Disturbance Mapping With Forest Inventory Data In A Carbon Cycle Model Framework, Christopher A. Williams, G. James Collatz, Jeffrey Masek, Chengquan Huang, Samuel N. Goward

Geography

Forest carbon stocks and fluxes are highly dynamic following stand-clearing disturbances from severe fire and harvest and this presents a significant challenge for continental carbon budget assessments. In this work we use forest inventory data to parameterize a carbon cycle model to represent post-disturbance carbon trajectories of carbon pools and fluxes for specific forest types growing in high and low site productivity class settings. We then apply these trajectories to landscapes and regions based on forest age distributions derived from either the FIA data or from Landsat time series stacks (1985-2006) for 54 representative scenes throughout most of the conterminous …

The Oncogenic Role Of Piwi Proteins In Breast Carcinogenesis, Donghai Liang

Public Health Theses

As the leading source of cancer death among women worldwide, breast cancer has experienced a steady increase in prevalence in recently years, a trend that is most evident in industrialized nations. One possible explanation for this epidemic phenomenon is the exposure to light at night through shiftwork, which has been linked to both aberrant DNA methylation and increased risk of breast cancer development. Based on a whole-genome methylation analysis on a selected sample of the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health prospective cohort, we observed statistically significant hypomethylation in the PIWIL1 gene, a member of the PIWI protein family, among night …

From Contract To Legislation: The Logic Of Modern International Lawmaking, Timothy L. Meyer

Scholarly Works

The future of international lawmaking is in peril. Both trade and climate negotiations have failed to produce a multilateral agreement since the mid-1990s, while the U.N. Security Council has been unable to comprehensively respond to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. In response to multilateralism’s retreat, many prominent commentators have called for international institutions to be given the power to bind holdout states — often rising or reluctant powers such as China and the United States — without their consent. In short, these proposals envision international law traveling the road taken by federal systems such as the United States and the …

Building Responsive Library Collections With The Getting It System Toolkit, Tim Bowersox, Cyril Oberlander, Kate Pitcher, Mark Sullivan

IDS Project Press

The Getting It System Toolkit (GIST), a suite of free and open source tools & software, leverages systems to optimize library acquisitions and deselection workflow, reducing the staff time necessary to make informed decisions and process materials. The Toolkit is divided into two functions:

GIST for ILLiad consists of three components that enhance the ILLiad® interlibrary loan request management software: addons, webpage customizations, and the acquisitions manager. All three components may be selectively utilized in ILLiad, for instance, ILLiad web pages may be applied to enhance the end-user request interface to add full-text discovery, or an ILLiad Addon can help …