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A Web-Based Interactive Tool To Reduce Childhood Obesity Risk In Urban Minority Youth: Usability Testing Study, Sandra Verdaguer, Katrina F. Mateo, Katarzyna Wyka, Tracy A. Dennis, May May Leung

Publications and Research

Background: Childhood obesity is a serious public health issue among minority youth in the United States. Technology-enhanced approaches can be effective for promoting healthy behavior change.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the usability of prototypes of a Web-based interactive tool promoting healthy dietary behaviors to reduce childhood obesity risk in urban minority youth. The Web-based tool comprised a manga-style comic with interactive features (eg, sound effects, clickable pop-ups), tailored messaging, and goal setting, and was optimized for use on tablet devices.

Methods: Latino and black/African American children ages 9 to 13 years were recruited to participate …

Quantitation Without Calibration: Response Profile As An Indicator Of Target Amount, Mrittika Debnath

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Quantitative assessment of biomarkers is essential in numerous contexts from decision-making in clinical situations to food quality monitoring to the interpretation of life-science research findings. However, appropriate quantitation techniques are not as widely addressed as detection methods. One of the major challenges in biomarker’s quantitation is the need to have a calibration for correlating a measured signal to a target amount. The step complicates the methodologies and makes them less sustainable. In this work, we addressed the issue via a new strategy: relying on the position of response profile rather than absolute signal for assessment of a target nucleic acid’s …

Yoga As An Intervention Among College Students: Measuring Changes In Body Dissatisfaction, Disordered Eating, Self-Compassion, Mindfulness, And Experiential Avoidance, Rachel A. Kramer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to elaborate and expand research examining the incorporation of yoga in the prevention and treatment of eating disorders in addition to the amelioration of body image and related factors through a two-study design. Study One recruited participants from a Midwestern psychology subject pool. One-hundred fifty women completed Study One. Results indicated that self-compassion, mindfulness, and body appreciation were negatively related to eating disorder pathology, body mass index (BMI), and experiential avoidance. BMI, eating disorder pathology, and experiential avoidance were all positively correlated with one another. Mediational analyses indicated the self-compassion was a significant mediator …

Assessment Of Blood Pressure Regulatory Controls To Detect Hypovolemia And Orthostatic Intolerance, Ajay Kumar Verma

Theses and Dissertations

Regulation of blood pressure is vital for maintaining organ perfusion and homeostasis. A significant decline in arterial blood pressure could lead to fainting and hypovolemic shock. In contrast to young and healthy, people with impaired autonomic control due to aging or disease find regulating blood pressure rather demanding during orthostatic challenge. This thesis performed an assessment of blood pressure regulatory controls during orthostatic challenge via traditional as well as novel approaches with two distinct applications 1) to design a robust automated system for early identification of hypovolemia and 2) to assess orthostatic tolerance in humans. In chapter 3, moderate intensity …

Modeling Threats To Honey Bees In North Dakota From Land-Use Change And Pesticide Applications, Daniel Dixon

Theses and Dissertations

North Dakota supports the highest number of honey bee colonies in the US due to its abundance of floral resources, but threats from land-use change and pesticide applications have altered the quantity and quality of those resources in recent years. This thesis explored landscape scale pesticide use trends from both spray applied and seed treated insecticides on lands within 1.6km of ~13,000 registered apiaries North Dakota from 2001 to 2015. The regional application of five spray applied insecticides was collectively modeled using InVEST’s Habitat Quality Model during years of heightened land-use change. In these models, regional application rates were converted …

Pilot Study: Knowledge And Attitudes Regarding Sport-Related Concussion In A Rural Interscholastic Sport Sample, Austin Westland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Context: Evidence supports education initiatives to improve knowledge of sport-related concussion (SRC) in active children and adolescents, as well as improve attitudes towards reporting concussion events to a supervising adult with the ultimate goal of early diagnosis and management. Most evidence focuses on urban and suburban children’s SRC knowledge and attitudes; however, little is known regarding knowledge and attitudes of children participating in sport in rural environments. Understanding current knowledge and attitudes of rural children can inform future education and health behavior strategies that encourage early reporting. Objective: Two objectives guided this study. First, obtain and analyze pilot data regarding …

Exploring The Relationship Between Quality Of Written School Wellness Policy And The Degree Of Wellness Policy Implementation In Elementary Schools, Josie Sieberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: To date many studies have evaluated the quality of written school wellness policies (SWPs), however, few have addresses SWP implementation. As SWPs have the potential to reduce childhood obesity, it is crucial for schools to not only write high quality SWPs, but also to implement these policy items. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the quality of written SWPs and the degree of SWP implementation. We hypothesized that schools with higher quality written SWPs would have a higher degree of policy implementation. Methods: School wellness policy written quality and implementation were assessed in …

Fight, Flight, Barter, Or Collaborate : Kindergarten Teachers' Perspectives Of Implementing The Common Core State Standards, Sarah Machamer

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Using Shulman's theory of teacher knowledge as the theoretical framework and a phenomenological research design, this qualitative study used Seidman's three-interview protocol to understand how 11 kindergarten teachers perceived the CCSS affected their use of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) and their instructional discretion. This study also examined how these teachers perceived their public school setting (rural, suburban, urban or urban charter) affected their implementation of the CCSS. Colaizzi's seven-step phenomenological methodology was employed to analyze the data into emergent themes. Five themes related to the research questions emerged from the analysis. First, the kindergarten teachers in this study perceived the …

Differences In Walking Mechanics Between A Traditional Walker And The Kb Balance Trainer, Silvia Zanini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: Millions of individuals with ambulatory difficulties rely on walking aids to maintain independence and mobility. However, users of traditional walkers typically exhibit increased forward lean of their trunk while using the assistive device. The KB Balance Trainer is a new posterior walker designed to facilitate a more erect position during gait. PURPOSE: To compare gait mechanics across three walking conditions: unassisted, using a traditional walker, and using the KB Balance Trainer. METHODS: Seven adults with experience using walkers due to ambulatory difficulties participated in the study. The study consisted of one training session and one gait analysis session. The …

Immigration As A Social Determinant Of Health: Proceedings Of A Workshop, Tiffiany O. Howard, National Academies Of Sciences, Engineering, And Medicine, Numerous Authors, See Full List Below

Political Science Faculty Research

Since 1965 the foreign-born population of the United States has swelled from 9.6 million or 5 percent of the population to 45 million or 14 percent in 2015. Today, about one-quarter of the U.S. population consists of immigrants or the children of immigrants. Given the sizable representation of immigrants in the U.S. population, their health is a major influence on the health of the population as a whole. On average, immigrants are healthier than native-born Americans. Yet, immigrants also are subject to the systematic marginalization and discrimination that often lead to the creation of health disparities. To explore the link …

Microfinance: Combating World Poverty One Small Business At A Time, Alison Basney

Senior Honors Theses

Poverty is a major problem that reaches millions of people around the world. Although many organizations and individuals work daily to combat this, much of the work done to reduce poverty lacks sustainability and serves only to remedy to the effects of poverty, rather than create a solution to the causes of poverty. Microfinance can be very basically defined as the provision of banking to the impoverished who would not otherwise have access to these services. This purpose of this thesis is to show that microfinance is the ideal solution to the poverty problem by using research and evidence from …

Food Federalism: States, Local Governments, And The Fight For Food Sovereignty, Sarah B. Schindler

Faculty Publications

Recently, a number of states have sought to withdraw or restrain local power. In this Article, which is part of the “Re-Thinking State Relevance” symposium hosted by the Ohio State Law Journal, I write about a state taking the opposite approach, and attempting to affirmatively endow its local governments with additional powers. The state is Maine, and the context is control over local food production and sales. This Article begins by addressing the emergence of the sustainable local foods movement broadly, and reasons for the growth of this movement. It then focuses more pointedly on the food sovereignty movement, considering …

Midwives’ Knowledge Of Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative In Uganda, Jaliah Namutebi, Hanifah Nakanwagi, Leila Naluyima, Grace Edwards

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a worldwide programme well known to midwives globally for supporting the initiation of successful breastfeeding. In low resource countries, initiation of breastfeeding immediately after birth would help to reduce neonatal complications such as infection. Knowledge of the 10 steps is critical for midwives in developing countries, yet our research in Uganda suggested that midwives’ knowledge is poor, despite a commitment at government level. There is a disconnect between policy and practice which must be addressed to ensure that midwives give standardised advice to new mothers to ensure successful and exclusive breastfeeding. This is …

Factors Influencing High Prevalence Of Fresh Still Births In Mbagathi County Hospital, Nairobi - Kenya, Abednego Ongeso, Magdalene Lukorito, Jane Kabo

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Background: The annual global burden of stillbirths is approximately 2.6 million, 98% of which occur in Sub Saharan Africa. In 2016, approximately 24 still births per month occurred in Mbagathi County Hospital (MCH) representing a 33.3% increase from 2015. A third of these were Fresh Still Births (FSBs).

Objectives: To establish factors influencing increase in FSB among women delivering at MCH.

Methodology: The study was conducted at MCH postnatal ward. A descriptive cross sectional study design was employed. Forty three respondents with FSBs were consecutively sampled. Clearance to conduct the study was sought from Ethics Review Committee, MCH and respondents. …

Sharing New Knowledge: A Review Of Dissemination Rates And Journal Emphasis In Career And Technical Education, Victor M. Hernandez-Gantes

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

In career and technical education (CTE), the role of academic journals has been critical in the dissemination of information as the field shifted from vocational education to CTE. To keep up with changes in the field, some journals have been renamed to reflect the new emphasis, other journals have retained their historical branding, and new journals have emerged. Thus, the purpose of this descriptive research was to review the typology and dissemination rates of journals currently available in CTE as a means to clarify their role and impact in the field. The review resulted in the identification of 17 journals …

Applying An Infomation Literacy Rubric To First-Year Health Sciences Student Research Posters, Xan Goodman, John Watts, Rogelio A. Arenas, Rachelle Weigel, Tony Terrell

Library Faculty Research

Objective: This article describes the collection and analysis of annotated bibliographies created by first-year health sciences students to support their final poster projects. The authors examined the students’ abilities to select relevant and authoritative sources, summarize the content of those sources, and correctly cite those sources. Methods: We collected images of 1,253 posters, of which 120 were sampled for analysis, and scored the posters using a 4-point rubric to evaluate students’ information literacy skills. Results: We found that 52% of students were proficient at selecting relevant sources that directly contributed to the theme, topic, or debate presented in their final …

Using Cluster Analysis To Identify Subgroups Of College Students At Increased Risk For Cardiovascular Disease, Dieu-My Tran, Kevin A. Kupzyk, Lani M. Zimmerman

Nursing Faculty Research

Background and Purpose: To examine the co-occurrence of cardiovascular risk factors and cluster subgroups of college students for cardiovascular risks. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted using co-occurrence patterns and hierarchical clustering analysis in 158 college students. Results: The top co-occurring cardiovascular risk factors were overweight/obese and hypertension (10.8%, n = 17). Of the total 34 risk factors that co-occurred, 30 of them involved being overweight/obese. A six-cluster-solution was obtained, two clusters displayed elevated levels of lifetime and 30-year cardiovascular disease risks. Conclusions: The hierarchical cluster analysis identified that single White males with a family history of heart …

Introduction To Special Issue By Guest Editor, Reimund Serafica, Reimund Serafica

Nursing Faculty Research

Nurses are masters at multitasking—that is performing several nursing interventions simultaneously during a patient encounter. While the new technologies such as smart pumps, bar-code medication, administration systems, electronic health records (EHRs), wearables, and smartphones being introduced into our practice environments are designed to increases efficiency, promote safety, and streamline the work of nursing, we also need to see what is current and emerging in the research arena. We need to continue to seek new evidence-based practice to care effectively for the Asian/Pacific Islander populations and promote a healing environment while incorporating the advantages and efficiencies that technologies provide.

The Use Of Social Media And Mema Technology In Comparing Compliance Rate Among Users, Reimund Serafica, Nada Lukkahatai, Brendan Tran Morris, Kelly Webber

Nursing Faculty Research

Compliance can be defined as the extent to which a person’s behavior corresponds with agreed recommendations. Within the context of lifestyle intervention, this may refer to physical activity, diet modifications, or lifestyle intervention program attendance or attrition. For lifestyle intervention programs to be successful (as measured against a variety of health and lifestyle markers), it is crucial for individuals to comply as best they can to the recommendations or instructions provided by the researchers. Those who disengage prematurely are likely to have poorer treatment outcomes. Hence, a better understanding and an added component, such as engagement, is vital to the …

Examination Of The Relationship Between Classism And Career Agency, Lucy Charlene Parker

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Classism is a recently studied, but historically existent form of oppression. Classism may involve students feeling that they cannot pursue a degree or career due to discrimination related to their social class status. This study explored the relationship between classism, gender, age, race, socioeconomic status, and career agency through survey design research. Career agency is the primary dependent variable in this study. Career agency includes career choice, career forethought, and career related actions related. Psychometrically established instruments including The Experiences With Perceived Classism Scale-Short Form and The Career Futures Inventory-Revised were used to assess classism and career agency. Using this …

Foodways Of The Visually-Impaired: Traversing The Blind Kitchen, Jason Chaw Jay

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, the number of visually impaired and blind Americans will rise drastically as the population continues to age; and, yet little is known about how the impact of blindness affects an individual when it comes to the experience of food provisioning and preparation. This thesis presents the study of how the blind and the visually impaired experience food provisioning and preparation. It explores how modern technology and sensory training help these groups of people traverse kitchen and grocery store environments. In thematically organized chapters, this thesis examines sensory education, nutrition and food related obstacles. This is the …

Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions Of Children Living In Conditions Of Poverty, Terri J. Robinson

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzed elementary teachers’ perceptions of their challenges working with children who live in conditions of poverty. This study found that teachers often work with children from very difficult situations, including exposure to alcohol, drugs, violence, and abandonment. This study found that no matter the challenges teachers encounter daily, they remain motivated, dedicated and determined to take the necessary steps to meet the needs of their students. One way they do this is by using Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, which attempts to include various aspects of their students’ daily lives and interests in the curriculum. The teachers in this study …

The Effect Of Infant Directed Lullaby On Maternal Attachment And Parenting Stress, Casie Esposito

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In this modified single-subject design study, the researcher sought to find whether eight parents who were taught to use lullaby evidenced a change in attachment and parenting stress regarding their infant’s hospitalization and into transition to home. Using repeated measures over a period of approximately two months, each parent was asked to use infant directed lullaby with their infants and keep track of its use with a calendar. The Maternal Attachment Inventory and the Parenting Stress Index provided measurement of self-reported attachment and stress. An adapted intervention rating profile was used to determine the parent’s perceived acceptance of infant directed …

From Pickled Peaches To Pink Poodle: What Do Community Cookbooks Tells Us About Foodways And Urbanization At The Turn-Of-The-Century In Sacramento And Stockton, California, Kate Helfrich

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Industrialization and rapid urbanization characterized the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in many aspects of domestic life. Scholars have used community cookbooks to document changes in domestic roles at the turn of the twentieth century. This study uses community cookbooks to look beyond domestic roles and to trace changing foodways during the period from 1870 to 1930 in the northern Central Valley of California. Nine cookbooks from Sacramento, California and five cookbooks from Stockton, California reveal changes in foodways during this time. Recipes, text, and advertisements in these cookbooks show changes in the manner of home food production; a …

On The Evolution Of "Extreme" Morphology: Patterns Of Cost And Benefit In Sexually Selected Weapons, Devin Mackenzie O'Brien

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sexually selected weapons represent some of the most spectacular morphologies in the animal world. They grow out of proportion with body size or other, more typically proportioned structures, and are some of the largest traits in both absolute and relative size. It is therefore unsurprising that animal weapons are some of the most intensely studied structures in biology. Yet, despite this interest, surprisingly little is known about the expression and evolution of these traits. In particular, four questions remain unanswered: How does selection act on weapons in the wild? Do the costs of large weapons ever outweigh the benefits? How …

Growing Youth Programming At Garden City Harvest Through Participatory Action Research, Hannah B. Oblock

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This professional paper presents a program evaluation and strategic plan for the youth development farming programs at Garden City Harvest (GCH), a non-profit in Missoula, Montana, which coordinates community-centered agriculture projects and facilitates sustainable agriculture education. The youth programs, Youth Harvest (YH) and Youth Farm (YF), hire adolescents of 15-18 years of age to work on their urban farms to learn about sustainable agriculture, job readiness skills, and social-emotional well-being. As the organization continues to expand, especially with the addition of a new facility, GCH administration and staff are interested in learning how the programs impact the youth employees and …

Collaborative Efforts To Improve Cancer Survivor Quality Of Life, Audra K. Putt, Mph, Cph

Michigan Journal of Public Health

This "Notes from the Field" piece provides information on the work of MCC's cancer control priorities and the results of collaborative efforts to address them. The MCC's Survivorship Workgroup was tasked with developing a project to support the Cancer Plan for Michigan’s Quality of Life Goal.

The Vatican View On Sport At The Service Of Humanity, Ed Edmonds

Journal Articles

Participation in sport, particularly the opportunity for children to enjoy and learn through play, is a human right and strongly supported by the goals of Catholic social teaching and the efforts of the Olympic Movement and the United Nations. On October 5-6, 2016, the Vatican held the Sport at the Service of Humanity Conference, the first global conference on sport and faith, an initiative promoted by Pope Francis and supported by the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations. This essay focuses on the conference, its vision and goals, and a challenge to use sport to advance human development and …

Prevalence Of Hla-B*5701 In A Kenyan Population With Hiv Infection, Reena Shah, H. Nabiswa, Nancy Okinda, Gunturu Revathi, Mark Hawken, Nelson M.

Internal Medicine, East Africa

We read with interest the article published in your Journal entitled “Real-world persistence with antiretroviral therapy for HIV in the United Kingdom: a multicentre retrospective cohort study”1 which concluded that treatment discontinuation attributable to toxicity profile is not an uncommon event. They also acknowledged lack of data collection on HLA-B*5701 status, which would heavily influence initial ART regimen and the choice to discontinue medication. Of the 25.6 million living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Africa, an estimated 1.6 million people live in Kenya.2 With an HIV prevalence of 5.6%, Kenya has upscaled HIV treatment and care in the past …

Heart Failure In A Contemporary Biracial Cohort, Matthew Mefford

All ETDs from UAB

Heart failure (HF) is the inability of the heart to meet the perfusion needs of the body. HF is a leading contributor to the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and remains a public health concern. Hypertension is a major modifiable risk factor for the prevention and management of HF. Hypertension develops earlier, is less controlled, and has a stronger association with some CVD and renal outcomes among blacks versus whites. These disparities may extend to HF. In addition, adults with HF often have complex treatment regimens due to multimorbidity, making medication adherence an issue. The goal of this dissertation was …