Digital Commons Network^™

Residential Household Yard Care Practices Along Urban-Exurban Gradients In Six Climatically-Diverse U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Dexter H. Locke, Colin Polsky, J. Morgan Grove, Peter M. Groffman, Kristen C. Nelson, Kelli L. Larson, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, James B. Heffernan, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, Sarah E. Hobbie, Neil D. Bettez, Sharon J. Hall, Christopher Neill, Laura Ogden, Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne

Geography

Residential land is expanding in the United States, and lawn now covers more area than the country’s leading irrigated crop by area. Given that lawns are widespread across diverse climatic regions and there is rising concern about the environmental impacts associated with their management, there is a clear need to understand the geographic variation, drivers, and outcomes of common yard care practices. We hypothesized that 1) income, age, and the number of neighbors known by name will be positively associated with the odds of having irrigated, fertilized, or applied pesticides in the last year, 2) irrigation, fertilization, and pesticide application …

Data Analytics Of Job Market Requirements For Technology Related Doctoral Degrees, Sidra Meo Rajput

Graduate Research Papers

To remain competitive in the twenty first (21) century, industries are forced to rapidly embrace new innovations in both automation technology and information technology. This rapidly changing technological landscape has created a state of flux for industries and academia alike.

What is required of most workers in this millennia across the globe is technical skills and this requirement is heightened for workforce with graduate degree credentials. Today's work force are required to constantly keep up with new productivity improvement concepts, tools, and technologies. This necessity mandate continues education throughout one's working age.

In order to conquer this phenomenon, institutes of …

Full Issue, Neutrosophic Sets And Systems

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Use Of Neutrosophy To Recommend Conceptions Related To The Integral Protection Of The Right To Life, Janneth Ximena Iglesias Quintana, Milton Jiménez Montenegro, Mesías Elias Machado Maliza, Ximena Cangas Oña

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Neutrosophic Supra Topological Applications In Data Mining Process, G. Jayaparthasarathy, V. F. Little Flower, M. Arockia Dasan

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Machine Learning In Neutrosophic Environment: A Survey, Azeddine Elhassouny, Soufiane Idbrahim, Florentin Smarandache

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Neutrosophic Weibull Distribution And Neutrosophic Family Weibull Distribution, Kawther Fawzi Hamza Alhasan, Florentin Smarandache

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Political Ingroup/Outgroup Rejection On Behavior And Physiology, Hannah Rose Lentfer

Honors Program Theses

Previous research shows that both exclusion and intergroup threat can increase prejudice and biological markers such as cortisol. Exclusion from an outgroup should increase prejudice and cortisol more than similar interactions in an ingroup since it incorporates both exclusion and intergroup threat. Change in cortisol and prejudice was examined in fifty participants who were excluded by either a politically-based ingroup or outgroup. Two t-tests were conducted to examine the change in a) cortisol and b) prejudice as a function of experimental ingroup/outgroup conditions. Additional analyses were also conducted to further explore cortisol changes and similarity. Cortisol increased more in participants …

The Relation Between Disordered Eating, Stress, And Anxiety In First-Year College Women, Jenna K. Anderson

Honors Program Theses

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses which can impact any individual. Although they can negatively affect anyone, they disproportionately affect young women. The same is true for individuals with disordered eating. Disordered eating is more common than clinical eating disorders. The term disordered eating refers to subclinical eating disturbances. Past research has demonstrated a relation between disordered eating, stress, and anxiety. The current study expands upon this by examining these variables in first-year college-enrolled women. Participants were n=99 first-year college women who filled out the DASS-21, the EDE-Q, and a demographics questionnaire. Based on previous results, it was hypothesized that …

The Impact Of Chronic Poverty On Children's Behavioral Health And Learning Outcomes, Anna Catherine Rasmussen

Honors Program Theses

Chronic poverty is an unfortunate reality many children face every day. The current literature review evaluated the impact poverty has on children’s behavioral health and learning outcomes. Research consistently shows that children living in poverty experience higher rates of conduct problems, such as Conduct Disorder (CD), as well as increased learning problems, such as Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) and diminished academic success. There are several theories for this relation, encompassing both environmental and biological influences, which are reviewed herein. The overall conclusion is that living in poverty negatively impacts children’s behavioral and learning outcomes.

Violence And Postpartum Drug Abstinence Among Substance-Using Mothers, Pooja Reddy Bollampally

Public Health Theses

Background: Substance use during pregnancy can have numerous detrimental effects on maternal and infant health. This knowledge contributes to high rates of abstinence during pregnancy, but pregnant women with substance use disorders are at high risk for relapse postpartum. Experiences of violence can have a substantial impact on the behavioral and mental health of women; its compounded consequences with those of substance use can lead to a population vulnerable to drug relapse and other negative health effects. The objective of this study was to examine the association between experiences of violence and drug abstinence at delivery and postpartum.

Methods: Data …

Association Of Hpv And Oral Cancer, Qizheng Chen

Public Health Theses

According to the International Research on Cancer (AIRC) oral cancers are a type of cancer that develops in people’s lip linings, mouth, and the oropharynx. Studies have shown that the consumption of alcohol and tobacco products are the primary carcinogens that cause oral cancers. However, increasing cases of young individuals with no previous exposure to alcohol or tobacco who are getting oral cancers have prompted studies to look into the role of other carcinogens, especially viruses. Currently, the IARC presents oral cancers as the sixth most common type of cancer in the world. High-risk human papilloma virus (HPV) types are …

Symptom Clustering And Decision Tree Analysis Within The Vast-D Randomized Clinical Trial, Yangmin Chen

Public Health Theses

As a secondary analysis of the VAST-D clinical trial data, we employed a multi-layered strategy to describe the complicated clinical features of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and the heterogeneity among depressive symptoms, using the following analytical approaches:

(1) Cluster analysis was used to transform a large and heterogenous mix of survey questions into a small number of correlated MDD symptom clusters: Four robust and highly-interpretable MDD symptom clusters (core emotional, appetite and weight, sleep disorders, atypical) were identified within the VAST-D trial, consistent with the findings from other relevant studies.

(2) Decision tree analysis was used to identify symptom thresholds …

Spatiotemporal Investigation Of Opioid-Involved Fatalities In Connecticut, 2009-2017, Natalee Frances Robson Desotell

Public Health Theses

Over the past two decades, overdose deaths involving pharmaceuticals, heroin and, more recently, synthetic opioids such as illicitly manufactured fentanyl have increased in the United States. Connecticut has one of the highest opioid-involved mortality rates when compared to other states, and between 2009 and 2017, the incidence of opioid-involved fatal overdoses in Connecticut increased by about 350%. We examined opioid-involved fatality data from the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner over a 9-year period, from January 1st, 2009 and December 31st, 2017, to better understand the granular spatiotemporal trends of the crisis within CT with an eye toward informing …

The Estimation Of Age, Period And Cohort Effects For Lung Cancer, Yijie Li

Public Health Theses

Lung cancer is one of the most fatal diseases in the world, so it is important to understand the pattern of lung cancer trends at population level. The age-period-cohort model (APC model) is used in this article to analyze the effects of age, year at diagnosis and year at birth on lung cancer in the U.S. The results suggest the age, period and cohort curvature effects are all significant on the lung cancer incidence and mortality. By looking at the plot of the age, period and cohort effects, we found historical events of interest like world war, sales strategies by …

Evaluation Of The Ltbi Cascade Of Care At The Winchester Chest Clinic, Alyssa Manni Robinson

Public Health Theses

Background: Latent tuberculosis infections affect around two billion people world-wide. In order to effectively control and reduce TB incidence, latent TB cases must be identified and treated. The latent TB cascade of care involves screening, diagnosis, evaluation, prescription of a treatment regimen, and completion of treatment. Existing studies have identified low rates of LTBI treatment completion among patients in diverse settings.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess certain steps in the cascade of care among the LTBI-positive patients referred to the Winchester Chest Clinic in order to determine where patients were lost to follow up and potential …

Medical Education And The Stigmatization Of Mental Illness In The Philippines, Candice Mae Taguibao

Public Health Theses

BACKGROUND:

Mental health stigma is a worldwide problem that affects health care providers, as well as the general population. The current study used survey data from students and physicians in the Philippines to examine the association of higher levels of medical education with levels of

stigma. Further, attitudes among medical students in the Philippines were compared with levels among medical students in the US, Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria and China. Qualitative interviews were used to further understand these data.

METHODS:

A convenience sample was collected from medical students before and after medical school psychiatric training from the University of the Philippines …

Intergenerational Effects Of Adverse Birth Outcomes Of Parents And Offspring Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd) Risk In Denmark: A Population-Based Cohort Study, Jingyuan Xiao

Public Health Theses

Abstract

Introduction: Animal studies have suggested that exposure-induced epigenetic reprogramming of the germlines affects neurodevelopmental outcomes in the next generation, but possible transgenerational effects of parental adverse birth outcomes and offspring autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk have not been studied in humans.

Objective: To evaluate whether parents being born preterm or low birth weight were associated with risks for ASD in their offspring.

Methods: We conducted a Danish population-based cohort study including mothers and fathers born since 1978 who also have had an offspring registered in Denmark during 1990-2013. Information on gestational age and birth weight were recorded in the …

The Potential Of Next Generation Whole Genome Sequencing Using Dogs As A Model To Understand Human Diseases, Emily Xie

Public Health Theses

Abstract

Background: There has been extensive research in the study of the dog genome and comparative genomics to human diseases. Dogs were proposed as a candidate primarily because of the relatively low variation within breeds but high variation between breeds. In this study, we used a conserved gene among dogs, SMN, to understand the genetic variability across dog breeds and to compare with human SMN1.

Methods: Using a sequential method design, new dog samples are added into the database as they become available. This paper is an application of the newly developed algorithms in studying the similarities and differences in …

Association Of Age On Diagnosis And Treatment Of Locally Advanced And Metastatic Prostate Cancer, Chi Zhang

Public Health Theses

Background Prostate cancer is an aging-related disease. As the result of the radiation are of STAMPEDE trial came out, major shifts in the use of local therapy (LT) are expected for men newly diagnosed with locally advanced and metastatic disease. This study aims to determine the role of patient age on LT.

Methods We identified 6882 and 37382 locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer diagnosed in 2004-2014 using the National Cancer Database (NCDB). We used logistic multivariable regression to determine the role of age in the receipt of prostate and/or pelvic radiation or radical prostatectomy after adjusting for demographic and …

So You Think You Can Exercise: The Gap Between Exercise Confidence And Physical Activity Among Samoan Adults, Diksha Brahmbhatt

Public Health Theses

Samoa is experiencing one of the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity in the world, placing its population at increased risk of developing several noncommunicable diseases including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The role of physical activity in reducing the burden of these diseases and overweight is well-established. Exercise self-efficacy or confidence is a predictor, if not determinant, of recreational physical activity. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to assess the relationship between exercise confidence and levels of recreational physical activity among Samoan adults. We confirm that exercise confidence is correlated with time spent exercising. However, despite considerable …

Postpartum Weight Trajectories In A Cohort Of 127 Samoan Women: Does Breastfeeding Protect Against Postpartum Weight Retention?, Grace Castillo

Public Health Theses

Rising global obesity rates impact every aspect of health, including maternal-fetal health. Samoa has a disproportionate burden of obesity, with more than half of Samoan women entering pregnancy obese. Given Samoan women’s high parity (4), postpartum weight retention (PPWR) may be a significant source of weight gain over women’s lifetimes. Little is currently known about PPWR among Samoan women, so this analysis sought to document PPWR trajectories, assess factors – like breastfeeding -- associated with PPWR. Data of 127 mother-infant dyads from the 2017 Foafoaga O le Ola cohort were used in analysis. Researchers collected demographic and lifestyle data, as …

Exposure To Atmospheric Metals Using Moss Bio-Indicators And Neonatal Health Outcomes In Portland, Oregon, Saskia Comess

Public Health Theses

Background: Exposures to certain metals are associated with adverse birth outcomes, including inhibited fetal growth and congenital defects. Previous studies focused on metals such as lead and arsenic, and primarily assessed exposure using biological monitoring, which does not provide insights into sources. Examining exposure to metals via atmospheric pathways is challenging due to a lack of high-resolution air-pollution data. We applied a unique map of atmospheric metal pollution, derived from bio-indicator moss samples, as a screening tool to study neonatal health risks of atmospheric metal pollution in Portland, Oregon, a city of 640,000 people with several metal-emitting industrial sources.

Methods: …

Evaluating The Feasibility And Effectiveness Of Self-Monitoring Of Health – A Pilot Study Among Samoan Women, Erica Kocher

Public Health Theses

Background:

Samoa, like many low- and middle-income countries, faces a high burden of obesity and non-communicable disease. Self-monitoring technologies to help individuals track their health have proven effective in high-income countries, but have not generally been tested in low-income settings. To investigate the feasibility and potential effectiveness of using step-counters and digital scales in Samoa, we conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Methods:

The trial enrolled 44 Samoan women (31-40 years) without chronic conditions (non-hypertensive, non-diabetic, etc.) and who reported motivation to become more active. After a 1-week baseline period to measure physical activity in the absence of any feedback, …

Older Adult Spouses’ Emotional Responses To Reminiscing About Their First Encounter: Associations With Mental Health, Marital Satisfaction, And Cardiovascular Reactivity, Hanzhen Lan

Public Health Theses

Objectives: While there has been growing interest in how close relationships affect older adults’ health, not much research has examined how emotional experiences in older married couples’ positive interactions relate to individual and relational well-being and physical health. The present study hypothesizes that positive emotional responses to older couples reminiscing about first encounter are associated with each spouse’s higher marital satisfaction, fewer depressive symptoms, and healthier cardiovascular reactivity (blood pressure and heart rate variability).

Method: One hundred and one couples completed a background questionnaire at home and then participated in a laboratory session in which they discussed how they first …

The Effects Of Rurality And Cost Of Transportation On Time Of Evolution And Disease Complexity At Diagnosis For Cutaneous Leishmaniasis In Colombia, Miguel Paredes

Public Health Theses

Patients in Colombia affected by cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) face significant geopolitical and socioeconomic barriers to accessing diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to understand how the geosocial characteristics of a patient’s area of residence affect time to medical consultation and disease status at consultation. An observational cross-sectional study was performed of individuals with CL who consulted at a local clinical referral center (CIDEIM) in Cali and Tumaco, Colombia. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariable simple and ordinal logistic regression analyses were done to examine how area of residence (urban or rural) and cost of transportation to the nearest urban center may influence …

Analysis Of Entomological Surveillance Data To Predict West Nile Virus Cases In Connecticut, Lena Marie Tayo

Public Health Theses

INTRODUCTION: Since 1999, West Nile Virus (WNV) has been identified in a wide variety of mosquito species. Seasonal epidemics occur in the summer in all regions of the United States, with varying degrees of intensity and spread. In Connecticut, the state mosquito surveillance system for WNV has been conducted since 2000, collecting entomological and site data, and acting as an early warning system for potential human disease risk.

AIMS: Re-analysis of the epidemiology of WNV in Connecticut after years of established endemicity will be conducted using recent mosquito surveillance and human case data. A predictive model will also be developed …

Average Time To Negativity Of New Alere Ultra-Sensitive Rapid Diagnostic Test After Treatment For Malaria., Azan Zahir Virji

Public Health Theses

Malaria remains one of the most challenging infections globally. Malaria RDTs have had the largest impact on malaria detection in recent years with almost 245 million RDTs delivered globally. (1) They work by detecting either the histidine-rich protein (HRP2) or the Plasmodium lactate-dehydrogenase (pLDH). (2) Following a malaria infection, the HRP2 and pLDH antigens often circulate in the blood stream for several weeks. (3) As new RDTs are constantly being developed, each with a better sensitivity, specificity and lower limit of detection than its predecessor, the need to understand the persistence of their positivity, following a malaria infection, remains. The …

Exploring Pharmaceutical Waste Prevention And Disposal Practices In Nurse Populations, Natasha Wasim

Public Health Theses

Objective: This research study aimed to explore pharmaceutical waste prevention and disposal practices in nurse populations.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was employed through the Qualtrics survey system. The survey questions were designed to probe knowledge, behavior, and attitudes of nurses towards pharmaceutical waste. Participants included intensive care unit nurses

and perioperative nurses in the Yale New Haven Health System.

Results: A total of 104 surveys were collected. Nurses were asked about the importance of proper waste disposal, and 95.2% of nurses (N=99/104) believed that appropriate waste disposal is important to “protect the environment health.” The survey also asked about …

Prion Epidemiology And The Npdpsc’S Experience With Rt-Quic, Aleksandra Wrona

Public Health Theses

Prion diseases, or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, constitute a wide array of invariably fatal rapidly progressive neurodegenerative illnesses that affect both humans and animals. The gold standard of diagnosis for these diseases is through neuropathologic examination of brain tissue following autopsy. In September 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added positive real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) test result as a likely indicator of certain human prion diseases. With high sensitivity and specificity approaching 100%, RT-QuIC has quickly become one of the most powerful antemortem diagnostic tools.

This paper will demonstrate why changes in diagnostic criteria and reporting metrics are …