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Lessons From The Front Line: Advocating For Vaccine Policies At The Texas Capitol During Turbulent Times, Rekha Lakshmanan, Mha, Jason Sabo, Ma

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

In 2003, anti-vaccine activists successfully advocated to change Texas law to make it easier for parents to send their children to public school without school required vaccinations. Over fifteen years ago, 2,314 non medical exemptions were filed. The Texas Department of State Health Services recently reported in the 2018-19 school year, 64,176 exemptions were submitted. As the number of non-medical exemptions increase, the risk for a vaccine preventable outbreak also increases.

Enacting strong immunization laws and policies, which includes improving access to vaccination, increasing education, and enhancing data collection, is cyclical. In the past ten years, over 17 pieces of …

Knowledge About The Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Among Employees At A Tertiary Cancer Center: Room For Improvement, Kristina R. Dahlstrom, Erich M. Sturgis, Ronald A. Depinho, Ernest Hawk, George P. Baum, Elenita Tamez, Rosalind S. Bello, Lori D. Stevens, Lois M. Ramondetta

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

Introduction: The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for routine vaccination of boys and girls to protect against HPV-related cancers and genital warts. To meet the Healthy People 2020 target for HPV vaccination, health care providers must understand the importance of strongly recommending the HPV vaccine to all eligible adolescents. We sought to determine HPV vaccination patterns among employees at a tertiary cancer center and their children and attitudes regarding HPV vaccination among the employees.

Methods: All employees at a tertiary cancer center were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey …

Texas: Averting Disease And Confronting A New Vaccine Refusal Hierarchy, Susan Wootton, Peter J. Hotez, Julie Boom

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

No abstract provided.

Unusual Echocardiographic Findings Of Myocarditis Mimicking An Aortic Run-Off Lesion, Sarah Studyvin, Barbara A. Pahud, Christine Symes

Research Days

No abstract provided.

A Model-Based Investigation Of The Role Of Density Dependence In Juvenile Mosquito Development And Survival, Melody Walker Ms, Lauren M. Childs, Michael A. Robert

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Modeling Vaccination Strategies To Control White-Nose Syndrome In Little Brown Bat Colonies, Eva Cornwell, David Elzinga, Shelby R. Stowe, Alex Capaldi

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Repeat Infection In The Dynamics Of A Simple Model Of Waning And Boosting Immunity, Laura F. Strube, Maya Walton, Lauren M. Childs

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Mathematical Modeling Of The Car T-Cell Therapy, Emek Kose, Elizabeth Zollinger, Samantha Elliott

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

In Silico Mouse Model Of Infection And Immunity, Daniel Jonas, Michael Kirby, Alan R. Schenkel

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Performance Of Phenomenological Models For Real-Time Forecasting The Covid-19 Epidemic, Kimberlyn Roosa, Gerardo Chowell

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

The Class Of 2020, Srinivasan Ragothaman

Creative Work

The is a poem written in honor of the class of 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has robbed them of many fun activities in their final semester in college. The graduating seniors missed out on so many rites of passage such as march madness, commencement, award banquets, sports, labs, practice, face-to-face classes etc. for the last two months. Seniors are encouraged to have fortitude, practice patience, be grateful and show grit. The class of 2020 will conquer the world in due course. It is hoped that graduates will have imagination, will innovate and transform the world.

Taiwan's Response To Covid-19 Pandemic, An Pei Peng

Master's Projects and Capstones

Taiwan has constructed a response to the COVID-19 pandemic that not only has largely protected its citizens from the rapid community spread that has devastated larger countries around the world, but has also, commanded acclaim from the World Health Organization (WHO). Ironically, the WHO has refused to allow Taiwan entry into the organization because of the island’s tenuous relationship with China. The tensions between Taiwan and China are rooted in a post-World War II history that is predicated on Taiwan’s self-governing assertions despite China’s desire to consider it as part of the mainland. Such geopolitical and economic tensions have continued …

2020-05-15_Michiganoverview_Covidsymptoms, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Syndromic Surveillance System Data

The Syndromic Surveillance System Data report was obtained from Michigan's COVID-19 dashboard, from under the link "​Coronavirus Symptoms": https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus. Data was compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The information was updated daily.

Syndromic Surveillance System data is obtained from approximately 183 facilities participating in syndromic surveillance (132 Emergency Departments (ED), 51 Urgent Cares) across the State of Michigan. The reporting is based on individuals who present at EDs and may not be representative of the overall population. The coronavirus-like symptoms query searches visit free-text (chief complaint, triage notes, and clinical impression) for fever or …

Studying Public Perception About Vaccination: A Sentiment Analysis Of Tweets, Viju Raghupathi, Jie Ren, Wullianallur Raghupathi

Publications and Research

Text analysis has been used by scholars to research attitudes toward vaccination and is particularly timely due to the rise of medical misinformation via social media. This study uses a sample of 9581 vaccine-related tweets in the period 1 January 2019 to 5 April 2019. The time period is of the essence because during this time, a measles outbreak was prevalent throughout the United States and a public debate was raging. Sentiment analysis is applied to the sample, clustering the data into topics using the term frequency–inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) technique. The analyses suggest that most (about 77%) of the …

An Evaluation Of Dental Hygiene Education Of Chemotherapeutic Rinses: A Survey, Marissa Terese Aragoon

Dental Hygiene ETDs

The purpose of this study was to learn which oral chemotherapeutic rinses dental hygiene educators cover within dental hygiene curriculum. A survey was created to include dental hygiene educators responsible for oral chemotherapeutic curriculum within dental hygiene programs. Participants were asked which oral chemotherapeutic agents they included within their curriculum, their knowledge regarding several oral chemotherapeutic agents and evidence based/ non evidence based oral chemotherapeutic agents. The survey was sent to 375 dental hygiene directors and 77 (20.5%) participated in the survey study. Upon survey completion, findings suggested that the majority of dental hygiene educators teach students how to determine …

Exploration Of The Complex Relationship Among Multilevel Predictors Of Prep Use Among Men Who Have Sex With Men In The United States, Kristina M. Rodriguez

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the group most heavily affected by HIV in the United States (US), with MSM of color further disproportionately represented. In July 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate plus emtricitabine (TDF-FTC, Truvada) for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in HIV-negative adults who are at high-risk of HIV infection. Despite its effectiveness, PrEP prescriptions are reaching only a small proportion of those who could benefit from the drug and prescription rates vary both by race and geographic region. The goal of this dissertation was …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Medical Uncertainty: Young People Immobilized By Pain, Sara Khan

Sociology Student Scholarship

Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a chronic autoimmune condition that involves the fusion of the axial skeleton. AS has a lengthy diagnostic delay, which dramatically impacts treatment and quality of life. A qualitative content analysis of over 100 illness narratives and social media blog posts was conducted to understand the struggles of young people with AS who sought answers for what was wrong with their bodies. The results showed that there were many struggles on the journey to finding a diagnosis, such as the doctor-patient relationship, the age of onset, access to medical care, gender/pregnancy, and the variation in symptomology. Furthermore, …

Vaccine Literacy Among Deaf Adult American Sign Language Users Of Hearing Parents, Casey Lee Peck

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Background: Communication barriers, the lack of proficiency in English, and poor communication with medical providers affect some Deaf people negatively in terms of health literacy. One contemporary controversial health literacy issue affecting Deaf people concerns vaccines. According to the literature, parents with higher health literacy are less likely to vaccinate their children as opposed to those parents with low health literacy (Veldwijk, van der Heide, Rademakers, Schuit, de Wit, Uiters & Lambooij 2015). Studies have shown that the majority of the deaf population have relatively low health literacy; however, vaccine literacy in the deaf population has not been investigated. Research …

Site-Specific Siderocalin Binding To Ferric And Ferric-Free Enterobactin As Revealed By Mass Spectrometry, Chunyang Guo, Lindsey K Steinberg, Ming Cheng, Jong Hee Song, Jeffrey P Henderson, Michael L Gross

Open Access Publications

Both host and pathogen competitively manipulate coordination environments during bacterial infections. Human cells release the innate immune protein siderocalin (Scn, also known as lipocalin-2/Lcn2, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin/NGAL) that can inhibit bacterial growth by sequestering iron in a ferric complex with enterobactin (Ent), the ubiquitous

Modeling Analysis And Prediction On Ncp Epidemic Transmission, Huaxiong Sheng, Wu Lin, Changliang Xiao

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The modeling analysis on the NCP (Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia) epidemic transmission before and after the closure of Wuhan is presented. On the basis of preprocessing the epidemic data, the classical SIR model and differential recurrence method are used to analyze and forecast the epidemic situation in the stage of control. The theoretical value and measured value fits well. In the stage of free transmission, the logistic model is used to compare and analyze the epidemic data five days in advance or later with the actual data to show the importance of taking the epidemic prevention measures in time. The …

Parameters Spring 2020: Full Issue, Usawc Parameters

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Global Change Through An Integrated Resort: Healthy Spaces That Positively Affect Our Health, Community, And The Environment, Iwona Reducha

Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones

Integrated Resorts (IRs) play a significant role in countries' economics, health, and environment around the world. These large mini "cities" help create thousands of jobs and can sustain themselves solely on tourism. The scale of an integrated resort also puts its effect on the environment at three to four times higher than most other building projects. Spreading beyond the boundaries of the famous Las Vegas Strip, each year more permits are being issued for their construction globally opening up a huge opportunity to reinvent its archetype to allow for a more sustainable and health conscious design.

Covid-19 In Africa: Care And Protection For Frontline Healthcare Workers, Matthew F. Chersich, Glenda Gray, Lee Fairlie, Quentin Eichbaum, Susannah Mayhew, Brian Allwood, Rene English, Fiona Scorgie, Stanley Luchters, Greg Simpson

Population Health, East Africa

Medical staff caring for COVID-19 patients face mental stress, physical exhaustion, separation from families, stigma, and the pain of losing patients and colleagues. Many of them have acquired SARS-CoV-2 and some have died. In Africa, where the pandemic is escalating, there are major gaps in response capacity, especially in human resources and protective equipment. We examine these challenges and propose interventions to protect healthcare workers on the continent, drawing on articles identified on Medline (Pubmed) in a search on 24 March 2020. Global jostling means that supplies of personal protective equipment are limited in Africa. Even low-cost interventions such as …

Optimization Algorithm Based On Human Infection With Avian Influenza, Guangqiu Huang, Qiuqin Lu

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: To get the global optimal solution of some complex nonlinear optimization problems, an optimization algorithm based on the human avian influenza infectious diseases is proposed by using its dynamic model of cross species transmission. Applies the H7N9 infectious disease model to create the operators S^u-S^u, I^u-I^u, S^u-I^u, I^u-S^u, S^u-D^u, I^u-D^u, and to enable the individuals to exchange information among the same species and cross-species. The S^u-S^u and I^u-I^u operators …

The Role Of High-Fructose Corn Syrup Imports In Child And Women Obesity, Anna Subirana Bofill

Master's Theses

High Fructose Corn Syrup is believed to be responsible for the increase of the obesity epidemic that is affecting both developed and developing countries, yet to date there are no rigorous analyses that quantify this effect. To estimate the impact of consumption of HFCS on obesity, I have paired country-specific data on imports of HFCS from the United Nations International Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) with women and child health data from around 70 countries from 1985 to 2018. The results show that conditional on space and time fixed effects, imports of HFCS with a high concentration of fructose have …

Building Communities: Interpreting Oneota And Mississipppian Interaction Through Paleoethnobotanical Analysis At The Morton Village Site (11f2), West-Central Illinois, Kelsey Olivia Nordine

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological investigations of social interaction at the community level provide insight into the daily lives of past people and the social structures that guide these community-level interactions. This dissertation uses paleoethnobotanical analysis to examine the nature of social identity negotiation and community at the site-level scale, using data from excavations at the Morton Village site (11F2). Morton Village is a Bold Counselor Oneota and Mississippian settlement in the Central Illinois River Valley (CIRV), occupied contemporaneously by both groups in the 14th century and identified as a multiethnic or multicultural village through the presence of two distinct types of ceramic remains. …

The Social Dynamics Of Antibiotic Use In A Large American Medical Complex, Katharina Rynkiewich

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Based on 18 months of anthropological fieldwork, 35 in-depth interviews, and over 360 hours of participant observation with two specialty physician groups, my dissertation is an analysis of the social dynamics involved in antibiotic decision making, prescription, and use at a large North American medical complex in a Midwestern city. Due to the global problem of antimicrobial resistance, hospitals have been particularly interested in reducing antibiotic overuse and misuse. Though the use of antibiotics has long had an impact at the population level, physicians often advocate for additional antibiotic coverage in the individual patient. I examine a policy aimed at …

Development Of An In Vitro Culture System For Cryptosporidium Parvum, Georgia Wilke

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Cryptosporidium is a genus of protozoan parasites that causes diarrheal disease in humans and other animals. There are two major species that cause disease in humans: C. parvum, which infects both humans and animals, and C. hominis, which primarily infects humans. A recent study investigating the etiologies of pediatric diarrheal illness in Africa and South Asia found that Cryptosporidium is the 2nd most prevalent cause of diarrhea in infants and may be a contributing factor to chronic malnutrition. This discovery has led to renewed interest in studying this parasite and a reexamination of the barriers to studying Cryptosporidium. The main …

In Vivo Mechanisms Of Natural Killer Cell Tolerance, Michael Bern

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Natural killer (NK) cells are cytotoxic innate immune cells that provide protection from pathogens and tumors. To carry out these functions, NK cells must distinguish between healthy and unhealthy self-cells. Inability to recognize stressed cells would lead to a failure of NK-cell immunity whereas inability to identify healthy cells could lead to NK-cell autoimmunity. It remains unclear, however, how NK cells are able to distinguish healthy and unhealthy self-cells with a limited repertoire of germline-encoded receptors. The "missing-self" hypothesis proposes that NK cells identify stressed cells by their reduced expression of MHC class I (MHC-I) that is almost ubiquitously expressed …

Lymphatic Filariasis: Host And Parasite Factors And The Pathogenesis Of Systemic Adverse Events Following Treatment, Britt Juul Andersen

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a neglected tropical disease caused by the nematode parasites Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and B. timori. The primary tool used by the Global Program to Eliminate LF is mass drug administration (MDA), and some 500 million people take the medications each year. Mild to moderate adverse events (AEs) are common after LF treatment, and these pose a major challenge for the LF elimination program. To better understand the pathogenesis of AEs, we studied patients from LF treatment trials in Côte d’Ivoire and Papua New Guinea, where plasma and leucocytes were collected pre and post-treatment and subjects …