Digital Commons Network^™

Phantom Scripting, Huiyu Yang

Theses and Dissertations

scripted performances enacted by human beings for the purposes of ordering the world. This “world” is seen as being comprised of social things such as male and female relationships; personal or individual things such as the untaught dispositions inherent in human beings; or nonhuman things such as rain, animals, or spiritual powers.

What Motivates Saudi Females' Intentions To Get Mammography? A Randomized Control Trial To Evaluate Effective Preventative Messages, Saleh Bin Khulayf

Theses and Dissertations

Background. In Saudi Arabia, breast cancer mortality is a public health concern where females often discover breast cancer at an advanced stage due to ignoring preventative testing such as mammography. While increasing mammography awareness is essential in Saudi Arabia, almost nothing is known about the effectiveness of health communication messages in mammography's context. This research tested whether exposure to Entertainment-Education (E-E) message or educational infographic messages would influence Saudi females' intentions to get mammography.

Method. This research relied on a randomized control trial among n=240 Saudi females older than 40. Respondents were randomly assigned to watch YouTube E-E message or …

Pharmacists' Role In Opioid Use Disorder And Overdose Prevention And Treatment And Their Attitudes And Perceptions Towards Distributing Naloxone Under A Standing Order, Stephen C. Ijioma

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Opioids are a class of drugs that bind to opioid receptors (mu, delta, and kappa), located in the central and peripheral nervous systems, to exert responses such as analgesia, respiratory depression, euphoria, and miosis. The opioid epidemic is characterized in large part by an increase in opioid overdose deaths. Community pharmacists are one of the most accessible healthcare professionals who frequently interact with patients and can implement OUD and opioid overdose prevention strategies. Treatment for opioid overdose and OUD include naloxone for overdose deaths as well as medication-assisted treatment for OUD.

Objective: The specific aims of this thesis include …

Representativeness Of Data From An Online Sample Of Individuals With Severe Alcohol Use Disorder, Michelle Eglovitch

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the characteristics of research participants who provide DNA is crucial to ensuring sample representativeness and generalizability of findings of genetics studies of substance use disorders. Using anonymous survey data, the present study had a unique opportunity to compare participants who provided DNA (n=2,414) with those that did not provide DNA (n=1,515). The present study found numerous differences between groups across demographic, substance use, and personality domains. Using multivariate regression, the most parsimonious model found that being male, a non-smoker, and endorsing perseverance was associated with providing DNA. The present study provides benchmark data on sample representativeness in a genome …

Examining The Impact Of Parental Racial Socialization And Critical Consciousness On Black Adolescents’ Coping With Racism-Related Stress, Chandler Alexandra Golden

Theses and Dissertations

In addition to universal stressors, Black adolescents also experience racism-related stressors. The physical and emotional consequences of racism-related stressors can be harmful to Black youth. To mitigate racism-related stress, Black youth may engage in various forms of coping. Critical consciousness and racial socialization are culturally relevant factors that have been protective against the negative impact of racism-related stress, with coping as one mechanism that undergirds this protection. Moreover, research has also begun to theorize critical action as a type of racialized coping. Past research has largely examined the impact of critical consciousness and racial socialization on coping separately and yielded …

Informing Telehealth Public Policy: Lessons Learned From Virginia Telehealth Usage Pre-And Post-March 2020, Shelly Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The enactment of Waiver 1135, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, enabled healthcare systems to deliver care via telehealth. A descriptive analysis of the impact of the implementation of Waiver 1135 on increasing access to care in Virginia was conducted. Guided by Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Service Use (BMHSU) theory, this study used a longitudinal, monthly-level data from the Virginia’s All Payers Claim Database to examine telehealth utilization rates between January 2019 and December 2020. Observations in insurance coverage, healthcare clinicians role and specialty and geographic location were all examined. Results suggest that while Virginia’s overall volume of telehealth …

Parent–Child Leisure And Parent Affect: The Role Of Family Structure, Camilla Hodge, Jocelyn Wikle

Faculty Publications

This study evaluates differences in parent–child leisure and parent affect across single- and two-parent families. The Ecology of Family Experiences framework suggests contextual factors such as family structure and the novelty of the activity environment contribute to heterogeneity in how parents experience leisure, partly because constraints may differ across family structures. Using a large, nationally representative data sample of parents from the American Time Use Survey (N = 78,353), this study shows single-parents experience leisure deficits compared to other parents, and leisure deficits are greatest in home-based leisure. Additionally, using a subsample (N = 16,214), we found that at-home leisure …

Social Justice As Desistance: Rethinking Approaches To Gender Violence, Deborah M. Weissman

Faculty Publications

Part I of this Article describes most domestic violence intervention programs (DVIPs) as they currently function with regard to gender violence. It critiques the structure of these programs, their close partnership with criminal legal system actors, perceived deficiencies, and it identifies missed opportunities to provide meaningful intervention strategies with those who have harmed. It demonstrates the ways that laws, regulations, and policies governing DVIPs constrain most programs from moving beyond established practices informed by punitive approaches to address the structural conditions that situate gender violence within a political economic framework.

Part II begins with a brief overview of the research …

Ecology Of Family Experiences: Contextualizing Family Leisure For Human Development & Family Relations, Karen K. Melton, Camilla Hodge, Mat D. Duerden

Faculty Publications

All family leisure is not equal. Yet, little is known about the mechanisms linking different types of family leisure to different human development and family relations outcomes. The Ecology of Family Experiences (EFE) framework provides a sensitizing lens for the study of the conditions under which family leisure is beneficial to individuals and families. Specifically, the framework suggests three domains—Family, Activity, and Time—iteratively interact to generate different levels of individual and family outcomes (i.e., responses, meaning, and development). The EFE necessitates research built on ecologically valid study designs that incorporate innovative measurement approaches. Scholars using such approaches can increase the …

Discussion Of ‘The Effect Of Changes In Income Shifting On Affiliate Managers’ Internal Reporting Decisions, Zackery D. Fox, Ryan J. Wilson

Faculty Publications

Klassen and Valle Ruiz (hereafter KVR) investigate an interesting question that has not been explored in existing research. Specifically, they look at the effect of a change in income shifting strategy on affiliate managers’ internal reporting choices. The paper adds to a growing category of the tax accounting literature examining the consequences of multinational enterprises (MNEs) tax-motivated income shifting for various stakeholders. KVR turn their focus within the firm by testing whether distortions caused by tax-motivated income shifting alter affiliate managers’ internal reporting behavior.

Life In The (Really) Fast Lane: Why Rural States Should Implement A High-Speed Minimum Speed Limit On Additional Freeway Lanes, Grantlee W. Hohlbein

Transportation Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Vol 48, No. 2: Back Matter, Transportation Law Journal

Transportation Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Covid-19 Mortality May Be Reduced Among Fully Vaccinated Solid Organ Transplant Recipients, Micaela Sandoval, Duc T Nguyen, Howard J Huang, Stephanie G Yi, R Mark Ghobrial, A Osama Gaber, Edward A Graviss

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 due to their immunosuppressed state and reduced immunogenicity from COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. This investigation examined the association between COVID-19 mRNA vaccination status and mortality among SOT recipients diagnosed with COVID-19.

METHODS & FINDINGS: A retrospective, registry-based chart review was conducted investigating COVID-19 mortality among immunosuppressed solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients in a large metropolitan healthcare system in Houston, Texas, USA. Electronic health record data was collected from consecutive SOT recipients who received a diagnostic SARS-CoV-2 test between March 1, 2020, and October 1, 2021. …

Desired Resources For Changing Diet Among Persons With Multiple Sclerosis: Qualitative Inquiry Informing Future Dietary Interventions, Stephanie L Silveira, Emma V Richardson, Robert W Motl

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: There are approximately 1 million adults in the United States with multiple sclerosis (MS). Persons with MS are interested in diet as a second-line therapy for improving MS symptoms and disease progression. Examination of desired resources regarding diet among persons with MS is necessary for supporting behavior change.

METHODS: Twenty-five adults with MS completed 1-on-1, online semistructured interviews. An inductive, 6-phase, semantic thematic analysis was applied to identify themes associated with participant preferences for dietary behavior change.

RESULTS: The research team crafted 4 key themes from the data that encompassed participants' desired resources for dietary behavior change. Theme 1, …

2022 Annual Report For Ebp Workforce Development, Evidence To Practice, Cep Annual Reports, Lisa Staples, Ronnie Rubin, Brooke Dupre, Gabrielle Gonzalez, Willandra Whiting, J. Henning, Sonita Singh, Stephen Phillippi

Policy & Position Papers

No abstract provided.

The Healthy Native Youth Implementation Toolbox: Using Implementation Mapping To Adapt An Online Decision Support System To Promote Culturally-Relevant Sexual Health Education For American Indian And Alaska Native Youth, Christine M Markham, Stephanie Craig Rushing, Jane Manthei, Michelle Singer, Cornelia Jessen, Gwenda Gorman, Melissa F Peskin, Belinda F Hernandez, Lea Sacca, Gabrielle S Evans, Claudia Luna-Meza, Zoe Merritt, Ross Shegog

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth experience serious disparities in sexual and reproductive health, including the highest teen birth rate among racial/ethnic groups, and disproportionate rates of sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV. A growing number of evidence-based programs (EBPs) that integrate the strengths and cultural teachings of Native communities exist. Yet, multiple factors, including lack of trained personnel, limited resources, and geographic isolation, may hinder their adoption and implementation. Innovative implementation strategies that facilitate the adoption and implementation of sexual health EBPs in Native communities may help reduce these disparities.

METHODS: We applied Implementation Mapping, a systematic …

Perceptions Of Physical Activity Guidelines Among Wheelchair Users With Multiple Sclerosis, Stephanie L Silveira, Brenda Jeng, Gary Cutter, Robert W Motl

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Physical activity guidelines provide prescriptive resources for population-level promotion of behavior change to improve health outcomes. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) recently created and disseminated physical activity guidelines for persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) across the disease spectrum.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess perceptions of the updated NMSS Physical Activity Guidelines among wheelchair users with MS.

METHODS: One hundred thirty-four wheelchair users with MS participated in a cross-sectional study examining health behaviors. Outcomes were measured using an online questionnaire that included items related to demographic and clinical characteristics and a battery of questions regarding perceptions of the …

Application Of Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning For Hiv Prevention Interventions, Yang Xiang, Jingcheng Du, Kayo Fujimoto, Fang Li, John Schneider, Cui Tao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In 2019, the US Government announced its goal to end the HIV epidemic within 10 years, mirroring the initiatives set forth by UNAIDS. Public health prevention interventions are a crucial part of this ambitious goal. However, numerous challenges to this goal exist, including improving HIV awareness, increasing early HIV infection detection, ensuring rapid treatment, optimising resource distribution, and providing efficient prevention services for vulnerable populations. Artificial intelligence has had a pivotal role in revolutionising health care and has shown great potential in developing effective HIV prevention intervention strategies. Although artificial intelligence has been used in a few HIV prevention intervention …

A Qualitative Investigation Of Organizational Challenges And Facilitators To Screening Individuals Experiencing Homelessness For Hepatitis C Virus (Hcv) In Houston, Texas, Alane Celeste-Villalvir, J Michael Wilkerson, Christine Markham, Lourdes Rodriguez, Vanessa Schick

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Individuals experiencing homelessness may be at a disproportionately high risk for hepatitis C (HCV) because they may be more likely to engage in HCV risk behaviors. Community organizations that provide services to these vulnerable individuals can effectively screen, diagnose, and navigate them into HCV care. However, screening people experiencing homelessness for HCV at such organizations is limited by various challenges that remain understudied, including budgetary considerations and strategies to improve teamwork and communication. Accordingly, this study investigated the organizational challenges and facilitators to HCV screening of individuals experiencing homelessness as reported by homeless services providers.

METHODS: Staff (N = …

The Neighborhood Environment And Hispanic/Latino Health, Natalia I Heredia, Tianlin Xu, Minjae Lee, Lorna H Mcneill, Belinda M Reininger

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Hispanic/Latino adults on the Texas-Mexico border have high rates of chronic disease. Neighborhoods can influence health, though there is a limited research on neighborhood environment and health in Hispanics/Latinos. The purpose of this study was to assess the relation of neighborhood environment with health variables in Hispanic/Latino adults, including physical activity [PA], depression, anxiety, and lab-assessed conditions (type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and chronic inflammation).

METHODS: Participants were randomly-selected from a Hispanic/Latino cohort on the Texas-Mexico border. Neighborhood environment, self-reported PA, anxiety, and depression were assessed through questionnaires. Laboratory values determined Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and C-reactive protein …

Maternal Occupational Exposures And Fetal Growth In A Spanish Birth Cohort, Jennifer Ish, David Gimeno Ruiz De Porras, Elaine Symanski, Ferran Ballester, Maribel Casas, George L Delclos, Mònica Guxens, Jesús Ibarluzea, Carmen Iñiguez, Loreto Santa-Marina, Michael D Swartz, Kristina W Whitworth

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

While the epidemiologic literature suggests certain maternal occupational exposures may be associated with reduced measures of size at birth, the occupational literature employing fetal biometry data to assess fetal growth is sparse. The present study examines associations between maternal occupational exposures and ultrasound-measured fetal growth. We included 1,739 singleton pregnancies from the INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) project (2003-2008). At 32 weeks of pregnancy, interviewers ascertained mothers' employment status and assessed job-related physical loads, work schedules, and job strain during pregnancy. Job titles were linked to a job-exposure matrix to estimate exposure to 10 endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) groups. We …

Covid-19 Outcomes In Myasthenia Gravis Patients: Analysis From Electronic Health Records In The United States, Youngran Kim, Xiaojin Li, Yan Huang, Minseon Kim, Aziz Shaibani, Kazim Sheikh, Guo-Qiang Zhang, Thy Phuong Nguyen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune, neuromuscular condition and patients with MG are vulnerable due to immunosuppressant use and disease manifestations of dyspnea and dysphagia during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Optum® de-identified COVID-19 Electronic Health Record (EHR) dataset. Primary outcomes, such as hospitalization, ventilator use, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and death in COVID-19 patients with MG, were compared with those of COVID-19 patients without MG: the subgroups of non-MG included those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus (SLE), and multiple sclerosis (MS). We further analyzed factors affecting …

Associations Between Vascular Diseases And Alzheimer's Disease Or Related Dementias In A Large Cohort Of Men And Women With Colorectal Cancer, Xianglin L Du, Lulu Song, Paul E Schulz, Hua Xu, Wenyaw Chan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Long term risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) associated with vascular diseases in people with colorectal cancer is unknown.

OBJECTIVE: to determine the risk of ADRD in association with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), stroke, hypertension, and diabetes in a cohort of patients with colorectal cancer.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study consisted of 210,809 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age≥65 years in 1991-2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database with follow-up from 1991-2016, who were free of any ADRD at the baseline (< 30 days after the date of cancer diagnosis).

RESULTS: The crude 26-year cumulative incidence of total ADRD in …

Effect Of Tracheostomy Timing On Outcomes In Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury, Talha Mubashir, Hongyin Lai, Emmanuella Oduguwa, Rabail Chaudhry, Julius Balogh, George W Williams, Vahed Maroufy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Tracheostomy following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common, yet the outcomes associated with tracheostomy timing are unclear. The objective of this study was to assess hospital outcomes of tracheostomy timing in TBI patients. We retrospectively analyzed data from the National Inpatient Sample database of adult patients aged ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of TBI. Indexed hospitalizations of TBI patients who underwent either percutaneous or surgical tracheostomy between 1995 and 2015 in the United States were included. The interventional groups were 1) early tracheostomy (≤7 days) vs standard tracheostomy (8-14 days), vs late tracheostomy (≥15 days), and 2) tracheostomy …

Methodology To Estimate Natural- And Vaccine-Induced Antibodies To Sars-Cov-2 In A Large Geographic Region, Stacia M Desantis, Luis G León-Novelo, Michael D Swartz, Ashraf S Yaseen, Melissa A Valerio-Shewmaker, Yashar Talebi, Frances A Brito, Jessica A Ross, Harold W Kohl, Sarah E Messiah, Steve H Kelder, Leqing Wu, Shiming Zhang, Kimberly A Aguillard, Michael O Gonzalez, Onyinye S Omega-Njemnob, David Lakey, Jennifer A Shuford, Stephen Pont, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Accurate estimates of natural and/or vaccine-induced antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 are difficult to obtain. Although model-based estimates of seroprevalence have been proposed, they require inputting unknown parameters including viral reproduction number, longevity of immune response, and other dynamic factors. In contrast to a model-based approach, the current study presents a data-driven detailed statistical procedure for estimating total seroprevalence (defined as antibodies from natural infection or from full vaccination) in a region using prospectively collected serological data and state-level vaccination data. Specifically, we conducted a longitudinal statewide serological survey with 88,605 participants 5 years or older with 3 prospective blood draws beginning …

Guideline For Feedback Of Individual Genetic Research Findings For Genomics Research In Africa, Alice Matimba, Stuart Ali, Katherine Littler, Ebony Madden, Patricia Marshall, Sheryl Mccurdy, Victoria Nembaware, Laura Rodriguez, Janet Seeley, Paulina Tindana, Aminu Yakubu, Jantina De Vries, H3africa Ethics And Community Engagement Working Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

As human genomics research in Africa continues to generate large amounts of data, ethical issues arise regarding how actionable genetic information is shared with research participants. The Human Heredity and Health in Africa Consortium (H3Africa) Ethics and Community Engagement Working group acknowledged the need for such guidance, identified key issues and principles relevant to genomics research in Africa and developed a practical guideline for consideration of feeding back individual genetic results of health importance in African research projects. This included a decision flowchart, providing a logical framework to assist in decision-making and planning for human genomics research projects. Although presented …

Multi-Omics Insights Into The Biological Mechanisms Underlying Statistical Gene-By-Lifestyle Interactions With Smoking And Alcohol Consumption, Timothy D Majarian, Amy R Bentley, Vincent Laville, Michael R Brown, Daniel I Chasman, Paul S De Vries, Mary F Feitosa, Nora Franceschini, W James Gauderman, Casey Marchek, Daniel Levy, Alanna C Morrison, Michael Province, Dabeeru C Rao, Karen Schwander, Yun Ju Sung, Charles N Rotimi, Hugues Aschard, C Charles Gu, Alisa K Manning, Charge Gene-Lifestyle Interactions Working Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Though both genetic and lifestyle factors are known to influence cardiometabolic outcomes, less attention has been given to whether lifestyle exposures can alter the association between a genetic variant and these outcomes. The Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium's Gene-Lifestyle Interactions Working Group has recently published investigations of genome-wide gene-environment interactions in large multi-ancestry meta-analyses with a focus on cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption as lifestyle factors and blood pressure and serum lipids as outcomes. Further description of the biological mechanisms underlying these statistical interactions would represent a significant advance in our understanding of gene-environment …

Integrated Molecular And Affiliation Network Analysis: Core-Periphery Social Clustering Is Associated With Hiv Transmission Patterns, Kayo Fujimoto, Dimitrios Paraskevis, Jacky C Kuo, Camden J Hallmark, Jing Zhao, Andre Hochi, Lisa M Kuhns, Lu-Yu Hwang, Angelos Hatzakis, John A Schneider

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study investigates the two-mode core-periphery structures of venue affiliation networks of younger Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM). We examined the association between these structures and HIV phylogenetic clusters, defined as members who share highly similar HIV strains that are regarded as a proxy for sexual affiliation networks. Using data from 114 YBMSM who are living with HIV in two large U.S. cities, we found that HIV phylogenetic clustering patterns were associated with social clustering patterns whose members share affiliation with core venues that overlap with those of YBMSM. Distinct HIV transmission patterns were found in each …

Characterizing Cancer And Covid-19 Outcomes Using Electronic Health Records, Youngran Kim, Liang Zhu, Huili Zhu, Xiaojin Li, Yan Huang, Chunhui Gu, Heather Bush, Caroline Chung, Guo-Qiang Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Patients with cancer often have compromised immune system which can lead to worse COVID-19 outcomes. The purpose of this study is to assess the association between COVID-19 outcomes and existing cancer-specific characteristics.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients aged 18 or older with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between June 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020, were identified (n = 314 004) from the Optum® de-identified COVID-19 Electronic Health Record (EHR) derived from more than 700 hospitals and 7000 clinics in the United States. To allow sufficient observational time, patients with less than one year of medical history in the EHR dataset before their …

Practice Change In Community Health Centers: A Qualitative Study Of Leadership Attributes, Jennifer H Tektiridis, Natalia I Heredia, Robert O Morgan, Osama I Mikhail, Betsy C Risendal, Michelle C Kegler, Maria E Fernandez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: This paper explores leadership attributes important for practice change in community health centers (CHCs) and assesses attributes' fit with the Full-Range Leadership Theory (FRLT).

METHODS: We conducted four focus groups and 15 in-depth interviews with 48 CHC leaders from several U.S. states using a modified appreciative inquiry approach. Thematic analysis was used to review transcripts for leadership concepts and code with

RESULTS: CHC leaders most often noted attributes associated with transformational leadership as essential for practice change. Important attributes included emphasizing a collective sense of mission and a compelling, achievable vision; expressing enthusiasm about what needs to be done; …