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From Theory To Practice: Zoonotic Spillover, One Health And The Role Of Local Indigenous Communities, Pranav Prabhu Savanur

Public Health Theses

This paper discusses the impact of zoonotic spillovers on public health and the need for a One Health approach to preventing future pandemics. Zoonotic spillovers occur when pathogens are transmitted from animals to humans, facilitated by anthropogenic land changes, migration or trade, increased human-animal contact, and poor biosafety. However, anthropogenic land use change is the primary driver for zoonotic spillovers. Most emerging infectious diseases in humans are of zoonotic origin, and the impact of these spillovers on public health is significant. The paper emphasizes the need to prevent spillover events for primary pandemic prevention, which requires a coordinated and collaborative …

Compassion-Based Resilience Training (Cbrt) For Frontline Healthcare Workers In Contact With Covid-19 Patients, Michael Perez Sosa

Dissertations and Theses

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has had deleterious consequences for the mental health of frontline healthcare workers worldwide. One systemic review of the literature found high prevalence rates of anxiety (67.55%), depression (58.89%), and stress (62.99%) reported by this population (Vizheh et al., 2020). Additionally, high rates of burnout and symptoms associated with trauma have also been ubiquitous during the pandemic for frontline healthcare workers. The purpose of this study is to investigate Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT) as a remotely delivered intervention for frontline healthcare workers in contact with COVID-19 patients to reduce symptoms associated with stress, depression, anxiety, burnout, and …

The Nexus Of Climate Change And Human Rights: An Examination Of How Social, Political, And Environmental Impacts Of Climate Change Jeopardize The Protection Of Human Rights In The African Sahel, Camden R. Malone

Dissertations and Theses

Climate change is a threat multiplier by its driving forces of environmental stress and scarcity. In the developing world, countries are hit hardest and most frequently by the effects of climate change, such as severe floods, droughts, and desertification. In this thesis, I argue that existing models for the umbrella-term of climate-security underemphasize dimensions of human security through exclusion of HR violations linked to climate such as subjection to food/water stress, compromised health, displacement, and violent conflict. Therefore, the climate-security paradigm should be recast to pay closer attention to its consequences related to human rights protection, which I refer to …

Major Biotic Stresses Affecting Maize Production In Kenya And Their Implications For Food Security, Faith Njeri Njeru, Angeline Wambua, Edward Muge, Geert Haesaert, Jan Gettemans, Gerald Misinzo

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a staple food for many households in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and also contributes to the gross domestic product (GDP). However, the maize yields reported in most SSA countries are very low and this is mainly attributed to biotic and abiotic stresses. These stresses have been exacerbated by climate change which has led to long periods of drought or heavy flooding and the emergence of new biotic stresses. Few reports exist which compile the biotic stresses affecting maize production in SSA. Here, five major biotic stresses of maize in Kenya are presented which are attributed to …

Association Between Objectively-Measured Sedentary Time And Self-Reported Prescription Medication Use Among Adults: A Pilot Study, Ciarra Ashley Boyne

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Prescription medication use and extended sedentary time are independently related to poor health outcomes (e.g., diabetes, metabolic syndrome, mortality). Historically, survey methods have been used to obtain estimates of total sedentary time (ST), however, recent use of accelerometers avoids self-report bias and affords more characteristics of ST that may be factors in health outcomes (e.g., frequency and duration of sedentary bouts). The aims of this pilot study were to 1) examine the association between objectively measured ST via accelerometers and self-reported prescription medication use in adults and 2) examine the independent association of sedentary bout length and frequency with …

New Principals: Experiences That Influence The Role, Marianne P. Simon

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenology-informed study is to examine the lived experiences of new principals and to understand the experiences that have influenced their role as principal. Phenomenological research is “interested in an analytical and descriptive experience of phenomena by individuals in their everyday world” (Eddles-Hirsch, 2015). This framework is what drove the research study into the lived experiences of new principals and the experiences that have influenced their role. The study is qualitative in nature using three in-depth, semi-structured interviews with five new principals in a Northeast Florida school district for a total of 15 interviews. The research …

The Development Of Stem Teachers' Conception On Stem Education, Abd Rauf Rose Amnah

Research Publications (2021 to 2025)

Abstract not available.

Identifying Resilience Strategies For Disruption Management In The Healthcare Supply Chain During Covid-19 By Digital Innovations: A Systematic Literature Review, Goli Arji, Hossein Ahmadi, Pejman Avazpoor, Morteza Hemmat

School of Nursing and Midwifery

The worldwide spread of the COVID-19 disease has had a catastrophic effect on healthcare supply chains. The current manuscript systematically analyzes existing studies mitigating strategies for disruption management in the healthcare supply chain during COVID-19. Using a systematic approach, we recognized 35 related papers. Artificial intelligence (AI), block chain, big data analytics, and simulation are the most important technologies employed in supply chain management in healthcare. The findings reveal that the published research has concentrated mainly on generating resilience plans for the management of COVID-19 impacts. Furthermore, the vulnerability of healthcare supply chains and the necessity of establishing better resilience …

Immigrants Or Prostitutes? "White Slavery" Panics And Reform In France, England, And The United States, 1885-1915, Journey Steward

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The late nineteenth century ushered in an era of global moral panic focusing on prostitution, venereal disease, and working-class female immigrants’ sexuality. By the early 1900s, European and American social reformers cooperated with national governments and immigration bureaus to stop “white slavery,” or the forced movement of white European and American women worldwide for purposes of commercial sex. This dissertation focuses on international trafficking in women and the ways in which accompanying moral panics developed from 1885 to 1915. It demonstrates how middle-class and nationalist assumptions about lower class sexuality, prostitution, and migration resulted in bourgeois social reform that influenced …

Discovery Of Acetyl Coa Synthetase And Sars-Cov-2 Protease Inhibitors, Taiwo Elijah Esan

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

There is an urgent need for new antifungal drugs. Acetyl CoA synthetases (ACSs) are Acyl-CoA/NRPS/Luciferase (ANL) superfamily enzymes that couple acetate with CoA to generate acetyl CoA, a key component of central carbon metabolism in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Normal mammalian cells are not dependent on ACSs, while tumor cells, fungi, and parasites rely on acetate as a precursor for acetyl CoA. Consequently, ACSs have emerged as a potential drug target. This body of work focuses on the inhibition of the Acetyl CoA synthetase enzyme in fungal species. This work has involved designing and synthesizing compounds that are potential fungal ACS1 …

Industry Update October 2022, Elaine Harris

Articles

Company news Bend Bioscience invests in expansion of drug-delivery capabilities Bend Bioscience (OR, USA) and NovaQuest Private Equity, have announced plans on 11 October 2022 to invest in a new facility in Bend, Oregon. The group will focus on developing new R&D partnerships, and early phase manufacturing and development activities based on proprietary particle engineering-based drug-delivery technologies. This new facility will consist of approximately 20,000 square feet of laboratory and processing areas and it is anticipated that manufacturing and analytical capabilities will operational by the end of Q2 2023. Announcing the investment decision, Dan Dobry, Bend Bioscience’s co-founder said “We …

Covid-19 Patients’ Health Monitoring System Using Fuzzyontology And Internet Of Things, Abdelhalim Hadjadj, Khaled Halimi

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

COVID-19 is a very dangerous pandemic attacking the respiratory organs of humans. It ischaracterized by its contagious speed, especially with its last versions. Effectiveness of confrontation resides in astrategy based on the speed of intervention, early detection, and appropriate and quick treatment. However, thisstrategy requires more effort and enormous human, material, and financial resources. The latter situation requiresa much more efficient solution based on using new technologies. Through the integration of the internet of thingsin healthcare, the quality of the latter will be improved. This integration requires suitable architecture representthe foundation for the system that handles the data generated by …

Exploring Shear Wave Elastography And B-Mode Ultrasound Measurements As Potential Biomarkers In The Diagnosis And Monitoring Of Patients With Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies: A Novel Approach, Shereen Paramalingam

Theses

Background

Ultrasound (US) modalities, shear wave elastography (SWE), B mode US and power Doppler (PD) show great potential as imaging tools in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM), but their utility requires further validation, reliability, and discrimination studies. This data are presented in five result chapters.

Methods

The initial literature review chapters set the foundation for the study. Chapter four assessed the face validity of US by comparing IIM patients and healthy controls. Chapter five aimed to establish criterion validity by comparing US with gold standard techniques. Chapter six and seven were longitudinal studies examining a non-inclusion body myositis (IBM) and IBM …

Healthcare Provider Uncertainty And Communicative Management Strategies, Katie Benson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Uncertainty exists ubiquitously within provider-patient interactions. Healthcare providers (HCPs) often face uncertainty during patient-provider interactions, for reasons including inconclusive test results, ambiguous communication, and lacking the resources to make diagnoses. When healthcare providers experience uncertainty, their behavior and communication can be negatively impacted. For example, prior research suggests when HCPs experience uncertainty, they may engage in authoritative, prejudiced and assumption-ridden behavior towards patients (Dietta & Rand, 2007; Drewniak et al., 2017: Portnoy et al., 2013; Poteat et al., 2013). To date, research on HCP uncertainty has been limited to specific health conditions and contexts such as cancer, vascular anomalies, and …

Mentoring Deep Learning Models For Mass Screening With Limited Data, Suprim Nakarmi

Dissertations and Theses

Deep Learning (DL) has an extensively rich state-of-the-art literature in medical imaging analysis. However, it requires large amount of data to begin training. This limits its usage in tackling future epidemics, as one might need to wait for months and even years to collect fully annotated data, raising a fundamental question: is it possible to deploy AI-driven tool earlier in epidemics to mass screen the infected cases? For such a context, human/Expert in the loop Machine Learning (ML), or Active Learning (AL), becomes imperative enabling machines to commence learning from the first day with minimum available labeled dataset. In an …

Dynamic Patterns And Modelling Of Covid-19 Early Transmission By Dynamic Mode Decomposition, Dehong Fang, Lei Guo, M. Courtney Hughes, Jifu Tan

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Introduction

Understanding the transmission patterns and dynamics of COVID-19 is critical to effective monitoring, intervention, and control for future pandemics. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of COVID-19 transmission during the early stage of the outbreak in the US, with the goal of informing future responses to similar outbreaks.

Methods

We used dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) and national data on COVID-19 cases (April 6, 2020–October 9, 2020) to model the spread of COVID-19 in the US as a dynamic system. DMD can decompose the complex evolution of disease cases into linear combinations of …

Synthesis, Characterization, And Evaluation Of A Bionanomatrix And Antibiotic-Releasing Liposomes On Osseointegration, Vascularization, Inflammation, And Antibacterial Efficacy, Benjamin Kade Estep

All ETDs from UAB

Percutaneous osseointegrated prostheses (POP) implants combat the multitude of issues and limitations of contemporary prosthetic sockets/limbs, including range of motion, comfort/fit, irritation, gait, and osseoproprioception. However, POP implants lack long-term clinical success; specifically, several risks exist at the bone-implant interface, including superficial/deep infections, inflammation, poor vascularization, and inadequate osseointegration, resulting in implant loosening over time and ultimately removal of the implant. The goal of this thesis is to evaluate a multifunctional, nitric oxide-releasing bionanomatrix incorporated with antibiotic-releasing liposomes on osseointegration, inflammation, vascularization/angiogenesis, and bacterial infection. We successfully synthesized the bionanomatrix, and the antibiotic-releasing liposomes readily encapsulated the antibiotics. The antibiotic-releasing …

Equipping Health Professions Educators To Better Address Medical Misinformation, Brian G. Southwell, Andrea Anderson, Anne Berry, Kamilah Weems, Lisa Howley, Cristina Pelin, Maya Vasser, Michael Cassara, Marie C. Petrizzo, Samara Ginzburg, Renee Mcleod-Sordjan, Joseph Weiner, Lexie Morales, Mark Saunders, Emiri Uchiyama, Laura Fothergill, Deborah Sherman, Rebecca L. Toonkel, Alison M. Vargovich, Nicholas M. Fusco, Kelly Foltz-Ramos, Jessica Kruger, William Prescott Jr, Jennifer Hayman, Shelley Cohen Konrad, Linda H. Chaudron, Christine Mallar, Grace Price, Brendan Prast, Julia Safarik, Leah Mallory, Aashna Sunderrajan, Sara Serritella, Nicole L. Pierce, Olabisi Falana, Eve Bloomgarden, Shika Jain, Lisa Mordell, Vineet Arora

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center

As part of a cooperative agreement with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Federal Award Identification Number [FAIN]: NU50CK000586), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) began a strategic initiative in 2022 both to increase confidence in COVID-19 vaccines and to address medical misinformation and mistrust through education in health professions contexts. Specifically, the AAMC solicited proposals for integrating competency-based, interprofessional strategies to mitigate health misinformation into new or existing curricula. Five Health Professions Education Curricular Innovations subgrantees received support from the AAMC in 2022 and reflected on the implementation of their ideas in a series of meetings …

Examining The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic And Subsequent Vaccine Availability On Children’S Social Play Opportunities With A Focus On The Autism Community, Jenni Koehler

All ETDs from UAB

Play, especially social play, is crucial to child development and impacts their cognitive, socioemotional, and motor growth. Children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have social and motor impairments that act as barriers to their access to these critical social play opportunities. Those who are able to overcome these barriers through therapy have been shown to have better physical and mental outcomes. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic restricted social play opportunities for all children and disproportionately impacted children with ASD, further widening developmental gaps between them and their non-autistic peers. The development of the COVID-19 vaccine and its availability to children …

Resilience And Vulnerability: The Impact Of Deprivation, Social Capital, And Distance Sensitivity On Mental Health In Covid-19 Vaccine Seekers, Cesar Ivan Landeros

All ETDs from UAB

The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted profound challenges upon California, exacerbating disparities in care, access, and health outcomes within vulnerable and deprived communities. Especially, this crisis has led to a surge in mental health issues, with anxiety and depression emerging as predominant psychopathologies, and the rates of anxiety and depression are alarmingly high in disadvantaged communities. In California, the strikingly high prevalence of these symptoms at 31.7%, compared to the national average of 32.3%, sounds a critical alarm. Despite empirical investigations into anxiety and depression rates across a range of demographic groups worldwide—such as survivors, healthcare professionals, children, adolescents, and adults—the …

Characterizing The Role Of Mapk Phosphatases In Age-Dependent Macrophage Dysfucntion And Increased Suceptiblity To Pneumonia In A Tnf-Dependent Manner, Katherine Lauren Kruckow

All ETDs from UAB

Lower respiratory infections are the primary cause of infectious death among the elderly. One reason for this is ‘inflamm-aging,’ a chronic low-grade inflammatory state that develops with advanced age. Pertinently, our group has shown increases in TNF levels to be responsible for age-dependent macrophage dysfunction (ADMD) and, in turn, enhanced susceptibility to Streptococcus pneumoniae, the leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia. The underlying molecular mechanisms responsible, however, remain unclear. Following adoptive transfer of alveolar macrophages (AM) from aged (18+ months) or young (3-6 month) mice into young mice, followed by infection with S. pneumoniae, we found that aged AM were sufficient …

Navigating Missed Visits In Hiv Primary Care: Exploring Risk Factors Associated With Missed Visits, Jiaying Hao

All ETDs from UAB

The HIV care continuum is a public health model that outlines the steps or stages people with HIV go through from diagnosis to achieving and maintaining viral suppression. Retention in care, a key component of the HIV care continuum, is critical in achieving good health outcomes for people with HIV (PWH) and preventing HIV transmission. Consistent HIV care is essential for the health of PWH as a part of retention in care. De-spite no standard measure for retention in care to PWH, the missed (no-show) vis-its/appointments is one of the most commonly used methods for evaluating retention in HIV care. …

Understanding Attitudes, Subjective Norms, And Intent Of Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy And Refusal Among African Americans In The United States Using The Theory Of Reasoned Action, Deandrea Lashay Martinez

All ETDs from UAB

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusal contributed to many African Americans not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The reasons for vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusal were unclear by sociodemographic factors (income, gender, education, and age) among African Americans. This research explored attitudes, subjective norms, and intent of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusal among African Americans in the United States using the Theory of Reasoned Action. The two research questions were (1) Among African Americans, do age, income, gender, and education factors remain stable across three study cohorts in differentiating subjects who are COVID-19 vaccine hesitant versus refusal from 2020–2022? (2) …

Genetic And Epigenetic Risk Scores For Chronic Kidney Disease In African Americans, Alana C. Jones

All ETDs from UAB

Kidney disease is the tenth-leading cause of death in the United States (US). There are significant racial disparities within kidney disease: African Americans (AAs) have the highest rates of CKD and carry a four-fold higher risk of developing end-stage renal disease (ESRD). They are also less likely to undergo kidney transplants, and among those who do, are more likely to experience graft rejection. Additionally, until 2021, kidney function equations were shown to underestimate the severity of kidney disease in AA due to the use of race coefficients. Among all populations, genetic and epigenetic factors contribute to kidney disease. However, AAs …

Aging With Hiv And Comorbid Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Jun Yeong Byun

All ETDs from UAB

Older adults with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) experience a high prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Considering having either HIV or COPD is related to worse health outcomes in older adults, aging with both HIV and COPD may synergistically and negatively affect the health outcomes of older people with HIV (PWH) and comorbid COPD. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the aging of PWH with COPD. This purpose was accomplished through three articles: 1) an adaptation of a gerontological model investigating what is known about the aging of PWH and people with COPD and extrapolating that to …

The Effect Of Weather Events On Dengue Fever In Brazil 2014-2022, Maryclare Gabel

All ETDs from UAB

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that is spread through the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito. Half the world's population lives in a dengue fever risk zone. There are an estimated 100 million symptomatic dengue fever cases each year, with 40,000 deaths reported. Brazil reports the highest annual dengue fever cases in Latin America. In 2022, Brazil recorded 2.36 million dengue fever cases, the highest number of cases ever recorded in the country. We designed a retrospective ecological study to evaluate the temporal trends and the association between weather events and dengue fever incidence …

Iga-Biome Profiles Correlate With Clinical Parkinson's Disease Subtypes, Eric L Brown, Heather T Essigmann, Kristi L Hoffman, Ashley S Alexander, Michael Newmark, Zhi-Dong Jiang, Jessika Suescun, Mya C Schiess, Craig L Hanis, Herbert L Dupont

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease is a heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder with distinctive gut microbiome patterns suggesting that interventions targeting the gut microbiota may prevent, slow, or reverse disease progression and severity.

OBJECTIVE: Because secretory IgA (SIgA) plays a key role in shaping the gut microbiota, characterization of the IgA-Biome of individuals classified into either the akinetic rigid (AR) or tremor dominant (TD) Parkinson's disease clinical subtypes was used to further define taxa unique to these distinct clinical phenotypes.

METHODS: Flow cytometry was used to separate IgA-coated and -uncoated bacteria from stool samples obtained from AR and TD patients followed by amplification and …

Regional Outbreak Of Multidrug-Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae Carbapenemase-Producing Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Bekana K Tadese, Anna Nutt, Ifrah Chaudhary, Charlene Offiong, Charles Darkoh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing P. aeruginosa (KPC-CRPA) are rare in the United States. An outbreak of KPC-CRPA was investigated in Texas using molecular and epidemiologic methods and 17 cases of KPC-CRPA were identified. The isolates were genetically related and harbored the emerging P. aeruginosa multilocus sequence type 235, the first in the United States.

Understanding The Implications Of Under-Reporting, Vaccine Efficiency And Social Behavior On The Post-Pandemic Spread Using Physics Informed Neural Networks: A Case Study Of China, Samiran Ghosh, Alonso Ogueda-Oliva, Aditi Ghosh, Malay Banerjee, Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In late 2019, the emergence of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, led to the implementation of stringent measures forming the zero-COVID policy aimed at eliminating transmission. Zero-COVID policy basically aimed at completely eliminating the transmission of COVID-19. However, the relaxation of this policy in late 2022 reportedly resulted in a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases. The aim of this work is to investigate the factors contributing to this outbreak using a new SEIR-type epidemic model with time-dependent level of immunity. Our model incorporates a time-dependent level of immunity considering vaccine doses administered and time-post-vaccination dependent vaccine efficacy. We find that vaccine …

Age-Induced Changes In Anti-Tumor Immunity Alter The Tumor Immune Infiltrate And Impact Response To Immuno-Oncology Treatments, Suzanne I Sitnikova, Jennifer A Walker, Laura B Prickett, Michelle Morrow, Viia E Valge-Archer, Matthew J Robinson, Robert W Wilkinson, Simon J Dovedi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Immuno-oncology (IO) research relies heavily on murine syngeneic tumor models. However, whilst the average age for a cancer diagnosis is 60 years or older, for practical purposes the majority of preclinical studies are conducted in young mice, despite the fact that ageing has been shown to have a significant impact on the immune response.

METHODS: Using aged (60-72 weeks old) mice bearing CT26 tumors, we investigated the impact of ageing on tumor growth as well as the immune composition of the tumor and peripheral lymphoid organs.

RESULTS: We found many differences in the immune cell composition of both the …