Digital Commons Network^™

“So We Create Happy Synergies” How An Overall Enabling Environment Helped Lao Pdr Legislate The Who Code On Breastmilk Substitutes: Lessons Learnt, Devina Buckshee

Public Health Theses

ABSTRACT

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding rates in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) remain at 44% against a global goal of at least 50%, partly due to a weak understanding of the multifactorial and multilevel determinants of breastfeeding (UNICEF, 2021). Therefore, evidence-based advocacy efforts call for a systems approach to improve the enabling environment around breastfeeding. Aim: This study aims to stitch together the comprehensive patchwork of actors and dynamic ‘gears’ in the socio-ecological environment that came together to develop a much more enabling environment to improve child nutrition through breastfeeding promotion and protection in Lao PDR. Further, it aims to …

Psychological Resilience In U.S. Military Veterans: Results From The 2019-2020 National Health And Resilience In Veterans Study, Michael Georgescu

Public Health Theses

Psychological resilience is the most common response following exposure to traumatic life events. To date, most research has focused on factors associated with adverse post-trauma mental health outcomes rather than understanding those associated with psychological resilience. In particular, little is known about factors associated with resilience in veterans, despite their high rates of trauma exposure, such as combat and military sexual trauma. To address this gap, we used a discrepancy-based psychiatric resilience (DBPR) analytic approach to operationalize resilience and to identify modifiable health and psychosocial factors associated with resilience in a nationally representative sample of U.S. veterans (N = 4,069). …

Prevention Of Mother-To-Child Transmission Of Hiv(Pmtct) Efforts In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa: Lessons From Botswana, Jin Hee Kim

Public Health Theses

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) continues to be an ongoing problem, scale up of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services remains a priority. Between 2001 and 2012 globally, the 52% decline of new pediatric HIV infection was attributed to the expansion of PMTCT services. In December of 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Botswana was certified as having attained the silver-tier status in the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, because it had successfully reduced the MTCT rate to less than 5%, had provided antenatal care (ANC) and antiretroviral …

Association Between Parity And Bmi In A Suburban Nepalese Community, Dhulikhel, Se Ryung Lee

Public Health Theses

This study aims to examine the link between parity and BMI in women in a suburban Nepali community, Dhulikhel. This study is a secondary data analysis of the Dhulikhel Heart Study (DHS). The study sample included women aged 18-59 years. BMI was based on measured height and weight. The result shows that prevalence of obesity is very high in women with high parity. Furthermore, the result of the ordinal logistic regression show that higher parity is associated with higher odds of being in a higher BMI category (overweight/obese). The odds were the highest in women who gave birth to 3 …

The Genetic Generalizability Gap Of Colorectal Cancer: Assessment By Polygenic Risk Score, Lauren R. Lautermilch

Public Health Theses

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common incident cancers in developed countries. Though the majority of colorectal cancer cases do not arise in individuals with inherited pathogenic mutations or a family history of CRC, there is a substantial heritable component of colorectal cancer. Thus, there is a critical need to incorporate genetic risk factors into overall CRC risk assessment to ultimately improve the efficacy of current screening strategies and optimize precision medicine approaches.

Presented here is a polygenic risk score (PRS) utilizing 79 genetic variants for colorectal cancer. The PRS was generated using genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphisms …

The Legacy Of Redlining: How Urban Policies Of The Past Shape The Contemporary Food Environment In Buffalo, Ny, Anna Lin-Schweitzer

Public Health Theses

In the 1930s, the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) graded urban neighborhoods based on their mortgage investment risk, designating whiter wealthier neighborhoods a grade A for “best” and lower-income non-white neighborhoods a grade D for “hazardous.” Despite the fact that this process was outlawed by the 1960s, formerly redlined neighborhoods continue to have less access to resources, including food. The central premise of this paper is that historical housing policies have shaped inequitable distribution of food destinations in the contemporary food environment, and may have implications for food system advocacy and policymaking. Using geospatial analysis and multiple linear regressions, this …

Identifying Aberrant Metabolism And Underlying Biology In Colorectal Cancer Tumors Between Early- And Later-Onset Samples, Allison Paige Janak

Public Health Theses

Early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC) occurring in individuals under age 50 is rapidly increasing globally. In comparison, later-onset colorectal cancer (LO-CRC) incidence has decreased or remained stable over recent years. Despite these increases in EO-CRC incidence, the etiology of EO-CRC is largely unknown. This study aimed to compare the metabolomes of EO-CRC (N=53) and LO-CRC (N=314) patients from a cohort of 367 patients using patient matched samples of stages I-IV tumor and healthy colon tissue. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS) and reversed phase liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (RPLC-MS)-based untargeted metabolomics were applied to identify features present in the samples, …

The Fountain Of Youth?: Calorie Restriction And Its Relationship With Hand Grip Strength As A Marker Of Longevity And Aging, Arion Mete

Public Health Theses

Background and Purpose: Evidence supports a beneficial effect of calorie restriction on longevity within numerous animal models, while data for humans is limited to intermediate biomarkers of aging. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between calorie restriction in humans with respect to hand grip strength, a biomarker of aging and longevity, that has been understudied in relation to caloric restriction. Methods: We analyzed hand grip strength among 184 individuals enrolled in the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE), a 2-year randomized trial of 25% calorie restriction vs. control. Peak hand grip …

Early Life Growth Patterns Among Infants Of Mothers With Diabetes, Hedy Ludwig

Public Health Theses

AbstractObjective: Exposure to diabetes during pregnancy increases the risk of insulin resistance, obesity, and cardiometabolic disease in offspring. Limited research exists regarding early postnatal growth patterns among moderate preterm and term infants. This study aims to evaluate growth patterns during the early postnatal period among term and moderate preterm infants of mothers with and without diabetes during pregnancy. Methods: In a prospective longitudinal analysis using data from Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), characteristics from term and moderate preterm infants were compared between diabetes exposure groups (n=148). Percent change in weight from birth to hospital discharge was compared between diabetes exposure …

Epidemiology Of Human Hookworm (Necator Americanus) Infection In Rural Ghana: Investigating Host-Parasite Factors That Mediate Infection, Savanna Randi

Public Health Theses

Abstract

Introduction: Hookworms are soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) that cause significant morbidity in high-risk populations, posing a global health concern in locations of rural poverty [1-5]. While there have been ventures by the World Health Organization to eliminate hookworms in Africa by 2030, there is variability in the effectiveness of current chemotherapy regimens. Studies have shown that benzimidazole anthelmintics have reduced effectiveness, and people living in endemic areas are quickly reinfected [6]. Critical gaps remain in understanding parasite-host interactions within communities, further challenging successful disease control. A study initiated in 2022 investigated the epidemiology of human hookworm infection in Beposo, Ghana. …

Missing The Forest For The Trees: The Causes Of The Obesity Epidemic, Acree Mcdowell Cook

Public Health Theses

Arguably the most pressing public health issue in the United States today is the obesity epidemic, which has affected children, adolescents, and adults alike. A lack of longitudinal research on distinct factors related to obesity in different groups has made addressing the epidemic difficult. Many lifestyle and environmental factors, including nutrition, sleep, stress, the gut microbiome, screen time, and marketing, are all related to obesity, but many of these factors are also related to each other. The current study investigates these systemic relationships, presents a hypothesis on the complementary causes of obesity, and contributes to contemporary longitudinal research by investigating …

Antibiotic Prophylaxis For Prevention Of Surgical Site Infections In Orthopedic Surgery, Edwin Ruiz Fuentes

Public Health Theses

Background: In the past decades, there has been an increase in the proportion of orthopedic surgical site infections (SSIs) caused by gram-negative bacilli in various healthcare settings. SSI prevention guidelines suggest that gentamicin can be added to prophylactic antibiotic treatment to target gram-negative bacilli. However, the effectiveness of this strategy remains to be confirmed in orthopedic surgery.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to investigate the association between antibiotic prophylaxis with adjunctive gentamicin and SSI rates in orthopedic surgeries. 5,571 patients who underwent hip, knee, spine, and hip fracture surgeries between January 2019 and July 2021 at Yale-New Haven …

Examining The Impacts Of Stress And Negative Affect On Eating And Weight Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis, Taylor Spadory

Public Health Theses

Overweight and obesity have become incredibly pressing public health issues in the United States. Rising rates of prevalence pose grave risks to population health and underscore the need for a greater understanding of the underlying mechanisms that contribute to increased eating and weight gain. While stress and negative affect (NA) have been recognized as possible predictors, the literature is inconsistent and experimental studies have produced mixed results. Therefore, we conducted a comprehensive quantitative meta-analysis to assess the prospective effects of stress and NA on eating and weight outcomes, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). We …

Interaction Of Adhd Severity And Neighborhood-Level Ses On Preschoolers’ Risk For Obesity At School-Age, Ramya V. Jayanthi

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) oftentimes emerges during the preschool years. School-age children with ADHD are at an increased risk for obesity as compared to their non-ADHD peers, but it is unknown if this risk is observed in younger children. Socioeconomic status (SES) is negatively related to both ADHD and obesity, but how SES interacts with ADHD to affect later obesity is unknown. This study aimed to examine if preschool ADHD diagnosis and severity interacted with neighborhood-level SES to increase risk for overweight/obesity and greater growth in BMI at school-age. We hypothesized that ADHD severity/diagnosis would be associated with greater growth …

Optimization Of Optical Nanosensor Response For The Detection Of Anthracyclines Using A Binary Machine Learning Classifier, Myesha Thahsin

Dissertations and Theses

Pharmacokinetic variables such as interindividual variation in metabolizing and eliminating drugs makes dose selection of chemotherapeutic anthracyclines difficult. One potential solution to determining dosing levels of an anthracycline is the development of non-invasive sensors to monitor their pharmacology in vivo. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) have substantial potential for in vivo sensor development, as they exhibit near-infrared fluorescence in the tissue-transparent window and a robust response to their local environment. An emerging method for evaluating and optimizing SWCNT sensor response is through machine learning. In this study, anthracyclines Daunorubicin, Doxorubicin, Epirubicin, Mitoxantrone and Idarubicin, were used to interrogate 12 SWCNT preparations …

The Effect Of Social Stratification On College Students' Academic Performance & Progress, Detrenyona Nekebra Chester

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative correlational research study is to understand the variables of social stratification, academic performance, and academic progress and how those variables affect a student’s decision to drop out of college. The researcher selected participants for this study from the database at a 4-year private HBCU located in the northern part of Jacksonville Florida. Many students enrolled in college encounter outstanding tuition balances that threaten their ability to obtain adequate housing and remain actively enrolled in college. The researcher explored social stratification as measured by high school Title I status, academic performance as measured by overall institutional …

Assessment Of Consumer’S Knowledge And Practices On Pesticide Residues Reduction In Tomatoes In Mvomero, Morogoro Region, Tanzania, Sambwe Fundikira, Emmanuella Selestine, Safiness Msollo

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Pesticides are important components of agricultural production but the consumption of crops treated with pesticides, even in small quantities, can accumulate in the human body and cause health problems. Therefore, consumers’ knowledge and practices on reduction of these residues is essential however, there is scant of information on consumers’ knowledge and practices on pesticide residues reduction in tomatoes in Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Mvomero District in Morogoro region among 280 randomly selected consumers. Questionnaires were administered through face-to-face interviews to assess knowledge and practices on the reduction of pesticide residues in tomatoes before consumption. Data were analyzed …

Réponse De Deux Variétés De Riz (Oryza Sativa L.) À L’Application De Faibles Doses De Phosphate Soluble Sur Les Hyperdystric Ferralsols En Zone Forestière Humide De Côte D’Ivoire, Brahima Kone, Jean-Fabrice Akouemaho Dominique Adanve, Rachidatou Sikirou, Koné Aminata

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Subject description. Yield response of NERICA 1 and WAB 56-104 to low doses of soluble phosphorus fertiliser on hyperdystric Ferralsol in Côte d'Ivoire forest zone. Objective. To assess tow rice varieties (NERICA 1 vs. WAB 56-106) yield responses to soluble phosphate fertilizer, different rates were applied on hyperdystric Ferralsol in humid forest zone of Côte d’Ivoire. Methods. The responses of rice varieties NERICA 1 and WAB 56-104 to the rates of 0; 2.5; 5; 10 and 60 kg P ha- 1 as Super Triple Phosphate (STP) were evaluated through grain yield and agronomic efficiency of P in 2001 and 2002 …

Effect Of Simulated Drought And Rainfall Fluctuation On Seedling Growth Of Two Savannah Trees Species In Sudan: An Experimental Exploration, Ismail A. E. Elzaki, Ahmed A. H. Siddig, Emad H. E. Yasin, Abdelmoniem A. Attaelmnan, Nasradeen A. H. Gadallah, Ahmed M. M. Hasoba, Mustafa A. Nasreldeen, Yousif E. Yagoub, Kornél Czimber

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Climate change scenarios project that several regions, especially in dryland areas of sub-Saharan Africa, will undergo increasing aridity and, subsequently, expanding land degradation. The study aims to investigate the effect of two drying treatments on establishing and growing Hashab (Acacia senegal) and Boabab (Adansonia digitata) in nursery conditions. Through a 2×2 factorial experiment, seedlings grown in a mixture of silt and sand soil (2:3) were treated by irrigation intervals of one or two liters every three days for 14 weeks to simulate rainfall fluctuation patterns. Seedling germination rate, leaf number, stem height, and diameter were measured …

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 …

I2n: Image To Nutrients, A Sensor Guided Semi-Automated Tool For Annotation Of Images For Nutrition Analysis Of Eating Episodes, Tonmoy Ghosh, Megan A Mccrory, Tyson Marden, Janine Higgins, Alex Kojo Anderson, Christabel Ampong Domfe, Wenyan Jia, Benny Lo, Gary Frost, Matilda Steiner-Asiedu, Tom Baranowski, Mingui Sun, Edward Sazonov

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Introduction: Dietary assessment is important for understanding nutritional status. Traditional methods of monitoring food intake through self-report such as diet diaries, 24-hour dietary recall, and food frequency questionnaires may be subject to errors and can be time-consuming for the user.

Methods: This paper presents a semi-automatic dietary assessment tool we developed - a desktop application called Image to Nutrients (I2N) - to process sensor-detected eating events and images captured during these eating events by a wearable sensor. I2N has the capacity to offer multiple food and nutrient databases (e.g., USDA-SR, FNDDS, USDA Global Branded Food Products Database) for annotating eating …

Relationship Between Reproductive And Bone Biomarkers And Osteoarthritis In Zoo Asian (Elephas Maximus) And African (Loxodonta Africana) Elephants, Daniella E Chusyd, Janine L Brown, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, Stephanie L Dickinson, Virginia B Kraus, Jessica Siegal-Willott, Timothy M Griffin, Janet L Huebner, Katie L Edwards, David B Allison, Steven N Austad

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Osteoarthritis (OA) is common in zoo Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) elephants. This study investigated the relationship between confirmed or suspected OA with ovarian cyclicity, gonadotropins, progestagens, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), and collagen type I (CTX-I) in zoo elephants. In Asian elephants, odds of having confirmed or suspected OA decreased with cycling (OR = 0.22, P = 0.016; OR = 0.29, P = 0.020, respectively), however, not when adjusted for age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.31, P = 0.112; OR = 0.58, P = 0.369, respectively). In African elephants, none of …

Conditioning On Parental Mating Types Can Reduce Necessary Assumptions For Mendelian Randomization, Keisuke Ejima, Nianjun Liu, Luis Miguel Mestre, Gustavo De Los Campos, David B Allison

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Mendelian randomization (MR) has become a common tool used in epidemiological studies. However, when confounding variables are correlated with the instrumental variable (in this case, a genetic/variant/marker), the estimation can remain biased even with MR. We propose conditioning on parental mating types (a function of parental genotypes) in MR to eliminate the need for one set of assumptions, thereby plausibly reducing such bias. We illustrate a situation in which the instrumental variable and confounding variables are correlated using two unlinked diallelic genetic loci: one, an instrumental variable and the other, a confounding variable. Assortative mating or population admixture can create …

Small Bowel Obstruction In Postpartum Vaginal Delivery Due To Prior Abdominal Adhesions Case Report, Liubin Yang, Lydia Kao

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Intestinal obstruction rarely occurs after uncomplicated vaginal deliveries. Here, we present a case of a multiparous woman with a history of prior appendectomy presenting with generalized, nonspecific abdominal pain that was out of proportion to exam findings. Initial abdominal X-ray was nonspecific, and subsequent computed tomography (CT) abdomen showed closed small bowel obstruction requiring surgical repair. We present a case of intestinal obstruction occurring within 24 hours of uncomplicated vaginal delivery with a risk factor of a prior appendectomy surgery and the use of CT abdomen and pelvis to expedite diagnose.

Functional And Technical Outcomes In Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients With Hyperdense Middle Cerebral Artery Sign Treated With Endovascular Thrombectomy, Yimin Chen, Francesco Diana, Mohammad Mofatteh, Sijie Zhou, Juanmei Chen, Zhou Huang, Weijuan Wu, Yajie Yang, Zhiyi Zeng, Weijian Zhang, Ziqi Ouyang, Thanh N Nguyen, Shuiquan Yang, José Fidel Baizabal-Carvallo, Xuxing Liao

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background and objective: The hyperdense middle cerebral artery sign (HMCAS) is observed in a proportion of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). This sign reflects the presence of an intravascular thrombus rich in red blood cells. Several studies have demonstrated that HMCAS increases the risk of poor outcomes in AIS patients treated with IV thrombolysis or no reperfusion therapy; however, whether HMCAS predicts a poor outcome in patients treated with endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is less clear. We aimed to evaluate the functional outcome by the modified Rankin scale (mRS) at 90 days and technical challenges in patients with HMCAS undergoing …

Commentary: Effect Evaluation Of Sahtak Bi Sahnak, A Lebanese Secondary School-Based Nutrition Intervention: A Cluster Randomised Trial, Abu Bakkar Siddique, Andrew W Brown, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, David B Allison

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Validated Assessment Tools For Screen Media Use: A Systematic Review, Oriana Perez, Tatyana Garza, Olivia Hindera, Alicia Beltran, Salma M Musaad, Tracey Dibbs, Anu Singh, Shria Chug, Amy Sisson, Anil Kumar Vadathya, Tom Baranowski, Teresia M O'Connor

Library Staff Publications

OBJECTIVE: Accurate measurement of adult and child screen media use are needed to robustly assess its impact on health outcomes. Our objective was to systematically review screen media use measurement tools that have been validated against an objective "gold standard" tool.

METHODS: The search strategy was initially conducted in Medline Ovid and translated to Embase, Web of Science, PsychInfo and Cochrane. A modified natural language search was conducted in Google Scholar and IEEE. The initial search was conducted in March 2021, and an updated search was conducted in June 2022. Additional studies were included from the references. Studies had to …

Sea-Ice Conditions Predict Polar Bear Land Use Around Military Installations In Alaska, Eric V. Regehr, Kristin L. Laidre, Todd C. Atwood, Harry L. Stern, Benjamin Cohen

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are threatened by sea-ice loss due to climate change, which is concurrently opening the Arctic to natural resource extraction and a broader scope of national security responsibilities. Mitigating the risk of human–bear conflicts is an emerging challenge as many polar bears spend longer ice-free summers on land where they have limited access to food and come into more frequent contact with people. We investigated a suite of physical and ecological variables that influence the timing of polar bear arrival on, and departure from, land using remote-sensing data on sea-ice extent and satellite telemetry data …

Grizzly Bears And Humans At Alpine Moth Sites In Wyoming, Usa, Erika A. Nunlist, Dan Tyers, Andrew Pils, Bok F. Sowell

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Army cutworm moths (Euxoa auxiliaris; moths) are an important seasonal higher elevational food source for grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis; bears) in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, USA). Increased human interaction with bears at moth sites is an important management issue because of the potential for displacing bears and the concern for human safety. Managers will need better information regarding human–bear interactions at high-density moth sites that are also accessible to humans to mitigate potential conflicts. In the summers of 2017 and 2018, we studied human–bear interactions at 2 of the most human …

Variation In Space Use And Movements Of Individual Mule Deer And Bighorn Sheep In Response To Shed Antler Hunting, Steven B. Bates, Jericho C. Whiting, Brock R Mcmillan, Steven L. Petersen, Randy T. Larsen

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Shed antler hunting can affect the movements and space use of ungulates. We evaluated space use and movements of 12 mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and 25 bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) during shed antler hunting for up to 4 years. Twenty-five percent of mule deer and 44% of bighorn sheep changed space use in relation to their home range in response to shed antler hunters across 2 years. Four deer were tracked for 3 or 4 consecutive years and responded differently to shed antler hunting across years. Mean distance moved by mule deer in response to shed …