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Public Health

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University of Alabama at Birmingham

Theses/Dissertations

2016

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Admixture Mapping Of Subclinical And Clinical Cardiovascular Disease Among African Americans, Aditi Shendre Jan 2016

Admixture Mapping Of Subclinical And Clinical Cardiovascular Disease Among African Americans, Aditi Shendre

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The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the association of local European ancestry (LEA) with subclinical and clinical cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD) among African Americans in three prospective cohorts from the United States. CVD burden is higher among African Americans compared to other racial/ethnic groups and prevention efforts have led to the evaluation of subclinical measures of CVD such as carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT), and risk factors including the underlying genetic component of the disease. Admixed populations such as African Americans may have increased risk of disease as a result of the increased prevalence of a disease among …

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Measuring Reproductive Norms And Stigma And Examining Their Roles In Unintended Pregnancy-Related Health Behavior Among Young Adult Women, Whitney Smith Jan 2016

Measuring Reproductive Norms And Stigma And Examining Their Roles In Unintended Pregnancy-Related Health Behavior Among Young Adult Women, Whitney Smith

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Substantial disparities are observed in rates of unintended pregnancy and the health consequences of unintended pregnancy in the United States, with these events and outcomes occurring more frequently among young adult women and women in the southern region. The contribution of social norms and stigma to these disparities is unclear. This dissertation is comprised of three manuscripts examining unintended pregnancy-related norms and stigma, and their health implications among young adult women aged 18-24 in Birmingham, Alabama. The aims of the dissertation are to (1) elucidate perceptions of norms and stigma regarding unintended pregnancy and pregnancy decisions (abortion, adoption, and parenting), …

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Performance Of Ordinary Least Squares And Heteroskedasticity Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimators In Heteroskedastic Analysis Of Covariance Models, Erica Lynn Dawson Jan 2016

Performance Of Ordinary Least Squares And Heteroskedasticity Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimators In Heteroskedastic Analysis Of Covariance Models, Erica Lynn Dawson

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Ordinary Least Squares Optimization is one of the most widely used methods in statistical analysis to estimate the parameters of a general linear model. Yet, when the assumption of homoskedastic errors is violated, the statistical model is incorrectly specified and alteration of both Type I and Type II error rates occurs. We examine different heteroskedasticity consistent covariance matrix estimators (HCCM) under various heteroskedastic analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models with orthogonal predictors, and find that under the test of group differences, MacKinnon and White’s HC2 and Davidson and MacKinnon’s HC3 perform reasonably well in terms of Type I error control; and …

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Fabrication And Characterization Of Buckypapers For Use In Air Sampling, Jonghwa Oh Jan 2016

Fabrication And Characterization Of Buckypapers For Use In Air Sampling, Jonghwa Oh

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FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BUCKYPAPERS FOR USE IN AIR SAMPLING JONGHWA OH ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES ABSTRACT Occupational exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a concern from a public health perspective. In many industrial activities, workers’ exposure to VOCs can be sufficiently high to induce adverse health effects, so their monitoring is necessary. In exposure assessment, post sampling extraction and quantification are the typical analytical procedures. Recently, our group developed the photothermal desorption (PTD) technique in which a pulse of light thermally desorbs an analyte directly from a sorbent. Advantages of this technique are; it is solvent free, repeated analysis …

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Methods For Measuring Individually Experienced Temperature And Food Intake In Controlled Thermal Environments, Molly Bernhard Jan 2016

Methods For Measuring Individually Experienced Temperature And Food Intake In Controlled Thermal Environments, Molly Bernhard

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The three studies to be presented assess individual-level heat exposure in free-living urban and rural environments and assess food intake in randomized controlled trials in a 2-hour exposure, and a 7-hour crossover heat exposure. The first interest was broad: examining heat exposure and its relation to potential health outcomes. To examine whether heat exposure could be measured in free-living organisms, a light and temperature monitoring device was repurposed and used in a pilot study of individual-level heat exposure in urban and rural community members. Differences between the current and most commonly accepted way of estimating heat exposure, weather station datasets, …

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Cardiovascular Risk Factors In Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Phenotypes, Samantha G. Bromfield Jan 2016

Cardiovascular Risk Factors In Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Phenotypes, Samantha G. Bromfield

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Hypertension and diabetes are common and are known risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Several blood pressure (BP) phenotypes, identified by ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM), have been reported to be associated with an increased risk for CVD. However, there are few data on ABPM phenotypes among individuals with diabetes. Identifying modifiable factors that improve cardiovascular health may reduce CVD events and the prevalence of ABPM phenotypes, such as masked hypertension. Given the ability of ABPM to identify unconventional BP phenotypes that provide prognostic information beyond clinic BP, it is important to understand the optimal number of 24-hour ABPM readings necessary …

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The Use Of An Open-Label Placebo To Treat Cancer-Related Fatigue In Cancer Survivors, Theresa Walker Hoenemeyer Jan 2016

The Use Of An Open-Label Placebo To Treat Cancer-Related Fatigue In Cancer Survivors, Theresa Walker Hoenemeyer

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Background: A placebo is an inert substance (e.g., sugar pill) or procedure (e.g., sham surgery) that should confer no beneficial effects. Nonetheless, typically, 30-50% of those randomized to placebos report significant benefits. New studies indicate that the use of disclosed or open-label placebos reduces self-reported symptoms among patients with irritable bowel syndrome, migraine attacks, and major depression. Methods: The investigator conducted a 7-week pilot study to evaluate the feasibility and effects of an open-labeled administration of placebo pills on patient-reported clinical and psychosocial outcomes among cancer survivors seeking relief from cancer-related fatigue. The specific aims of this study were to: …

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Malaria, Changes In Angiogenesis Factors, Cytokine Profiles And Birth Outcomes, John A. Keenan Jan 2016

Malaria, Changes In Angiogenesis Factors, Cytokine Profiles And Birth Outcomes, John A. Keenan

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Malaria remains an important public health problem, with over three billion people at risk of infection and as many as 214 million new cases each year. Of particular concern is the effect Plasmodium falciparum malaria has on reproductive health. Malaria is responsible for a wide array of adverse birth outcomes including infant death, low birth weight, preterm delivery and small for gestational age. The mechanism by which malaria influences adverse birth outcomes remains poorly understood. Cross-sectional data from 291 women delivering infants in Ghana are used to investigate whether malaria during pregnancy was associated with select cytokines or angiogenesis factors …

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Influence Of Maternal Age On The Effects Of Organic Selenium In The Animal Model Daphnia Pulex, Jordan E. Roberts Jan 2016

Influence Of Maternal Age On The Effects Of Organic Selenium In The Animal Model Daphnia Pulex, Jordan E. Roberts

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As a necessary micronutrient, seleno-L-methionine (SeMet) exhibits a U-shaped dose-response with deficiency and toxicity leading to adverse health outcomes. Some studies suggest dietary selenium may offer protection against toxicity from other metals, but excessive dietary levels can also lead to toxicity. In addition, increased maternal age has been shown to increase the risk of adverse developmental outcomes. We hypothesize that older maternal age will increase susceptibility in offspring exposed to toxic concentrations of SeMet. The goal of this project was to evaluate the effects of SeMet treatment on lifespan and determine if the effects are altered by maternal age using …

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Use Of Medicare Inpatient Claims Data For The Identification Of Myocardial Infarction, Lisandro Damian Colantonio Jan 2016

Use Of Medicare Inpatient Claims Data For The Identification Of Myocardial Infarction, Lisandro Damian Colantonio

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Claims are being used for the identification of myocardial infarctions (MI) in research studies, either as a complement of primary data collection or as the sole data source. However, few data are available to support these approaches. The current dissertation analyzes the use of claims for the identification of MIs in a large population-based cohort linked to Medicare data, the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study. Analyses included 9,951 study participants ≥65 years of age with Medicare Part A (inpatient) fee-for-service coverage at baseline in 2003-2007. Participant self-report and Medicare inpatient claims with a diagnosis code for …

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Methods For Analysis Of Genetic Differences In Sex And Ethnicity For Complex Human Traits, Yogasudha Veturi Veturi Jan 2016

Methods For Analysis Of Genetic Differences In Sex And Ethnicity For Complex Human Traits, Yogasudha Veturi Veturi

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In the last two decades, thousands of genome-wide association (GWA) analyses have been published. These studies have been primarily conducted using data from Caucasians and many of the reported findings have not been replicated in other populations, perhaps reflecting that the underlying architecture of effects may vary across ethnically diverse groups. Similarly, the possibility that the genetic architecture of traits may vary between males and females has also been overlooked. We propose a methodology for estimation and testing of effect heterogeneity between groups such as sex or ethnicity that involves modeling genotype-by-group random interactions. Using simulations, we show that the …

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