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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Methods For Estimating Mediation Effect In Survival Analysis: Does Weight Loss Mediate The Undernutrition-Mortality Relationship In The Older Adults?, Yanhui Sun
All ETDs from UAB
The influence of undernutrition on mortality and other adverse outcomes through the mechanism of unintentional weight loss in older adults is often assumed, but the analytic methods to test these mediation mechanisms are not well-developed, and the need for methodological advances in this area motivated this program of research. We first examined the test-retest reliability and predictive validity of self-reported caloric intake as a measure of undernutrition. Acceptable reliability was observed, consistent with previous reports, but the evidence for predictive validity was inconsistent and self-reported caloric intake deficiency was not found to be related to observed weight loss. We then …
Sense Of Community Among Adolescents Participating In The Mobile Youth Survey: A Measurement Study, Randolph Stacer Devereaux
Sense Of Community Among Adolescents Participating In The Mobile Youth Survey: A Measurement Study, Randolph Stacer Devereaux
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A measurement study was conducted to evaluate 11 items representing the latent variable labeled "sense of community" (SOC) employed by investigators of the Mobile Youth Survey (MYS). In previous research the 11 items representing the concept of SOC have been combined to form a composite variable, assuming that the concept was best represented by a single factor (e.g., Bolland, Bryant, Lian, McCallum, Vazsonyi & Barth, 2007). However, no systematic analysis has been conducted to determine the psychometric properties of the 11-item composite variable. The objects of the present study are a) to determine the component structure of the items used …
Chronic Alcohol Consumption Promotes Opening Of The Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore And Increases Mitochondrial Injury In Liver, Adrienne Lester King
Chronic Alcohol Consumption Promotes Opening Of The Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore And Increases Mitochondrial Injury In Liver, Adrienne Lester King
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Alcoholic liver disease is a serious public health concern. In particular, the mitochondrion is a specific target of ethanol toxicity and much of the damage can be related to unregulated Ca2+ homeostasis and oxidative stress which are key players in the induction of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) within the organelle. The mechanism behind the induction of the MPTP remains elusive. Therefore, this body of work will provide insight on what effects chronic alcohol consumption has on mitochondrial dysfunction with an emphasis on the MPTP. Chapter 2: Assessment of mitochondrial dysfunction arising from treatment with hepatotoxicants provides a description …
The Effects Of Paternal Absence On The Sexual Behaviors Of African-American Adolescents Living In Impoverished Neighborhoods, Cheri Nicolette Langley
The Effects Of Paternal Absence On The Sexual Behaviors Of African-American Adolescents Living In Impoverished Neighborhoods, Cheri Nicolette Langley
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According to the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), 47% of the surveyed high school students reported ever having sexual intercourse, with 6% reporting having initiated their first sexual intercourse before the age of 13 (Eaton et al., 2006). Using the Mobile Youth Survey (1998-2008), the purpose of this study is four-fold: (a) to describe the MYS sample (1998-2008) in terms of its primary independent variable (the absence of a father figure) and its primary outcomes (sexual debut, sexual frequency, number of sex partners, condom use, pregnancy in the last year, and pregnancy intention); (b) to determine the impact of …
A Pilot Study For A Computer-Tailored Program To Increase Calcium And Vitamin D Consumption In Young Women: Does Adding Quantitative Ultrasound Change Outcomes?, Donald Henry Lein Jr
A Pilot Study For A Computer-Tailored Program To Increase Calcium And Vitamin D Consumption In Young Women: Does Adding Quantitative Ultrasound Change Outcomes?, Donald Henry Lein Jr
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Osteoporosis and osteoporosis-related fractures are costly personal and national problems. No cure exists so experts stress early practice of bone protective behaviors, like adequate calcium and vitamin D intake, to prevent osteoporosis and osteoporosis-related fractures. However, young women in the United States do not consume adequate amounts of these two nutrients. Further evaluation to identify cost effective programs to increase calcium and vitamin D consumption in young women is needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether quantitative ultrasound (QUS) with bone strength feedback to a computer-tailored feedback and counseling intervention was needed to increase calcium and vitamin …
Examining The Association Between Body Mass Index And Weight Related Quality Of Life In Black And White Women, Tiffany Lashaun Cox
Examining The Association Between Body Mass Index And Weight Related Quality Of Life In Black And White Women, Tiffany Lashaun Cox
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Obesity not only increases risk for morbidity/mortality, but also impacts the quality of life of obese individuals. In the United States, black women have the highest prevalence of obesity of any other group with approximately 80% of black women over age 20 having a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2. We aimed to examine the association between weight and quality of life in this high risk population and compare it to weight-related quality of life in white women using the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life (IWQOL)-Lite questionnaire. Data for 343 women were analyzed (172 black, 171 white). …
Radiographic Damage And Functional Disability In African American Patients With Recent-Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis, Jie Zhang
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African Americans are under-represented in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) research and factors associated with the two main RA disease outcomes, radiographic damage and functional disability, have been insufficiently studied. The objective of this project was to examine such factors using data from the Consortium for the Longitudinal Evaluation of African Americans with rheumatoid arthritis (CLEAR), a longitudinal cohort of African American patients with recent onset RA. The association between baseline generalized bone mineral density and radiographic damage at 3 years disease duration was examined among 141 subjects. The total radiographic damage score at 3-years of disease duration in subjects with reduced …
Development And Validation Of A Scale To Measure Fear Of Physical Response To Exercise Among Overweight And Obese Adults, Brooks Cotton Wingo
Development And Validation Of A Scale To Measure Fear Of Physical Response To Exercise Among Overweight And Obese Adults, Brooks Cotton Wingo
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Fear-avoidance beliefs have been correlated with disability and physical function in populations with pain, but research has primarily focused on the impact of these beliefs on daily functioning, not leisure time physical activity. Current screening tools focus on a specific type or source of pain, making them inadequate for assessing fear of exercise-induced pain. The purpose of this study was to develop and establish preliminary validity of a scale to measure fear of physical response to exercise among overweight and obese adults. Additionally, the study sought to assess the relationships between scale responses and body mass index, physical activity level …
Investigation Of The Cese Framework For Viscous Flows, Balaji Shankar Venkatachari
Investigation Of The Cese Framework For Viscous Flows, Balaji Shankar Venkatachari
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A transient viscous solver has been developed based on the novel space-time conser-vation element solution element (CESE) framework. Till date, the numerical accuracy of the CESE framework in modeling inviscid flow problems has been well documented, while very little work has been done in regards to modeling transient viscous flows. In this work, an attempt to fill that gap in literature was carried out by rigorously investigat-ing the numerical accuracy and computational performance of the CESE framework in simulating such flows. The study aims at gaining a deeper understanding on the numeri-cal accuracy and dissipation characteristics of the CESE framework, …
Hypothesis Testing Based On Pool Screening With Unequal Pool Sizes, Hongjiang Gao
Hypothesis Testing Based On Pool Screening With Unequal Pool Sizes, Hongjiang Gao
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Pool screening is a widely applied technique to estimate the prevalence of a rare event. This focus of this research is on developing statistical test of hypothesis procedures under the assumption that pool sizes are unequal but known. One of the proposed test procedures is , an exact test based on the number of positive pools (denoted by T). Another set of proposed test procedures is a modification of the likelihood ratio, Wald's and Score tests which are commonly-used likelihood-based tests. In paper 1, we derive the distribution of T which will be the basis of the exact test. Other …