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Evaluating The Health Impacts Of Fruit And Vegetable Intake At The Individual Level And Food Pantry Level Among Food Pantry Users, Jiacheng Chen Dec 2022

Evaluating The Health Impacts Of Fruit And Vegetable Intake At The Individual Level And Food Pantry Level Among Food Pantry Users, Jiacheng Chen

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background: Chronic diseases impose heavy burdens on individuals and the healthcare system in the US. Many factors were found to be associated with chronic diseases, including demographics, family history, social environmental factors, and individual behavioral factors such as diet and physical activity. Among those factors, fruit and vegetable intake can have substantial health impacts via a variety of causal pathways. Fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption is generally lower among individuals living in households experiencing food insecurity and rely on food assistance programs. Decreased F&V intake among food pantry users may negatively impact health. However, conducting quantitative analysis on this population …


Metabolic Alterations And Cardiovascular Risk After Hepatitis C Cure In Subjects With Or At Risk For Hiv, Christophe Maxime Fokoua Dongmo Dec 2022

Metabolic Alterations And Cardiovascular Risk After Hepatitis C Cure In Subjects With Or At Risk For Hiv, Christophe Maxime Fokoua Dongmo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection engenders substantial metabolic changes. These changes are altered when the virus is cleared after successful treatment. We measured these metabolic alterations that occur after HCV cure; further, we assessed whether these alterations differed in subgroups defined by patients’ characteristics.


Understanding Deaths Of Despair In Us Counties Through Bourdieu's Theory Of Capital, Seulki Kim Aug 2022

Understanding Deaths Of Despair In Us Counties Through Bourdieu's Theory Of Capital, Seulki Kim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The overarching goal of this dissertation is to examine a recent rise in rates of deaths from suicide, alcohol, and drugs, labeled together as “deaths of despair” in the United States using Bourdieu’s theory of capital. Although the deaths of despair phenomenon is a product of a complex process related to various material and non-material factors, there is no theoretical framework that is able to account for different domains of predictors. Thus, this dissertation aims to fill this gap by drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of capital and systematically investigating the relationships of mortality rates attributed to suicide, alcohol, and opioid …


Taking A User-Centered Design Approach To Develop A Data Dashboard For New York State Department Of Health And Implications For Improving The Usability Of Public Data Dashboards / Narrative Competence And Cognitive Mapping As A Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In The Education Of Emergent Bilinguals, Bahareh Ansari May 2022

Taking A User-Centered Design Approach To Develop A Data Dashboard For New York State Department Of Health And Implications For Improving The Usability Of Public Data Dashboards / Narrative Competence And Cognitive Mapping As A Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In The Education Of Emergent Bilinguals, Bahareh Ansari

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In recent years, the increased availability of public data dashboards provided opportunities to democratize data access by summarizing large amounts of data into accessible snapshots to facilitate educational efforts and encourage evidence-based decision-making. However, many current practices have not reached their full potential because the dashboard design has not accounted for users’ needs and preferences. This dissertation employed the user-centered design framework with three studies. Study 1 investigated the usability problems of existing public health data dashboards through an expert review of existing dashboards on government websites. Study 2 established the requirements of a usable design for public health data …


Identifying Risk Factors For Hospitalization With Mental Illness And/Or Behavioral Disorders And Concurrent Temperature-Related Illness In New York State : A Cross-Sectional Study, Heather Aydin-Ghormoz May 2022

Identifying Risk Factors For Hospitalization With Mental Illness And/Or Behavioral Disorders And Concurrent Temperature-Related Illness In New York State : A Cross-Sectional Study, Heather Aydin-Ghormoz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background: In New York State (NYS), extreme heat events in the warm months (May – September) are expected to increase over the next 60 years. Additionally, NYS experiences extremely low temperatures in the colder months (October – April). Extreme temperature events are linked to increased emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and mortality for individuals with mental and behavioral disorders. This research aims to characterize individual and regional risk factors for mental and behavioral disorder hospitalizations with concurrent temperature-related illness in NYS. Methods: Using data from the NYS Statewide and Planning Research and Cooperative System between 2005 – 2019, multivariate log binomial …


Missed Opportunities In Social Media To Reduce Maternal Health Disparities For Black Women, Nerissa George May 2022

Missed Opportunities In Social Media To Reduce Maternal Health Disparities For Black Women, Nerissa George

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Pregnancy-related maternal morbidity and mortality disproportionately affect Black women more than their White counterparts. Black pregnant women are more likely to omit or engage in prenatal care late than White women. Social media is an essential source of pregnancy-related information and shows it effectively improves pregnancy knowledge. Greater than 80% of Black women own a mobile device, and some data demonstrate that Black women use social media for pregnancy-related information. However, little is known about social media use during pregnancy for this population. Several gaps exist about what maternal health content is available on social media, how Black women use …


Covid-19 And Digital Health Literacy In University Students / Narrative Competence And Cognitive Mapping As A Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In The Education Of Emergent Bilinguals, Molly Kathleen Hadley May 2022

Covid-19 And Digital Health Literacy In University Students / Narrative Competence And Cognitive Mapping As A Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In The Education Of Emergent Bilinguals, Molly Kathleen Hadley

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Early in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic became a global public health concern. College students became dependent on the online environment for learning, but also for receiving COVID-19 information. Understanding digital health literacy (DHL) in this unique population and subsequent prevention behaviors in a digitally connected population during a public health crisis is crucial to prepare for future pandemics. This study explored DHL in college students, their main sources of pandemic information and other information seeking behaviors, adherence to public health guidelines, and intentions to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. During the summer of 2020, 245 New York state college students completed …


The Communicative Capacities Of The Medical Discourse In Authoritarian Societies : The Case Of Aids In Iran, Elham Pourtaher May 2022

The Communicative Capacities Of The Medical Discourse In Authoritarian Societies : The Case Of Aids In Iran, Elham Pourtaher

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study explores the role of medical discourse in the Iranian formal public sphere. It examines how an epidemiological wave of HIV/AIDS—known as "the third wave"—highlighted nontraditional sexual behaviors in public and enabled a shift in policy and discourse by the Islamic Republic State. Through analyzing published content on HIV/AIDS from five major Iranian newspapers between 2009 and 2013, this study identified four competing narratives of the third wave which coexist and have a dynamic relationship with one another. First, the medical narrative warns of an unfolding public health crisis and provides a technical perspective to make sense of the …


Environmental Factors And Human Health Interactions : Ultrafine Particles, Temperature Variability, And Proximity To Power Stations, Ian Ryan May 2022

Environmental Factors And Human Health Interactions : Ultrafine Particles, Temperature Variability, And Proximity To Power Stations, Ian Ryan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background: Air pollution leads to more than four million premature deaths worldwide and nearly 200,000 in the US each year. While there is extensive research relating PM2.5 to hospital visits for various health outcomes, there is relatively little research on ultrafine particles (UFPs), a particularly small and dangerous air pollutant. Another important exposure is temperature due to its association with dehydration, heat stress, and cardiovascular-related hospital admissions. However, relatively little research has been conducted on diurnal temperature range (DTR), or the range of temperature within a single day, which is an important indicator of climate change. Importantly, the interaction between …


Disability In An American Indian Community : Prevalence, Distribution, And The Role Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Thoin Farzana Begum Jan 2022

Disability In An American Indian Community : Prevalence, Distribution, And The Role Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Thoin Farzana Begum

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Akwesasne reservation along the St. Lawrence River has experienced significant exposure to several persistent organic pollutants due to rapid industrialization. The Aluminum Company of America, General Motors, and Reynolds Metals operated aluminum foundries that used polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as hydraulic fluids, which contaminated the community environment, the soil, air and water, and community food sources with PCBs. We administered the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHODAS II) to 119 Akwesasne Mohawk adults residing along the St. Lawrence River in New York. We used exploratory factor analysis to summarize the 36- items comprising the WHODAS II. The 7 …


Radical Trachelectomy For Invasive Cervical Cancer : A Pathway To Fertility For Some, But Not Without Repercussions, Erica Jamro-Comer Jan 2022

Radical Trachelectomy For Invasive Cervical Cancer : A Pathway To Fertility For Some, But Not Without Repercussions, Erica Jamro-Comer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

BackgroundRadical trachelectomy (RT) is a surgical procedure that offers a substantial benefit to women diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer: fertility preservation. However, as a newer surgical option, there are still many unknowns about the characteristics and outcomes of women who undergo this procedure after a cervical cancer diagnosis. Initial research in this area indicates that some disparities exist in who has the surgery versus the standard radical hysterectomy procedure; however, these are not fully understood and characterized. Furthermore, little is known about how women plan their families and how their high-risk pregnancies are managed in the absence of a standard …


Association Between Antiretroviral Therapy And Severe Covid-19 Outcomes Among Hospitalized Hiv Positive People With Sars-Cov-2 In Nys, Aizhan Kyzayeva Jan 2022

Association Between Antiretroviral Therapy And Severe Covid-19 Outcomes Among Hospitalized Hiv Positive People With Sars-Cov-2 In Nys, Aizhan Kyzayeva

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

IMPORTANCE The role of antiretroviral therapy (ART) type in people living with HIV (PLWDH) co-infected with acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) remains unclear. There is evidence that certain classes of ART may mute the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes.


Food Environment, Food Acquisition Behavior, And Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Among Burmese Immigrants And Refugees : A Socio-Ecological Study, Hnin Wai Lwin Myo Jan 2022

Food Environment, Food Acquisition Behavior, And Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Among Burmese Immigrants And Refugees : A Socio-Ecological Study, Hnin Wai Lwin Myo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background: Using the framework of the Socio-Ecological Model, the current study aimed to investigate the associations between nutritional knowledge, food environment, food acquisition behavior, and daily recommended fruit and vegetable consumption (≥5 cups of fruits and vegetables) among Burmese refugees and immigrants in the Capital Region, New York. Methods: During July - November 2018, a cross-sectional survey with face-to-face interviews was conducted among Burmese refugees and immigrants aged 18 years and older living in Albany and Rensselaer counties (n=173, 52.0% female, mean age = 42.8). Daily recommended fruit and vegetable consumption was determined as ≥5 cups of fruit and vegetable …


Disability In An American Indian Community : Prevalence, Distribution, And The Role Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Thoin F. Begum Jan 2022

Disability In An American Indian Community : Prevalence, Distribution, And The Role Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Thoin F. Begum

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Phthalates have been implicated as reproductive toxicants in animal models and in human populations. This study examined associations between potential exposure sources and urinary phthalate concentrations among couples undergoing infertility treatment. Women (n=56) and their male partners (n=43) undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) were enrolled in a prospective cohort investigation of environmental chemicals and IVF outcomes at an academic medical center. On the day of oocyte retrieval, participants provided urine samples and completed questionnaires detailing use of personal care products (PCPs), and consumption of medications, foods, and beverages in the preceding 24-hours. Urine was analyzed for MEP, MBP, MPP, MHxP, …


Effects Of Metal And Polychlorinated Biphenyls Exposures And Fish Consumption On Cognitive Function In Adults, Nozomi Sasaki Jan 2022

Effects Of Metal And Polychlorinated Biphenyls Exposures And Fish Consumption On Cognitive Function In Adults, Nozomi Sasaki

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Cognitive decline often occurs with aging, independent of development of neurodegenerative diseases. Little is known about how to prevent cognitive decline or what cofactors, hereditary or environmental, may accelerate or protect against it. In young people, metals, including lead, cadmium, arsenic, methylmercury, and some organic compounds such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are known to decrease cognitive function. Consumption of fish is a route of exposure to methylmercury and PCBs, but fish also contain omega-3 fatty acids that are reported to enhance infant neurodevelopment and postnatal cognitive performance. Yet, a recent systematic review concluded that there was inconclusive evidence the omega-3 …


Genomic Epidemiology Of Clinical Salmonella Enterica In New Hampshire, 2017-2020, Madison R. Turcotte Jan 2022

Genomic Epidemiology Of Clinical Salmonella Enterica In New Hampshire, 2017-2020, Madison R. Turcotte

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella enterica remains a challenging public health threat. We aim to characterize the population structure and evolutionary history of 394 genomes of S. enterica isolates recovered from human clinical cases in New Hampshire, USA from 2017 to 2020. The population is phylogenetically diverse, consisting of 78 STs and 67 serotypes. We detected 61 genes associated with resistance to14 different antimicrobial classes. Rather than a single multidrug resistant clone expanding in the state, we found multiple lineages carrying different combinations of independently acquired resistance determinants. New or emerging lineages can therefore rapidly spread over relatively short timeframes. In …