Public Health Commons^™

User Perceptions Of Shared Sanitation Among Rural Households In Indonesia And Bangladesh, Kali B. Nelson, Jonathan Karver, Craig Kullman, Jay P. Graham

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background

The practice of sharing sanitation facilities does not meet the current World Health Organization/UNICEF definition for what is considered improved sanitation. Recommendations have been made to categorize shared sanitation as improved sanitation if security, user access, and other conditions can be assured, yet limited data exist on user preferences with respect to shared facilities.

Objective

This study analyzed user perceptions of shared sanitation facilities in rural households in East Java, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.

Methods

Cross-sectional studies of 2,087 households in East Java and 3,000 households in Bangladesh were conducted using questionnaires and observational methods. Relative risks were calculated to …

“Work What You Got”: Political Participation And Hiv-Positive Black Women’S Work To Restore Themselves And Their Communities, Monica L. Melton

Journal of Interdisciplinary Feminist Thought

Black women’s rates of HIV/AIDS infection have skyrocketed in comparison to other racial and ethnic groups over the past thirty years. Despite these rates, HIV-positive Black women’s perspectives are rarely sought regarding best practices to eradicate and interrupt HIV/AIDS among African American women, even though historically Black women have often proved phenomenal agents of social change. HIV-positive Black women’s activism has been understudied and input from the community in crisis has rarely been deemed as valuable to public health officials in HIV/AIDS prevention and interventions. Through the narratives of thirty HIV-positive Floridian Black women, I present HIV-positive Black women’s political …

Pain And Participation, Catherine Ipsen, Tannis Hargrove, Naomi Kimbell, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Health and Wellness

The objective of the Pain Interference Patterns research project is to understand how pain and environmental conditions, like access barriers, affect community participation of people who report physical, sensory and cognitive impairment. The information will be used to develop strategies for increasing participation in rural communities.

Developing A Community Health Worker Program In Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, Monterey Starkey

Other Graduate Research

The city of Chichigalpa, Nicaragua suffers from poor health that causes high rates of morbidity and mortality. Consequently, the people in Chichigalpa could be helped with better water solutions, nutritional status, and overall health knowledge. The people are poor and often do not have access to a doctor due to location or financial reasons. Therefore, a Community Health Program was created to train local community health workers to screen for diseases and to teach the local people preventive care, mainly focusing on water, nutrition, and CKDu. Objectives included assessing the community, recruiting community health workers, developing training curriculum, and training …

Lifestyle And Metformin Interventions Have A Durable Effect To Lower Crp And Tpa Levels In The Diabetes Prevention Program Except In Those Who Develop Diabetes., Ronald B Goldberg, Marinella G Temprosa, Kieren J Mather, Trevor J Orchard, Abbas E Kitabchi, Karol E Watson

GW Biostatistics Center

OBJECTIVE: We evaluate whether lifestyle and metformin interventions used to prevent diabetes have durable effects on markers of inflammation and coagulation and whether the effects are influenced by the development of diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The Diabetes Prevention Program was a controlled clinical trial of 3,234 subjects at high risk for diabetes who were randomized to lifestyle, metformin, or placebo interventions for 3.4 years. Diabetes was diagnosed semiannually by fasting glucose and annually by oral glucose tolerance testing. In addition to baseline testing, anthropometry was performed every 6 months; fasting insulin yearly; and hs-CRP, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), and …

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Clusters: A Hypothesis, Paul H. Levine, Salman Hashmi, Ashley A. Minaei, Carmela Veneroso

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

Reproduced with permission of Baishideng Publishing Group, World Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Interferons: Success In Anti-Viral Immunotherapy, Fan Ching Lin, Howard A. Young

United States Public Health Resources

The interferons (IFNs) are glycoproteins with strong antiviral activities that represent one of the first lines of host defense against invading pathogens. These proteins are classified into three groups, Type I, II and III IFNs, based on the structure of their receptors on the cell surface. Due to their ability to modulate immune responses, they have become attractive therapeutic options to control chronic virus infections. In combination with other drugs, Type I IFNs are considered as "standard of care" in suppressing Hepatitis C (HCV) and Hepatitis B (HBV) infections, while Type III IFN has generated encouraging results as a treatment …

Kentucky Round 1: State-Level Field Network Study Of The Implementation Of The Affordable Care Act, Julia Costich, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Reports

No abstract provided.

30 Days On $200: A Cooking Guide For Tasty & Healthy Eating On A Budget, Benjamin J. Slocum

Osteopathic Medicine Student Projects

Meal planning and cooking guide created to help people on food assistance and others better utilize their resources. This book contains health information, grocery shopping tips, meal planning guides, and easy instruction on cooking and the use of leftovers. With simple-to-read, image-based instruction, it teaches the basics on how to budget, plan meals, make shopping lists, and prepare food. The book assumes no prior cooking experience, and while anyone can benefit from the book regardless of income level, it makes a particular effort to demonstrate preparation for foods commonly acquired at food pantries.

Masculinity, Male Empowerment, And Hiv/Aids Risk In Caprivi, Namibia, Mark Perry

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Namibia has a generalized HIV epidemic, with 13% of adults being infected. Its East Caprivi Region has the highest prenatal HIV prevalence in the country, 21%, among girls and women aged 15-24 years. In recent years, researchers have pointed to men who express their masculinity through high-risk sex as driving the epidemic in East Caprivi. This exploratory study examined the role that men and their masculinity concepts played in transmission, how those concepts were evolving over time, what was influencing the change, and in which directions. Employing grounded theory methods and guided by Robert Connell's theoretical framework on masculinities, the …

El Mal De Chagas Y Su Potencial De Eliminación, Eileen Stillwaggon

Economics Faculty Publications

La Asamblea Mundial de la Salud ha elegido algunas enfermedades como blancos para la eliminación. Hay mucha esperanza y una alta probabilidad de que varias enfermedades, recientemente llamadas desatendidas, sean eliminadas en las próximas décadas. Vamos a presenciar el fin de la transmisión de la dracunculiasis, la filariosis linfática, la poliomielitis, y en las Américas por lo menos, la oncocercosis. Ya se ven éxitos significativos como la cuasi erradicación de la dracunculiasis y paso importantes en contra de otras aflicciones. [Original Spanish version]

The World Health Assembly has chosen some diseases as targets for elimination. There is much …

Development Of A New Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay For The Rapid Detection Of The Oral Pathogenic Bacterium, Selenomonas Noxia, Patrica Cruz-Perez, Arthuro Mehretu, Mark P. Buttner, Katherine M. Howard, Theresa Trice

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

Background

In recent studies, periodontal health has been linked to being overweight and/or obese. Among common oral bacteria, Selenomonas noxia has been implicated in converting periodontal health to disease, and Selenomonas species have also been found in gastric ulcers. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay for the specific and rapid detection of S. noxia.

Methods

Two oligonucleotide primer pairs and one probe were designed and tested to determine optimal amplification signal with three strains of S. noxia. The PCR assay was tested against fourteen non-target organisms, including …

The Fatherhood Factor: The Impact Of The Father-Child Relationship On The Social, Interpersonal, And Recidivism Risk Factors Of Previously Incarcerated Men, Larissa A. Maley

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Of the men who return home from prison, nearly 7 out of 10 will be re-arrested and sent back within 3 years of their release (Travis, Solomon, & Waul, 2001). This trend has large- scale implications, not just for individuals, but for their families and communities as well. Clearly, understanding the factors that contribute to a man’s success or failure in staying out of prison is extremely important in constructing policy and programs to assist these at-risk individuals and communities. Of the few studies that have explored the lives of previously incarcerated men, some have found fatherhood to be a …

The Impact Of Alcohol On Hiv Prevention And Treatment For South Africans In Primary Healthcare, Michelle Schneider, Matthew Chersich, Marleen Temmerman, Olivier Degomme, Charles D. Parry

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Background: Antiretroviral treatment (ART) has substantially reduced morbidity and mortality for HIV patients. In South Africa, with the largest ART programme globally, attention is needed not only on the further expansion of ART coverage, but also on factors which undermine its effectiveness, such as alcohol use.

Objective: Given the decentralised approach of nurse-initiated and -sustained ART in the South African primary health sector, it is important to document key aspects of alcohol use to be conveyed to HIV-positive individuals and those at risk for HIV.

Method: This study comprised a narrative review of relevant literature.

Results: Alcohol acts through both …

An Evaluation Of Mammography Rates For Women, 50-74 Years Old, At The San Francisco Department Of Public Health, Kimberly Litts

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper explores the efforts of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) to increase their overall mammogram screening rate to 76.7% by June 2015 in order to receive funding from the federal government. The target population is women within SF DPH’s primary care program, 50-74 years old, and overdue for a mammogram.

The literature reports there are health disparities among women who receive mammograms and how breast cancer affects them. African American women have the highest mortality rates and women of color are more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage, …

Large-Scale Solution Approaches For Healthcare And Supply Chain Scheduling, Ridvan Gedik

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research proposes novel solution techniques for two real world problems. We first consider a patient scheduling problem in a proton therapy facility with deterministic patient arrivals. In order to assess the impacts of several operational constraints, we propose single and multi-criteria linear programming models. In addition, we ensure that the strategic patient mix restrictions predetermined by the decision makers are also enforced within the planning horizon. We study the mathematical structures of the single criteria model with strict patient mix restrictions and derive analytical equations for the optimal solutions under several operational restrictions. These efforts lead to a set …

Gpu-Accelerated Influenza Simulations For Operational Modeling, Peter Holvenstot

Masters Theses

Simulations of influenza spread are useful for decision-making during public-health emergencies. Policy-makers use models to predict disease spread and estimate the effects of various intervention strategies. Effective modeling of targeted intervention strategies requires accurate modeling of individual-level behavior and transmission. However, this greatly increases the computational costs of these agent-based models. In addition, if the models are used as an outbreak progresses, some operational decisions must occur rapidly in order to contain the spread of the disease.

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are a type of specialized processor used to drive graphical displays. Many recent devices also allow users to write …

The Environmental And Health Costs Of Alternative Diets: A Comparative Study Of The U. S. Diet Relative To The French, Japanese, Mediterranean, And Nordic Diets, Sarah Rehkamp

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis contributes to the literature on sustainable consumption by using scenario analysis to evaluate the environmental and health costs of the U.S. diet relative to the French, Japanese, Mediterranean, and Nordic diets, identified in the literature as healthier diets. As a first step in estimating environmental costs, the energy efficiencies of each diet are calculated by decomposing each of the diets into their respective components. Then, the dietary efficiencies are translated into CO₂ emissions. As a first step in estimating health costs, a pooled cross-section time-series dataset is used to find the association between BMI and five countries, …

Curated Exhibit Practice Of Compassion: Celebrating Unm School Of Medicine’S Fifty Years Of Excellence, Laura J. Hall

Posters and Presentations

The Practice of Compassion: Celebrating UNM School of Medicine’s Fifty Years of Excellence exhibit, curated by Laura J. Hall, MFA, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. The exhibit highlighted the institution's history and its leadership in medical education, research, and compassionate care. Through historical photographs, documents, and stories, it traced the school's significant milestones and its contributions to improving healthcare in New Mexico. The exhibit was on display from August 2014 to June 2015 at the Domenici Center for Health Sciences Education.

Traveling Exhibit Practice Of Compassion: Celebrating Unm School Of Medicine’S Fifty Years Of Excellence, Laura J. Hall

Posters and Presentations

This traveling exhibit celebrated the 50th anniversary of the UNM School of Medicine, presenting key milestones in its history and contributions to healthcare in New Mexico. Designed and written by Laura J. Hall, MFA, the exhibit featured eight retractable banners and was displayed at community centers, libraries, healthcare clinics, and hospitals across New Mexico during the anniversary year. August 1, 2014 - June 30, 2015

Basic Psychological Needs, Suicidal Ideation, And Risk For Suicidal Behavior In Young Adults, Peter C. Britton, Kimberly A. Van Orden, Jameson K. Hirsch, Geoffrey C. Williams

ETSU Faculty Works

Associations between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness with current suicidal ideation and risk for suicidal behavior were examined. Two logistic regressions were conducted with a cross-sectional database of 440 university students to examine the association of need satisfaction with suicidal ideation and risk for suicidal behavior, while controlling for demographics and depressive symptoms. Suicidal ideation was reported by 15% of participants and 18% were found to be at risk for suicidal behavior. A one standard deviation increase in need satisfaction reduced the odds of suicidal ideation by 53%, OR (95% CI) = 0.47 (0.33–0.67), …

Influence Of Resources, Resource Loss, And Coping Response On Food Management Practices And Food Security, Simone Perette Camel

Dissertations

Food insecurity has been associated with compromised health and wellness. Current literature regarding coping strategies and practices employed by the food insecure often describes food management and acquisition practices, and/or the riskiness of these practices. Material and personal resources such as income, time, self-efficacy, and social support have been identified as predictors or influencers of food security status. In this study, the Conservation of Resources theory was used to conceptualize resources and resource loss as they relate to food practices and food security. It was hypothesized that the level of resources would influence food security status and the adaptive food …

Dispositional Optimism: Modeling Cardiovascular Disease Mortality With Traditional Risk Factors And A Psychosocial Personality Trait, Kiana Ramisi Luckett Robinson

Dissertations

Despite increased awareness of clinical risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), heart disease remains a physical and economic burden to African Americans. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dispositional optimism, a psychosocial personality trait, and CVD mortality, based on immediate cause of death. A cross-sectional design was used to examine the predictive value of dispositional optimism in CVD mortality concomitant with traditional CVD risk factors. The traditional CVD risk factors of interest consisted of body mass index, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, total cholesterol, and C-reactive protein. Also, aggregated mortality data for optimists …

The Influence Of Religion On Attitudes Toward Alcohol Use In Jewish Adolescents, Toby R. Levin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Historically, the Jewish faith has used alcohol in rituals and religious holidays in which adolescents are permitted to fully participate and this exposure to alcohol may influence attitudes and beliefs about underage drinking among Jewish adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between the Jewish religion and attitudes toward alcohol among Jewish adolescents. The theoretical frameworks, on which this study was based, were the social bond theory and the social development theory. Each of these theories indicates that community is important to the individual. Using a cross sectional study design, 160 adolescents participated …

South Africans With Recent Pregnancy Rarely Know Partner’S Hiv Serostatus: Implications For Serodiscordant Couples Interventions, Lynn T. Matthews, Lizzie Moore, Tamaryn L. Crankshaw, Cecilia Milford, Fortunate N. Mosery, Ross Greener, Christina Psaros, Steven A, Safren, David Bangsberg, Jennifer A. Smit

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Implementation of safer conception strategies requires knowledge of partner HIV-serostatus. We recruited women and men in a high HIV-prevalence setting for a study to assess periconception risk behavior among individuals reporting HIV-serodiscordant partnerships. We report screening data from that study with the objective of estimating the proportion of individuals who are aware that they are in an HIV-serodiscordant relationship at the time of conception.

Methods: We screened women and men attending antenatal and antiretroviral clinics in Durban, South Africa for enrollment in a study of periconception risk behavior among individuals with serodiscordant partners. Screening questionnaires assessed for study eligibility …

Exploring The Role Of Religiosity On Suicidal Ideation: A Study Among A Population-Based Sample Of Adolescents In The United States, Grace E. Tettey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is a major public health issue in the United States. Some studies show decreased suicide rates in religious populations, but it is unclear how religiosity might be linked to suicidal behavior of adolescents emerging into adulthood. To this point few studies have examined the relationship between adolescent suicidal ideation and several risk factors at once and the role of religiosity in these relationships.

Drawing from Waves I-III of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health data from 1994 to 2002, I sought to explore the relationship between religiosity (i.e. religious affiliation, service attendance, prayer, perceived importance of religion) and …

Examining The Influence Of Farmers' Market Motivations On Access To Healthful Foods And Business Opportunities For Farms, Rachel K. Ward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Farmers’ markets are increasingly promoted as mechanisms for improving access to healthful foods for low-income households, as they are relatively inexpensive to establish and they can provide affordable food for low-income households by offering Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Electronic Benefit Transfer (SNAP/EBT). SNAP/EBT at markets also expands revenue opportunities for participating farmers. Market mangers provide a critical role in overseeing SNAP/EBT at markets and influencing business opportunities for farmers. Using a mixed-method approach, this study aimed to evaluate how managers’ motivations influence SNAP/EBT availability and participation at markets and business opportunities for small- and moderate- sized farms.

To develop a …

The Impact Of Preconception Maternal Stress On Fecundability And Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes., Shekufe Akhter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It has been commonly hypothesized (and widely believed) that maternal stress either prior to or during pregnancy can adversely affect fertility and pregnancy outcomes. However, surprisingly few epidemiologic studies have rigorously tested these hypotheses. The current study evaluated the effects of pre-conception self-reported stress on fecundability and spontaneous abortion. The study population was derived from the Mount Sinai Study of Woman Office Workers with 487 women included. Women recorded stress (scale from 1 to 4) and covariate information in a daily diary for 12 cycles or until pregnant. Results indicated a significantly increased risk of spontaneous abortion for women with …

Anxiety, Depression And Smoking Status Among Adults Of Mexican Heritage On The Texas-Mexico Border, Anna V. Wilkinson, Kristina Vatcheva, Adriana Pérez, Belinda M. Reininger, Joseph B. Mccormick, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

The goal of the current analysis is to examine relationships between smoking status and anxiety and depression among adults of Mexican heritage to inform the development of culturally relevant smoking cessations efforts. Mexican heritage residents (N=1,791) of the city of Brownsville, TX, aged 18 years or older, enrolled in the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort, were selected through two stage cluster sampling of randomly selected census tracts from the first and third quartile of SES using Census 2000. Among current smokers, anxiety and depression scores were highest among women who had not completed high school (p<0.05). Former smoking women, but not men, with at least a high school education and former smoking women born in the United States reported higher levels of anxiety and depression than never smoking women. Negative affective states may represent a greater barrier to smoking cessation among women than men.

Novel Serum Biomarkers For Lung Cancer Early Diagnosis And Clinical Outcome, Fanmao Zhang

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The five-year survival rate for all stages of lung cancer combined is only 17%, which has changed little over the past 40 years. Despite the tremendous efforts made, serum biomarkers with clinical utility for lung cancer early detection and clinical outcome prediction are still lacking. Metabolic alterations have been recognized as an emerging hallmark of cancer. We aimed to investigate the metabolic changes associated with lung cancer and to identify novel clinically applicable serum biomarkers for lung cancer early diagnosis and clinical outcome.

Serum metabolites are potential biomarkers for lung cancer early detection. We first performed global metabolomic profiling followed …