Health Policy Commons^™

Maternal Immune Activation (Mia) In Mice: A Study To Phenotype Asd-Related Communication Behaviors And Analyze Maternal Health Outcomes In The Us, Komalpreet Gulati

Honors Scholar Theses

Core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) include deficits in social/communicative behaviors, and repetitive/stereotyped behaviors. Mouse models are a highly established paradigm used to study the phenotypic deficits that result from various inducible genotypic or environmental risk factors for ASD. Previous studies have demonstrated a link between maternal immune activation (MIA) and ASD-like behaviors in mouse models. In this model, the maternal immune system is activated during pregnancy by injecting the viral mimic poly(I:C). The resulting offspring are phenotyped and analyzed with regards to their communicative behaviors.

Previous studies have demonstrated that male pups born to dams with immune activation …

Adoption Process For The Model Aquatic Health Code: An Example, William D. Ramos, Allison L. Fletcher, Mike Mettler, Marcus A. Yoder

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

In 2014 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the first edition of the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC). This document represented the inaugural introduction of a federal policy guideline with a direct focus in the area of aquatic venue operation and maintenance with the sole purpose of improving the nature of public health in the field. The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) began the review and adoption process soon after the policy’s release. The ISDH process is proposed as one method for others to consider. The background and history of the MAHC are presented in …

Identifying Windows Of Opportunity For Active Living And Healthy Eating Policies In Connecticut, 2016, Anna E. Greer, Ann-Uriel Knausenberger

Public Health Faculty Publications

We examined the relative importance of 23 community issues among elected officials and health directors in Connecticut in 2016. For this cross-sectional study, 74 elected officials (40.7% response rate) and 47 health directors (62.7% response rate), who were purposively sampled, completed a questionnaire to rate their perceived importance of 23 community issues. Eight of these issues were related to active living, healthy eating, or obesity. We used χ2 tests to evaluate differences in responses. Compared with elected officials, health directors significantly more often perceived obesity, access to healthy groceries, poor nutrition, lack of pedestrian walkways, and pedestrian safety as important. …

Mathematical Modeling In Law And Political Science: Learning From Public Health, William Butler

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper provides an overview of mathematical modeling in public health policy and recommends the teaching of mathematical models in other fields, like law and undergraduate political science studies. First, I describe various facets of public health in terms of their scope and goals. The complex nature of public health lends way to a description of mathematical modeling and the role it can serve. Various mathematical solution concepts are also provided, including the SIR model, reproductive number, and game theory. Finally, I explain why knowledge of simple models is beneficial for students in pre-professional programs in law and political science. …

Adolescents’ Soda Consumption In Mexico Before And After The Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Tax: Results From National Health And Nutrition Surveys, Estefania Martí Malvido

School of Public Policy Capstones

In 2014 Mexico implemented a national tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) as a public health strategy. Over the last decades, obesity has significantly increased among adolescents (12-19 years). In addition, the consumption of high-energy beverages among adolescents more than doubled from 1999 to 2006. The current study investigates the relationship between the SSBs tax and the caloric soda consumption in the Mexican adolescent population utilizing cross-sectional data from two nationally representative nutrition surveys. One from 2012 which took place before the tax was implemented and one conducted in 2016, two years after tax implementation.

Results show a positive association between …

Gun Violence: Chicago, Illinois, Kayla Dillon

Global Issues in Public Health

Gun violence has been, and continues to be, a significant problem in Chicago, Illinois. There have been several programs in place that have worked towards improving the level of gun violence. One of the most noticeable being Project Safe Neighborhood, which began in 2001. Part of what makes these programs, and programs similar to it, necessary is that it targets the populations most at-risk of gun violence. By targeting these specific regions of the city, these programs can provide the resources necessary to improve the condition of the city in the long-term, as well as prevent the condition from spreading …