Public Health Commons^™

Hiv Testing Experiences Of Aboriginal Youth In Canada: Service Implications, Catherine Worthington, Randy Jackson, Judy Mill, Tracey Prentice, Ted Myers, Susan Sommerfeldt

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

The objective of this study was to explore HIV testing experiences and service views of Canadian Aboriginal youth in order to provide information for HIV testing services. An exploratory, mixed-method, community-based research design was used for this study. Findings reported here are from 210 survey participants who had experienced an HIV test. Youth were recruited through 11 Aboriginal organizations across Canada, including AIDS service organizations, health centers, community organizations, and friendship centers. Youth who had tested for HIV ranged in age from 15 to 30 years of age (20% were B20), and came from First Nations (75%), Me ́ tis …

Pollution And Public Health In A Shrinking World: Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations As A Paradigm For Emergent Needs In Environmental And Public Health Policy, Leland Stillman

Self-Designed Majors Honors Papers

Environmental factors play a major part in human health. Environmental pollutants are often as poisonous to humans as the environment. Presently, much time and energy is dedicated to keeping pollution apart from human society, with varying success. But as global population densities rise, current levels of pollution will become inviable due to public health concerns. An emergent example of this is in the concentration of livestock operations. Recent changes in the structure of U.S. hog farming have resulted in an industry-wide shift from small or medium production farms to high capacity, “concentrated animal feeding operations” (CAFO). These operations have become …

Application Of Positive Matrix Factorization To On-Road Measurements For Source Apportionment Of Diesel- And Gasoline-Powered Vehicle Emissions In Mexico City, Ezra Wood, D. A. Thornhill, A. E. Williams, T. B. Onasch, S. C. Herndon, C. E. Kolb, W. B. Knighton, M. Zavala, L. T. Molina, L. C. Marr

Ezra Wood

The goal of this research is to quantify diesel- and gasoline-powered motor vehicle emissions within the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) using on-road measurements captured by a mobile laboratory combined with positive matrix factorization (PMF) receptor modeling. During the MCMA-2006 ground-based component of the MILAGRO field campaign, the Aerodyne Mobile Laboratory (AML) measured many gaseous and particulate pollutants, including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), benzene, toluene, alkylated aromatics, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, ammonia, particle number, fine particulate mass (PM2.5), and black carbon (BC). These serve as inputs to the receptor model, which is able to resolve three factors …

Hyperandrogenism And Obesity, Amit M. Deokar, Shawn J. Smith, Amanda J. Goodwin, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

This chapter has a two-fold objective. One, ti addresses the association of hyperandrogenism and obesity and the complex metabolic derangements that are part of the problem. Clinical management of these co-morbidities is challenging and complex. Second, this chapter will aid health care providers with the key features to an early diagnosis and intervention to decrease the morbidities in the short as well as long term. Method: Systematic review of articles and information on the topic of interest that were published in the last 15 years. Conclusion: Obesity and hyperandrogenism are integral parts of Metabolic Syndrome/Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)/Hyperandrogenism, Insulin resistance, …

Fusion, 2010, George Washington University, William H. Beaumont Medical Research Honor Society

Fusion

No abstract provided.

Simulación Del Nivel De Eliminación De Sarampión Y Rubéola Según La Estratificación E Interacción Social (Simulating Measles And Rubella Elimination Levels According To Social Stratification And Interaction), Doracelly Hincapié-Palacio, Juan Ospina-Giraldo, Rubén D. Gómez-Arias, Anthony Uyi-Afuwape, Gerardo Chowell

Public Health Faculty Publications

Objetivo: Comparar el nivel de eliminación de enfermedades como sarampión y rubéola en población homogénea y heterogénea según la existencia de estratos sociales con interacción entre individuos de estrato social alto y bajo y diversidad en el número promedio de contactos entre ellos.

Métodos: Simulaciones del ritmo reproductivo efectivo, derivado de un modelo matemático tipo SIR (Susceptibles Infectados Recuperados), según diferentes ritmos de inmunidad. Se utilizaron datos de incidencia de sarampión (1980 y 2005) y rubéola (1998 y 2005) de América Latina y el Caribe. Se analizó la interacción entre individuos del estrato social alto y bajo con diferente número …

North Carolina Hispanic Farmworkers And Intestinal Parasitism: A Pilot Study Of Prevalence And Health-Related Practices,And Potential Means Of Foodborne Transmission, Mindi Russell, Maria Correa, Christine E. Stauber, Julie Case

Public Health Faculty Publications

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers provide much of the necessary labor to harvest and process agricultural commodities desired by consumers. Little is known about the health status (especially the parasitic burden) of farm laborers, who handpick agricultural items such as fruits and vegetables, despite being implicated as a means of foodborne pathogen transmission. The goal of this research was to develop a framework to investigate enteric parasitic infections among Hispanic farmworkers in Eastern North Carolina. Seventy-one interviews were conducted, 16 stool samples were collected, and two parasite-positive workers were found. In addition, some potentially harmful health practices (e.g., self-medication) were identified. …

Educating Adolescents About Puberty: Are We Missing Something?, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Adolescents undergo significant physical and cognitive changes during their pubertal development. These changes contribute to and impact their future development. Educating adolescents at an early age about their expected development decreases the possible anxiety associated with this period of life and also helps adolescents make better choices in regards to their sexuality. In order to assess the degree of education regarding pubertal development and sexuality, we conducted a survey of late adolescents (median age 19 years) and parents of adolescents. A total of 409 adolescents (237 females, 172 males) and 124 parents completed the survey. 14.4% of teens (36.6% of …

Community Violence As Psychosocial Stressor: The Case Of Childhood Asthma In Boston, Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Takeo Fujiwara, Sabrina Selk, Meghan Woo

Gonzalo Bacigalupe, EdD, MPH

Childhood asthma is a critical public health problem of urban centers in the United States and other industrialized nations. Population-based and laboratory research studies indicate that psychosocial stress differentially affects asthma expression. Witnessing or experiencing community violence is a psychosocial stressor that results in long-term biological changes that may in turn contribute to asthma morbidity. This is a review of the literature that examines the exposure to violence as a psychosocial stressor that is independently associated with asthma morbidity even after adjustment for income, housing, and other adverse life events. In addition to acting as a physiological trigger for the …

Short-Term Variation In Near-Highway Air Pollutant Gradients On A Winter Morning, Ezra Wood, J. L. Durant, C. A. Ash, S. C. Herndon, J. T. Jayne, W. B. Knighton, M. R. Canagaratna, J. B. Trull, D. Brugge, W. Zamore, C. E. Kolb

Ezra Wood

Quantification of exposure to traffic-related air pollutants near highways is hampered by incomplete knowledge of the scales of temporal variation of pollutant gradients. The goal of this study was to characterize short-term temporal variation of vehicular pollutant gradients within 200–400 m of a major highway (>150 000 vehicles/d). Monitoring was done near Interstate 93 in Somerville (Massachusetts) from 06:00 to 11:00 on 16 January 2008 using a mobile monitoring platform equipped with instruments that measured ultrafine and fine particles (6–1000 nm, particle number concentration (PNC)); particle-phase (>30 nm) equation M1, equation M2, and organic compounds; volatile organic compounds …

Kansans Optimizing Health Postcard, Debra M. Sellers

Debra M. Sellers

For people with ongoing health issues, their family members and caregivers. Deal with problems, using communication, medication, exercise, and diet.

Construction Work Practices And Conditions Improved After 2-Years' Participation In The Homesafe Pilot Program, David P. Gilkey, Jacob E. Hautaluoma, Thomas J. Keefe, Robert E. Herron, Philip L. Bigelow, Taslim P. Ahmed

Safety Health & Industrial Hygiene

This study reevaluated changes in job-site safety audit scores for a cohort of residential construction workers that had protracted exposure to the HomeSafe pilot program for 2½ years. The investigation was a repeated measure of a cohort study underway in the six-county metro area of Denver, Colo. The larger study was a longitudinal, quasi-experimental design with a cohort of residential construction workers within the HomeSafe strategic partnership between Occupational Safety and Health Administration Region VIII and the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver (HBA). Audits were conducted on residential construction sites. Study subjects were construction workers employed by partner or …

A Policy And Intervention For Overweight Children And Adolescents, Kimberly K. Mcclanahan, Marlene B. Huff, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

The global epidemic of childhood and adolescent overweight has become a major public health concern. Not only are these youth more likely to become obese adults, and thus more prone to obesity-related diseases than their non overweight peers, they are also likely to suffer emotional and social effects associated with overweight. Overweight in youth has been linked to depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders, negative body image, and stigma. It appears to be bi-directional in nature, with overweight sometimes predicting certain psychological effects and psychosocial issues sometimes predicting overweight. Effective assessment and treatment of psychological and mental health issues in overweight …

Metabolic Actions Of Insulin In Men And Women, Faidon Magkos, Xuewen Wang, Bettina Mittendorfer

Faculty Publications

Insulin is an important regulator of glucose, lipid and protein metabolism. It suppresses hepatic glucose and triglyceride production, inhibits adipose tissue lipolysis and whole-body and muscle proteolysis and stimulates glucose uptake in muscle. In this review we discuss what is currently known about the control of substrate metabolism by insulin in men and women. The data available so far indicate that women are more sensitive to insulin with regards to glucose metabolism (both in the liver and in muscle) whereas there are no differences between men and women in insulin action on lipolysis. Potential differences exist in the regulation of …

Emotional Comfort: Patient Perspectives Of A Therapeutic State, Anne Williams

ECU Research Week

Presented at the Celebrating Nursing Research Showcase within the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Postgraduate Medicine

Spermine Oxidase (Smo) Activity In Breast Tumor Tissues And Biochemical Analysis Of The Anticancer Spermine Analogues Benspm And Cpenspm, Manuela Cervelli, Gabriella Bellavia, Emiliano Fratini, Roberto Amendola, Fabio Polticelli, Marco Barba, Rodolfo Federico, Fabrizio Signore, Giacomo Gucciardo, Rosalba Grillo, Patrick M. Woster, Robert A. Casero Jr, Paolo Mariottini

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Polyamine metabolism has a critical role in cell death and proliferation representing a potential target for intervention in breast cancer (BC). This study investigates the expression of spermine oxidase (SMO) and its prognostic significance in BC. Biochemical analysis of Spm analogues BENSpm and CPENSpm, utilized in anticancer therapy, was also carried out to test their property in silico and in vitro on the recombinant SMO enzyme.

Methods

BC tissue samples were analyzed for SMO transcript level and SMO activity. Student's t test was applied to evaluate the significance of the differences in value observed in T and NT …

Vaccination With A Plasmid Dna Encoding Her-2/Neu Together With Low Doses Of Gm-Csf And Il-2 In Patients With Metastatic Breast Carcinoma: A Pilot Clinical Trial, Hã¥Kan Norell, Isabel Poschke, Jehad Charo, Wei Z. Wei, Courtney Erskine, Marie P. Piechocki, Keith L. Knutson, Jonas Bergh, Elisabet Lidbrink, Rolf Kiessling

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) treatment of breast cancer patients significantly improves their clinical outcome. Vaccination is an attractive alternative approach to provide HER-2/neu (Her2)-specific antibodies and may in addition concomitantly stimulate Her2-reactive T-cells. Here we report the first administration of a Her2-plasmid DNA (pDNA) vaccine in humans.

Patients and Methods

The vaccine, encoding a full-length signaling-deficient version of the oncogene Her2, was administered together with low doses of GM-CSF and IL-2 to patients with metastatic Her2-expressing breast carcinoma who were also treated with trastuzumab. Six of eight enrolled patients completed all three vaccine cycles. In the remaining two patients …

Hepatic Failure, Neonatal Hemochromatosis And Porto-Pulmonary Hypertension In A Newborn With Trisomy 21 - A Case Report, Erin Neil, Josef Cortez, Aparna Joshi, Erawati V. Bawle, Janet Poulik, Mark Zilberman, Mohammad F. El-Baba, Beena G. Sood

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Liver failure in neonates is a rare but often fatal disease. Trisomy 21 is not usually associated with significant infantile liver disease. If present, hepatic dysfunction in an infant with Trisomy 21 is likely to be attributed to transient myeloproliferative disorder with hepatic infiltration by hematopoietic elements and may be associated with secondary hemosiderosis. A less commonly recognized cause of liver failure in neonates with Trisomy 21 is neonatal hemochromatosis (NH); this association has been reported in nine cases of Trisomy 21 in literature. NH is a rare, severe liver disease of intra-uterine onset that is characterized by neonatal …

Sulforaphane Induces Cell Cycle Arrest By Protecting Rb-E2f-1 Complex In Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Cells, Christopher S. Bryant, Sanjeev Kumar, Sreedhar Chamala, Jay Shah, Jagannath Pal, Mahdi Haider, Shelly Seward, Aamer M. Qazi, Robert Morris, Assaad Semaan, Masood A. Shammas, Christopher Steffes, Ravindra B. Potti, Madhu Prasad, Donald W. Weaver, Ramesh B. Batchu

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate phytochemical present predominantly in cruciferous vegetables such as brussels sprout and broccoli, is considered a promising chemo-preventive agent against cancer. In-vitro exposure to SFN appears to result in the induction of apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest in a variety of tumor types. However, the molecular mechanisms leading to the inhibition of cell cycle progression by SFN are poorly understood in epithelial ovarian cancer cells (EOC). The aim of this study is to understand the signaling mechanisms through which SFN influences the cell growth and proliferation in EOC.

Results

SFN at concentrations of 5 - 20 …

Nuclear Factor-Kappa B Localization And Function Within Intrauterine Tissues From Term And Preterm Labor And Cultured Fetal Membranes, Sonali Vora, Asad Abbas, Chong J. Kim, Taryn Ls Summerfield, Juan P. Kusanovic, Jay D. Iams, Roberto Romero, Douglas A. Kniss, William E. Ackerman Iv

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

The objective of this study was to quantify the nuclear localization and DNA binding activity of p65, the major transactivating nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) subunit, in full-thickness fetal membranes (FM) and myometrium in the absence or presence of term or preterm labor.

Methods

Paired full-thickness FM and myometrial samples were collected from women in the following cohorts: preterm no labor (PNL, N = 22), spontaneous preterm labor (PTL, N = 21), term no labor (TNL, N = 23), and spontaneous term labor (STL, N = 21). NF-kappaB p65 localization was assessed by immunohistochemistry, and DNA binding activity was …