cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Assessing Seatbelt Usage among Teenagers in Rural Settings:  The Drive Alive Program
Creators: name: Head, Elizabeth
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: Working to increase seatbelt usage among teenagers in rural settings: The Drive Alive Program (Under the direction of Dr. Monica Swahn)
Background: Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States. Teens are less likely to wear seatbelts than other age groups and more likely to be involved in a crash. The Drive Alive program was designed to improve seatbelt usage among teens.
Purpose: This analysis aims to evaluate seatbelt use among teen drivers in a rural setting. Specifically, are there differences between males and females in terms of seatbelt use? Are drivers more likely to wear their seatbelts than passengers?
Methods: Data was gathered from observational surveys (N= 3,743). Surveys were gathered by trained observers in South Georgia from 2010-2011. Records were analyzed in SPSS using three categories: occupant, sex, and belt use. The null hypotheses for this study are: 1) there is no significant difference between male and female drivers or passengers in seatbelt usage; and, 2) there is no significant difference between driver and passenger seatbelt usage.
Results: Descriptive analyses were computed to determine average seatbelt use across all occupants. Chi Square for Independence tests were computed to determine differences between drivers and passengers and males and females. Females were significantly more likely than males to wear their seatbelt (Females, 70%; Males, 59%). There were no significant differences in seatbelt use for drivers and their passengers.
Conclusions: Results for females being more likely to wear seatbelts is consistent with the literature. Future research might include comparison between schools with different versions of the program. Programs to increase seatbelt usage among teens should include parents, education, enforcement, teen-led activities, and partnership with educators and community organizations. Save the lives of young drivers by modeling seatbelt wearing, appropriately implementing comprehensive seatbelt use improvement programs, and enforcing the law. These simple measures will improve seatbelt use and reduce roadway fatalities.
InnovaWood. State of the network: Annual report 2023/2024
Creators: name: Kies, Uwe
Publisher: name: InnovaWood
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: wood
subject: research
subject: innovation
subject: education
subject: network
subject: timber
subject: Forestry
subject: Woodworking

description: Keynote presentation at the 22nd InnovaWood General Assembly in Prague, 14-15 May 2024

Contents:

1. Overview• Secretariat & Executive Board• Membership• Mission, objective & roles2. Highlights of roles & platforms• Communication• Policy advocacy• Networking• Funding navigator3. Outlook
Examining The Influence Of HIV Status Upon The Access To Improved Water And Sanitation In Households In Kenya
Creators: name: Makali, Miriam
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: Introduction: Access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is a basic human right, yet globally748 million people lack access to improved drinking water, 2.5 billion lack access to improved sanitation and 946 million still practice open defecation. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 66% of the global new HIV infections. Access to improved WASH is an important issue, especially for people living with HIV/AIDS. They are more prone to opportunistic infections like diarrhea arising from the lack of proper sanitation and access to clean water. In Kenya, there is a dearth of literature examining the association between HIV status and the access to improved water and sanitation. This study sought to address this topic.
Aim: We set out to determine the association between HIV status and the access to improved water and sanitation in Kenya using the 2008 -2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS).
Methods: The study analyzed 3753 HIV negative households and 422 HIV positive households. For descriptive statistics, a weighted sample was used to obtain the frequencies and percentages. Weighted bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to establish the association between HIV status and the independent variables of interest.
Results: There were no statistically significant associations in access to improved water or improved sanitation comparing HIV status and covariates measuring the access to improved water and sanitation. We did find, however, a statistically significant higher odds of HIV positive households reporting treating their drinking water compared to HIV negative households (adjusted odds ratio = 1.4; 95% confidence interval 1.11, 1.84).
Discussion: HIV positive patients are more vulnerable to opportunistic infections than the rest of the population.It is imperative for the Kenyan gorvenment to tailor specific interventions that are targeted to this particular group,through scaling up the access to basic sanitation and piped water as well as emphasizing appropriate water treatment methods at the point of use.
Evaluation of an Agar Dilution Method for Identification of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL)-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in the Environment
Creators: name: Erukunuakpor, Kimberly
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: Antibiotic resistance is a serious global public health problem. ESBLs are enzymes that destroy expanded-spectrum beta-lactam antibiotics rendering these drugs ineffective. Infection with ESBL-producing K.pneumoniae are hard to treat and result in longer hospital stay and higher mortality rates. The Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) have standard methods for detection of ESBL producing strains of bacteria in infected patients to guide antibiotic therapy, reduce the risk of mortality and risk of transmission. The presence of K.pneumoniae and E.coli which produce ESBLs have been confirmed in natural environments such as soil and water but no standard methods exist to identify directly and quantify these bacteria to understand the risk of human exposure in these settings. The purpose of this research is to assess the ability of an agar dilution method, using a differential agar Bio-Rad Rapid E.coli 2 agar utilized in environmental water quality studies, to identify correctly ESBL-producing K.pneumoniae. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ceftriaxone antibiotic for wild-type ESBL producing K.pneumoniae isolates were compared on Mueller-Hinton broth (MHB) and Bio-Rad Rapid E.coli 2 agar. Using the MIC values, the isolates were classified as susceptible, intermediate or resistant. The MIC of wild-type strains of K.pneumoniae were above 4?g/mL for both methods on all susceptibility tests performed. The results of this research suggest that Bio-Rad Agar dilution method performed well, correctly identifying these strains as resistant to ceftriaxone, an indication of ESBL production. The Bio-Rad agar dilution method can be considered as a viable standard method for direct identification of ESBL-producing K.pneumoniae in natural environments.
Examining Exclusive Breastfeeding Practice in Indonesia,  and Its Association to Maternal Socio-Demographic Determinants, to Inform Intervention Efforts Aimed at Reducing Infant Mortality
Creators: name: Lenggogeni, Putri
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: Examining Exclusive Breastfeeding Practice in Indonesia, and its Association to Maternal Socio-demographic Determinants, to Inform Intervention Efforts Aimed at Reducing Infant Mortality
Introduction Exclusive breastfeeding, the gold standard of infant feeding practices, has been identified as the single most effective strategy to improve child survival. However, this recommendation is not highly practiced in Indonesia, while Indonesia’s infant and under five mortality is still high. Interventions to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding practice are critical public health needs in Indonesia.
Aim The current study examined socio-demographic factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding practice in Indonesia: whether maternal age, level of education, occupation status, wealth index, and region of residence, as well as breastfeeding initiation are associated with exclusive breastfeeding practice in Indonesia for mothers having infants up to age five months.
Methods This study analyzed 1695 women having infant aged 0-5 month old data from the 2012 Indonesia Demographic Health Survey. Chi-square test was used for preliminary analysis and logistic regression analyses were used to primary analysis by using SAS 9.4 program.
Results Exclusive breastfeeding practice in Indonesia was low (36.1%). Mothers aged 30-39 years old were more likely to exclusively breastfeed compare to mothers under 20 years old (OR=1.56, 95% CI 1.04-2.35). Mothers with high education level had higher odds to exclusively breastfeed compare to low education mothers. Unemployed mother were more likely to exclusively breastfeed than working mothers (OR=1.65, 95% CI 1.28-2.13). Mothers coming from richer wealth index were less likely to exclusively breastfeed compare to mothers having poorest wealth index (OR= 0.49, 95% CI 95% 0.34-0.72). Those who initiated breastfeeding early had increased odds to exclusively breastfeed than mothers who delayed breastfeeding initiation (OR=1.47 95% CI 1.19-1.83). Finally, mothers who lived in Eastern Indonesia were more likely to exclusively breastfeed compare to mothers who lived in Sumatera and Kalimantan (OR=1.82, 95% CI 1.30-2.55).
Conclusion This study found characteristics of Indonesian mothers who were more likely to exclusively breastfeed compared to the reference group: aged 30-39 years old, high education level, unemployed, richer wealth index, and those who live in Eastern Indonesia; as well as, mother who initiate breastfeeding early. Having tailored strategies and interventions to targeted at-risk populations may increase the likelihood of exclusive breastfeeding practices, and ultimately, decreasing infant mortality rates in Indonesia.
Supplementary document for Silicon-organic hybrid thermo-optic switch based on a slot waveguide directional coupler - 5951562.pdf
Creators: name: Chiang, Li-Yuan
name: Wang, Chun
name: Pappert, Steve
name: Yu, Paul
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2025
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Supplement 1: illustration and descriptions of the measurement setup
Comparing HIV Risk Among Individuals Living in High and Low Burden Zip Codes in Atlanta, GA Using Different Risk Assessment Models
Creators: name: Renfroe, Joshua
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: HIV risk assessment models use multiple risk factors to build composite index scores to evaluate population level HIV risk. In this report, four risk assessment models were applied to a dataset with demographic, biological, and behavioral risk factors from 927 individuals in high and low HIV burden zip code groups in metro Atlanta, GA. Predictive ability of the risk assessment models were evaluated by comparing their sensitivity and specificity, area under the ROC curve, and mean score difference between high-burden and low-burden zip code area. The results show that the proportion of study participants who scored high in the risk assessment method are significantly greater in high-HIV burden zip code area than in low-HIV burden zip code area in all four risk assessment models. The Clinical Decision Rule risk-scoring model showed the best predictive ability of HIV risk and Binary Risk Indicator model showed the best predictive ability in predicting the residence zip code area.
Revisiting the missing He-McKellar-Wilkens geometric quantum phase
Creators: name: Bakke, K.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We discuss the missing He-McKellar-Wilkens geometric quantum phase in Landau levels for a neutral particle with a permanent electric dipole moment in the presence of an infinity wall. We also discuss the influence of the missing He-McKellar-Wilkens geometric quantum phase on the energy levels of a neutral particle confined to a one-dimensional quantum ring. Further, we explore this influence of the missing He-McKellar-Wilkens geometric quantum phase on the energy levels by calculating the persistent spin currents.
description: 14 pages, no figure
Analysis of Data Collected in Pilot Study of Residential Radon in DeKalb County in 2015
Creators: name: Chan, Sydney
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: Dajun DaiRadon is a colorless, odorless, naturally occurring gas. It is currently the second leading cause of lung cancer and the number one cause of lung cancer to non-smokers in the United States. DeKalb County offers free screening for radon for residents. However, screening rates vary across the county. This pilot study focused on 14 selected tracts within DeKalb County with relatively low levels of radon screening. Over 200 households were recruited and homes were tested for indoor radon concentrations on the lowest livable floor over an 8-week period from March – May 2016. Tract-level characteristics were examined to understand the varitations of race, income, education, and poverty status between the 14 selected tracts and all of DeKalb County. The 14 selected tracts were comparable to all of DeKalb County in most factors besides race. Radon was detected in 73% of the homes sample and 4% had levels above the EPA guideline of 4 pCi/L. Multi-variate linear regression was used to compare all housing construction characteristics with radon concentrations and suggested that having a basement was the strongest predictive factor for detectable and/or hazardous levels of radon. Radon screening can identify problems and spur home owners to remediate but low screening rates may impact the potential health impact of free screening programs. More research should be done to identify why screening rates vary in order to identify ways to enhance screening and reduce radon exposure in DeKalb County.
Utilizing Out-of-Home Placement Child Welfare Data to Compare an Evidence-Based Child Maltreatment Program to Services As Usual
Creators: name: Guinn, Angela
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: INTRODUCTION: The burden of child maltreatment is substantial, highlighting the importance of identifying effective prevention programs in reducing occurrence and costs. The SafeCare® model was developed as a home-based service for high-risk parents in child protective services for child maltreatment. Although limited, studies that evaluate interventions for child maltreatment through a public health strategy can be achieved through administrative data and have a positive impact on population level reduction of abuse and neglect.
AIM: This current secondary analysis examines the effect of the statewide implementation of SafeCare compared to services as usual on the likelihood of out-of-home placement. The research question is “are there differences in out-of-home placement among families referred to SafeCare compared to families who received services as usual?”
METHOD: The original study was a cluster-randomized research design was implemented to evaluate SafeCare verses services as usual at the agency/region level including two urban and four rural child protective services administrative regions of Oklahoma. The secondary analysis sample included 2,175 families, prioritizing the primary caregiver for intervention.  The Cox proportional-hazards regression model was used to estimate the relative risk for an out-of-home placement and participants were categorized according to intervention type group.
RESULTS: By the end of the 2.9-year follow-up, there were 283 first time occurrences of out-of-home placement. Families randomized to receive services as usual had no effect compared to families receiving SafeCare on the likelihood of out-of-home placement after adjusting for baseline family covariates. 
DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that many chronic cases in the child welfare system may show limited change with services and may suggest a different service approach for reducing recidivism in out-of-home placement outcomes. Although limited, evaluating interventions for child maltreatment by using administrative data can be achieved through administrative data and have a positive impact on establishing effective prevention programs in reducing occurrence of abuse and neglect on a population level.
An Investigation of Substance Use and Sexual Behavior with STD Incidence Among 18-year Olds Who Had Adverse Childhood Experiences in the U.S.
Creators: name: Francis, Keisha
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: INTRODUCTION: Approximately two-thirds of the U.S. population have had at least one adverse childhood experience (CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences [ACE] Study, 2009). Some consequences of ACEs are manifested as the child grows into late teenage years and young adulthood. Research suggests that children exposed to traumatic events during childhood subsequently experience negative health outcomes like substance abuse, engagement in risky and harmful sexual behavior, and STD occurrence.
AIM: In this thesis I explore the associations of 18 year olds’ described use of alcohol, risky sexual behavior and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) with childhood exposure to caregiver substance abuse, violence and family circumstances
METHODS: Data were obtained from the Longitudinal Studies of Childhood Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) Assessments 0 - 18 from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN). Variables on adverse childhood experiences, sex behaviors, STDs and substance use were observed in SAS. Multiple logistic regression models were used to identify odds ratios and strength of associations.
RESULTS: Results suggests significant associations among participants who were exposed to parent/caregiver use of illicit drugs during participant’s childhood and subsequent self-reported heavy alcohol use 1.60 (95% CI: 1.18, 2.22), having early sexual initiation (at age 13 or younger) 1.60 (95% CI: 1.18, 2.22), having 6 or more sexual partners 1.36 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.68) and having STDs 1.83 (95% CI: 1.36, 2.46). Eighteen year olds with who were African American, were at a greater odds of having greater than 6 sexual partners, having sexual intercourse at or before age 13 and having (an) STD(s). No significant associations were found between having a parent/caregiver or member of household who was incarcerated, being exposed to violence, being exposed to yelling often or parental often use of alcohol and subsequent alcohol abuse, having greater than 6 sexual partners, having sexual intercourse at or before age 13 and having (an) STD(s) .
DISCUSSION: Based on the findings of these analyses, programs for adolescents should focus time and resources on young children who may be currently experiencing, or at risk for experiencing, parental/ caregiver illicit drug use in the home.
Hate Speech and Sentiment of YouTube Video Comments From Public and Private Sources Covering the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Creators: name: Hofmann, Simon
name: Sommermann, Christoph
name: Kraus, Mathias
name: Zschech, Patrick
name: Rosenberger, Julian
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Computation and Language (cs.CL)
subject: Computers and Society (cs.CY)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: Social and Information Networks (cs.SI)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: This study explores the prevalence of hate speech (HS) and sentiment in YouTube video comments concerning the Israel-Palestine conflict by analyzing content from both public and private news sources. The research involved annotating 4983 comments for HS and sentiments (neutral, pro-Israel, and pro-Palestine). Subsequently, machine learning (ML) models were developed, demonstrating robust predictive capabilities with area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) scores ranging from 0.83 to 0.90. These models were applied to the extracted comment sections of YouTube videos from public and private sources, uncovering a higher incidence of HS in public sources (40.4%) compared to private sources (31.6%). Sentiment analysis revealed a predominantly neutral stance in both source types, with more pronounced sentiments towards Israel and Palestine observed in public sources. This investigation highlights the dynamic nature of online discourse surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict and underscores the potential of moderating content in a politically charged environment.
description: Presented at the 19th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2024). Available here: https://aisel.aisnet.org/wi2024/82
TICTAC: Target Illumination Clinical Trial Analytics with Cheminformatics
Creators: name: Abok, Jeremiah
name: Edwards, Jeremy
name: Yang, Jeremy
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025

description: This poster presents results from a data integration framework that combines clinical trial metadata to support drug target hypothesis generation through evidence aggregation. We apply a cross-mapping approach across biomedical, chemical, and biological data sources—including the ClinicalTrials.gov AACT database—to infer disease–target associations. The methodology involves mapping drugs to their protein-coding gene targets, linking them to diseases, and scoring these associations using statistical metrics that reflect evidence. This structured approach enables interpretable and reproducible insights in support of the Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG) initiative.

Presented at the DE Shaw Research Fellowship Meeting, New York, NY, April 10, 2025.
Insights into the Long-term behavior of the optical polarization from the blazar 1ES 1959+650
Creators: name: Singh, K K
name: Singh, A
name: Tolamatti, A
name: Meintjes, P J
name: Yadav, K K
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: A high degree of linear polarization measured in the optical emission is an important observational feature of blazars. It provides strong evidence of the presence of relativistic particles and magnetic field ordering in the non-thermal emission regions of blazars owing to the synchrotron nature of low energy radiation. Thus, the polarization studies of blazars are emerging as a promising approach to probe the particle acceleration and the physical processes involved in their broadband emission. In this work, we investigate the behavior of the optical polarization of the blazar 1ES 1959+650 measured over a decade using the spectropolarimetry (SPOL) at the Steward Observatory. We use measurements of the degree of linear polarization and angle of polarization in the wavelength range 500 - 700 nm available during the period October 1, 2008 and June 30, 2018 (MJD 54739 - 58299) from the SPOL observations. Near simultaneous photometry data in the R and V bands are also used to study the optical emission from the source. The maximum degree of linear polarization, measured as $\sim$ 8.5$\%$, is significantly larger than the long term average value of $\sim$ 4.6$\%$. Analysis of the light curves indicates that the optical emission from the blazar 1ES 1959+650 is highly variable and variability in the degree of linear polarization can be quantified by a fractional variability amplitude of $\sim$ 39$\%$ over the period of about ten years. Long term optical emission in the R and V bands is very weakly anti-correlated with the degree of linear polarization. Modelling of the polarization due to the synchrotron emission suggests that the observed degree of linear polarization can be broadly reproduced by a power law distribution of relativistic electrons gyrating in a spherical emission region permeated with chaotic and ordered magnetic fields.
description: 31 Pages, 3 figures, 1 Table, Published in the Journal of High Energy Astrophysics
Prioritizing Diseases, Disorders and Disabilities and the Relative Importance of Skin Cancer:  A Public Health Faculty Survey
Creators: name: Sandwich, James
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: INTRODUCTION: Academic faculty in public health have diverse career interests and occupy positions of considerable influence. They play an important role in setting curriculum and training the future public health workforce. However, there is little published scholarly information regarding which public health diseases, disorders, and disabilities are most important to them. Skin cancer is a major public health problem that has been declared an epidemic.
AIM: The Aim of this study is to discover which public health disorders are of highest concern and to determine the relative priority of skin cancer to public health faculty.
METHODS: The primary design of the study was that of a non-experimental opinion based survey. Subjects were faculty members of national academic, public health programs. To obtain the broadest distribution, primary and secondary faculty as defined by the ASPPH were included. A 19 question survey document was administered electronically through Qualtrics. There were 15 questions on the importance of specific disorders and five questions on skin cancer. Responses were categorized ranked and compared.
RESULTS: Obesity ranked the highest among all concerns with cardiovascular disease and cancer also receiving high priority. Cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease led in secondary outcomes. Tertiary outcomes were nearly evenly split between cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mental health. Priorities varied by regions, age, gender and race. The majority placed skin cancer in the second quartile of importance and believed it to be appropriately ranked.
CONCLUSION: Public health faculty prioritize disorders similarly in spite of diverse interests with minor differences across regions and demographics. National Funding as a proxy for importance does not cleanly align with faculty priorities. Public health faculty express familiarity with skin cancer, however, do not generally considered it of highest priority compared to other disorders. Increased faculty emphasis on interventions that prevent skin cancer may improve awareness and reduce negative sequela.
I Know My Worth: How the Wounded Become the Gatekeepers of Love
Creators: name: Patrick Carodine
Publisher: name: Unified Theistic Naturalism
Year: 2025

description: [WARNING: THIS IS NOT A SAFE READ]This paper is not about someone else. It’s about you. About me. About the reason you keep ending up in broken relationships, no matter how much “work” you’ve done. You say you’re healed. You say you’ve grown. You say you know your worth. But underneath it all, you’re still choosing from pain. You’ve built standards out of trauma, red flags out of fear, and walls so high that even peace can’t get in.

This white paper follows the actual movement of what happens when seekers and sufferers call themselves whole but still cannot see. Through the lens of Unified Theistic Naturalism (UTN), we expose how unresolved energy becomes standards, how “I know my worth” becomes a defense, and how you might now be the very reason love can’t last. This is the paper you won’t want to see—but have to.
LimTopic: LLM-based Topic Modeling and Text Summarization for Analyzing Scientific Articles limitations
Creators: name: Azhar, Ibrahim Al
name: Reddy, Venkata Devesh
name: Alhoori, Hamed
name: Akella, Akhil Pandey
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Computation and Language (cs.CL)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: The limitations sections of scientific articles play a crucial role in highlighting the boundaries and shortcomings of research, thereby guiding future studies and improving research methods. Analyzing these limitations benefits researchers, reviewers, funding agencies, and the broader academic community. We introduce LimTopic, a strategy where Topic generation in Limitation sections in scientific articles with Large Language Models (LLMs). Here, each topic contains the title and Topic Summary. This study focuses on effectively extracting and understanding these limitations through topic modeling and text summarization, utilizing the capabilities of LLMs. We extracted limitations from research articles and applied an LLM-based topic modeling integrated with the BERtopic approach to generate a title for each topic and Topic Sentences. To enhance comprehension and accessibility, we employed LLM-based text summarization to create concise and generalizable summaries for each topic Topic Sentences and produce a Topic Summary. Our experimentation involved prompt engineering, fine-tuning LLM and BERTopic, and integrating BERTopic with LLM to generate topics, titles, and a topic summary. We also experimented with various LLMs with BERTopic for topic modeling and various LLMs for text summarization tasks. Our results showed that the combination of BERTopic and GPT 4 performed the best in terms of silhouette and coherence scores in topic modeling, and the GPT4 summary outperformed other LLM tasks as a text summarizer.
description: 12 pages, accepted at JCDL 2024 (The ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries). This is a preprint version; the final version will be published in the ACM Digital Library
title: EFFECTS OF DIETARY ENERGY SOURCE AND STRESS ON EQUINE INTESTINAL PERMEABILITY AND INFLAMMATION
Creators: name: Bauman, Amanda
Publisher: name: University of Kentucky Libraries
Year: 2025
Subjects: classificationCode: 4
subject: FOS: Agricultural sciences

description: Dietary concentrate is often provided to exercising horses to meet energy requirements. However, both high-starch and high-fat diets may be associated with alterations in intestinal barrier function. To investigate this, 32 mature horses were fed one of four isocaloric dietary concentrate treatments (n = 8 per treatment): 1) a concentrate with cracked corn providing 4 g starch⋅kg BW-1⋅d-1 and 0.2 g fat⋅kg BW-1⋅d-1 (CC), 2) a concentrate with puffed corn providing 4 g starch⋅kg BW-1⋅d-1 and 0.2 g fat⋅kg BW-1⋅d-1 (PC), 3) a concentrate with puffed corn and soybean oil providing 2 g starch⋅kg BW-1⋅d-1 and 0.6 g fat⋅kg BW-1⋅d-1 (moderate-fat; MF), or 4) a concentrate with puffed corn and soybean oil providing 1 g starch⋅kg BW-1⋅d-1 and 1.2 g fat⋅kg BW-1⋅d-1 (high-fat; HF). Baseline measurements were taken during week -2 (PRE). Gradual adaptation to treatment diets occurred during weeks -1 and 0. Horses were maintained on the concentrate diets until the end of the study (week 7). Fecal pH was measured PRE and in weeks 3 and 5, and postprandial plasma glucose and insulin kinetics were assessed during week 3. Gut permeability was measured using plasma appearance of three orally-dosed non-metabolizable sugar analogues, mannitol, lactulose, and sucralose. Gut permeability and whole blood inflammatory cytokine mRNA were measured PRE and in weeks 5 and 7, and salivary cortisol was measured during a 12-hour stress test (short transport and individual housing) in week 7. Fecal pH was less (P ≤ 0.04) in horses fed CC and HF compared to those fed PC or MF. Horses fed HF had greater (P = 0.004) plasma sucralose area under the curve (AUC) than horses fed PC. Plasma sucralose AUC was also greater (P ≤ 0.06) for horses fed HF and CC than those fed MF and PC respectively. Horses fed CC had numerically greater plasma sucralose concentrations than those fed PC after 6 hours post-dosing, while those fed HF had numerically greater plasma lactulose concentrations before 6-hours post dosing. Salivary cortisol concentration remained greater than baseline during the stress test but was not influenced by dietary treatment (P = 0.08). During the week 7 stress test, peak concentration and AUC for all markers of gut permeability were increased (P ≤ 0.02) compared to week 5 (no stress), and concentrations of all markers were numerically greater before 6 hours post-dosing in week 7 compared to week 5. Whole blood IL-1β and Il-6 mRNA were increased (P ≤ 0.01) during the week 7 stress test compared to PRE and week 5. Taken together, these results indicate that dietary energy source and stress can impact equine small intestinal and hindgut permeability.
description: © 2025 Amanda R. Bauman
Association between Adolescent Substance Use and Weapon Carrying: Analysis of 2013 YRBS
Creators: name: Bourque, Samantha
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: Purpose: Substance use and weapon carrying among adolescents is a growing concern. The objective of this study is to investigate the association between adolescent substance use and weapon carrying using the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).
Methods: Analyses were conducted using the 2013 YRBS, a nationally representative dataset sampling public and private high school students throughout the United States (US). Data from a total of 148,282 US adolescents were used in the present study.
Results: Two outcomes were assessed: weapon carrying within the past 30 days and weapon carrying on school property within the past 30 days. Among adolescents who carried a weapon, 77.3% were male, 62.7% were white, 28.5%% were in 9th grade, 33.8% used a tobacco product and 57.4% drank alcohol within the past 30 days, while 22.8% used a Schedule 1 drug and 14.0% used a Schedule 2 drug during their lifetime. Among adolescents who carried a weapon on school property, 74.4% were male, 55.1% were white, 26.5% were in 11th grade, 40.1% used a tobacco product and 61.9% drank alcohol within the past 30 days, while 32.1% used a Schedule 1 drug and 26.9% used a Schedule 2 drug during their lifetime. For the multivariable model predicting adolescent weapon carrying, tobacco use (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.31, 95% CI: 2.06, 2.59), alcohol use (AOR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.81, 2.29), and Schedule 2 drug use (AOR = 2.27, 95% CI: 1.83, 2.80) were significantly associated with increased risk of carrying a weapon, adjusting for all covariates in the model simultaneously. For the multivariable model predicting adolescent weapon carrying on school property, tobacco use (AOR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.89, 2.86), alcohol use (AOR = 2.53, 95% CI: 2.02, 3.18), and Schedule 2 drug use (AOR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.94, 3.43) were significantly associated with increased risk of carrying a weapon on school property, adjusting for all covariates in the model. Raw counts and weighted frequencies are reported.
Conclusions: Statistically significant associations between adolescent substance use and weapon carrying were found, suggesting that adolescent substance use is associated with increased weapon carrying behavior, both off and on school property. Future weapon carrying prevention efforts should target not only adolescents who are high risk for weapon carrying, but also those who are at risk for misusing substances.
Incidence of Hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes Among Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients
Creators: name: McArthur, Dedria
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: Background: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a chronic breathing disorder that is estimated to affect 20% of the US adult population. Intermittent hypoxia and sleep fragmentation caused by OSA likely affects cardiometabolic function. Individuals with OSA might be at risk of developing hypertension and type 2 diabetes (T2DM), with a dose-response relationship related to OSA severity. The objective of this study was to estimate the association between severity of OSA at diagnosis with 1) incidence of hypertension incidence of hypertension and 2) incidence of T2DM.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of Kaiser Permanente members diagnosed with OSA during 2000-2005. Adults without baseline hypertension or T2DM were eligible. Patients were excluded if hypertension or T2DM was diagnosed within one year prior to OSA diagnosis, and right censored at the end of follow-up or at the time Kaiser Permanente membership ended. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox Proportional Hazard models were used to estimate the association between OSA severity and incident hypertension and incident diabetes.
Results: Overall 719 patients were diagnosed with OSA during the study periods; 614 were included as those at risk of developing either hypertension (N=265) or T2DM (N=489). Overall, 261 had severe OSA at diagnosis. Those with severe OSA were more likely to be middle aged, overweight, and have prevalent hypertension or T2DM. Among those without prevalent hypertension at OSA diagnosis, 47.4% (126/266) were subsequently diagnosed with hypertension. Among those without prevalent T2DM at OSA diagnosis, 16.3% (80/491) were subsequently diagnosed with T2DM. After adjusting for BMI and prevalent T2DM, the hazard rate of incident hypertension among patients with severe OSA was 1.35 (95%CI: 0.88-2.06) compared to the rate among patients with mild OSA. The hazard rate of incident T2DM among patients with severe OSA was 1.49 (95%CI: 0.83-2.67) compared to the rate among patients with mild OSA after adjusting for BMI and prevalent hypertension. 
Discussion: We found high incidence rates of hypertension and T2DM among adults diagnosed with OSA. Severe OSA at diagnosis was associated with increased risk of either incident hypertension or T2DM, but not significantly (for p?0.05).
Understanding the Role of Reactions to Race-based Treatment on HIV Testing Behaviors
Creators: name: Atere-Roberts, Joelle
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: INTRODUCTION: In the United States, Blacks and Hispanics compared to Whites are disproportionately infected with HIV. Testing for HIV is critical to reduce HIV transmission, lower risk behaviors, and improve access to treatment among persons living with HIV. However, racial & ethnic minorities are tested at later stages of HIV. Previous studies that examined racial discrimination and HIV testing reported inconsistent findings and additional knowledge is needed to understand whether differential treatment based on race is an important barrier to HIV testing.

AIM: We examined whether HIV testing is influenced by how an individual reacts to race-based treatment, rather than experiences of discrimination alone, among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics; and we determined if this relationship was modified race and ethnicity.

METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System’s (n=12,579) self-reported HIV testing data and Reaction to Race (RR) module, which captures experiences of differential treatment based on race and an individual’s reaction to racialized treatment. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between RR-based treatment and HIV testing. Statistical interaction between RR-based treatment and race was assessed.

RESULTS: Approximately 21% participants reported ever being tested for HIV, and 19% of the participants had one or more experiences of RR-based treatment. Prevalence of HIV testing was higher among Blacks (62%) and Hispanics (33%) compared to Whites (32%). In an adjusted model, the odds of HIV testing among those who reported one experience of Reactions to Race based treatment was 1.37 (95% CI: 1.08-1.75) times the odds among those with no experiences of RR-based treatment. We did not detect statistical interaction between RR-based treatment and HIV testing by race.

DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that experiences of racial discrimination may be counter intuitively associated with increased HIV testing overall and within each racial and ethnic group. Additional research is needed to clarify settings in which experiences of race-based treatment and the associated reactions to the treatment can positively or negatively influence HIV testing behaviors.
The Association between Birth Method and Successfulness of Exclusive Breastfeeding at the Time of Hospital Discharge at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital from March, 2011 through March, 2013
Creators: name: Tintle, Sarah
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding is important to children’s health and development in early years. It may also have implications for health in later life as it has been associated with some chronic non-communicable diseases including hypertension, obesity, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in the United States is estimated to be approximately 44% for a 3-month period and 24% for a 6-month period (CDC, 2008). There are many factors that influence whether or not a mother will be successful in exclusive breastfeeding, and one factor that has been identified with the success of this is delivery method.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not infant delivery method is associated with exclusive breastfeeding. Additionally, other environmental and personal factors examined included: intent, infant-to-breast within two hours of birth, as well as maternal race, parity, and age.
METHODOLOGY: Data were obtained from the Wellstar Kennestone Hospital Lactation Department through an agreement. The information was extracted from the patients’ medical charts between March, 2011 and March, 2013 by nurses in the lactation department. Descriptive statistical tests and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between delivery method and exclusive breastfeeding with analytic consideration given to significant environmental and personal maternal characteristics.
RESULTS: There was a statistically significant association between delivery method and exclusive breastfeeding (OR= .510, 95% CI= .375-.695) after adjusting for intent, whether or not baby was put to the breast within two hours of birth, maternal race, parity, and maternal age. Mothers who delivered via cesarean section were .510 times as likely to be exclusively breastfeeding at the time of hospital discharge when compared to mothers who delivered vaginally.
CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that there is a significant association between delivery method and exclusive breastfeeding, in that vaginally delivered babies were more likely to be exclusively breastfeeding compared to babies delivered via cesarean section. This result is consistent with other research, and it further supports recommendations for healthcare professionals to promote breastfeeding for the first six months of life. As aligned with the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and WHO goals, exclusive breastfeeding should be thoroughly encouraged in addition to promoting natural (vaginal) birth options whenever possible. Further research regarding post-partum factors for both types of delivery that can lead to higher rates of exclusive breastfeeding is warranted.
A Research Framework for Evaluation of RSV Vaccination Use and RSV Outcomes Among Premature Infants Under One Year of Age
Creators: name: Gibson, Phylliscia
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infects the lower respiratory tract in children under the age of two years and is spread through droplet and contact with infected persons.  An estimated 200,000 children suffer from complications of RSV annually worldwide.  Palivizumab is a monoclonal antibody used to immunize children from RSV and has been on the market since 1988.  In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated its policy for recommendation of RSV in premature infants.  The objective of this capstone is to propose an evaluation framework with an example of how it could have been applied to assess the impact of the AAP policy change on RSV vaccination use and RSV outcomes among premature infants.
     The proposed evaluation framework would be a unique link between birth certificate records and surveys of parents/guardians of 32 week gestation premature infants or less in the metropolitan Atlanta area.  The birth certificate data would identify “at risk” infants and would allow for selection of a sample of parents/guardians, both pre-policy change (August 1, 2013 to July 30, 2014) and post-policy change (August 1, 2014 to July 30, 2015). The primary endpoints would be: initiation and completion of the RSV vaccine series and RSV infection rates.  Moderating variables would be obtained from birth certificate data (e.g. mother’s education and race) and survey data (e.g. attitudes toward vaccine acceptance).
     The evaluation framework proposed in this Capstone can be used in future analyses of RSV vaccination policy changes.  It can also be generalized to other geographic areas in the US and used for routine surveillance of RSV vaccination use and RSV outcomes.
Modeling Non-Linear Relationships Between DNA Methylation And Age: The Application of Regularization Methods To Predict Human Age And The Implication Of DNA Methylation In Immunosenescence
Creators: name: Johnson, Nicholas
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2016

description: Background: Gene expression is regulated via highly coordinated epigenetic changes, the most studied of which is DNA methylation (DNAm). Many studies have shown that DNAm is linearly associated with age, and some have even used DNAm data to build predictive models of human age, which are immensely important considering that DNAm can predict health outcomes, such as all-cause mortality, better than chronological age. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated non-linear relationships between DNAm and age, which could potentially improve these predictive models. While such investigations are relevant to predicting health outcomes, non-linear relationships between DNAm and age can also add to our understanding of biological responses to late-life events, such as diseases that afflict the elderly.
Objectives: We aim to (1) examine non-linear relationships between DNAm and age at specific loci on the genome and (2) build upon regularization methods by comparing prediction errors between models with both non-transformed and square-root transformed predictors to models that include only non-transformed predictors. We used both the sparse partial least squares (SPLS) regression model and the lasso regression model to make our comparisons.
Results: We found two age-differentially methylated sites implicated in the regulation of a gene known as KLF14, which could be involved in an immunosenescent phenotype. Inclusion of the square-root transformed variables had little effect on the prediction error of the SPLS model. On the other hand, the prediction error increased substantially in the lasso regression model, particularly when few predictors (70) were included.
Conclusion: The growing amount and complexity of biological data coupled with advances in computational technology are indispensable to our understanding of biological pathways and perplexing biological phenomena. Moreover, high-dimensional biological data have enormous implications for clinical practice. Our findings implicate a possible biological pathway involved in immunosenescence. While we were unable to improve the predictive models of human age, future research should investigate other possible non-linear relationships between DNAm and human age, considering that such statistical methods can improve predictions of health outcomes.