cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Period of Service and Exposure to Service-Connected PTSD on Employment Status of US Veterans
Creators: name: Whitehead, Cleveland
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: INTRODUCTION:  Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape, or other violent personal assault. Service in the Armed Forces is a well known risk factor of PTSD. Hence the US Armed Forces leads are the main agencies with interests in PTSD research and treatment. Although it is well established that  the unemployment rate in veterans is high, little is known regarding the role of exposure to PTSD risk factors and length of service on the employment status of US veterans.
AIM: The purpose of this study is to determine if exposure to PTSD risk factors and length of service affects veterans' employment status. The underlying hypothesis of this study is that exposure to PTSD risk factors and length of service are independently associated with unemployment.
METHODS: The National Center for Veterans Analysis 2010 Survey dataset was used for this study. Odds ratio from univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associations between PTSD exposure and length of service with employment status.
RESULTS:  Over 58% of study participants were unemployed. Specifically, those who were prisoners of war or exposed to environmental hazards were significantly more likely to be unemployed compared to those who were not. Longer years of military service was positively associated with higher odds of PTSD. Participants with a military service period of less than 1 year and 1 to 5 years had much-decreased odds of PTSD compared to participants who had a service period greater than 5 years. In the univariate model, participants who were exposed to PTSD risk factors were 9% less likely to be employed compared to participants who were not exposed. Participants who were exposed to PTSD risk factors also had 1% decreased odds employment. Participants with longer service periods became less likely to be employed with those serving 11-15  years being 62% less likely to be employed. Length of service did not have any statistically significant effect on employment, controlling for all other selected independent variables.
DISCUSSION: Exposure to PTSD was found to be an statistically independent risk factor for unemployment in veterans. Increased length of military service was associated with increased unemployment.  Although the margin was very low, these findings have public health significance and highlight the need to monitor subjects with PTSD regarding their ability to hold onto long term employment.
Childhood Obesity in India- The Social Determinants of Health and Recommendations on obesity pandemic
Creators: name: Velopoulou, Anastasia Lydia
Publisher: name: Aristotle Biomedical Journal
Year: 2024
Subjects: Childhood Obesity, India, Social-Determinants, Policy Making, Interventions

description: This paper examines the Childhood Obesity pandemic in India. Currently obesity is a major worldwide health issue, especially in India. Children face numerous internal and external factors from an early age that have an impact on their eating habits.

 

Examine evidence from India this article is going to provide the “main” source of the obesity pandemic, introduce the factors that influence children’s diet namely social-determinants, personal level, societal etc., review of the current policies that are implemented and provide new policies that could have a positive impact on the minimization of the pandemic.
description: Aristotle Biomedical Journal, Vol 6, No 2 (2024)
Elderly Isolation in the wake of Covid-19. What tools can reduce elderly isolation in the wake of COVID-19?
Creators: name: Velopoulou, Anastasia Lydia
Publisher: name: Aristotle Biomedical Journal
Year: 2024
Subjects: Covid-19, socialisolation, elderly, policymaking, recommendations, technology

description: The following article has an explanatory character about the social isolation that elderly faced during the pandemic of Covid-19 and addresses the tools that can reduce this issue. Analyses the “social isolation” state and how older people are affected by it. To identify the evidence that exist on the topic a literature review was conducted based on specific criteria. One of the main outcomes is that the use of technology is a major factor to minimize the social isolation. New policies and recommendations based on older people’s needs are analyzed, the new policies are based on the technology, tech-interventions, and social-technology interventions.
description: Aristotle Biomedical Journal, Vol 6, No 2 (2024)
Predictors of Parent Training Completion for Non-voluntary Participants
Creators: name: Rivers, Danielle
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: Background: Child maltreatment is an urgent public health issue with high individual, societal, and economic costs. Parenting programs are typically offered to parents at risk for, or with substantiated maltreatment, and they can be effective in improving parenting skills, and reducing child maltreatment risk. However, programs are only as effective as possible when parents engage, participate and complete these services. Generally, program completion is low and dropout is high in parenting programs. There are a variety of factors that affect completion for both voluntary and coerced populations including factors related to the program, the provider, and the individual client. This thesis will examine factors of parents referred to the SafeCare Training Program for association with program completion among parents referred for cases of maltreatment.
Methods: Data were taken from a randomized trial of SafeCare conducted in four states by nine agencies. Participants were parents who were referred by child welfare agencies to receive SafeCare, and agreed to participate in the research study. Parents completed a baseline assessment that included a range of questions on about parenting skills, parent-child relationship, parenting stress, parenting mental health/wellbeing, resource needs, and standard demographics information. These measures were grouped into demographics, parenting skills, risk factors, and environmental risk factors. Completion of SafeCare was tracked by the number of sessions completed, and based on the distribution, SafeCare completion was trichotomized into no sessions, between 1-9 sessions completed, and 10 or more sessions completed. Chi-square analyses and analysis of variance were conducted to examine the relationship between each predictor and program completion.
Results: The sole measure found to be associated with number of sessions completed was tobacco use within the last 12 months. All other demographic, parenting, or risk factor measures were unrelated to number of sessions completed. A second set of bivariate were conducted focusing only on participants who completed at least one SafeCare session. In this analysis, parent age was the sole measure associated with session completion.
Conclusion: Although there were no significant associations between individual-level factors and number of sessions completed, the importance of this study remains because it adds to the body of knowledge examining factors that affect parent services for coerced populations specifically. Future research could examine program factors and provider characteristics as possible predictors of parent engagement, attrition, and program completion in non-voluntary populations.
Mejora de la reflexión crítica en la formación inicial de maestros en Educación Infantil y Primaria.  Secuencias didácticas basadas en una pedagogía especulativa
Creators: name: Guzmán-Simón, Fernando
name: Pacheco-Costa, Alejandra
name: Balbás Ortega, Mª Jesús
name: González Jiménez, Claudio
name: Caetano-Silva, Giovanna
name: Reyes de las Casas, Sabina
name: Moreno-Medina, Irene
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Educación Superior
Neomaterialismo feminista
Construcción de mundos

description: Las investigaciones de la última década basadas en el Materialismo feminista han supuesto un profundo debate en el seno de la Educación Superior y en la investigación educativa. Este proyecto de innovación docente ha repensado cómo se construye el conocimiento y cómo el modo de aprender y experimentar las cosas también asume una manera de entender el mundo y las relaciones que se establecen entre los distintos agentes humanos y no-humanos. Este planteamiento cuestiona en el marco de la Educación Superior la manera en la que se construyen las voces en la Educación y cómo estas reproducen estructuras de poder. En consecuencia, este proyecto ha llevado a cabo el diseño, implementación y evaluación de diversas secuencias didácticas que muestren en las aulas una perspectiva crítica de la educación desde el Feminismo Materialista. Este planteamiento teórico nos ha inspirado en la aplicación de la pedagogía especulativa de Kuby y Christ (2020) en las aulas de la US. Este proyecto ha logrado sensibilizar a los estudiantes y al profesorado de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación hacia una pedagogía desde otros parámetros de aprendizaje en Educación Superior. Los resultados del proyecto han sido evaluados a través de un grupo focal con estudiantes y una autoevaluación del equipo de investigación. Los resultados esperados tienen como finalidad la mejora en la docencia universitaria orientada hacia los futuros profesores de Educación Infantil y Primaria.
Hyperspectral imaging of retinal microvascular anatomy
Creators: name: Kashani, Amir H.
name: Wong, Mark
name: Koulisis, Nicole
name: Chang, Chein-I
name: Martin, Gabriel
name: Humayun, Mark S.
Publisher: name: Sciedu Press
Year: 2015

description: Background: Hyperspectral image processing has been applied to many aspects of astronomical and earth science research. Furthermore, advances in computed tomographic imaging spectroscopy and diffraction grating design have allowed biological applications for non-invasive tissue analysis. Herein, we describe a hyperspectral computed tomographic imaging spectroscope (HCTIS) that provides high spatial, spectral and temporal resolution ideal for imaging biological tissue in vivo. Methods: We demonstrate proof-of-principle application of the HCTIS by imaging and mapping the microvascular anatomy of the retina of a model organism (rabbit) in vivo. The imaging procedure allows rapid and dense spectral sampling, is non-toxic, non-invasive, and easily adaptable to a commercially available fundus camera system. Results: HCTIS provides highly co-registered temporal, spatial and spectral data with resolution capable of reconstructing the fine vascular tree of the rabbit retina in vivo. Conclusions: We show that HCTIS allows for reliable and reproducible tissue classification and detection using signature discriminant analysis. Future applications of this system may provide promising diagnostic methods for diseases of many tissues.
Supplementary document for Fluorescence saturation imaging microscopy: molecular fingerprinting in live cells using two-photon absorption cross-section as a contrast: supplemental document - 5957014.pdf
Creators: name: Yakimov, Boris
name: GAYER, ALEXEY
name: Maksimov, Eugene
name: Maydykovskiy, Anton
name: Mamonov, Evgeniy
name: Murzina, Tatyana
name: Fadeev, Victor
name: Shirshin, Eugeniy
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2025
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Supplemental Document
The Estimated Cost of the Provider’s Recommended Follow-up Interval Visits on Patients with Controlled Hypertension at Teaching City Hospital
Creators: name: McHome, Agness
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: Background: Although the prevalence, treatment, and control of hypertension are well documented in the US, the medical annual costs of visits associated with controlled hypertension in local institutions and factors affecting the medical costs are not well studied. This study is designed to analyze the annual cost of visits for controlled hypertension treatment in the Primary Care Center at Grady Hospital in 2016-2017.

Methods:
Data (2016-17) were obtained from a retrospective chart review of all subjects with hypertension and diabetics using randomly selected providers in the Primary Care Center at Grady Hospital. Controlled hypertension was defined as all patients with blood pressure <140/90mmhg. Costs of visits were obtained from the. Medicare fee schedule (2016), and published literature. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to determine the odds of spending more on hypertension visits. In the multivariate analyses, adjustments were made for age, sex, ethnicity, other comorbidities, acute issue, and having diabetics.

Results:
Seven hundred and twenty-five subjects from a sample of 835 were found to have controlled hypertension. Total per-person annual costs of treatment associated with controlled hypertension ranged from $ 102.98 to $411.92 in 2016-2017. Age of the participants, other comorbidities, more than one acute issue and, having diabetes were found to be the reasons for variation in annual costs of visits for hypertensive patients. Controlling for other clinical and demographic characteristics, patient’s annual cost of visits differs among provider’s level of training(p=0.001).

Conclusion:
Variations in annual costs of visits among several groups of hypertensive patients have been observed. Expansion of preventive services for other health issues that are associated with hypertension may be an effective way to alleviate the economic burden from the individual and national level.
Focusing on the Processes : Is it More Enlightening Than Focusing on Substances for understanding Carcinogenesis
Creators: name: Tez, Mesut
Publisher: name: Aristotle Biomedical Journal
Year: 2024
Subjects: cancer;carcinogenesis;process

description: This essay challenges the prevailing gene-centered, reductionist philosophy in current biological research, particularly in understanding carcinogenesis. It advocates for a paradigm shift towards a process-centered approach, emphasizing life as defined by dynamic processes rather than fixed entities. The limitations of the Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT) are scrutinized, prompting a reconsideration of cancer development complexities. Drawing from process ontology and metaphysics, the essay introduces process thinking in understanding biological systems. It explores the dynamic and interconnected view of the universe through "Whiteheadian Chaosmos." The discussion extends to vitalism, process vitalism, and teleology, highlighting evolving perspectives in contemporary philosophy. The implications of chaos and process in carcinogenesis challenge traditional views on gene mutations. Stem cell plasticity and the role of the cellular microenvironment are emphasized. The essay proposes harnessing chaos for adaptability, citing its role in acquiring information in unknown environments. In conclusion, the essay advocates for a holistic understanding of biological systems, encouraging a departure from reductionist approaches. It invites a paradigm shift towards a more dynamic understanding of life, challenging researchers to embrace process-centered philosophies. The exploration of chaos, process, and information processing offers novel insights for future research directions.
description: Aristotle Biomedical Journal, Vol 6, No 2 (2024)
Vipera: Towards systematic auditing of generative text-to-image models at scale
Creators: name: Huang, Yanwei
name: Deng, Wesley Hanwen
name: Xiao, Sijia
name: Eslami, Motahhare
name: Hong, Jason I.
name: Perer, Adam
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Generative text-to-image (T2I) models are known for their risks related such as bias, offense, and misinformation. Current AI auditing methods face challenges in scalability and thoroughness, and it is even more challenging to enable auditors to explore the auditing space in a structural and effective way. Vipera employs multiple visual cues including a scene graph to facilitate image collection sensemaking and inspire auditors to explore and hierarchically organize the auditing criteria. Additionally, it leverages LLM-powered suggestions to facilitate exploration of unexplored auditing directions. An observational user study demonstrates Vipera's effectiveness in helping auditors organize their analyses while engaging with diverse criteria.
description: Accepted to CHI Late-Breaking Work (LBW) 2025
MOBILE PHONE RADIATION: DOES IT AFFECT BACTERIAL SURVIVAL?
Creators: name: Papadopoulou, Alexandra
name: Papadopoulou, Evaggelia
name: Stampoulidou, Thomai
name: Kotsinou, Sofia
name: Exindari, Maria
Publisher: name: Aristotle Biomedical Journal
Year: 2024
Subjects: radiofrequency, bacteria, cellphones, pens, SAR

description: Introduction: The present study intends to investigate the effects of cellphone radiofrequency on bacterial development.

Materials and Methods: The initial stage included the collection of 100 specimens from mobile phones and 100 from pens of the same users, who were additionally asked to fill in a relevant, anonymous questionnaire. The specimens were inoculated on blood agar and McConkey agar, and were incubated at 37°C for 18-24 hours. The isolates were evaluated by microscopy, as well by specific biological properties testing.

Results: A greater bacterial development on mobile phones was confirmed, especially on those with tempered glass protection. The colonies derived from mobile phones were 1053 in total, 545 from non-disinfected and 508 from disinfected ones. Τhe small difference of the numbers of colonies suggests that disinfection has little impact. The colonies from pens were 541, all retrieved from non-disinfected pens. The classification of the specimens per phone brand indicated colony development from phones with low as well as with high SAR head indexes. Saprophytic bacteria, staphylococci (including S. aureus), bacilli, pseudodiphtheroids, Moraxella spp., Micrococcus spp., Haemophilus spp. and non-haemolytic streptococci were isolated.

Conclusions: Conclusively, radiofrequency radiation does not seem having any negative impact on the bacterial survival on cellphone surfaces.
description: Aristotle Biomedical Journal, Vol 6, No 2 (2024)
The Association between Undernutrition and Malaria among Under-five Children in Nigeria, 2018
Creators: name: Mann, Daena
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: INTRODUCTION: Malaria and undernutrition have independently contributed to mortality and morbidity among the under-five population of Nigeria. However, there remains complexity in the association between stunting, underweight, wasting, and malaria. 
AIM: To evaluate the association between stunting, underweight, wasting, and malaria among under-five children of Nigeria, while assessing the effects of sociodemographic factors.  
METHODS: Cross-sectional data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys for Nigeria 2018 was used, which included 13,058 children ages 0-59 months. Stunting (WHO height-for-age z-score below -2.0 SD), underweight (WHO weight-for-age z-score below -2.0 SD), wasting (WHO weight-for-height z-score below -2.0 SD), and the malaria blood smear test results were obtained. Sociodemographic factors, such as child’s age, sex, place of residence, educational level of the mother, and wealth quintile, were also obtained and examined. Logistic regression modeling was used to determine the associations between undernutrition status and sociodemographic factors, malaria and sociodemographic factors, and undernutrition status and malaria.
RESULTS: The prevalence of stunting was 37.0%, with 22.2% underweight, 7.0% wasting, and 22.6% tested positive for malaria. Stunting was frequent among 24-35 months old, 12-23 months old were mostly underweight and wasted, and 48-59 months old frequently suffered from malaria. Stunting, underweight, wasting, and malaria frequently occurred among males, residents of rural areas, poorest wealth quintile, and children of uneducated mothers. The odds of having malaria was 81% higher among under-five stunted children (AOR=1.81, 95% CI=1.55,2.12; p-value=<0.0001) and 23% higher among under-five underweight children (AOR=1.23, 95% CI=1.02,1.49; p-value=0.0339). However, wasting (AOR=0.91, 95% CI=0.69,1.19; p-value=0.4832) was not significantly associated with malaria. 
DISCUSSION: There exists an association between stunting, underweight and malaria. However, there was no association between wasting and malaria. Sociodemographic factors can influence the effects between the variables, and therefore, policymakers also need to consider these factors when implementing strategies to decrease undernutrition and malaria.
Associations between Depression and Blood Pressure among United States Adults: A Bayesian vs. Frequentist Approach
Creators: name: Rudresh, Vinay
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: High blood pressure can lead to life threatening incidents such as a heart attack or stroke. The direct costs of high blood pressure are expected to rise to 154 billion dollars annually by 2035.  Depression is one of the most prevalent mental illnesses in the United States with an estimated 35% of those who experienced major depressive episodes not receiving treatment. The research question this study aims to answer is if there is an association between depression and blood pressure. This study also aims to see if results are comparable between models using frequentist statistics and Bayesian models using weakly informative priors and informative priors. To assess the association, linear regressions of crude and adjusted associations between depression and systolic/diastolic blood pressure were run. The same models were run using Bayesian weakly informative priors and informative priors. Only the model implementing Bayesian informative priors found an association between depression and systolic blood pressure with a mean of 0.119 (95% Confidence Interval: 0.024, 0.216). However, the association was unadjusted. The association between depression and systolic blood pressure is statistically significant, but it lacks clinical significance.
The Relationship Between Malaria Status in Under-five Children and Some Household Demographic, Socioeconomic and Environmental Factors Associated with the Disease in Sierra Leone
Creators: name: Bah, Mohamed
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: Background: Malaria in under-five children is a significant public health problem in sub- Saharan African countries with unprecedented mortality and morbidity. In Sierra Leone, the disease accounts for fourteen percent of under-five mortality and 95% of the population is at risk. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between malaria status in under-five children and household demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental risk factors potentially associated with the disease and to compare the test performance of rapid diagnostic test kit.
Methods: The study used cross-sectional data from the 2016 Sierra Leone Malaria Indicator Survey, which selected a nationally representative sample of 6,720 households in 336 clusters. Children aged 6–59 months in the selected households were tested for malaria using the rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and microscopy. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions to identify risk factors associated with malaria at a 5% level of significance.
Results: The overall prevalence of malaria in under-five children was 52.67% and 40.05% using RDT and microscopy methods, respectively. RDT method was more sensitive than specific (85.52% vs. 69.23%, p<0.0001). The odds of malaria infection were significantly higher among older children aged 48–59 months (aOR= 3.28, CI: 2.61-4.13, p<0.0001), and children in the lowest wealth quintile (aOR= 5.47, CI: 2.89-10.37, p<0.0001). Other risk factors of malaria infection include children whose mothers/caregivers have attained primary educational level (aOR= 1.35, CI: 1.00-1.82, p<0.05), children living in houses built with unimproved wall materials (aOR= 0.79, CI: 0.64-0.97, p<0.05).
Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that demographic and socioeconomic factors like age, wealth quintile and educational levels of mothers/caregivers were predictors of malaria in under-five children in Sierra Leone.
Differences in the availability of orphan drugs among the European countries
Creators: name: Papavramidou, Nikoleta
Publisher: name: Aristotle Biomedical Journal
Year: 2024
Subjects: orphan drugs, availability, differences, European countries

description: ABSTRACT
 

Introduction: 30 million people in the European population are affected by a rare disease. Rare diseases are characterized by a particularly low prevalence. Most of these diseases have a genetic cause. The aim of this article was to show the differences in the availability of orphan drugs between the European countries. Methods: All orphan drugs were taken from the Orphanet list, and they are all centrally authorised by the European Medicine Agency (EMA). The comparison as well as the differences between the countries were summarized in a table. Results: In the mainly Eastern European markets such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Croatia, the proportion of orphan drugs available is 30%. Between 50 and 70 % of medicines are available in France, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Sweden, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. In Germany, Denmark, Austria and Italy, more than 70% of approved orphan drugs are available. Conclusion: Patient access to orphan drugs remains problematic and varies greatly from country to country, with Western European countries having the best possible availability.
description: Aristotle Biomedical Journal, Vol 6, No 2 (2024)
Health Technology Assessment bodies and their influence on the availability of orphan drugs in Europe
Creators: name: Papavramidou, Nikoleta
Publisher: name: Aristotle Biomedical Journal
Year: 2024
Subjects: orphan drugs, availability, HTA-bodies, HTA-Harmonisation

description: ABSTRACT
 

Introduction: Regional and national HTA bodies make recommendations on medicines that can be financed or reimbursed by the healthcare system in a particular European country. A close collaboration between regulatory authorities and HTA bodies is crucial to enable patients to have access to orphan drugs and also aims to facilitate important decision-making by passing on information as part of the respective assessments (1). Methods: In order to illustrate the differences between the HTA recommendations and their influence on the availability of orphan drugs, a comparison between the different HTA bodies of some European countries was summarised in a table. Results: With regard to the proportion of orphan drugs eligible for reimbursement in the total number of orphan drugs to be assessed, the highest values were found in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and France. The different HTA approaches and the different handling of the specifics of orphan drugs influence the final decisions. Conclusion: One of the goals of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is to make the process of marketing authorization and reimbursement of orphan drugs more uniform in all European countries. In the meantime, however, there is a risk that the different approaches to orphan drug assessments will further contribute to unequal patient access to these medicines.
description: Aristotle Biomedical Journal, Vol 6, No 2 (2024)
Association Between Income, Education, Diabetes, Dyslipidemia, and Hypertension in Mexican Americans, Other Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites
Creators: name: Molina, Nora
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: INTRODUCTION: Recent studies have found there is an association between socioeconomic status, education, and race/ethnicity. Existing statistics have shown Hispanics to be one of the largest minority groups in the United States, making up roughly 30% of the population and projected to become largest ethnic minority group in the United States. As a growing population, Hispanics face many barriers related to social determinants of health, including income and education. These social determinants of health (SDH) can impact an individual’s overall health and influence the rate of certain chronic diseases such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. Currently, 17% of Hispanics have diabetes, approximately 22% have dyslipidemia, and 17% have hypertension. For the purposes of this analysis, Hispanic population is not monolithic and include two subgroups--Mexican American and Other Hispanic.
 
AIM: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between income and education, and risks of diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension among Mexican American, Other Hispanic, and Non-Hispanic Whites. It is hypothesized that there will be a strong association between income level, education, and diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension in these population groups.

METHODS: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a secondary dataset from the National Center for Health Statistics was used. The survey years analyzed were from 2013-2014, and 2015-2016. Odds ratios from multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to estimated risk of diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension.

 
RESULTS:  A total of 3,188 eligible participants were analyzed in this study. Income and education were not associated with odds of diabetes among Mexican Americans, Other Hispanics, and Non-Hispanic Whites. Being a Mexican Americans and of Other Hispanics were associated with 1.66 greater odds of diabetes compared to Non-Hispanic Whites. Mexican Americans and Other Hispanics achieved the lowest rates of education. Binary logistic regression showed that when controlling for other variables such as age, gender, BMI, and smoking, results were not significant overall as the null was captured in 95% CI.
 
DISCUSSION: There was not a strong association between income, education, and the presence of diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension among Mexican Americans and Other Hispanic Non-Hispanic Whites.
Classification of Tree Species in Overstorey Canopy of Subtropical Forest Using QuickBird Images
Creators: name: Lin, Chinsu
name: Popescu, Sorin C.
name: Thomson, Gavin
name: Tsogt, Khongor
name: Chang, Chein-I
Publisher: name: PLOS one
Year: 2015
Subjects: Aerosols
Chlorophyll
Forests
Imaging techniques
Invasive species
Leaves
Species diversity
Trees

description: This paper proposes a supervised classification scheme to identify 40 tree species (2 coniferous, 38 broadleaf) belonging to 22 families and 36 genera in high spatial resolution QuickBird multispectral images (HMS). Overall kappa coefficient (OKC) and species conditional kappa coefficients (SCKC) were used to evaluate classification performance in training samples and estimate accuracy and uncertainty in test samples. Baseline classification performance using HMS images and vegetation index (VI) images were evaluated with an OKC value of 0.58 and 0.48 respectively, but performance improved significantly (up to 0.99) when used in combination with an HMS spectral-spatial texture image (SpecTex). One of the 40 species had very high conditional kappa coefficient performance (SCKC ? 0.95) using 4-band HMS and 5-band VIs images, but, only five species had lower performance (0.68 ? SCKC ? 0.94) using the SpecTex images. When SpecTex images were combined with a Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI), there was a significant improvement in performance in the training samples. The same level of improvement could not be replicated in the test samples indicating that a high degree of uncertainty exists in species classification accuracy which may be due to individual tree crown density, leaf greenness (inter-canopy gaps), and noise in the background environment (intra-canopy gaps). These factors increase uncertainty in the spectral texture features and therefore represent potential problems when using pixel-based classification techniques for multi-species classification.
Association Between Health Insurance and Undiagnosed Diabetes: NHANES 2013-2016
Creators: name: Patel, Komal
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: BACKGROUND:  Given the insidious nature of type 2 diabetes, there is a percentage of the population that goes undiagnosed. Studies suggest that undiagnosed population may be at higher risk of developing diabetes-related macrovascular and microvascular complications.
Therefore, it is crucial to identify factors that may be associated with undiagnosed diabetes. Access to healthcare and other socioeconomic factors have been researched in the past; however, little is known regarding the role of health insurance in the screening of undiagnosed diabetes.
AIM: The aim of this study is to determine the three most commonly used types of health insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, and Private) among American subjects with undiagnosed diabetes. The study also sought to determine the type of health insurance that is mostly associated with undiagnosed diabetes.
METHODS: Publicly available NHANES data files for the year 2013-2016 were used for the analysis. SAS survey procedures were used to estimate weighted frequencies of undiagnosed diabetes and types of health insurance in the target population. Multivariate logistic regression was carried out to estimate the association between health insurance and undiagnosed diabetes.
RESULTS:  Overall, 6.18% of the target population had undiagnosed diabetes. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes was higher among males (3.19%) and adults aged 60 and above (2.17%). Among those who had undiagnosed diabetes, 5.33% had health insurance, and less than 1% reported a lack of health insurance. Medicare insurance was associated with undiagnosed diabetes (aOR 1.61, 95% 1.07 – 2.42) as compared to other health insurance. This finding was statistically significant at p<0.05.
DISCUSSION: The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes was higher in older adults aged 60 and above. This could be attributed to the increased prevalence of diabetes in older adults in the US. Results also indicate that males have a higher percentage of undiagnosed diabetes as compared to females. Medicare was significantly associated with undiagnosed diabetes. This may indicate that some policy reforms are required to improve diabetes screening services in this program. More research is needed to understand other factors associated with undiagnosed diabetes and reduce its prevalence in the U.S.
Weak antilocalization in the transition metal telluride Ta$_2$Pd$_3$Te$_5$
Creators: name: Jiao, Wen-He
name: Qiu, Hang-Qiang
name: Yang, Wuzhang
name: Bao, Jin-Ke
name: Xiao, Shaozhu
name: Liu, Yi
name: Li, Yuke
name: Cao, Guang-Han
name: Xu, Xiaofeng
name: Ren, Zhi
name: Zhang, Peng
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We report transport studies on the layered van der Waals topological crystalline insulator Ta$_2$Pd$_3$Te$_5$. The temperature-dependent resistance at high temperature is dominated by a bulk insulating gap and tend to saturate at low temperatures. Low temperature magnetotransport shows that Ta$_2$Pd$_3$Te$_5$ exhibits weak antilocatization (WAL) effect in both perpendicular orientation and parallel orientation, suggesting an contribution of the WAL effect from both topological edge states and bulk states. By measuring the anisotropic magnetoconductance and then subtracting the contribution of bulk states, the WAL effect associated with topological edge states can be revealed and analyzed quantitatively based on the two-dimensional Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka model. Our results have important implications in understanding the WAL phenomena in Ta$_2$Pd$_3$Te$_5$.
description: 8 pages, 5 figures
Investigating the Dynamics of Violent Attacks on Health Care During the Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, August 2018 – January 2020
Creators: name: Adams, Sydney
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: Background: The Democratic Republic of Congo is actively experiencing its tenth outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease. This outbreak is the second-largest in history. This outbreak of Ebola virus is taking place in North Kivu and Ituri provinces in the eastern part of the country. The North Kivu and Ituri provinces are two of the most populous, conflict-torn, provinces in the DRC, and border three other countries, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan. This current outbreak has been marked by numerous attacks against health care services and the inability to bring this outbreak to a swift end like the outbreak in Équateur province DRC.
Aim: The intent of this thesis is to quantify the frequency of attacks on health care using publicly available data in order to have a better understanding of how violent attacks towards health care are impacting the Ebola response efforts in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
Methods: This study is a cross-sectional examination of data collected from publicly available resources to characterize the violence towards the Ebola response teams. This study includes data from the Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care published by the World Health Organization, data collected from local media outlets, social media, international organizations, universities, and non-profit organizations.
Results: There were 102 attacks that were confirmed to have taken place in one of the two affected provinces. The peak of violence towards health care in the DRC occurred during May 2019. Health care facilities were the most affected health care resource. Also, more attacks occurred in North Kivu province compared to Ituri Province.
Conclusion: Our study, one of the first to demonstrate the prevalence and context of violent attacks related to health care resources and delivery during a health crisis, indicates the need for deliberate planning and preventative measures when mitigating an infectious disease outbreak during an active conflict.
Abkhaz also known as “Apswa (self-designation)”, “Abkhazy”, “Abazintsy (Russian)”
Creators: name: Pitek, Emily
Publisher: name: Database of Religious History (DRH)
Year: 2018

description: Abkhazians are a group of people living in the Caucasus region whose presence has been dated back to the Paleolithic period. This entry focuses specifically on the Abkhaz ca. 1880. At this time, Abkhasia was a province of Russia, and had recently experienced many peasant revolts and extensive migrations. The Abkhasian religion was a hybrid of Christian, Islam, and Pagan influences that varied from family to family.
Facilitators and Barriers to Bystander Intervention in the Context of Alcohol Use: A Qualitative Study
Creators: name: Stewart, Phylicia
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: The purpose of this study was to understand the factors that facilitate and/or impede female college students from intervening in a potentially dangerous situation, particularly when alcohol is present. Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) was used as a guiding framework to examine environmental, personal, and behavioral factors. This study utilized a qualitative research design and data were collected via semi-structured focus groups. Female college students (N=34) ages 18-20 from three Southeastern universities participated in a total of 6 focus groups. The focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Nvivo was used to conduct a qualitative thematic analysis. Results suggested that normative beliefs about consent, alcohol, lack of risk perception, fear of consequences, toxic masculinity, and not knowing the potential victim were barriers to intervention. Facilitators to intervention included a lack of negative consequences for intervening, friendship or acquaintanceship of potential victim, moral obligation, and personal experience. Findings are relevant for informing sexual assault risk reduction education for female college students.
Adaptive Dual-Channel Event-Triggered Fuzzy Control for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles With Multiple Obstacles Environment
Creators: name: Liu, Shang
name: Zhang, Ronghui
name: Zhao, Dezong
name: Song, Houbing
Publisher: name: IEEE
Year: 2024
Subjects: Actuators
adaptive fuzzy control
Artificial neural networks
Autonomous underwater vehicle
Autonomous underwater vehicles
event-triggered control
Formation control
Fuzzy control
obstacle avoidance
Uncertainty
Vectors

description: This article investigates the formation control of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) suffering from unknown sea loads, unmoulded structure, limited communication and multiple static and moving obstacles. Given the challenge, a novel adaptive dual-channel event-triggered control scheme is proposed for formation tracking and obstacles avoidance. To economize the communication resources, the dual-channel event-triggered mechanism is designed in the sensor-to-controller and controller-to-actuator channels respectively. By adopting the approximation of fuzzy systems in the form of one-parameter integrated learning, the uncertainties consisted of the unmoulded structure and unknown sea loads are compressed together to be compensated online, which ensures a lower computational cost. To solve the multiple obstacles, the modified artificial potential field approach is employed, and the derived repulsive potential field can ensure that the multi-AUV formation can avoid obstacles smoothly regardless of static or moving obstacles. It is showed by the Lyapunov stability theorem that the tracking errors are guaranteed to be semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, three simulation examples illustrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed scheme.
Electronic Nicotine Devices And Alcohol Use Among Young Adults: Findings From The 2015-2016 National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
Creators: name: Ackah-Toffey, Lucinda
Publisher: name: Georgia State University
Year: 2020

description: Introduction: Young adults have high rates of alcohol and tobacco use relative to any other age group. However, levels of use vary by race and education.  This study aimed to examine the association between alcohol use and Electronic Nicotine Devices (ENDS) in a representative sample of young adults and to determine if any associations vary by race or education.
Methods
Data utilized in this study originated from the 2015-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Records were restricted to those aged 18–35?years (n?=?1145), with the primary outcome, ENDS use in the past 12 months. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the association between the primary outcome, and alcohol use and socio-demographic variables. Further assessment was completed to determine if the association between the primary outcome and alcohol use while controlling for cigarette use varied by race or educational level.
Results
The overall prevalence of ever ENDS use was 38.29%. Prevalence was highest among young adults 26-30 (31.01%), those reporting heavy alcohol use (44.93%), Non-Hispanic Whites (58.53%), those with some college or Associate of Arts degree (34.04%) and income range of $25,000 to $54,999 (35.59%). Traditional cigarette use (aOR=12.62; 95% CI 12.60 - 12.64), Income $25,000 to $54,999 (aOR=1.60; 95% CI 1.59 – 1.60), higher collegiate education (aOR=0.41; 95% CI 0.41 – 0.41), moderate and high alcohol use (aOR=1.76; 95% CI 1.76 – 1.77, aOR=1.89; 95% CI 1.88 – 1.89 respectfully) was associated with ENDS. The association between alcohol usage level and ENDS use also varied by education when adjusting for traditional cigarette use. The effect that alcohol usage has in predicting ENDS use is different for various education status when controlled for traditional cigarette use (p-vale: <0.0001).
Conclusions
ENDS use is common among young adults in the U.S. and is associated with socioeconomic status as well as alcohol use. Prevention efforts need to factor in these demographic characteristics when targeting interventions, and also factor in that moderate and heavy alcohol use are associated with ENDS use, which likely will exacerbate health concerns among ENDS users.
Effects of atmospheric correction and pansharpening on LULC classification accuracy using WorldView-2 imagery
Creators: name: Lin, Chinsu
name: Wu, Chao-Cheng
name: Tsogt, Khongor
name: Ouyang, Yen-Chieh
name: Chang, Chein-I
Publisher: name: Elsevier
Year: 2015
Subjects: Remote sensing
LULC
Maximum likelihood classifier (MLC)
Object-based image analysis
Pixel-based image analysis
Support vector machine (SVM)

description: Changes of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) affect atmospheric, climatic, and biological spheres of the earth. Accurate LULC map offers detail information for resources management and intergovernmental cooperation to debate global warming and biodiversity reduction. This paper examined effects of pansharpening and atmospheric correction on LULC classification. Object-Based Support Vector Machine (OB-SVM) and Pixel-Based Maximum Likelihood Classifier (PB-MLC) were applied for LULC classification. Results showed that atmospheric correction is not necessary for LULC classification if it is conducted in the original multispectral image. Nevertheless, pansharpening plays much more important roles on the classification accuracy than the atmospheric correction. It can help to increase classification accuracy by 12% on average compared to the ones without pansharpening. PB-MLC and OB-SVM achieved similar classification rate. This study indicated that the LULC classification accuracy using PB-MLC and OB-SVM is 82% and 89% respectively. A combination of atmospheric correction, pansharpening, and OB-SVM could offer promising LULC maps from WorldView-2 multispectral and panchromatic images.
An Empirical Model-based Method for Signal Restoration of SWIR in ASD Field Spectroradiometry
Creators: name: Lin, Chinsu
name: Tsogt, Khongor
name: Chang, Chein-I
Publisher: name: Ingenta
Year: 2012

description: ASD spectroradiometer field measurements in the SWIR water absorption region are sometimes problematic due to atmospheric effects such as moisture in the air. The reduced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in these wavebands makes it difficult to diagnose water stress in tree foliage usingspectroscopy. This paper investigates the SNR issue in the 1,350 to 1,410nm waveband using laboratory-based experiments and practical field measurements of mountainous tree foliage spectra. With laboratory spectra data, three empirical signal models along with a Gaussian bias model were testedand validated using noisy field spectra data. Results demonstrate that a combination of either a logistic or sigmoid signal model coupled with a Gaussian bias (residual) model (LOGGM and SIGGM complex signal models) can effectively describe reflectance behaviors in the spectral region of 1,350to 1,410 nm of red cypress (Chaemacyparis formosensis) foliage and further show that our proposed approach is promising in restoration of field spectra measurements.