Utility of Self-organizing Maps in the Analysis of Social Determinants of Health

The purpose of this study was to present a method for analyzing existing, nationally-available social data in a health context. This research study utilized the Public Health Model of the Social Determinants of Health (PHM) as a theoretical guide for selecting variables from existing, archival data sources to represent social determinants, health behaviors, and the health outcomes within Oklahoma at the county level, which was the unit of analysis. Additionally, this study introduced the Self-Organizing Map algorithm as an alternative data reduction technique for analysis of health and social data. The study further analyzed which of these sets of health variables were stronger predictors of the health outcome, age-adjusted mortality rate. Three phases of research were conducted: self-organizing map analyses to determine the underlying mathematical structures of social determinants of health variables and health behavior variables, a multiple regression analysis on the two resulting SOM solutions for determinSchool of Teaching and Curriculum Leadershi

A psychometric modeling approach to fuzzy rating data

Modeling fuzziness and imprecision in human rating data is a crucial problem in many research areas, including applied statistics, behavioral, social, and health sciences. Because of the interplay between cognitive, affective, and contextual factors, the process of answering survey questions is a complex task, which can barely be captured by standard (crisp) rating responses. Fuzzy rating scales have progressively been adopted to overcome some of the limitations of standard rating scales, including their inability to disentangle decision uncertainty from individual responses. The aim of this article is to provide a novel fuzzy scaling procedure which uses Item Response Theory trees (IRTrees) as a psychometric model for the stage-wise latent response process. In so doing, fuzziness of rating data is modeled using the overall rater's pattern of responses instead of being computed using a single-item based approach. This offers a consistent system for interpreting fuzziness in terms of individual-based decision uncertainty. A simulation study and two empirical applications are adopted to assess the characteristics of the proposed model and provide converging results about its effectiveness in modeling fuzziness and imprecision in rating data

Examining race differences in cardiovascular health among young men: The role of residential segregation

Background: Racial residential segregation (RRS) is a fundamental cause of racial disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and prevalence. While the effects of RRS on Black-White disparities in CVD have been well documented, knowledge about the effect of RRS on CVD disparities among men is limited. Cardiovascular health (CVH) is inversely associated with CVD risk and may prevent CVD disparities in later adult years if better understood. Thus, the goal of this dissertation is to examine whether RRS influences the emergence of race differences in CVH among young Black and White men in the US. Methods: Data for aims 1 and 2 were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). In aim 1, we used logistic regression to examine whether RRS influenced the association between race and CVH among young men (ages 24-32; N=5,080). In aim 2, we used mixed effects latent growth modeling to examine whether RRS during adolescence contributed to alternative body mass index (BMI), sleep, and cigarette use male trajectories by race from adolescence to young adulthood (ages 13-31; (N=8,612). Lastly, aim 3 used concept mapping data collected from a community sample of 30 young Black men residing in two southern Black communities to understand their conceptualizations of how CVH is linked to residential context. Results: In aim 1,we observed race disparities in ideal CVH when young Black and White men reside in neighborhoods comprised of 55% or more White residents. In aim 2, BMI, sleep, and cigarette use trajectories differed by neighborhood RRS during adolescence for White males. However, adolescent RRS caused different trajectories only for BMI among Black males. In aim 3, the final concept map depicted eight conceptual domains classified into two overarching domains of neighborhood features that were either protective or harmful to Black men’s CVH. Conclusion: Overall, study findings advance knowledge of the extent that RRS influences Black-White differences in CVH among young men. Taken together, findings from this dissertation have the potential to inform research, healthcare delivery, and policy solutions to better serve young men within their residential contexts and attenuate racial disparities in CVD.Doctor of Philosoph

A Pilot Study of Solution-focused Brief Therapeutic Intervention for Couples

Over the years, many interventions have been used to ameliorate couple distress and increase relationship satisfaction. These interventions have been getting shorter in duration. The purpose of this pilot study was to test the feasibility and impact of a brief intervention using a solution-focused approach (SFBT) for couples. The brief intervention included two two-hour consultations. Data were collected from 30 couples and were analyzed using a repeated measures design. The analyses yielded mixed results. There were statistically significant improvements in the areas of individual well-being and relationship knowledge. There were no significant differences in terms of marital satisfaction, communication skills, and readiness to change, although positive trends were observed in this pilot phase. Implications for future research and development are discussed

On condition-based maintenance for machine components

The goal of condition-based maintenance (CBM) is to base the decisions whether or not to perform maintenance on information collected from the machine or component of interest. A condition-based maintenance tool should be able to diagnose if the component of interest is in a state of failure but the ultimate goal of a CBM tool is to be able to estimate time until failure, either in terms of remaining useful life (RUL) or estimated time to failure (ETTF). Therefore a CBM tool should have both diagnostic and prognostic features. This master’s thesis was carried out at a company within the packaging industry and the goal was to implement a CBM tool with the possibility to estimate RUL for a set of critical components which could serve as a base for further development within the company. The selection of components to focus on was part of the thesis as well. The process of implementing CBM with prognostic functionality was more difficult than expected and the goal of estimating RUL was not met for any of the components, but the work that has been done forms a basis for further development. Thus, this thesis will serve as a pre-study on developing CBM and contains information of what is required in order to be successful

Personal State and Emotion Monitoring by Wearable Computing and Machine Learning

One of the major scientific undertakings over the past few years has been exploring the interaction between humans and machines in mobile environments. Wearable computers, embedded in clothing or seamlessly integrated into everyday devices, have an incredible advantage to become the main gateway to personal health management. Current state of the art devices are capable in monitoring basic physical or physiological parameters. Traditional health systems procedures depend on the physical presence of the patient and a medical specialist that not only is a reason of overall costs but also reduces the quality of patients' lives, particularly elderly patients. Usually, patients have to go through the following steps for the traditional procedure: Firstly, patients need to visit the clinic, get registered at reception, wait for the turn, go to the lab for the physiological measurement, wait for the medical experts call, to finally receive feedback from the medical expert. In this work, we examined how to utilize existing technology in order to develop an e-health monitoring system especially for heart patients. This system should support the interaction between the patient and the physician even when the patient is not in the clinic. The supporting wearable health monitoring system WHMS should recognize physical activities, emotional states and transmit this information to the physician along with relevant physiological data; in this way patients do not need to visit the clinic every time for the physician's feed-back. After the discussion with medical experts, we identified relevant physical activities, emotional states and physiological data needed for the patients' examinations. A prototype of this concept for a health monitoring system of the proposed solution was implemented taking into account physical activities, emotional states and physiological data

An investigation into the structure of jealousy, and its relationship to interpersonal suspicion

This thesis aims to trace one feature — interpersonal suspicious thought — in order to better understand jealousy, and its relationship to other kinds of suspicious thought in non-clinical populations. Chapter 1 offers an overview of jealousy and its clinical and forensic importance. Chapters 2 and 3 review the jealousy literature and theory, and offer critiques and areas to examine further, such as, the role of abnormal cognitive processes, negative affect, and in particular, psychosis-like thought. Chapter 4 explores jealousy’s structure and its relationship to paranoid ideation and finds indications of a shared, cumulative, latent, psychosis-like structure. Chapter 5 further examines the structure of jealousy found in Chapter 4 and confirms the cumulative structure and jealousy’s overlap with paranoia. Chapter 6 investigates how irrational processes, including jealousy, arise, evolve and impact couple relationships in real time. The study found that interpersonal socio-cognitive processes, such as intuition, appear to play a role in irrational thought formation and maintenance and may have a role in both functional and dysfunctional relationship processes. Chapter 7 summarises the thesis and integrates theory to build a new model of the jealousy process. The results of the thesis are discussed in terms of both implications for practice and directions for future research

BARRIERS TO AND FACILITATORS OF CARE: EXPLORING HOW LOW-INCOME WOMEN ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE IN A RURAL COMMUNITY

The purpose of this research study was to gain a comprehensive understanding of the experiences of low-income women living in a rural community when accessing reproductive care and bring awareness to the barriers and facilitating factors they encounter. The present study adopted a post positivism paradigm and was conducted in a rural county in Northern California. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data was gathered through demographic surveys and individual interviews with twenty-two participants. A bottom-up approach was utilized for the phases of qualitative data analysis, which included open coding, axial coding and selective coding. Data analysis revealed thirteen open codes and various connections between those codes. These codes were broken down into three broader categories: the power of personal experiences at the micro level, the community environment in which services are provided and received, and the broader systemic issues at a macro level. The researcher identified the deeply interpersonal nature of reproductive healthcare, which is often directly related to a cultural or societal stigma, as a core issue among low-income women living in rural areas. This core issue is further explored along with actions that can be taken to help mitigate this issue including but not limited to helping clients process core beliefs and emotions around care, teaching clients how to advocate for themselves in a medical setting and collaborating with healthcare agencies to provide relevant training for medical professionals. This research addresses a gap in the existing literature and contributes to both micro and macro social work by offering insight to the barriers that low-income women face, which can guide both clinical practice and policy development. Understanding the experiences of low-income women can be especially helpful to social workers in healthcare settings and better equip them to work with clients

Sustainable Development

The technological advancement of our civilization has created a consumer society expanding faster than the planet's resources allow, with our resource and energy needs rising exponentially in the past century. Securing the future of the human race will require an improved understanding of the environment as well as of technological solutions, mindsets and behaviors in line with modes of development that the ecosphere of our planet can support. Sustainable development offers an approach that would be practical to fuse with the managerial strategies and assessment tools for policy and decision makers at the regional planning level

Early Child Development: From Measurement to Optimal Functioning and Evidence-based Policy

In the early years of life, the environments that interact with a child—including families, schools, and communities—play a key role in the child’s brain development. Early child development and overall children’s developmental trajectories have long-term implications for health, happiness, and earning potential as these children become adults. Importantly, failing to reach developmental potential contributes to global cycles of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. There is little public understanding of the importance of a child’s first years and the critical developmental opportunity to reach optimal functioning. As such, global data on early child developments are crucial to inform the public and demand evidence-based policies and high-quality programs for children around the world. This book includes initiatives assessing the impact of programs and interventions related to children’s health, education, and participation that inform evidence-based policies worldwide. Importantly, this book raises global awareness of the importance of children’s first years of life and the crucial role of child–environment interactions where the child lives, plays, and grows. The culturally diverse content comprises international representation of studies and classifications tools. International experts contributed high-quality reviews that collate valuable information and guide the adoption of a rights-based approach in early child development globally