Aligning Tobacco Free Living Agendas in a Community Health Improvement Plan: A Case Study on Democratic Participation and Economic Interests in U.S. Health Policy Development

This paper addresses the gap in studies which use democratic policy making frameworks to analyze health policy development in Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs). The study describes and analyzes three streams of the tobacco free living policy cycle in a Community Health Improvement Plan implemented in a Mid-Western Region of the United States from 2016 to 2020. The roles of public health interest, economic interests, and democratic participatory rights in Tobacco free health policy making are assessed. The policy making process is assessed within an integrated framework of analysis that weaves pluralist, power elite, critical democratic theories, and participatory governance paradigms into Kingdon’s (2003), streams framework which includes problems, policy, and political streams. The results of the analysis are as follows:1. There was a deficit in democratic participation, and a preeminence of state institutions and economic interest in tobacco free living policy development to the disadvantage of public health interests; 2. Both the policy making process and policy outcomes are anticipated and explained by the governance-driven democratization paradigm and elite dominance theories 3. Democracy driven governance paradigm, democratic theories, and critical theories, illuminate the shortcomings of the policy making process and design. These frameworks also provide a pathway for improving the policy practice components of Community Health Improvement Plans. Specific recommendations are provided for future designs and implementations of policy development components of Community Health Improvement plans

Transcultural nursing and malaria: Identifying global health strategies through the lived experiences of nurses from the villages surrounding Bamenda, Cameroon

This study highlights the challenges faced by nurses working in the villages surrounding Bamenda, Cameroon. This is done as a necessary first step towards developing a culturally compelling intervention strategy fro Malaria prevention/treatment, through direct interaction of nurses in villages surrounding Bamenda in Cameroon. Malaria and other diseases pose significant health care problems in remote regions of Cameroon

Correlates of COVID-19 Pandemic on Anxiety Among Adults in Appalachia, USA

Background: Anxiety problems have increased in the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. However, very little is known about the anxiety rates in the new normal phase of the disease when adults have been assumed to be adjusted. The study aimed to find out the difference in anxiety in a convenience sample of Appalachian adults during the new normal phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, examine its association with sociodemographic factors, and compare it with the anxiety levels before the pandemic as recalled by the participants. Study design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale was used in the present study. The Chi-square test was used to examine the difference between the severity of anxiety before and during the new normal phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of sociodemographic and behavioral correlates. Pearson correlation was used to see the strength of the association between anxiety and age. Results: Although the anxiety rate was stabilized by the time people approached the new normal phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, its severity increased significantly among those with preexisting anxiety (P=0.001). Anxiety was found highly associated with female and minority gender, student status, lower education and income level, marital status, cohabitation with parents, and cigarette consumption (P=0.001). A slight inverse association was observed between age and anxiety before and during the new normal phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (P=0.001). Conclusion: The young and females seem to be suffering from a higher burden of anxiety. Research is suggested to identify ways to develop social support-based community programs to address this issue

Exploring Promotoras as Influencers of Physical Activity and Diet Acceptability Among Latinas

Promotoras are frontline community health workers who help link Latino community members to health and social services. Latino women have high rates of attrition and lack of participation in weight loss programs due to various barriers, and the promotora model is vital to address these concerns. The approach incorporates strong family support and influence to address health and social issues through interdependent ties of promotoras and families who live and work within the community they serve. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how promotoras influenced the acceptability of and participation in physical activity and dietary modification programs among Latino women. To better understand these interactive and reinforcing behaviors between Latino women, promotoras, and their environments, this study explored the lived experiences of promotoras using the social-ecological model. Fifteen promotoras participated in audio-recorded semistructured interviews. Data analysis followed a six-step thematic analysis process for coding and theme identification. The eight identified and established themes were knowledge of physical activity, diet, and obesity; promotoras’ roles/strategies as influencers; attitudes/beliefs/ and customs; social networks/social support; environmental influences; cultural values; schools/workplace as hubs of practice; and the perceptions of the government as a partner in reinforcing healthy lifestyles. The implications for social change include the potential use of the newly acquired knowledge to design culturally acceptable physical activity and diet programs that reduce barriers and attrition among Latino women and improve the sustainability of interventions in the communities

Challenges to the right to health in sub-Saharan Africa: reflections on inequities in access to dialysis for patients with end-stage kidney failure

Realization of the individual’s right to health in settings such as sub-Saharan Africa, where health care adequate resources are lacking, is challenging. This paper demonstrates this challenge by illustrating the example of dialysis, which is an expensive but life-saving treatment for people with kidney failure. Dialysis resources, if available in sub-Saharan Africa, are generally limited but in high demand, and clinicians at the bedside are faced with deciding who lives and who dies. When resource limitations exist, transparent and objective priority setting regarding access to such expensive care is required to improve equity across all health needs in a population. This process however, which weighs individual and population health needs, denies some the right to health by limiting access to health care.This paper unpacks what it means to recognize the right to health in sub-Saharan Africa, acknowledging the current resource availability and scarcity, and the larger socio-economic context. We argue, the first order of the right to health, which should always be realized, includes protection of health, i.e. prevention of disease through public health and health-in-all policy approaches. The second order right to health care would include provision of universal health coverage to all, such that risk factors and diseases can be effectively and equitably detected and treated early, to prevent disease progression or development of complications, and ultimately reduce the demand for expensive care. The third order right to health care would include equitable access to expensive care. In this paper, we argue that recognition of the inequities in realization of the right to health between individuals with “expensive” needs versus those with more affordable needs, countries must determine if, how, and when they will begin to provide such expensive care, so as to minimize these inequities as rapidly as possible. Such a process requires good governance, multi-stakeholder engagement, transparency, communication and a commitment to progress. We conclude the paper by emphasizing that striving towards the progressive realization of the right to health for all people living in SSA is key to achieving equity in access to quality health care and equitable opportunities for each individual to maximize their own state of health

Image/Time Series Mining Algorithms: Applications to Developmental Biology, Document Processing and Data Streams

Interdisciplinary research in computer science requires the development of computational techniques for practical application in different domains. This usually requires careful integration of different areas of technical expertise. This dissertation presents image and time series analysis algorithms, with practical interdisciplinary applications to develop-mental biology, historical manuscript processing, and data stream processing. Inspired by the NSF IGERT program, this dissertation presents algorithms for analysis of growth dy-namics at the shoot apex of Arabidopsis thaliana. A robust understanding of the causal relationship between gene expression, cell behaviors, and organ growth requires the de-velopment of computational techniques for quantitative analysis of real-time, live-cell meristem growth data. This requires the development/application of image analysis tools and novel time series alignment algorithms. Image analysis is necessary for the computa-tion of growth features, but this leads to a time series of unsynchronized growth data, which requires a robust alignment method. Towards this end, we present two time series alignment algorithms. This dissertation further considers image mining in historical doc-ument processing. An application of the Minimum Description Length principle (MDL) to develop a symbols clustering algorithm is presented. The developed algorithm pro-duced one of the first practical applications of MDL to real-world, real-valued data such as images. Moreover, we introduce a novel premise that a clustering algorithm should have the freedom to ignore some data. Extensive empirical results show that the MDL-based algorithm outperforms the popular K-Means clustering algorithm, given the same input data, distance measure, and the correct value of K in K-means. The new algorithm could have significant impact, as clustering is a critical subroutine in almost all historical document processing systems. Finally, we present an algorithm for detecting rare and ap-proximately repeating sequences in unbounded real-valued data streams, given limited space. This algorithm employs the novel integration of SAX time series representation with a Bloom filter to develop a robust cache maintenance policy that allows us to over-come known challenges to a previously unsolved frequent pattern mining problem. Our contribution lies in the fact that we solve this problem for real-valued data, whereas only the discrete-valued case has been considered in the literature

Assessing Social Capital and Value Creation in Virtual Student Project Teams: Evidence from Online Management Courses

This study contributes to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning by expanding the investigative areas on the role of social capital in collaborative learning environments. This is done by examining aspired and experienced social capital in student reflections on team dynamics in online project teams and aligning student narratives to expected student outcomes. Within a value creation framework which is aligned to the four stages of team development, including forming, storming, norming, and performing in order to illuminate value creation experiences and aspirations of participants, the study covered 39 management education students in 8 online project teams spanning 3 courses at an East Coast US institution of higher learning from spring 2015 to spring 2016. Findings from 185 emerging themes suggest an alignment between social capital and student learning outcomes and appear to validate the explanatory strength of the value creation framework in relation to social capital as a value creator and as value created in learning communities. The findings demonstrate that social capital is both inherent and created in learning communities of the evaluated online project teams, and that social capital contributes to both individual and collective objectives of online project teams. Recommendations for online project team learners and instructors are discussed

The role of soil types in altering the response of arable agroecosystems to future rainfall patterns

Der anthropogene Klimawandel wird in Mitteleuropa weniger, aber schwerere Niederschlagsereignisse verursachen (IPCC 2007; IPCC 2013). In der vorliegenden Arbeit untersuchten wir die Auswirkungen des zukünftigen Niederschlagsmusters in Modell-Agrarökosystemen mit verschiedenen Bodentypen. Die Versuchsanlage am Stadtrand von Wien bestand aus 18 Lysimetern mit jeweils 3 m2. Die untersuchten Bodentypen, sandiger Phaeozem (S-Böden), Feuchtschwarzerde (F-Böden) und tiefgründige Schwarzerde (T-Böden), wurden schichtenweise an den Originalstandorten entnommen und in die Lysimeter gefüllt. Jeder der drei Bodentypen war sechsmal wiederholt. Die Hälfte der Böden wurde mit dem aktuellen langjährigen Niederschlagsmuster (C) bewässert, die andere Hälfte mit dem für 2071-2100 prognostizierten Niederschlagsmuster (D) mit ca. 1/3 reduzierter Niederschlagsintensität. In den Lysimetern wurde Pisum sativum und in der darauffolgenden Vegetationsperiode Triticum aestivum angebaut. Bodentypen und Niederschlagsmuster reduzierten Pflanzendichte, Ertrag, Ernteindex, Mykorrhizierung, Unkrautbefall und Biomasseproduktion, erhöhte aber im Weizen die Kohlenstoff-13 Isotop ( [delta]13C ). Das zukünftige Niederschlagsmuster führte in beiden Kulturen zur Verringerung des Blattflächenindex und dadurch zur Reduktionen von Wachstumsrate, Biomasseproduktion und Ertrag, während das Wurzelwachstum erhöht wurde. Die Verringerungen waren auf den S-Böden besonders ausgeprägt. Das zukünftige Niederschlagsmuster reduzierte die Abundanz der meisten oberirdischen Arthropoden-Taxa um mindestens 39%, erhöhte aber die Abundanz der Gastropoda um 69%. Die Bodentypen zeigten keinen signifikanten Effekt auf die Arthropodenabundanz. Die Unkrautdichte korrelierte signifikant mit der Abundanz fast aller Arthropoden-Taxa. Die ähnliche Reaktion von Erbse und Weizen auf das zukünftige Niederschlagsmuster lässt eine breitere Auswirkung des Klimawandels erwarten. Da der Bodentyp viele Agrarökosystem-Parameter signifikant beeinflusste, empfehlen wir, bei der Abschätzung der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf Agrarökosysteme künftig den Bodentyp stärker zu berücksichtigen.The impact of climate change is felt worldwide with different magnitude due to global warming. This global warming is expected to alter precipitation patterns with fewer, but heavier rainfall events prognosticated for the future in Central Europe (IPCC 2007; IPCC 2013). We tested this future rainfall patterns on different soil types to assess agroecosystem response using a huge lysimeter facility. The facility located at the outskirt of the city of Vienna comprised of 18 lysimeters each of 3m2. The soil types; calcaric phaeozem (S), gleyic phaeozen (F), and calcic chernozem (T) were carefully transported from the fields unaltered into the facility and arranged in 2 rows of 9 lysimeters, each in 3 repetitions. One row was supplied with the current rainfall pattern (C) while the other row was applied the future rainfall pattern (D) calculated by averaging the IPCC prognosticated rainfall patterns for the years 2071 and 2100, with 1/3 reduced rainfall intensity. The lysimeters were cultivated for two vegetative periods with Pisum sativum and Triticum aestivum successively, and agroecosystems parameters investigated. Soil types and rainfall both reduced crops density, yield, harvest index, AMF Mycorrhization, weeds infestation and biomass production but increased wheat carbon -13 isotopes ([delta]13C). The future rainfall patterns led to the reduction in the LAI of both crops, which further translated to the reduction in their growth rates, biomass productions and grain yields but increased the roots development. These changes were more pronounced on S Soils than on the other soil types. The above ground arthropods decreased with the future rainfall pattern by at least 39% for most taxa but increased by 69% for the Gastropoda. Soil type showed no significant effect on arthropods abundance while weed density correlated significantly with the abundance of almost all taxa. The similar response of both pea and wheat cultivar to future rainfall patterns indicates a broader impact of the future rainfall patterns across crop types. Likewise, the significant effect of soil types on most agroecosystem parameters means soil types could alter plants response to future rainfall patterns. Thus, we recommend that soil types should be considered more profoundly when evaluating the impact of climate change on agroecosystems.eingereicht von Dipl.-Ing. Dipl.-Ing. James Tabi TatawAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersZusammenfassung in deutscher SpracheUniversität für Bodenkultur Wien, Dissertation, 2016OeBB(VLID)193171