COHE 7237 - Rural Community Health Issues

A study of social, economic, political, and cultural influences that impact the health of individuals and families in rural communities. Designed for health professionals, this course focuses on improving health status and developing culturally appropriate and effective interventions and services in rural settings

The Diffuse Source at the Center of LMC SNR 0509-67.5 is a Background Galaxy at z = 0.031

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are well-known for their use in the measurement of cosmological distances, but our continuing lack of concrete knowledge about their progenitor stars is both a matter of debate and a source of systematic error. In our attempts to answer this question, we presented unambiguous evidence that LMC SNR 0509-67.5, the remnant of an SN Ia that exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud 400 +/- 50 years ago, did not have any point sources (stars) near the site of the original supernova explosion, from which we concluded that this particular supernova must have had a progenitor system consisting of two white dwarfs (Schaefer & Pagnotta 2012). There is, however, evidence of nebulosity near the center of the remnant, which could have been left over detritus from the less massive WD, or could have been a background galaxy unrelated to the supernova explosion. We obtained long-slit spectra of the central nebulous region using GMOS on Gemini South to determine which of these two possibilities is correct. The spectra show H-alpha emission at a redshift of z = 0.031, which implies that the nebulosity in the center of LMC SNR 0509-67.5 is a background galaxy, unrelated to the supernova.Comment: 2 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

COHE 7237 - Rural Community Health Issues

A study of social, economic, political, and cultural influences that impact the health of individuals and families in rural communities. Designed for health professionals, this course focuses on improving health status and developing culturally appropriate and effective interventions and services in rural settings

Flood Fatalities in the United States

This study compiles a nationwide database of flood fatalities for the contiguous United States from 1959 to 2005. Assembled data include the location of fatalities, age and gender of victims, activity and/or setting of fatalities, and the type of flood events responsible for each fatality report. Because of uncertainties in the number of flood deaths in Louisiana from Hurricane Katrina, these data are not included in the study. Analysis of these data reveals that a majority of fatalities are caused by flash floods. People between the ages of 10 and 29 and 60 yr of age are found to be more vulnerable to floods. Findings reveal that human behavior contributes to flood fatality occurrences. These results also suggest that future structural modifications of flood control designs (e.g., culverts and bridges) may not reduce the number of fatalities nationwide. Spatially, flood fatalities are distributed across the United States, with high-fatality regions observed along the northeast Interstate-95 corridor, the Ohio River valley, and near the Balcones Escarpment in south-central Texas. The unique distributions found are likely driven by both physical vulnerabilities for flooding as well as the social vulnerabilities

The Storm Morphology of Deadly Flooding Events in the United States

This study investigates the synoptic and mesoscale environments associated with deadly flooding events in the United States from 1996 to 2005. A manual environment classification scheme, which includes analyses of surface charts, 500 hPa maps, and composite radar data (where available), is utilized to ascertain the primary ascent mechanisms and storm types producing these fatal flood events. Of the ten classifications in the scheme, the two most dominant ascent mechanisms associated with deadly floods include frontal boundaries (45%) and tropical systems (22%). Findings illustrate that mesoscale convective systems were responsible for 36% of the total number of flood fatalities over the period. The ten classifications are spatially and temporally analysed in order to assess region-specific risks associated with deadly flooding events

HPLC Analysis of Amino Acids in Algae

Undergraduate Basi

Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Tornado Fatalities in the United States: 1880-2005

A dataset of killer tornadoes is compiled and analyzed spatially in order to assess region-specific vulnerabilities in the United States from 1880 to 2005. Results reveal that most tornado fatalities occur in the lower–Arkansas, Tennessee, and lower–Mississippi River valleys of the southeastern United States—a region outside of traditional “tornado alley.” Analysis of variables including tornado frequency, land cover, mobile home density, population density, and nocturnal tornado probabilities demonstrates that the relative maximum of fatalities in the Deep South and minimum in the Great Plains may be due to the unique juxtaposition of both physical and social vulnerabilities. The spatial distribution of these killer tornadoes suggests that the above the national average mobile home density in the Southeast may be a key reason for the fatality maximum found in this area. A demographic analysis of fatalities during the latter part of the database record illustrates that the middle aged and elderly are at a much greater risk than are younger people during these events. Data issues discovered during this investigation reveal the need for a concerted effort to obtain critical information about how and where all casualties occur during future tornado and hazardous weather events. These new, enhanced data, combined with results of spatially explicit studies exploring the human sociology and psychology of these hazardous events, could be utilized to improve future warning dissemination and mitigation techniques

PUBH 4133 - Health Promotion Program Planning II

Introduces students to additional theory and application of community-based program planning and evaluation. The second of a two-course sequence, the focus will be on program implementation, evaluation, and reporting of the health promotion plan developed during the prior semester. Students will gain first-hand experience in conducting an evaluation of community health education program. Prerequisite(s): A minimum grade of “C” in HLTH 4132

PUBH 4133 - Health Promotion Program Planning II

Introduces students to additional theory and application of community-based program planning and evaluation. The second of a two-course sequence, the focus will be on program implementation, evaluation, and reporting of the health promotion plan developed during the prior semester. Students will gain first-hand experience in conducting an evaluation of community health education program. Prerequisite(s): A minimum grade of “C” in HLTH 4132

Racial Exemplars And Their Effects On The Race-Implicit Association Test

Research on prejudice has long been skewed by participants’ ability to monitor their reactions on overt measures of such attitudes. Accordingly, researchers created an implicit measure to study prejudice (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). The Implicit Association Test (IAT) was thus developed. Though the IAT has long been purported as the only ‘true’ measure of participants’ feelings and cognitions, recent research has suggested the measure is not as infallible as once purported (e.g., Smith & Zarate, 1990). The purpose of this study was to integrate existing research on exemplars and how they affect scores on the IAT. Results showed that priming participants with racial exemplars that vary in terms of stereotypicality and valence had little effect on Race-IAT scores. Further, contrary to previous research, significant differences between African American and European American participants on the Race-IAT did emerge