Master of Science / Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Todd W. Easton / With the present threat of bioterrorist attacks and new natural disease strains developing, efficient and effective countermeasures must be in place in case of an epidemic outbreak. The best strategy is to stop the attack or natural phenomenon before it happens, but governments and individual citizens must have measures in place to limit the spread of a biological threat or infectious disease if it is ever introduced into society. The objective of this research is to know, before an outbreak, the best quarantine areas. Quarantines force similar individuals together and can be mathematically modeled as clustering people into distinct groups. In order to effectively determine the clustering solution to use as a quarantine plan, this research developed a simulation core that is highly adaptable to different disease types and different contact networks. The input needed for the simulation core is the characteristics of the disease as well as the contact network of the area to be modeled. Clustering is a mathematical problem that groups entities based on their similarities while keeping dissimilar entities in separate groups. Clustering has been widely used by civilian and military researchers to provide quality solutions to numerous problems. This research builds a mathematical model to find clusters from a community’s contact network. These clusters are then the preplanned quarantine areas. To find quality clusters a Clustering Heuristic using Integer Programming (CHIP) is developed. CHIP is a large neighborhood, hill-climbing heuristic and some computational results verify that it quickly generates good clustering solutions. CHIP is an effective heuristic to group people into clusters to be used as quarantine areas prior to the development of a disease or biological attack. Through a small computational study, CHIP is shown to produce clustering solutions that are about 25% better than the commonly used K-means clustering heuristic. CHIP provides an effective tool to combat the spread of an infectious disease or a biological terroristic attack and serves as a potential deterrent to possible terrorist attacks due to the fact that it would limit their destructive power. CHIP leads to the next level of preparation that could save countless lives in the event of an epidemic.

Master of Science / Department of Programs in General Human Ecology / Karen S. Myers-Bowman / The alarming incidence of sex-related health problems among American adolescents has health educators searching for effective curricula-based programs aiming at behavioral changes. Such desire and urgent need to find or create programs and curricula that work have generated different approaches, philosophies, and educational strategies. However, this also may have produced a number of programs that have not benefited from a careful and thorough evaluation: neither evaluation of content, message, and cognitive and/or behavioral effect. The focus of this paper is on the curricula utilized in sexuality health programs in middle and high schools. Questions arise about the impact of these programs. Currently, abstinence-based programs are the only ones funded by the government. Research data does not convincingly show that abstinence-only sexuality education significantly decreases the number of adolescents engaging in sexual intercourse prior to marriage. This paper attempts to review current research about abstinence and comprehensive curricula. I begin by discussing the different approaches and their supporters. The importance of adolescent development and theory will be incorporated into my review. Effectiveness of each approach, as well as evaluation studies will be examined. From this review, I composed my own assessment of one abstinence-based curriculum and one comprehensive based curriculum.

Master of Public Health / Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology / Justin J. Kastner / David G. Renter / The history of veterinary medicine is intimately intertwined with duties to public health. This has remained true over centuries, and is becoming even more important with recent significant threats to public health. Despite this, the veterinary profession is failing to meet increasing needs for veterinarians trained in population medicine and public health, nationally and internationally. Current accreditation requirements for veterinary schools and colleges are vague with regard to public health education, leaving each college or school of veterinary medicine to implement its own perception of veterinary public health education. Is the public health education in veterinary curricula adequate among U.S. veterinary colleges and schools? Our inventory of the veterinary curricula in the 28 U.S. veterinary schools and colleges revealed inadequacies in veterinary public health education delivery. We found that most colleges and schools are lacking in the major veterinary public health subjects as recommended by the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and the World Health Organization. The issue of inadequacies, even deficiencies, within health professional curricula is not unique to the veterinary profession. What have other health professions proposed to correct their own perceived deficiencies within their educational curricula? We identified deficiencies and proposed solutions from three health professions and discussed their solutions as potential approaches to remedy the inconsistency in public health delivery in veterinary curricula. The dental profession addressed lack of faculty effectiveness with faculty development programs. The medical profession identified an outdated and irrelevant pre-medical curriculum and is currently considering reforming it. The chiropractic profession identified a lack of public health education in its curriculum and organized a standardized public health course. Health professions are similar in content of curricula and length of professional program. In addition, the health professions have similar pre-requisites. They also share similar challenges: faculty shortages, high student debt loads, and rising educational costs. Because of these similarities, solutions to perceived curricular deficiencies proposed in one health profession can be used to address deficiencies in other health professions. Therefore, the dental, medical, and chiropractic professions have proposed solutions that should be considered in addressing the veterinary profession's curricular deficiency of inadequacy in public health education.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Claude A. Keithley / This report examines what planners can do to increase healthy lifestyles within their communities by presenting development recommendations. In the beginning of the twentieth century the discipline of city planning was dedicated to stopping the spread of infectious diseases through improved sanitation and housing. Over the years planning separated from its origins in public health. Mobility and increased technology began to drive community development and planning, and our society created environments that devalue healthy lifestyles. A wide array of activities contribute to healthy lifestyles. Five characteristics have been shown to be the most promising in promoting health. They are regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, moderate alcohol consumption, not smoking, and a prudent diet. To achieve its purpose this report will explore the prevalence of adhering to healthy lifestyle characteristics and recount a brief history of community development that has contributed to decreased healthy lifestyle adherence. Through the review of past destructive practices and current initiatives to create healthy communities, a guide to community development for healthy lifestyles is laid out. This guide will allow communities to determine their location in the process of becoming a health conscious community and give them recommendations about what they can do to promote health.

Master of Science / Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology / Gary A. Anderson / Brucellosis is one of the major endemic zoonotic diseases worldwide, and it has history dating back to 1937 in Iraq when it was first isolated by an Iraqi physician. In order to establish a solution for the continuous devastating impacts of the disease in humans and livestock, the Brucellosis Control Program was established in 1995. The main responsibilities of this program were setting and implementing the appropriate strategies for controlling the disease. After the war in 2003, the United Nation organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO) developed a strategic plan to control the disease. The main goal of the project was to improve productivity in the livestock sector and reduce the prevalence of disease in small ruminants (sheep and goats) to less than 2%, and less than 0.2% in cattle and buffalo. Achieving such goals ultimately would reduce the disease incidence among the human population from more than 27.2 cases/100,000 persons in 2002, to less than 4 cases/100,000 people within 15 years. A serological surveillance was conducted and revealed the apparent prevalence of the disease in sheep and goats, cattle, buffalo, and camels was 6.51%, 1%, 1.48%, and 0.02%, respectively in Iraqi governorates except the three northern governorates of Kurdistan province . Based on surveillance results, a vaccination policy was the only appropriate strategy that could be chosen to control the disease. Four vaccination campaigns were implemented in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, with a total number of vaccinated animals each year at 10099972, 4698482, 753153, and 1833482 head, respectively. The primary satisfactory outcome of the program was the apparent decline in livestock abortions leading to obvious increases in productivity. Regarding the incidence of brucellosis among the human population, the apparent decline in the middle and south of Iraq began with the vaccination phase of the control program in 2006. The results represented a significant decrease in human cases after only four vaccination campaigns of a program that was intended to continue for 15 years.

Young people are often constructed in academic and lay explanations as an inherently risky population. They are the age group most likely to feature in public health statistics, especially those of intentional and unintentional injury. A common risk factor cited in these statistics is conflict within or breakdown of an inter-personal relationship, in particular intimate heterosexual relationships. Intimate relationships serve as markers of normal adulthood in New Zealand society, and many young people invest significantly in them for their emotional and material rewards. This study investigated the social processes and experiences that influence young adult New Zealanders' perceptions of their own and others' intimate relationships. It employed an inter-disciplinary framework of critical interpretive medical anthropology and a public health approach with a lifecourse perspective. A multi-interview method was used involving more than 90 people interviewed either in focus groups, as couples, or as individuals. Interviews focused on young people's ideas and experiences of healthy and unhealthy relationships, as well as the influence of families, friends, and popular culture on relationships. Intimate relationships are based on naturalised gender differences that work to construct men as masculine/active and women as feminine/passive and hide disparities based on gender within a discourse of equality. The ideal healthy relationship is based on ideas of individualism, emotional and material inter-dependence, and the addition of other social networks into a partner relationship. Families are primary sources of information about and models for relationships. Friends are significant in establishing an adult identity separate to one's parents. Both families and friends are emotional safety nets in times of relationship difficulties. Understandings of popular culture and its products are most commonly experienced through gendered romantic narratives. Because of their ubiquity and popularity, information produced by mass media is particularly influential for young people. Overall, young people reported that relationships are a considerable source of joy to them. However, when problems occur, they tend to revert to stereotypical and gendered cultural scripts rather than relying on individual knowledge. To mitigate the possible negative effects of these scripts, knowledge of the skills required to overcome relationships difficulties need to be made explicit and fostered by relevant public health and education policy and promotion activities. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Young people are often constructed in academic and lay explanations as an inherently risky population. They are the age group most likely to feature in public health statistics, especially those of intentional and unintentional injury. A common risk factor cited in these statistics is conflict within or breakdown of an inter-personal relationship, in particular intimate heterosexual relationships. Intimate relationships serve as markers of normal adulthood in New Zealand society, and many young people invest significantly in them for their emotional and material rewards. This study investigated the social processes and experiences that influence young adult New Zealanders' perceptions of their own and others' intimate relationships. It employed an inter-disciplinary framework of critical interpretive medical anthropology and a public health approach with a lifecourse perspective. A multi-interview method was used involving more than 90 people interviewed either in focus groups, as couples, or as individuals. Interviews focused on young people's ideas and experiences of healthy and unhealthy relationships, as well as the influence of families, friends, and popular culture on relationships. Intimate relationships are based on naturalised gender differences that work to construct men as masculine/active and women as feminine/passive and hide disparities based on gender within a discourse of equality. The ideal healthy relationship is based on ideas of individualism, emotional and material inter-dependence, and the addition of other social networks into a partner relationship. Families are primary sources of information about and models for relationships. Friends are significant in establishing an adult identity separate to one's parents. Both families and friends are emotional safety nets in times of relationship difficulties. Understandings of popular culture and its products are most commonly experienced through gendered romantic narratives. Because of their ubiquity and popularity, information produced by mass media is particularly influential for young people. Overall, young people reported that relationships are a considerable source of joy to them. However, when problems occur, they tend to revert to stereotypical and gendered cultural scripts rather than relying on individual knowledge. To mitigate the possible negative effects of these scripts, knowledge of the skills required to overcome relationships difficulties need to be made explicit and fostered by relevant public health and education policy and promotion activities. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Young people are often constructed in academic and lay explanations as an inherently risky population. They are the age group most likely to feature in public health statistics, especially those of intentional and unintentional injury. A common risk factor cited in these statistics is conflict within or breakdown of an inter-personal relationship, in particular intimate heterosexual relationships. Intimate relationships serve as markers of normal adulthood in New Zealand society, and many young people invest significantly in them for their emotional and material rewards. This study investigated the social processes and experiences that influence young adult New Zealanders' perceptions of their own and others' intimate relationships. It employed an inter-disciplinary framework of critical interpretive medical anthropology and a public health approach with a lifecourse perspective. A multi-interview method was used involving more than 90 people interviewed either in focus groups, as couples, or as individuals. Interviews focused on young people's ideas and experiences of healthy and unhealthy relationships, as well as the influence of families, friends, and popular culture on relationships. Intimate relationships are based on naturalised gender differences that work to construct men as masculine/active and women as feminine/passive and hide disparities based on gender within a discourse of equality. The ideal healthy relationship is based on ideas of individualism, emotional and material inter-dependence, and the addition of other social networks into a partner relationship. Families are primary sources of information about and models for relationships. Friends are significant in establishing an adult identity separate to one's parents. Both families and friends are emotional safety nets in times of relationship difficulties. Understandings of popular culture and its products are most commonly experienced through gendered romantic narratives. Because of their ubiquity and popularity, information produced by mass media is particularly influential for young people. Overall, young people reported that relationships are a considerable source of joy to them. However, when problems occur, they tend to revert to stereotypical and gendered cultural scripts rather than relying on individual knowledge. To mitigate the possible negative effects of these scripts, knowledge of the skills required to overcome relationships difficulties need to be made explicit and fostered by relevant public health and education policy and promotion activities. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Young people are often constructed in academic and lay explanations as an inherently risky population. They are the age group most likely to feature in public health statistics, especially those of intentional and unintentional injury. A common risk factor cited in these statistics is conflict within or breakdown of an inter-personal relationship, in particular intimate heterosexual relationships. Intimate relationships serve as markers of normal adulthood in New Zealand society, and many young people invest significantly in them for their emotional and material rewards. This study investigated the social processes and experiences that influence young adult New Zealanders' perceptions of their own and others' intimate relationships. It employed an inter-disciplinary framework of critical interpretive medical anthropology and a public health approach with a lifecourse perspective. A multi-interview method was used involving more than 90 people interviewed either in focus groups, as couples, or as individuals. Interviews focused on young people's ideas and experiences of healthy and unhealthy relationships, as well as the influence of families, friends, and popular culture on relationships. Intimate relationships are based on naturalised gender differences that work to construct men as masculine/active and women as feminine/passive and hide disparities based on gender within a discourse of equality. The ideal healthy relationship is based on ideas of individualism, emotional and material inter-dependence, and the addition of other social networks into a partner relationship. Families are primary sources of information about and models for relationships. Friends are significant in establishing an adult identity separate to one's parents. Both families and friends are emotional safety nets in times of relationship difficulties. Understandings of popular culture and its products are most commonly experienced through gendered romantic narratives. Because of their ubiquity and popularity, information produced by mass media is particularly influential for young people. Overall, young people reported that relationships are a considerable source of joy to them. However, when problems occur, they tend to revert to stereotypical and gendered cultural scripts rather than relying on individual knowledge. To mitigate the possible negative effects of these scripts, knowledge of the skills required to overcome relationships difficulties need to be made explicit and fostered by relevant public health and education policy and promotion activities. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Young people are often constructed in academic and lay explanations as an inherently risky population. They are the age group most likely to feature in public health statistics, especially those of intentional and unintentional injury. A common risk factor cited in these statistics is conflict within or breakdown of an inter-personal relationship, in particular intimate heterosexual relationships. Intimate relationships serve as markers of normal adulthood in New Zealand society, and many young people invest significantly in them for their emotional and material rewards. This study investigated the social processes and experiences that influence young adult New Zealanders' perceptions of their own and others' intimate relationships. It employed an inter-disciplinary framework of critical interpretive medical anthropology and a public health approach with a lifecourse perspective. A multi-interview method was used involving more than 90 people interviewed either in focus groups, as couples, or as individuals. Interviews focused on young people's ideas and experiences of healthy and unhealthy relationships, as well as the influence of families, friends, and popular culture on relationships. Intimate relationships are based on naturalised gender differences that work to construct men as masculine/active and women as feminine/passive and hide disparities based on gender within a discourse of equality. The ideal healthy relationship is based on ideas of individualism, emotional and material inter-dependence, and the addition of other social networks into a partner relationship. Families are primary sources of information about and models for relationships. Friends are significant in establishing an adult identity separate to one's parents. Both families and friends are emotional safety nets in times of relationship difficulties. Understandings of popular culture and its products are most commonly experienced through gendered romantic narratives. Because of their ubiquity and popularity, information produced by mass media is particularly influential for young people. Overall, young people reported that relationships are a considerable source of joy to them. However, when problems occur, they tend to revert to stereotypical and gendered cultural scripts rather than relying on individual knowledge. To mitigate the possible negative effects of these scripts, knowledge of the skills required to overcome relationships difficulties need to be made explicit and fostered by relevant public health and education policy and promotion activities. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.