Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 46-01, page: 0344. Adviser: Patricia Dolan Mullen. Includes bibliographical references (leaves xx-xx).

published_or_final_version / abstract / Community Medicine / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Given a global online sample of Black men (n=194) who responded to a social media campaign and completed the study, the convenience sample of Black males (N=194) was mostly married (N=147, 75.85%), had a mean age of 49.53 years (min 40, max 76, SD=8.73), and was well educated; 24.7% (n=48) had an Associate Degree, 20.6% (n=40) had a Bachelor’s, 18% (n=35) had a Master’s, and 5.2% (n=10) had a Doctorate. The mean annual income was 4.21 for category 4 of $40,000-$49,999 (min 1, max 9, SD=1.64). Most of the participants were employed (n=188, 96.9%) and born in the United States (n=152, 78.4%). As a reflection of a global sample, if not a sample of men born in Ghana (77.3%, n=194) who were now dispersed across the globe, over two-thirds (77.3%) were born in Ghana while 78.4% (n=152) were currently living in the United States; 15.5% (n=30) were currently living in Ghana, followed by 5.1 (n=10) currently living in other countries. Key findings showed that, as a brief intervention of taking the PC-S-KT-39, as per results of four paired t-tests (Bonferroni Adjustment Significance, .05/4, p=.013), this was associated with a significant increase from pre-knowledge test to post-knowledge test (p<.000; Bonferroni Adjustment Significance, .05/4, p=.013) for (a) knowledge of prostate cancer and screening (t=-8.475, df=193, p=.000); (b) self-efficacy for talking to doctor about prostate cancer and screening (t=-9.098, df=193, p=.000); (c) knowledge of Vitamin D screening and supplementation (t=-9.748, df=193, p=.000); and (d) self-efficacy for talking about Vitamin D screening and supplementation (t=-9.384, df=193, p=.000). The study demonstrated how there is great value in contemporary times in using an online social media campaign, posting and distributing flyers in community venues (barber shops, churches), snowballing, and using smart phones to conduct global online research. Given these findings, wide dissemination via the Internet of a link to the new Prostate Cancer and Screening Knowledge Test (PC-S-KT-39) is justified. If men such as those in this study disseminate the link, the impact may be global indeed.

In the medical science, the receiving operationg characteristic (ROC) curve is a graphical representation to evaluate the accuracy of a medical diagnostic test for any cut-off point. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) is an overall performance measure for a diagnostic test. There are two parts in this dissertation. In the first part, we study the properties of bi-Exponentiated Weibull models. FIrst, we derive a general moment formula for single Exponentiated Weibull models. Then we move on to derive the precise formula of AUC and study the maximus likelihood estimation (MLE) of the AUC. Finally, we obtain the asymptotoc distribution of the estimated AUC. Simulation studies are used to check the performance of MLE of AUC under the moderate sample sizes. The second part fo the dissertation is to study the estimation of AUC under the crossing model, which extends the AUC formula in Gonen and Heller (2007). / by Fazhe Chang. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

As the population ages, osteoporosis-related fractures represent a major and costly public health concern that is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in the United States, particularly in postmenopausal women [1]. A Surgeon General’s Reported has pointed out the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of bone diseases [2]. Treatment is typically indicated based on a bone mineral density (BMD) value of osteoporosis or a prior fragility fracture. Of note, many fragility fractures occur in postmenopausal women with non-osteoporotic BMD values. More significantly, a prior fragility fracture, particularly a prevalent vertebral fracture (VF), is a strong predictor for the elevated risk of subsequent fractures [3-7]. Hence, early identification of VFs is of great importance for initiating pharmacological therapy in women who may not otherwise be treated in order to prevent future fractures. VFs are often subclinical which require additional efforts to identify these fractures [8]. Lateral dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning of the entire spine for vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) has been proposed by the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) as an alternative of x-ray for the diagnosis of VFs [9]. Also, the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) has provided guidelines when VFA should be performed [10]. However, the effectiveness of VFA as a screening tool for the identification of prevalent VFs is unclear and the cost-effectiveness of VFA is unknown, both limiting the implementation of VFA into routine care. Therefore, I conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, the results of which have shown that the weighted pooled prevalence of VFA-detected VFs in asymptomatic women was 28%. Given that VFA is effective, I further evaluated the cost-effectiveness of VFA as a screening tool to reduce future osteoporotic fracture risk in U.S. postmenopausal women. The reference-case analysis has shown that VFA has the greatest cost-saving when the screening is initiated at age 65 years and with follow-up screening every 5 years. These findings support the NOF guidelines for the diagnostic use of VFA. There are some women with increased risk for secondary osteoporosis who may not be eligible for BMD or VFA screening due to their younger age, for example, women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Therefore, an accurate fracture risk assessment tool is an important component in the management of bone health in HIV-infected women. The interests of validating the predictive accuracy of FRAX® (a widely accepted fracture risk prediction tool in general population [11]) arose from the reported poor performance of FRAX in older HIV-infected men [12]. I validated FRAX performance in HIV-infected women using the Women’s Interagency HIV study (WIHS), suggesting that FRAX also underestimated fracture risk in HIV-infected women, but improved with the addition of DXA parameters. The results of the above studies demonstrate the potential role of VFA in reducing future fracture risk in women with prevalent VFs and the cost-effectiveness of incorporating VFA into routine screening for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Data were also provided for improving the fracture prediction in people with secondary osteoporosis using HIV infection as a model. These data may inform clinicians, policy makers and insurers on the benefit of including disease specific risk factors for fracture prediction and VF identification tools in the fight to prevent osteoporosis related fractures.

<p>This study aimed to explore the attitudes to HIV testing among a group of black, low socio-economic status pregnant women from Gugulethu, South Africa. The key research interest was to evaluate the attitudes and understandings of HIV/AIDS that underpin the decision to comply or not comply with prenatal HIV testing. Theories of health behaviour concur that the extent to which an individual will engage in a given health behaviour, such as HIV test compliance, will be a function of the extent to which a person believes she is personally susceptible to the particular illness and her evaluation of the severity of the consequences of contracting the disease.</p>

<p>A 3D microwave imaging system suitable for clinical trials has been developed. The anatomy, histology, and pathology of breast cancer were all carefully considered in the development of this system. The central component of this system is a breast imaging chamber with an integrated 3D antenna array containing 36 custom designed bowtie patch antennas that radiate efficiently into human breast tissue. 3D full-wave finite element method models of this imaging chamber, complete with full antenna geometry, have been developed using Ansoft HFSS and verified experimentally. In addition, an electronic switching system using Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) absorptive RF multiplexer chips, a custom hardware control system with a parallel port interface utilizing TTL logic, and a custom software package with graphical user interface using Java and LabVIEW have all been developed. Finally, modeling of the breast (both healthy and malignant) was done using published data of the dielectric properties of human tissue, confirming the feasibility of cancer detection using this system.</p> / Dissertation

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-03, Section: B, page: 1623. Adviser: Luisa Franzini. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80).

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 47-06, page: 3544. Advisers: John R. Herbold; Sharon Cooper. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health