Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus has a human mortality rate of 30% of those cases diagnosed, while 30% of those surviving infection remain with neurological sequelae for life (CDC.gov, 2007). The use of sentinel chickens for surveillance of arboviruses that are known to use birds as a reservoir host, such as St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE), West Nile (WN) virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and Highlands J (HJ) virus, in Florida began with the Sentinel Chicken Arboviral Surveillance Network in 1978 (Day and Stark, 1996). This network enables the activation of an early warning system for citizens, as well as, county epidemiologists and those in mosquito control, allowing for a coordinated effort of disease prevention. Methods currently used at the Florida Department of Health, Tampa Branch Laboratory include screening of submitted sera for antibodies to these arboviruses of epidemiologic importance by way of the hemagglutination inhibition test (HAI), and confirmation by the IgM antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAC-ELISA) and Plaque Reduction Neutralization test if the MAC-ELISA proves to be negative. While these tests combined are providing the results needed, the time to result can be a week or greater depending on the initial screening result in the HAI tests. The Microsphere Assay Technology provides an accurate, more rapid (a day or two instead of a week or more) detection method including both a screening and confirmation protocol specifically designed to test for antibody to EEE in sentinel chicken sera. Two sera out of the thousands tested that were tested by HAI shown to be negative in standard testing, resulted as positive by the MIA method and therefore indicated a missed positive. The sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive values of this new protocol as compared with MAC-ELISA as a reference standard indicated that both tests were remarkably similar; Providing sensitivity near 80%, specificity and PPV at 99%, and negative predictive values at 90% for MAC-ELISA and 94% for the MIA. Finally it was determined that Highlands J virus will not have any impact on the testing protocol and results of this test.

The emergence of West Nile virus (WNV) has raised important questions about the capacity of the public health infrastructure to implement surveillance and control programs for WNV and other emerging or re-emerging arboviruses in the United States. Florida's mild climate supports year round enzootic transmission of WNV, St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), and Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV). It is unknown what effect the establishment of WNV (in 2001) will have on SLEV transmission in Florida, where these closely related flaviviruses share amplifying hosts, habitats, and vectors. An Arbovirus Isolation Network was formed to obtain and characterize arbovirus strains collected from a large population of naturally exposed birds, including sentinel chickens and wild birds admitted to rehabilitation centers in Florida. Weekly sentinel seroconversion data was used to target sampling of chicken flocks at 37 active sites (17 WNV, 7 EEEV, and 13 SLEV) in eight counties from 224 birds during 2005-2006. Sampling of wild birds occurred following admittance at rehabilitation centers in 2006, based on symptoms and known amplifying host species (n=64), but virus was not detected. We report the isolation of St. Louis encephalitis virus, West Nile virus and detection of Eastern Equine Encephalitis viral RNA from cloacal swabs of naturally exposed adult sentinel chickens. We also report the first known dual infection and isolation of St. Louis encephalitis and West Nile viruses from one chicken. In addition, a novel flavivirus strain was detected in two chickens. Early season transmission of WNV appears to limit subsequent infection and amplification of SLEV late in the year. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the introduction (and re-introduction) of South American (Brazil) SLEV occurred in 1972 and 2006 in Florida. These strains represent the first reported isolation of South American strains of SLEV in the United States, with placement in Lineage VA and VB, as proposed by Kramer and Chandler (2001). Arbovirus isolation remains an effective tool for surveillance programs and a targeted strategy is most cost-effective to capture arboviruses in their natural settings for molecular epidemiology analysis that can elucidate genetic variations impacting virulence, mosquito infectivity, and disease potential of these pathogens.

During the last quarter of the twentieth century, there has been a significant expansion in the means by which parents in the United States might use technologies to watch their children. Watching and worrying about children are not new to the job of parenthood, but the ways of watching now available to parents represents a change of degree so great as to represent a change in kind. The parental gaze has become technologized. This dissertation investigates what happens when man-made devices insert themselves into this most basic of human endeavors. Parenting desires, social expectations, and technological capacities have co-evolved in the United States to a point where the norms of parental watching are increasingly technology-based. This is a "mixed methods," cross-case study. It delves into the particulars of three distinct media while looking for patterns of use and effects across the different technologies. The core of this investigation is three case studies of particular surveillance technologies that all came to prominence, in terms of their popularity or frequency of use, in the United States in the last thirty years. The three subjects of these case studies--fetal ultrasound, Eisenberg, Murkoff, and Hathaway's 1984 pregnancy advice and guide book What to Expect When You're Expecting, and baby monitors--are all media that offer parents the opportunity to be better and less anxious parents by enhancing their powers of parenting observation. They form an optical--textual--acoustic triad that demonstrates the breadth of media that are enlisted into surveillance practices. These new anxiety technologies change thinking, perceptions, and attitudes. They serve both to introduce new human capacities and to direct and to mold existing capacities. They have also helped to change our ideas of what is possible. A few overarching characteristics of American parental thinking have helped to pushed surveillance to prominence. Middle class American parents of the last quarter of the twentieth century have come to feel that the world is a more dangerous place for their children. They perceive their offspring as more vulnerable to dangers and as less capable of avoiding these dangers on their own. Parents also feel an increased sense of personal responsibility for the safety of their children. It is not that that contemporary parents have warmer or deeper feelings toward their children, but rather that contemporary parents believe that they both can and should control a much broader range of dangers to their children than parents in the past believed they could control. The "anxiety technologies" of this study serve in part to bring home to their users the riskiness of parenting and the vulnerability of the fetus/infant. These technologies have come to promote responsibility expansion, efficiency orientation, and risk focus for parents. While these technologies do provide parents with a great deal more focused information, many of the perceived enhancements in powers to effect outcomes are presumptive, illusory effects of actual increases in information. Information without influence is as likely to contribute to anxiety as to power.

Background: Objectification theory considers how gender and culture intersect to position women at a greater risk of developing eating disorders, depression, and sexual dysfunction. Self-objectification is defined as the internalization of a third person perspective to view one’s own body, which then leads to mental health consequences of anxiety, body shame, insensitivity to internal drives, and decreased peak motivational states. Body surveillance, the habitual and constant monitoring of the body, denotes the behavioral manifestation of self-objectification. Altogether, the accumulation of objectifying experiences and mental health consequences heighten women’s risks of developing the aforementioned mental disorders. Rationale: Extant experimental and correlational research supports objectification theory, in particular regarding eating disorders and depression. Research into the effects of social media on mental health is a relatively new frontier, thus gaps exist in the current body of literature. This study endeavored to contribute to the existing research base by employing qualitative methods to impart women’s personal descriptions of the experience of self-objectification and its proposed consequences in relation to social media use. Purpose of the Study: The purpose of the study was to explore how women’s social media consumption contributes to self-objectification, body surveillance, appearance comparison, body shame, and appearance-based self-worth. Also, the study sought to understand if women perceived themselves differently when they were not using social media platforms. Methods: Fifteen women completed the Social Media Use and Activities Questionnaire and the in-depth, semi-structured interview. The questionnaire assessed women’s active social media accounts, frequency of social media use, and social media behaviors. The interview protocol contained questions designed to extract explanations of constructs from objectification theory such as self-objectification, body surveillance, and body shame. A multilevel thematic data analysis was performed. Results: All of the individuals interviewed were heavy social media users based on the frequency of use (66.7% visit platforms several times daily), as well as the number of accounts operated (minimum of 4). Indicative of self-objectification and body surveillance, women emphasized the importance of how their physical appearance and body attributes are portrayed on social media sites. Also consistent with the definition of self-objectification, women expressed concerns about perceptions, reactions, and disapproval from others on social media regarding their physical appearance. Three additional modalities of body surveillance surfaced including: (1) using filters to enhance or modify the appearance of skin in pictures; (2) posing to accentuate facial features, hairstyles, and body attributes; and (3) women’s personal criteria regarding uploading and “tagging” of appearance-based pictures shared on social media. Findings strongly suggest women compare their physical appearances, features, and bodies to other women. Beauty ideals are determined by evaluating the number of individuals associated with other women’s social media accounts, as well as the distribution of ‘likes’ and positive comments written by people on their appearance-focused content. Five women recollected comparing their appearances and bodies to others, engaging in body surveillance, and feeling as if their own body and appearance failed to comply with beauty ideals, which then led to the experience of feeling body shame. Low self-esteem, depression, disordered eating, compulsive exercise, or bulimia nervosa were cited as reasons for deletion, temporary deactivation, or taking breaks from social media. Refraining from using social media was associated with feeling less pressured, engaging in less comparisons overall, being more mindful of the present moment, and relaxing standards for personal appearances. Conclusions: This study generated contextually rich, in-depth descriptions which illustrated women’s experiences with self-objectification, body surveillance, appearance comparisons, body shame, and appearance-based self-worth in the virtual world of social media. Based on results from this study, objectification theory is clearly applicable to women’s social media use and there is definitive need for future research to address the effects of social media consumption on mental health, particularly among younger generations. Meanwhile, primary prevention initiatives should educate people about the process of self-objectification and its associated consequences, as well as teach resistance strategies. Learning how to deconstruct media content, critically analyze others' online portrayals, and build self-esteem and self-worth may impede self-objectification and its negative mental health effects. Furthermore, public health campaigns should build upon the momentum of the body positivity movement. Known to young women as “BoPo,” this movement encourages women to see themselves as more than their bodies, inspires self-acceptance, and empowers them to be unapologetic and celebrate their body in its current form without adhering to societal beauty norms. These messages are instrumental to dismantling beauty ideals, exhibiting inclusivity of all body types, and mitigating the effects of sexual objectification of the female body.

No description available.

The aim of this study was to develop improved methods to detect viable Coxiella burnetii in wastes from livestock production. The impetus for this work arose because there is a significant risk of infection for humans attributed to contact with waste products from the livestock production industry. This situation is further compounded by the lack of suitable tools to detect viable C. burnetii in these wastes. In addition, effective disinfection strategies for livestock wastes are also required to reduce the risk of infection with C. burnetii for individuals that come into contact with these waste products. A quantitative real-time PCR system (qPCR) with high sensitivity and specificity was developed to detect the C. burnetii in environmental samples associated with domestic ruminants and native Australian marsupials. Different detection chemistries and procedures were evaluated based on their sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility. Overall it was found that the TaqMan PCR targeting the IS1111a locus provided the most sensitive and reproducible test. The Geneworks PowerSoil(tm) DNA isolation kit provided the best compromise between reproducibility and recovery of DNA from livestock wastes. When combined, the IS1111a TaqMan qPCR and Geneworks PowerSoil DNA Extraction Kit provided a test which was capable of detecting as few as two C. burnetii genome equivalents in 0.2g of soil or faeces. Coxiella burnetii has been shown to display extreme resistance to environmental exposure. Therefore, assessment of the viability of the organism in environmental matrices is more useful for risk assessment programs than detection of DNA alone. A quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR was developed that was able to detect viable C. burnetii cells in soil. The sensitivity of the assay was enhanced by heat-treating the soil samples prior to extraction of RNA. The factor most often associated with transfer of C. burnetii to humans is exposure to livestock or their waste. Therefore, decontamination of waste from livestock production industries is a key factor in preventing outbreaks of Q fever. A system was developed to determine the efficacy of various disinfectant treatments against the environmental pathogen C. burnetii. Treatments evaluated included sodium hypochlorite, ozone, ultraviolet light, peracetic acid (PAA), and Virkon S®. Sodium hypochlorite at a concentration of 0.1 mM reduced the infectivity of C. burnetii by over 92% while treatment with the same sodium hypochlorite concentration in wastewater showed significantly reduced efficacy. Despite this reduced potency, sodium hypochlorite is still useful for control of C. burnetii in the liquid waste of animal production. Commercially available ELISA and CFT assays exist for ruminants but there are no immunological tests available for detecting C. burnetii in marsupials even though Australian marsupials are known to be susceptible to C. burnetii. An indirect ELISA for detecting anti-Coxiella antibodies in kangaroos was developed. Paired serum and faecal samples were taken from 379 ruminants from Western Australia and the serum was tested with a commercially available ELISA and the complement fixation test while the faeces was tested using the qPCR developed during this study. Paired serum and faecal samples were taken from 343 kangaroos from WA and were tested with the antibody-ELISA developed during this study and by qPCR. A very low prevalence of anti-Coxiella antibodies was observed in the ruminants sampled and results from immunological tests correlated poorly with qPCR data. The development of an ELISA for use with kangaroo serum was problematic because of the lack of reference sera from animals known to be infected with C. burnetii. Despite this results from the ELISA developed suggested that the apparent seroprevalence in the WA animals surveyed was approximately 34%. Results from testing kangaroo faeces with the qPCR correlated poorly with the results from the antibody-ELISA. These data suggest that kangaroos may be a significant reservoir of C. burnetii in Western Australia and due to cohabitation of kangaroos and domestic ruminants, may provide a link between the wildlife and domestic cycles of C. burnetii.

L'environnement professionnel est une source multifactorielle d'expositions où des nuisances d'origine industrielle, chimique ou toxique interagissent pour produire des effets néfastes sur la santé. Le Réseau National de Vigilance et de Prévention des Pathologies Professionnelles (RNV3P) est une base de données où des médecins spécialistes enregistrent des Problèmes de Santé au Travail (PST) à la suite d'un interrogatoire professionnel avec le patient. Un PST est défini comme l'association entre une pathologie et des expositions professionnelles multiples (1 à 5 nuisances, un métier et un secteur d'activité). Les objectifs consistent à développer une approche prenant en compte la multi-exposition professionnelle pour surveiller et détecter les PST potentiellement émergents. Ce travail débute par l'investigation des méthodes et outils statistiques existants pour la surveillance et la détection des événements sanitaires émergents. Nous décrivons ensuite la base de données du RNV3P, son activité et les travaux de recherche déjà réalisés, puis définissons le concept d'émergence au sens des données du RNV3P. Dans un premier temps, nous avons développé une approche basée sur les réseaux relationnels, appelée "Exposomes", qui permet de caractériser et surveiller les expositions professionnelles simples ou multiples potentiellement en cause dans la survenue de la pathologie. A partir du processus d'enregistrement des PST, nous avons dans un deuxième temps développé des travaux de modélisation, appelés "Fonctions Expertes", et construit une stratégie pour détecter des Problèmes de Santé au Travail potentiellement émergents.

<p>Att göra det som förväntas av en, att inte sticka ut, leder i samband med en tilltagande övervakning till en ökad konformitet. En av anledningarna till detta skall vara individens drift att passa in, att vara socialt önskvärd. Detta var ett grundantagande inför den experimentella hypotesprövning som ligger till grund för aktuell studie. Även liknande studier i ämnet har bekräftat detta antagande vilket framgått av litteraturgenomgången inför studien. Urvalet var ett tillgänglighetsurval bestående av högskolestudenter i olika åldrar och av olika kön. Uppnådda resultat var inte de förväntade vilket i sig är intressant och torde kunna leda in den framtida forskningen på nya fält.</p>

Diabetes is a growing public health issue in Canada, and this concern is now extending to children and adolescents. Our goal was to conduct research projects aimed at pediatric diabetes surveillance in Alberta, Canada. To identify diabetes cases, we applied the National Diabetes Surveillance System (NDSS) case definition to retrospectively-collected, population-based datasets. Our first objective was to assess the regional variation in diabetes incidence and prevalence across urban and rural areas between 1995-2007. After observing an unexpected decrease in diabetes incidence between 2002-2006, our second objective was to investigate a possible association with changes in physician remuneration through Alternate Relationship Plans (ARPs) that may have affected the number of diabetes cases identified from administrative data. Our results indicated that there was no regional variation in diabetes incidence and prevalence over the period of study and that there was no association between ARPs and the observed decline in incident diabetes cases. / Epidemiology

The purpose of this study was to compare the health profiles of women seeking residential treatment for substance abuse with women in the community. These 2 data sets consisted of a total of 621 participants. An additional aim of the present study was to examine whether these health profiles differ between the monosubstance abusing and polysubstance abusing women within the treatment group. There were a total of 257 participants in this group. All analyses controlled for the effects of age, insurance, marital status, employment and race/ethnicity. Binary logistic regressions were used to compare between and within the specified groups on the following variables: asthma, dyslipidemia, diabetes, Hepatitis B vaccination, HIV testing, hypertension, Pap smear testing, mental health problems, overweight/obesity and smoking. A follow-up analyses examined whether differences in the variables could be explained by the effects of specific control variables. Results suggested that differences in four outcomes might be explained by a single or smaller number of specific control variables. The overall results revealed that age was one of the strongest predictors of differences between the treatment and community group. When we controlled for age, marital status, low socioeconomic status (insurance, employment) and ethnicity we found that only two variables were significantly different. Women in residential showed significantly more smoking and mental health symptoms than were found in the community sample. There were no significant differences in the health profiles of polysubstance substance abusing than were found in monosubstance abusing women. The findings of the present study indicate that women seeking treatment are individuals with similar health disorders and health maintaining behaviors as the general population of women. However, women seeking treatment have significant increases in mental health disorders and smoking. Older age was related to increases in the odds of having dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, and decreases in the odds of being immunized for Hepatitis B, tested for HIV, and having a Pap test in the last year. Due to anticipated-age related disorders, screening for dyslipidemia, diabetes, and hypertension should be provided for older women seeking admission to treatment. Substance abuse treatment centers for women should provide for mental health services and offer smoking cessation.