In the passing decades, the monitoring of pavements and passing vehicles was developed vigorously with the growth of information and sensing technology. Pavement monitoring is an essential part of pavement research and plays an important role in transportation system. At the same time, the monitoring system about the traffic, such as Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) system and traffic classification system, also attracted lots of attention because of their importance in traffic statistics and management. The monitoring system in this dissertation combines the monitoring for pavements and traffic together with the same sensing network. For pavement health monitoring purpose, the modulus of the asphalt layer can be back-calculated based on the collected mechanical responses under corresponding environmental conditions. At the same time, the actually strain and stress in pavements induced by each passing vehicle are also used for pavement distress prediction. For traffic monitoring purpose, the horizontal strain traces are analyzed with a Gaussian model to estimate the speed, wandering position, weight and classification of each passing vehicle. The whole system, including the sensing network and corresponding analysis method, can monitor the pavement and the traffic simultaneously, and is called transportation monitoring system. This system has a high efficiency because of its low cost and easy installation; multi-functionality to provide many important information of transportation system. Many related studies were made to improve the prototyped transportation monitoring system. With the assistance of numerical simulation software ABAQUS and 3D-Move, the effect of many loading and environmental conditions, including temperature, vehicle speed, tire configuration and inflation pressure, are taken into consideration. A method was set up to integrate data points from many tests of similar environmental and loading conditions based on Gaussian model. Another method for consistent comparison of variable field sensor data was developed. It was demonstrated that variation in field measurement was due to uncontrollable environmental and loading factors, which may be accounted for by using laboratory test and numerical simulation based corrections. / Ph. D.

Local Health Departments (LHDs) are administrative unit of a local or state government, concerned with the health of a community or county. There are approximately 2,800 agencies or units that meet the profile definition of LHD. These LHDs vary in size and composition depending on the population they serve. However, all these communitybased agencies share a common mission of “protecting and improving community wellbeing by preventing disease, illness, and injury while impacting social, economic, and environmental factors fundamental to excellent health”. One of the ongoing challenge of a focus on community-level, population-based prevention is the manner in which local public health agencies have been funded. Most LHDs funding comes from federal funds, supplemented by state and local funds. Many of these funds come to LHDs through competitive grants programs. This study was therefore undertaken to investigate the sources of funding for the Local Public Health Agencies, according to geography specifically rurality. We utilized the data already compiled by the National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO) in 2013. The population served by these health agencies were compared to the funding sources, and one –way ANOVA to estimate the significance between these variables. Our dependent variables were assigned to be the funding sources, while the independent variables were the two population categories –rural and urban. A categorical variable reflecting three levels of rurality was constructed using RUCA codes. “Urban” included census tracts with towns with populations >50,000. “Large rural” included census tracts with towns of between 10,000 and 49,999 population and census tracts tied to these towns through commuting. “Small rural” included census tracts with small towns of fewer than 10,000 population, tracts tied to small towns, and isolated census tracts. Furthermore, we also determined the proportion of revenue from these funding sources received by these three population groups. All analyses were completed using SPSS. There were no differences in the amount of revenues received by both the large and small rural and urban agencies from the State & Federal sources (p value = 0.182). However, urban agencies receive more funding from Medicare and Medicaid services (19.9%) compared to small rural with 6.9% (p<0.001). Comparatively, the amount of revenue generated by rural agencies is just a fraction of what the urban agencies generate. Residents of rural areas in the United States tend to be older and poorer, report more risky health behaviors, have more barriers to accessing health care, and have worse health status and health outcomes than do their urban counterparts. These rural LHDs have fewer resources and face strenuous challenges in carrying out their activities of keeping the community safe due to limited revenues. Until public health agencies are firmly connected to payment and funding mechanisms across the health system, communities, the overall health system and accountable care organizations will not see the true benefits of population-focused, community-based, prevention services.

TITLE: Work, Health and the Economy: Examining Predictors of Early Retirement Among Older Canadian Workers OBJECTIVES: To investigate the contribution of socio-demographic, health, work, and health behaviour factors to the transition from work to early non-disability retirement among older Canadian workers during a period of economic recession compared to a period of non-recession. METHODS: A systematic scoping review was conducted to identify the predictors of early retirement reported in the published literature. This study also used data from Statistics Canada’s National Population Health Survey to explore the predictors of early retirement among two prospective cohorts of older Canadian workers aged 45-64 that spanned a non-recessionary economic period in Canada (cohort 1: 1994-1999) and a period which included an economic recession (cohort 2: 2006-2010). The impact of various factors on early retirement was examined using logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Findings from the systematic scoping review were used to construct a list of variables to explore as predictors in the model. Factors which were associated with higher transitions into early retirement included older age (cohort 1: OR=1.42; cohort 2: OR=1.31), living in Quebec (cohort 1: OR=2.26), occasional (cohort 1: OR=2.56) or regular drinking (cohort 1: OR=2.32), low job satisfaction (cohort 1: OR=3.42; cohort 2: OR=3.33), working part-time (cohort 1: OR=2.16; cohort 2: OR=2.26), and employment in public administration (cohort 1: OR=2.77). While being a woman (cohort 1: OR=0.59), immigrant (cohort 1: OR=0.57), and higher job security (cohort 1: OR=0.73) were associated with lower exits to early retirement. There were differences observed in the effects of occasional and regular drinking, and for living in Quebec, on early retirement between the two contrasting economic time periods. The comparison of the provincial effect suggested that early retirement varies to some extent with the provincial unemployment rate. CONCLUSIONS: Predictors of early retirement among older Canadian workers are multifactorial. Results suggest that factors beyond individual determinants may influence early retirement and future research is needed to better understand what aspects of the provincial context are driving retirement decisions. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Indices to assess malocclusion have been developed to serve a multitude of functions, from rating 'severity of malocclusion', to prioritizing orthodontic treatment for patients. These indices have been established and used, but many with significant inadequacies in their methods. Very few indices quantitatively look at characteristics of a patient to objectively assess treatment difficulty. No current published index uses all of the pretreatment diagnostic records in its assessment. A complete index of malocclusion with the objective analysis of all pretreatment records is needed to accurately quantify treatment need. Recently, an index of malocclusion was developed and validated at IUSD that evaluates a complete set of diagnostic records. Initially this index was found to be a valid measure of patients of non-Hispanic white descent in the permanent dentition. Later it was validated to patients of both mixed and permanent dentitions of various racial profiles. In the present study, pretreatment records (dental casts, intra-oral photographs, extra-oral photographs, panoramic radiograph, and a cephalogram) of 100 patients (48 mixed dentition, 52 permanent dentition) from the Indiana University Graduate Orthodontic Department were evaluated. The patients were selected from a group of completed cases that had been previously scored with the discrepancy index (DI). This data was used to select a group of patients that, as closely as possible, represented a comprehensive range of severity. Thirty-six measurements were scored and combined into a total score representing the new index for the permanent dentition. Thirty-three characteristics were totaled in a similar fashion for patients in the mixed dentition. The scores of the new index were compared to the average examiner scores of four experienced orthodontists. Statistical analysis showed significant correlations of the new index to the average examiner scores, as well as to the DI scores. It is the conclusion of this study that the new IUSD index is a valid measure of severity of malocclusion that correlates well with DI and reflects the rankings of experienced orthodontists.

The primary purpose of this study is to determine if certain lifestyle and health behaviors (e.g. smoking, physical activity, diet) in the medically underserved population have any influence on particular health statuses. This study also looked to determine if these health behaviors resulted in particular medical aliments being more prevalent or specific to this community. The secondary purpose of this study aims to gain information that may help health care providers practicing in this community to earlier identify risk factors in patients before a medical problem becomes more severe, difficult and expensive to treat. A survey, adapted from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), was created to allow for the collection of descriptive statistical data. The survey contains questions on the various topics of diet, physical activity, chronic diseases, and self-perception of overall health status. The survey was distributed to 20 older adult participants at Hebni Nutrition, LLC, all from disadvantaged backgrounds. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Of the 20 surveys collected, about half of the respondents reported consuming close to the recommended fruit and vegetable servings and participating in regular physical activity. Furthermore, the participants reported rates of diabetes and hypertension well above average. This study's results were inconclusive as to whether any specific health behaviors among medically underserved individuals influence the prevalence of chronic diseases in this population; more likely a combination of many factors and overall poorer health habits that persist over a lifetime are contributors to chronic diseases among the medically underserved population.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The present study involved the implementation of one component, Community Health Status Assessment, of a comprehensive, strategic planning tool, Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP), to qualitatively uncover the perceptions of the quality of life and local health care system of 28 residents in New River Valley (NRV), Virginia. The current study represents the initial qualitative study utilizing MAPP in Virginia. Interviewees perceived an overall good quality of life (e.g., ample green space, safe neighborhoods), with an urgent need for health care reform, affordable insurance, and transportation, particularly for after-hours medical care. The current study also reviews the specific findings from the one-on-one interviews, and provides a step-by-step look at the MAPP process for potential users as applied to a real-world community, specifically, the NRV. / Ph. D.