Research Posters

Children and adults with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) experience health care inequities, such as difficulty accessing 

Because children experience rapid developmental changes in early life, many factors can effect their development. Unfavorable environments in the home can contribute to unfavorable outcomes during development. By using dust wipe analysis, predictors of metal exposure can be identified along with predicting biological outcomes in children.

About half of the stroke survivors are left with some degree of disability. Innovative methodologies for restorative neurorehabilitation are urgently required to reduce long-term disability. The cause of stroke is characterized by the obstruction of blood flow to the brain thereby hindering the supply of oxygen and nutrients. About half of the stroke survivors are left with some degree of disability. One significant feature of the nervous system is the neuroplasticity which is involved in post-stroke functional disturbances, but also in rehabilitation. Beneficial neuroplastic changes may be facilitated with metabolic changes which is reflected in the hemodynamic response due to the neurovascular coupling. Thus, imaging the brain serves as a promising translatable tool to enhance the understanding of the brain functionalities during rehabilitation. We are developing a computational tool for low cost neuroimaging during a virtual reality (VR)-based exergaming platform to capture the neurovascular coupling during stroke rehabilitation.

Small-holder farmers in the Global South are diverse, vulnerable, and often poor and food-insecure [1, 2].  To cope with the challenges, they sometimes intensify and diversify their use of land by having fruit and vegetable kitchen gardens, tree crops, fish-ponds and cattle, which can lead to improvements in food production and increase access to safe and nutritious food [3, 4]. Fine-grained data does not exist on agricultural practices sufficient to understand at a village or even subnational scale small-holder farmers’ health and food security, in part, because previous studies utilized insufficiently detailed satellite images [5], farmer interviews, and crop-cutting surveys [6] designed mainly to estimate crop yields. Google Street View can offer a high-resolution cross-sectional snapshot of the diversity of foods available in rural villages. Understanding “own production” even from home gardens is important as it can account for a third of caloric intake in agricultural households [6].

According to the United Nations, adequate access to clean and safe water is recognized to be a human right, but globally, many individuals are denied their basic rights. Villagers who reside in a rural area  in India are unaware of the risk and diseases related to poor drinking-water access, unimproved sanitation, and poor hygiene practices. Our project worked to develop a solution to bridge the gap between health/sanitation awareness among the villagers.

Globally nearly half the instances of infertility are the result of a male condition. Yet, reproductive health research has tended to focus on female experiences. Research here presents narratives of infertility and treatment seeking in regions of Middle-East, Africa, and South Asia and discusses men’s experiences and perspectives. Male experiences of infertility often include instances of shame, disintegration of relationships, economic vulnerability in face of childlessness, mental health concerns, and feelings of inadequacy. Additionally, we see how while fertility treatments for men may have increased chances of achieving biological kinship for some, these techniques have also increased anxieties related to infidelity or kinship especially if using donor sperm or ICSI. Thus, biomedical treatments are not always culturally ‘effective’ and researchers advocate for traditional forms of treatment that alleviate emotional distress.

•Unclear if arsenic is neurotoxic at low levels of exposure.

•Refugees from Burma are the single largest refugee group resettled in the USA over the past decade

About half of the stroke survivors are left with some degree of disability. Innovative methodologies for restorative neurorehabilitation are urgently required to reduce long-term disability. Neuroplasticity is involved in post-stroke functional disturbances, but also in rehabilitation. Cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (ctDCS) produces polarity specific effects by polarizing the Purkinje cells thereby affecting the activity in the deep cerebellar output nuclei. These effects on distant plasticity in human cortical areas (i.e., the motor cortex) are explainable by the cerebellar role in modulating sensory processing. Determination of the induced electric field during ctDCS is crucially important for a better understanding of the effects. Modeling studies have shown that the ctDCS electric field distribution reaches the human cerebellum where the posterior and the inferior parts of the cerebellum are particularly susceptible [1]. However, an objective lobular atlas-based analysis of subject-specific electric field distribution during ctDCS was not found in the published literature. CLOS pipeline can be leveraged to optimize electromagnetic stimulation to target cerebellar lobules related to different cognitive and motor functions.

Vernacular homes in the rural village of Devgain, Jharkhand, India display the deep connection that villagers have with the surrounding environment. Homes are constructed using local, natural (and mostly free) resources. The traditional form of housing consists of mud walls, clay roof tiles, and timber frames. This design responds effectively to the hot, tropical climate.However, homes face rapid deterioration from erosion each rainy season, along with other issues of water and property damage –leading to frequent, time-consuming, and labor-intensive maintenance –which, if neglected, can cause greater issues of health and safety. Changing climatic conditions and ambivalent weather patterns have exacerbated these conditions, and residents cannot keep up. About 90% of families sustain themselves through agriculture -many being subsist farmers. Yields have dropped at alarming rates due to the rapidly changing climatic conditions. Recurring heavy losses leave farmers under mounting debt.[1]

•Unethical promotion of antibiotics

•City and regional food systems are essential to creating equitable, livable, and healthy communities. Recognizing the potential of city and regional food systems, local governments around the world are beginning to develop, enact, and implement policies to strengthen food systems.

Over 380 million smallholder farmers produce more than 70% of the food in the global south, and are responsible for more than 50% of the food produced globally. Yet many smallholder farmers struggle under the pressure of globalizing economic and political environments. The report seeks to provide guidance on how local governments and planners can step into food systems planning, particularly in the Global South. Much of the current literature on food systems planning centers on experiences in the Global North, and little fits the contexts, experiences, opportunities, and challenges of communities in the Global South.

Scholarship on international trade and health analyzes the effects of trade and investment policies on population exposure to non-nutritious foods. These policies are linked to the nutrition transition, or the dietary shift towards meat and processed foods associated with rising overweight and obesity rates in low- and middle-income countries.

As the producers of most of the food for consumption across the Global South, smallholder farmers are vital to the food security of millions of people around the world. Yet, the future of their livelihoods is growing increasingly uncertain, as planning and policies often ignore the needs of smallholder farmers (Altieri, Funes-Monzonte, & Peterson, 2012).

The neighborhood context is important for cognitive and behavioral development in children. It is unclear what neighborhood-based challenges are unique to Montevideo, Uruguay. We used photovoice and interviews to empower parents:

This pilot study investigates the water quality of traditional water structures in the western Deccan Plateau and potential for their revitalization. 18 quantitative water quality measurements are converted into a single water quality index (WQI). WQI assists in comparison of qualitative site information. Results indicate that WQI amongst traditional water structures was similar to domestic drinking sources, indicating their potential for domestic and agricultural water usage. Further research into sociopolitical practices and sampling of more sites will help understand traditional structures’ potential as sustainable water sources.

Communication is an essential component of all global public health work and research. Communities all over the world have different methods of communication, and levels of trust in regards to who provides health information. It’s still unclear what sources are deemed credible and trustworthy by Ugandan community members (Omona & Mukuye, 2012). This research discusses the most common methods and networks used to relay public health information about water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) throughout Uganda. These surveys also assessed whether WaSH messaging includes information for various vulnerable groups. This data was then used to create a communication protocol for the ATC, a Ugandan WaSH agency. Survey results indicate that the important networks for water and sanitation information included government workers, doctors, NGOs, religious institutions and schools. The most common methods of communication regarding water and sanitation were person-to-person verbal contact, radio, television, newspapers and ‘village radios.’ Approximately 50% reported that water and sanitation messaging included information for the vulnerable groups. Networks that were trusted to convey information about menstrual hygiene included doctors, government workers and schools. Menstrual hygiene communication methods included television, radio, posters and ‘village radios.’ Approximately two-thirds of people said menstrual hygiene information included messaging for the various vulnerable groups. Person-to-person verbal communication was reported to be the most highly preferred method of communication.

Water variability poses challenges to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Farmers must constantly adapt their decisions and practices in response to water uncertainty and variability. This study probes the question, “How do peri-urban farmers adapt their farming decisions to variability and uncertainties in water availability, and how are these decisions embedded within the broader logics of appropriateness and consequentiality? We address this question by focusing on farmers within the Ashaiman delta, Ghana. In this empirical case, we develop indices to quantify the adaptive nature of decisions made by farmers to manage water variability and uncertainty.