This dissertation informs the future implementation of HIV prevention for HIV serodiscordant couples in Africa. The research objectives include: 1) reviewing effective HIV prevention interventions, 2) evaluating the use of daily short message service (SMS, i.e. text message) surveys to measure sex and pre-exposure prophylaxis ...

<bold>Objective:</bold> To generate knowledge about the experience of using Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC) checks to improve WIC check redemption rates. <bold>Design:</bold> Qualitative analysis of focus group discussions. <bold>Setting:</bold> Two WIC clinics in areas that have ...

BACKGROUND: Although Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most common cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea, the relationship between hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and CDI is not well understood. Furthermore, although the experiences of adult and pediatric HCT recipients differ, studies of CDI in HCT have ...

Objectives: We sought to 1) characterize the frequency and duration of herpes simplex virus (HSV) oral and anogenital reactivation in both immunocompetent and HIV-infected adults, 2) determine whether topical resiquimod 0.01% gel, a toll-like receptor 7 and 8 agonist, has post-treatment efficacy in reducing time to first ...

Objectives: Obesity in the U.S. population is a major public health problem with important clinical and economic implications. Bariatric surgery is currently the most effective long-term weight loss treatment for morbid obesity but less than 2% of the potentially eligible population has undergone the procedure. Our aims were ...

Studies on the association between socioeconomic factors and food purchasing behavior have tended to rely on food expenditure data obtained through participant self-reports. However, self-reported expenditures have only rarely been compared to objective measures such as store and restaurant receipts collected over a given ...

Background: In 2009, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food package was revised to include a cash-value voucher (CVV) for fresh fruits and vegetables. While this supplement to the WIC food package provides participants with the resources to purchase healthier foods, there is a ...

What triggers us to start or stop eating, and also decide what and how much we eat? There are many established questionnaires that have been developed to assess one's motivation to eat. Among the most widely used is the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) that was developed in 1985. Among the three factors in the TFEQ, ...

Objective: To examine the association between parental use of praise for healthy food and activity behaviors and child weight outcomes. Methods: Quantity and quality of praise use was assessed by 3-week retrospective recall every 5 weeks during the 20-week treatment period of this randomized clinical trial by parent self-report ...

This dissertation investigates two key innate immune cell subsets, monocytes and NK cells, with regard to their ability to influence HIV transmission and disease progression, including their role in defense against opportunistic pathogens. Evaluation of HIV transmission focused on mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). We ...