Kevin M Kelly

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Verified

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• PhD, Anthropology, U Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Adjunct Associate Professor at University of Iowa

Problem/Condition Many rural residents work in the field of agriculture; however, employment in nonagricultural jobs also is common. Because previous studies in rural communities often have focused on agricultural workers, much less is known about the occupational exposures in other types of jobs in rural settings. Characterizing airborne occupatio...

Objective: There is growing interest in the NIOSH Total Worker Health program, specifically in the process of designing and implementing safer, health-promoting work and workplaces. A Total Worker Health (TWH) Research Methodology Workshop was convened to discuss research methods and future needs. Methods: Twenty-six experts in occupational safe...

Deformation of the cranium in infancy represents a spectrum of deformity, ranging from severe asymmetric yet proportional distortion of the skull in plagiocephaly, to nearly symmetric yet disproportional distortion in brachycephaly. As such, the condition is best described as deformational plagiocephaly-brachycephaly with isolated plagiocephaly and...

Purpose The Keokuk County Rural Health Study (KCRHS) is a longitudinal population-based study conducted in rural Iowa. A prior analysis of enrollment data identified an association of airflow obstruction with occupational exposures only among cigarette smokers. The current study used spirometry data from all three rounds to investigate whether leve...

Arsenic and atrazine are two water contaminants of high public health concern in Iowa. The occurrence of arsenic and atrazine in drinking water from Iowa’s private wells and public water systems was investigated over several decades. In this study, the percentages of detection and violation of regulations were compared over region, season, and wate...

Objective Farmers have an increased risk for chronic bronchitis and airflow obstruction. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of these health outcomes with farm activities. Methods We evaluated the Keokuk County Rural Health Study (KCRHS) enrollment data for farm activities and the two health outcomes chronic bronchitis b...

The world is confronted by problems that are multi- and interdisciplinary, global, and complex [...]

A recent article reported that occupational exposure to vapor-gas, dust, and fumes (VGDF) was more common in a sample of rural adults than in a sample of adults in urban settings. In another study of the same urban adults, airflow obstruction (AO) was associated with occupational VGDF and the combination of smoking and occupational exposure. The go...

Purpose: Respiratory hazards of farming have been identified for centuries, with little focus on gender differences. We used data from the AGRICOH consortium, a collective of prospective cohorts of agricultural workers, to assess respiratory disease prevalence among adults in 18 cohorts representing over 200,000 farmers, farm workers, and their spo...

Surgical studies using dogs, and in particular beagles, have been the basis for understanding and improving the techniques of cleft palate repair. This chapter provides a brief overview of palatogenesis and the types of palatal clefts followed by a fuller description of standard surgical repair procedures as well as the rationale for these procedur...

Introduction Construction is a hazardous industry, with well-recognized risks of traumatic injury and high physical demands. Other threats to construction workers’ health and well-being occur from work organization and work environment factors, including precarious employment, long commutes, long work hours, and employer policies regarding health a...

Occupational illness, injury, and fatality rates for those working in production agriculture are higher than in any other industry. A potential risk factor contributing to occupational injuries across all industries is acute or chronic co-morbidity (e.g., obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol), and related health issues that increase the r...

Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been implicated in adverse human health effects, including developmental neurotoxicity. Several neurotoxic PCBs are chiral and undergo atropisomeric enrichment in vivo due to atropselective metabolism by cytochrome P450 enzymes. Here we study how the liver-specific deletion of the cytochrome P450 red...

This study examined associations between trust, an important aspect of workplace social capital, with seven cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors (American Heart Association Life's Simple 7 (LS7)): smoking, obesity, low physical activity, poor diet, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Data are from the U.S. Gallup-Sharecare Wel...

OBJECTIVES The study objectives were to prospectively evaluate treatment results of infants presenting with isolated deformational brachycephaly following use of a cranial orthosis, and to investigate the role of entrance age on efficacy of treatment. Abstract PDF Link: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cpoj/article/view/32024/24441 How...

The study objectives were to prospectively evaluate treatment results of infants presenting with isolated deformational brachycephaly following use of a cranial orthosis, and to investigate the role of entrance age on efficacy of treatment.

Small enterprises have fewer resources, are more financially precarious, and have higher rates of occupational injury and illness compared with larger enterprises. Interventions that address the promotion of health and well-being in addition to traditional occupational safety and health hazards, a Total Worker Health® (TWH) approach, may be effecti...

Introduction Construction is among the most dangerous industries with well-recognised high physical demands and low job autonomy. In addition to traditional hazards for workplace injury and illness, other threats to health and well-being occur from work organisation and work environment factors, including irregular employment, multiple job sites, l...

Purpose To estimate workforce participation characteristics and employees' attitudes regarding participation in workplace wellness programs. Design Data from a statewide stratified random sample were used to compare small (<50 employees) and larger (50+ employees) workplaces to estimate participation in screening programs and likelihood of partici...

Chiral polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners have been implicated by laboratory and epidemiological studies in PCB developmental neurotoxicity. These congeners are metabolized by cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes to potentially neurotoxic hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PCBs). The present study explores the enantioselective disposition and toxicity of...

Background and Objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the United States. While cigarette smoke exposure contributes to COPD, genetic factors also increase susceptibility. Whole genome sequencing has been used to identify genetic risk factors for COPD. Loci have been identified for COPD on ch...

Objective: To estimate quality-of-life (QoL), primary care, health insurance, prevention behaviors, absenteeism, and presenteeism in a statewide sample of the unemployed, self-employed, and organizationally employed. Methods: A statewide survey of 1602 Iowans included items from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention QoL and Behavioral R...

To implement an Employee Total Health Management (ETHM) model-based questionnaire and provide estimates of model program elements among a statewide sample of Iowa employers. Survey a stratified random sample of Iowa employers, and characterize and estimate employer participation in ETHM program elements. Iowa employers are implementing less than 30...

Background and Objectives: Despite widespread implementation of integrated employee health programs among large employers and federal funding of the NIOSH Total Worker Health Program, there remains a need to define and measure what is meant by integrated employee health programs. The Employee Total Health Management Model developed and defined in t...

ABSTRACT Pesticide use can have adverse effects on both human health and the environment. Inappropriate use of pesticides increases the health risk to those who work with or live around pesticides. Educational programs for agricultural workers on the proper use of pesticides and personal protective equipment coupled with pesticide regulations are i...

Few studies have been done examining noise exposures associated with agricultural tasks. This study was conducted to address that research gap by calculating the noise exposures for tasks and equipment associated with grain production and assessing the variability in those exposures. An additional aim of this study was to identify tasks and equipme...

ABSTRACT An evaluation was conducted on the results of the Certified Safe Farm controlled intervention program on a wide range of occupational health and safety outcomes. This report focuses on the outcomes of personal protective equipment (PPE) usage among one cohort of 438 Iowa (owner-operator) farmers in the Certified Safe Farm study during a 5-...

Among agricultural populations, hearing loss caused by excessive noise exposure is common. However, examinations of associations between exposure to agricultural tasks and hearing loss are limited. Audiometry and lifetime exposure to 11 agricultural tasks were analyzed among 1,568 participants. Gender stratified multivariable linear regression was...

Purpose: We compared parents’ perceived-as-appropriate ages with actual-performance ages for their children engaging in selected agricultural tasks or practices, and we examined the factors associated with age discrepancy. Methods: We analyzed data from the Keokuk County Rural Health Study collected among parents of children age 17 or younger. Pare...

Field measurements of personal and area dust and endotoxin concentrations were obtained while agricultural workers performed two work tasks that have been previously unreported: hog load-out and swine building power washing. Hog load-out involves moving hogs from their pens in finishing buildings into a truck for transport to a meat processor. High...

This project was conducted to characterize the noise exposure of adolescents living in rural and agricultural environments. From May to October, 25 adolescents ages 13 through 17, living either on a farm or a rural nonfarm, were enrolled in the study. Subjects received training on the correct operation and use of personal noise dosimeters and the p...

A task-based analysis of personal airborne dust exposures was performed in two swine confinement facilities used to house sows and their litters. Airborne particulate levels were assessed during summer, winter, and spring. Personal aerosol measurements of workers were made with a photometer every 15 sec and corrected to compare with an integrated c...

The Keokuk County Rural Health Study (KCRHS) is a population-based, prospective study of health status and environmental exposures of a large stratified random sample of residents in one rural Iowa county. The study focuses on injury and respiratory disease and monitors health care delivery, geriatric health, mental health, and other health outcome...

The Keokuk County Rural Health Study is a population-based study of an agricultural community in Iowa. The study includes in-depth evaluations of respiratory disease, injury, and other health outcomes in relation to environmental and occupational exposures. This article reports descriptive findings on pesticide use from among the 1191 participants...

Human cases of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) have been reported among machinists for over 10 yr. Although mycobacteria have been implicated as causal agents, this has not been established in experimental studies and the mechanisms remain unclear. Other constituents of in-use metalworking fluids (MWFs) may also contribute to the development of l...

Agriculture remains one of the most hazardous industries in the U.S., with tractor overturns producing the greatest number of agricultural machinery-related fatalities. Rollover protective structures (ROPS) and seatbelts effectively reduce tractor overturn deaths. However, a large proportion of tractors in use in American agriculture are older trac...

A change in the type of cranial deformities (plagiocephaly) presenting to certain clinics has occurred. The purpose of this study was to compare infant head shapes against head shapes of their biologic parents to explore the roles of heredity and environment on cranial shape. Standardized family photographs and anthropometric measurements demonstra...

Endotoxin exposure is associated with wheeze and asthma morbidity, while early life exposure may reduce risk of allergy and asthma. Unfortunately, it is difficult to compare endotoxin results from different laboratories and environments. We undertook this study to determine if lipopolysaccharide (LPS) extraction efficiency could account for differe...

The current paper estimates the prevalence of hearing problems in a rural population, analyzes the prevalence of hearing problems across age groups, and compares the prevalence of hearing problems in this population with results obtained in other populations. Data were obtained from a random sample of the residents of a rural county, stratified by...

The development of a new cranial imaging system to capture a three-dimensional (3D) model of an infant's head has been previously reported. The accuracy of this new system has been independently established. However, before replacing the traditional plaster casting technique, the two methods require a comparison to ensure that the models they produ...

Epidemiologic studies of farm children are of international interest because farm children are less often atopic, have less allergic disease, and often have less asthma than do nonfarm children--findings consistent with the hygiene hypothesis. We studied a cohort of rural Iowa children to determine the association between farm and other environment...

In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended supine sleeping to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Although the incidence of deformational plagiocephaly is unknown, the consensus is that it has increased since this recommendation was made. To estimate the current incidence of plagiocephaly, we examined 342 infants for...

Compared with other topics in medicine, research on deformational plagiocephaly is relatively sparse. Among the published articles are a wide variety of studies ranging from simple case reports to well-designed cohort investigations. Unfortunately, variations in study design, methodology, sample size, and terminology often make it difficult to draw...

There are conflicting findings about the prevalence of asthma among farm and nonfarm children. We sought to estimate asthma prevalence and morbidity and determine differences between farm and nonfarm children. The study population consisted of all children aged 6 to 14 years enrolled in 10 school districts in 2 noncontiguous rural Iowa counties fro...

The development of a new three-dimensional (3D) imaging system designed to obtain a digital image of an infant's cranium is described. This system is intended to replace the manual plaster-casting technique currently used during the process of fabricating cranial remodeling bands. The system uses 18 triangulated digital cameras and the projection o...

Injury and illness among youth working on farms are important problems. The types of farm tasks performed by children and the ages at which they begin these activities have not been well characterized. This cross-sectional study characterized agricultural work performed by adolescents in a rural Iowa county to better understand the patterns and ext...

The recent increase in incidence of deformational plagiocephaly is commonly believed to be associated with the American Academy of Pediatrics' “Back to Sleep” campaign. Other factors, however, may contribute to the development of this condition. During the past decade, we have seen a number of infants whose deformities seem to be associated with th...

Although subpectoral placement of breast implants is a commonly used technique in breast augmentation surgery, the ultimate effects of this procedure on the strength or function of the pectoralis major muscle (PMM) remain undetermined. In this study, we investigated whether subpectoral placement of mammary implants negatively affects the strength p...

To examine the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation in a community-based rural sample. The sample was a random sample of people living in a single county in Iowa. Participants aged 18 or older (n=1617) were asked about suicidal ideation in the past year as well as mood, alcohol use, social support, and stressful life events. About 8.2% of...

Endotoxins from gram-negative bacteria pose a significant respiratory hazard. Establishing dose-response relationships is problematic because there are no standard procedures for sampling and analysis. The goal of this study was to compare endotoxin analyses in six laboratories using Limulus-based assays for analysis of organic dusts from three agr...

Endotoxins from gram-negative bacteria pose a significant respiratory hazard. Establishing dose-response relationships is problematic because there are no standard procedures for sampling and analysis. The goal of this study was to compare endotoxin analyses in six laboratories using Limulus-based assays for analysis of organic dusts from three agr...

The Keokuk County Rural Health Study (KCRHS) was designed as a 20-year, prospective cohort study focusing on chronic disease and injury in an agricultural southeastern Iowa county. The goals of the KCRHS are to prospectively describe, measure, and analyze prevalent rural and agriculturally related adverse health outcomes and their respective risk f...

In part 1 of this investigation, we demonstrated that children of multiple birth pregnancies are at higher risk for development of deformational plagiocephaly. In the current investigation, we explore whether certain prenatal and postnatal risk factors predispose one twin over the other by examining the occurrence and severity of plagiocephaly in b...

Unintentional injuries represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality in rural communities. This study aimed to determine the distribution of injury risk factors in a rural Iowa community and to identify the rural subgroups at highest risk for injury. We reported on 1583 participants, aged > or =25 years, from Round One of the Keokuk County Rur...

Background: Unintentional injuries represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality in rural communities. This study aimed to determine the distribution of injury risk factors in a rural Iowa community and to identify the rural subgroups at highest risk for injury.Methods: We reported on 1583 participants, aged ≥25 years, from Round One of the Ke...

During much of the 20th century, human diversity and prehistory in the Pacific Islands were often framed in simple terms. Many agreed that there were two kinds of native peoples on the Pacific Islands, sometimes labeled as "Polynesians" (including Micronesians) and "Melanesians" and now more often as "Austronesians" and "Papuans." Furthermore, it w...

The Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty Band is a cranial orthotic device used to treat deformational plagiocephaly in infants. The device works by applying a mild holding pressure to the most anterior and posterior prominences, where growth is not desired, while encouraging growth in adjacent flattened regions. Although this technique has been successfu...

The role of malaria in Pacific prehistory has been the subject of considerable study and supposition. In this manuscript, I attempt to clarify the research and reasoning that has led me to suggest that the Austronesian-speaking peoples had a selective advantage in malarious environments. In particular, I hope to dispel any notion that that advantag...

The Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty (DOC) Band(TM) is a cranial orthosis used to treat deformational plagiocephaly. The ability of this device to redirect growth and thus, improve craniofacial asymmetry has raised concerns regarding the potential restriction of cranial growth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the growth of the head during co...

Deformational plagiocephaly refers to the development of an abnormal head shape in infants resulting from externally applied molding forces, which may occur either prenatally or postnatally. We have observed that an unexpectedly high number of multiple-birth infants have presented to our center with this condition. The purposes of this investigatio...

Infants with positional plagiocephaly often exhibit complex multistructural asymmetries that affect the face and skull base as well as the cranial vault. Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty (DOC) was developed as a nonsurgical alternative for the treatment of positional plagiocephaly. The effectiveness of DOC has been discussed elsewhere. The purpose of...

Objectives Infants with positional plagiocephaly often exhibit complex multistructuraI asymmetries that affect the face and skull base as well as the cranial vault. Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty (DOC) was developed as a nonsurgical alternative for the treatment of positional plagiocephaly. The effectiveness of DOC has been discussed elsewhere. The...

The Keokuk County Rural Health Study (KCRHS) is a unique, population-based prospective study of a sample population in an agricultural county in southeastern Iowa. The study presently has 1,005 participating households, stratified into three distinct groups (town, rural non-farm, and farm households) based on the location of the dwelling or home. P...

The Keokuk County Rural Health Study is a unique, population-based, prospective study of an agricultural community in Iowa. The research includes in-depth evaluations of respiratory disease, injury, and other health outcomes in relation to environmental and occupational exposures. This article reports descriptive findings on pesticide use from amon...

Since the introduction of minimally invasive surgical techniques in thoracic surgery in 1990, video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has become the approach for many thoracic operations. The role of VATS has slowly evolved but has not been clearly defined. To better understand the role of VATS, we undertook a survey of practicing thoracic surgeons....

Hyperreactive malarious splenomegaly is an aberrant response to chronic malarial infection, defined by persistent gross splenomegaly and elevated serum IgM and IgG. The populational and familial patterns of this disorder suggest genetically based, immune incompetence. In Papua New Guinea, the disease occurs among populations characterized by high f...

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that demineralized perforated bone matrix implant from canine skull and tibia induces new bone formation within the calvarial defect comparable with the bone induced by autogenous graft. We also were interested in determining whether demineralized perforated bone matrix implants from membranous bone ha...

The influence of the periosteum on the regeneration of palatal bone was investigated in this study. Eighty, 8-week-old, purebred beagle dogs were assigned randomly to four groups: (1) unoperated dogs as a group control; dogs in which the mid-third of the palate was surgically removed and (2) left unrepaired (unrepaired controls); (3) repaired with...

The influence of the periosteum on the regeneration of palatal bone was investigated in this study. Eighty, 8-week-old, purebred beagle dogs were assigned randomly to four groups: (1) unoperated dogs as a group control; dogs in which the mid-third of the palate was surgically removed and (2) left unrepaired (unrepaired controls); (3) repaired with...

Undermining of the soft tissue on the surface of the maxilla at the time of cleft lip repair remains a controversial issue in cleft management. Using 64 eight-week-old beagles, we tested the hypothesis that lip repair with soft-tissue undermining contributes more to maxillofacial growth aberrations than lip repair without these additional procedure...

Reprenant l'affirmation de Birdsell selon laquelle l'aire occupee par les tribus australiennes sont determinees par la precipitation annuelle et que la taille des tribus approche une constante statistique de 500 personnes, l'A. montre l'inexactitude de la demonstration

An experimental study was conducted in beagles to assess the effects of biodegradable and titanium plating systems on cranial growth and structure. Forty-eight 9-week-old purebred beagles were used in this study. To avoid any effects of sexual dimorphism, we used only female beagles. The animals were divided in three groups: sham-operated controls,...

The present study was designed to evaluate the relationship between varying sequences of lip and palate repair and maxillary growth. To investigate this problem, an experimental study using beagles was conducted to assess the influence of three different sequences of lip and palate repair. The first sequence constitutes the commonly accepted approa...

Fifty-eight patients with cleft palate only who had received treatment in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Iowa were examined for treatment results. Forty-one (70.7 percent) of the 58 patients showed a syndrome or suggestive factors. An unusually high percentage (36 percent) of the 58 patients required sec...

Lapita is a distinctive ceramic style that first appeared in the Bismarck Archipelago about 3600 B.P. and over the next few centuries spread throughout island Melanesia. For many prehistorians the distribution of Lapita sherds identifies the expansion of Austronesian-speaking populations through Oceania. This article addresses the Lapita language q...

This study was designed to assess the effects of the commonly accepted sequence of cleft lip and palate repair on subsequent maxillofacial growth and to compare these effects with those resulting from simultaneous lip and palate repair. Using 62 eight-week-old normal beagles, we tested the hypothesis that sequential repair (lip first, palate second...