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Syllabus: Social Mission Enterprises, Betsy Schmidt

Sustainability Education Resources

This course is for students who dream of starting, running, or working for a social mission enterprise---an organization that meets a specific social mission, makes a financial profit, and considers the environmental and personal impacts of its actions. In this class, students will take initial steps towards creating a fictional social mission enterprise, with practicing social entrepreneurs acting as mentors. Students will also complete a project that will help solve an issue facing the social enterprise with which their mentor is affiliated. The course begins with a discussion of the issues around which students hope to pursue change and of …

Syllabus: Social And Environmental Enterprises, Betsy Schmidt

Sustainability Education Resources

Social and Environmental Enterprises examines organizations that place a social mission ahead of or on par with their financial mission. While studying real and fictionalized social enterprises, we discuss the structures within which social enterprises can thrive, potential sources for funding, the best governance structures, compensation, issues that arise when the organization scales and faces transitions, and tax considerations. We consider the current business, legal, and public policy context for social enterprises, as well as the public policy measures that could foster a healthier social sector.

White Blood Cell Dna Methylation And Risk Of Breast Cancer In The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, And Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (Plco), Susan R. Sturgeon, J. Richard Pilsner, Kathleen F. Arcaro, Kaoru Ikuma, Haotian Wu, Soon-Mi Kim, Nayha Chopra-Tandon, Adam R. Karpf, Regina G. Ziegler, Catherine Schairer, Raji Balasubramanian, David A. Reckhow

Biostatistics and Epidemiology Faculty Publications Series

Background

Several studies have suggested that global DNA methylation in circulating white blood cells (WBC) is associated with breast cancer risk.

Methods

To address conflicting results and concerns that the findings for WBC DNA methylation in some prior studies may reflect disease effects, we evaluated the relationship between global levels of WBC DNA methylation in white blood cells and breast cancer risk in a case-control study nested within the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) cohort. A total of 428 invasive breast cancer cases and 419 controls, frequency matched on age at entry (55–59, 60–64, 65–69, ≥70 …

Umass Amherst Guide To Zero-Waste Events, Kevin J. Hollerbach, Ainsley Brosnan-Smith

Student Showcase

As the University of Massachusetts Amherst continues to grow, and as programming for the campus community becomes an ever-rising priority, events organizers will need to consider the waste implications of every event to comply with state and University standards, goals, and policies. This "Guide to Zero-Waste Events" aims to streamline the planning process as well as provide tips and examples for follow-through to implementing a successful zero-waste event. The guide also presents actionable policy recommendations for the University to reduce waste and increase diversion from large-scale outdoor events on the UMass Amherst campus.

Alcohol Consumption And Breast Tumor Gene Expression, Jun Wang, Yujing J. Heng, A. Heather Eliassen, Rull M. Tamimi, Aditi Hazra, Vincent J. Carey, Christine B. Ambrosone, Victor P. De Andrade, Adam Brufsky, Fergus J. Couch, Tari A. King, Francesmary Modugno, Celine M. Vachon, David J. Hunter, Andrew H. Beck, Susan E. Hankinson

Biostatistics and Epidemiology Faculty Publications Series

Background

Alcohol consumption is an established risk factor for breast cancer and the association generally appears stronger among estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors. However, the biological mechanisms underlying this association are not completely understood.

Methods

We analyzed messenger RNA (mRNA) microarray data from both invasive breast tumors (N = 602) and tumor-adjacent normal tissues (N = 508) from participants diagnosed with breast cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and NHSII. Multivariable linear regression, controlling for other known breast cancer risk factors, was used to identify differentially expressed genes by pre-diagnostic alcohol intake. For pathway analysis, we performed gene …