Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Bayesian Experimental Design For Control And Surveillance In Epidemiology, Bren Case

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Effective public health interventions must balance an array of interconnected challenges, and decisions must be made based on scientific evidence from existing information. Building evidence requires extrapolating from limited data using models. But when data are insufficient, it is important to recognize the limitations of model predictions and diagnose how they can be improved. This dissertation shows how principles from Bayesian experimental design can be applied to surveillance and control efforts to allow researchers to get more out of their data and direct limited resources to best effect. We argue a Bayesian perspective on data gathering, where design decisions are …

How To Analyze Parental Conversation Online: A Computational Stack For Studying Vaccine Hesitancy., Carter Willets Ward

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Despite national and international organizations such as the CDC and WHO recognizing the value of vaccines and their importance in addressing public health concerns, there has been a decline in coverage for even the most established vaccines over the past three years. The global COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to this decline via decreases in medical resource accessibility and an increase in vaccine hesitancy. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO had recognized vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten threats to public health. In the present work, we introduce a background account of (1) vaccine hesitancy and (2) anti-vax activism, …

Modeling The Heterogeneous Temporal Dynamics Of Epidemics On Networks, Andrea Joan Allen

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Mathematical models of infectious disease are important tools for understanding large-scale patterns of how a disease spreads through a population. Predictions of trends from disease models help guide public health prevention and mitigation measures. Most simple disease models assume that the population is randomly mixed, but real-world populations exhibit heterogeneous patterns in the way people interact. These differences in population structure can be represented by networks. Networks can then be incorporated into disease models by using various interdisciplinary concepts and tools. Yet even network disease models often overlook that populations change over time. In this thesis, two models of infectious …

On The Dynamics And Structure Of Multiple Strain Epidemic Models And Genotype Networks, Blake Joseph Mitchell Williams

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Mathematical disease modeling has long operated under the assumption that any one infectious disease is caused by one transmissible pathogen. This paradigm has been useful in simplifying the biological reality of epidemics and has allowed the modeling community to focus on the complexity of other factors such as contact structure and interventions. However, there is an increasing amount of evidence that the strain diversity of pathogens, and their interplay with the host immune system, can play a large role in shaping the dynamics of epidemics.

This body of work first explores the role of strain-transcending immunity in mathematical disease models, …

A Comparative Examination Of The Safety Programs At Ucla, Umn, And Uvm In Response To Recent Chemistry Laboratory Incidents, Victoria Carhart

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Laboratory safety has recently become more of an imperative in research laboratories than it has ever been in the past. Recent accidents at several universities have escalated the awareness of safety concerns in laboratory workspaces among the general public and created a greater need for a stronger culture of safety in chemistry research overall. Historically, results and publications have been the top priority of most researchers, not laboratory safety.

This thesis discusses a number of laboratory accidents. The first happened in December of 2008 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and resulted in the death of a graduate …

Meta-Analysis Of Studies Investigation Of The Effect Of Smoking Cessation On Impatience, Miriam Claire Dash

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

(DSM-IV-TR/) nor in withdrawal scales. However, a related term, "impatience" is listed in some nicotine withdrawal scales. (Hughes J. R., Measurements of the Effects of Abstinence from Tobacco: A Qualitative Review, 2007). Although impatience is not a synonym of impulsivity, both share the synonym "impetuous". Therefore, impatience can be considered a measure of impulsivity. Although some reviews of the effect of smoking cessation on impatience have occurred, we know of no quantitative review of prospective studies of whether smoking cessation increases impatience.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of smoking cessation on impatience as measured by the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale-Revised …