Digital Commons Network^™

Restructuring And Serving Web-Accessible Streamflow Data From The Noaa National Water Model Historic Simulations, J Michael Johnson, David L Blodgett, Keith C Clarke, Jon Pollak

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deployed the first iteration of an operational National Water Model (NWM) to forecast the water cycle in the continental United States. With many versions, an hourly, multi-decadal historic simulation is made available to the public. In all released to date, the files containing simulated streamflow contain a snapshot of model conditions across the entire domain for a single timestep which makes accessing time series a technical and resource-intensive challenge. In the most recent release, extracting a complete streamflow time series for a single location requires managing 367,920 files (~16.2 TB). In this …

Author Correction: Whole-Genome Sequencing Analysis Of Human Metabolome In Multi-Ethnic Populations, Elena V Feofanova, Michael R Brown, Taryn Alkis, Astrid M Manuel, Xihao Li, Usman A Tahir, Zilin Li, Kevin M Mendez, Rachel S Kelly, Qibin Qi, Han Chen, Martin G Larson, Rozenn N Lemaitre, Alanna C Morrison, Charles Grieser, Kari E Wong, Robert E Gerszten, Zhongming Zhao, Jessica Lasky-Su, Bing Yu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Correction to: Nature Communications 10.1038/s41467-023-38800-2, published online 30 May2023

In this article, the author name Robert E. Gerszten was incorrectly written as Robert E. Gersztern. The original article has been corrected.

Association Between Whole Blood-Derived Mitochondrial Dna Copy Number, Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, And Cardiovascular Disease Risk, Xue Liu, Xianbang Sun, Yuankai Zhang, Wenqing Jiang, Meng Lai, Kerri L Wiggins, Laura M Raffield, Lawrence F Bielak, Wei Zhao, Achilleas Pitsillides, Jeffrey Haessler, Yinan Zheng, Thomas W Blackwell, Jie Yao, Xiuqing Guo, Yong Qian, Bharat Thyagarajan, Nathan Pankratz, Stephen S Rich, Kent D Taylor, Patricia A Peyser, Susan R Heckbert, Sudha Seshadri, Eric Boerwinkle, Megan L Grove, Nicholas B Larson, Jennifer A Smith, Ramachandran S Vasan, Annette L Fitzpatrick, Myriam Fornage, Jun Ding, April P Carson, Goncalo Abecasis, Josée Dupuis, Alexander Reiner, Charles Kooperberg, Lifang Hou, Bruce M Psaty, James G Wilson, Daniel Levy, Jerome I Rotter, Joshua C Bis, Claudia L Satizabal, Dan E Arking, Chunyu Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background The relationship between mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA CN) and cardiovascular disease remains elusive. Methods and Results We performed cross-sectional and prospective association analyses of blood-derived mtDNA CN and cardiovascular disease outcomes in 27 316 participants in 8 cohorts of multiple racial and ethnic groups with whole-genome sequencing. We also performed Mendelian randomization to explore causal relationships of mtDNA CN with coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiometabolic risk factors (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia).

The Parenting Education Needs Of Aboriginal Women Experiencing Incarceration, Belinda J. Lovell, Mary Steen, Angela Brown, Karen Glover, Adrian Esterman

Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

The aim of this study was to listen to the voices of women experiencing incarceration and understand their parenting education needs. This paper reports on data from focus group interviews with 13 Aboriginal women in prison. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, creating five themes: (1) working towards a positive self; (2) communication (3) parenting from a distance; (4) jumping through hoops to get connected; and (5) connecting with Aboriginal cultures. The women were seeking guidance and clarity about the Child Protection system and how to regain child custody. Many women were wanting to invest in self-care and …

Investigating Associations Of Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Lung Function Decline, And Airway Obstruction, Bonnie K Patchen, Pallavi Balte, Traci M Bartz, R Graham Barr, Myriam Fornage, Mariaelisa Graff, David R Jacobs, Ravi Kalhan, Rozenn N Lemaitre, George O'Connor, Bruce Psaty, Jungkyun Seo, Michael Y Tsai, Alexis C Wood, Hanfei Xu, Jingwen Zhang, Sina A Gharib, Ani Manichaikul, Kari North, Lyn M Steffen, Josée Dupuis, Elizabeth Oelsner, Dana B Hancock, Patricia A Cassano

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Rationale: Inflammation contributes to lung function decline and the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Omega-3 fatty acids have antiinflammatory properties and may benefit lung health.

Objectives: To investigate associations of omega-3 fatty acids with lung function decline and incident airway obstruction in a diverse sample of adults from general-population cohorts.

Methods: Complementary study designs: 1) longitudinal study of plasma phospholipid omega-3 fatty acids and repeated FEV1 and FVC measures in the NHLBI Pooled Cohorts Study and 2) two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study of genetically predicted omega-3 fatty acids and lung function parameters.

Measurements and Main Results: The …

You Are What You Eat, Allyson Ditmars

BUHealth

The gut microbiome is the wide array of good and bad bacteria found in the digestive tract of all humans. Although the composition of gut microbiota is developed before someone is even born, there are nutritional decisions made in adulthood that can impact the health of the gut. Certain nutritional foods can increase the diversity of the gut and create a beneficial environment. On the other hand, many foods found in the common American diet can negatively impact the microbiome. The gut can suffer from a poor diet when the permeability of the intestinal barrier and the diversity richness is …

Locked Up: A Look Into Healthcare Behind Bars, Ella Davis

BUHealth

The United States incarceration rate is the highest in the world. Incarcerated individuals are guaranteed a right to healthcare but, it falls short in many correctional facilities, as systemic barriers and inadequate funding often result in substandard care and poor health outcomes. There are multiple challenges that come with providing healthcare in prisons such as limited resources, lack of funding, and staff shortages. Prisoners at every level of the correctional system are known to be less healthy than the general population, and despite multiple efforts to improve healthcare, many prisoners still receive inadequate healthcare. Improving prison healthcare and increasing funding …

Medical Imaging Applications Of Federated Learning, Sukhveer Singh Sandhu, Hamed Taheri Gorji, Pantea Tavakolian, Kouhyar Tavakolian, Alireza Akhbardeh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Since its introduction in 2016, researchers have applied the idea of Federated Learning (FL) to several domains ranging from edge computing to banking. The technique's inherent security benefits, privacy-preserving capabilities, ease of scalability, and ability to transcend data biases have motivated researchers to use this tool on healthcare datasets. While several reviews exist detailing FL and its applications, this review focuses solely on the different applications of FL to medical imaging datasets, grouping applications by diseases, modality, and/or part of the body. This Systematic Literature review was conducted by querying and consolidating results from ArXiv, IEEE Xplorer, and PubMed. Furthermore, …

Antimicrobial Resistance And Rational Prescription Practices: Knowledge, Perceptions And Confidence Of Health Profession Interns In Uganda, Shamim Nabidda, Rogers Ssennyonjo, Joseph Atwaru, Andrew Marvin Kanyike, Shiellah Baryayaka, Kennedy Pangholi, Jonans Tusiimire

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Background

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is significantly driven by misuse and overuse of antibiotics. Graduate health profession interns often prescribe antimicrobials under minimum supervision.

Objectives

This study explored the knowledge, perceptions and confidence of health profession interns in Uganda regarding AMR and rational prescription practices.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional survey employing quantitative techniques carried out between October and November 2022 at six tertiary hospitals in Uganda. Health profession interns including doctors, nurses, midwives and pharmacists were recruited as study participants. Data were collected using online Kobo toolbox software. Data analysis was performed using STATA (StataCorp) version 16. Bivariate analysis and …

Financial Alignment Initiative: New York Fully Integrated Duals Advantage For Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities: Preliminary Third Evaluation Report, Kimberly I. Snow Mhsa, Elizabeth Gattine Jd, Amy Kandilow Phd, Matthew Toth Phd, Amy Chepaitis Phd

Disability & Aging

The New York FIDA-IDD demonstration was launched in 2016 in nine downstate counties and was the first comprehensive managed care demonstration exclusively serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the nation. Due at least in part to a lack of provider participation, less than 8 percent of eligible beneficiaries enrolled. Beneficiaries who did enroll reported high levels of satisfaction, especially with care coordination and the ease of obtaining durable medical equipment. The MedicareMedicaid Plan’s (MMP) assessment and care coordination model provided person-centered care planning that identified goals and helped to achieve them, improving enrollees’ quality of life. The …

Sexual Risk-Taking Behavior Amongst Emerging Adults In A Tertiary Institution Of Learning In Coastal Kenya: A Qualitative Study Of Stakeholders’ Perspectives Using Causal Loop Mapping, Stevenson K. Chea, Vincent A. Kagonya, Eunice A. Oyugi, Carophine Nasambu, Isaac Menza, Fauz Ibrahim, Osman Abdullahi, Alice Anika, Amin S. Hassan, Amina Abubakar

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background It is known from previous studies that university students in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA) engage in sexual risk-taking behaviour (SRTB). However, there is paucity of data on factors contributing to SRTB among university students (emerging adults) at the Kenyan Coast thus hindering intervention planning. This study seeks to provide an in-depth qualitative understanding of the factors contributing to SRTB and their interconnectedness among university students at the Kenyan Coast combining qualitative research with a systems thinking approach.

Methods Using the ecological model, and employing in-depth interviews, we explored the perceptions of twenty-six key informants (twenty-one emerging adults and five other …

The Pornography Industry's Disinformation Campaign On Addiction Recovery Resources, Darryl Mead

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

As pornography became increasingly popular online, many unsuspecting consumers reported adverse effects. These included sexual dysfunctions, such as lack of response with real partners, delayed ejaculation, erectile difficulties, and sexual compulsivity. Some pornography consumers began congregating in online self-help portals (forums and websites) to assist one another in quitting or reducing problematic pornography use. The popularity of the self-help resources and their potential to dampen the profits of a lucrative industry resulted in disinformation campaigns run by individuals connected to the pornography industry. In this article, I examine how a paper containing significant inaccuracies about the people organising the online …

Surveillance Systems In Western Kenya: Methods, Perceptions, And Effectiveness, Marissa Duffy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Surveillance is an important tool in monitoring and evaluating infectious disease patterns and trends. Surveillance is vital because it aids public health officials and medical professionals in creating better prevention methods and efficiently managing outbreaks. Kenya is home to many noncommunicable diseases making it an important location to conduct disease surveillance. Within Kenya, each county has its own surveillance unit which tracks and controls outbreaks. In addition, government run surveillance systems were established to determine disease burden, incidence, and patterns in specific at-risk communities around Kenya. One of these major surveillance systems is Population-Based Infectious Disease Surveillance (PBIDS) which has …

Universal Health Coverage: A Basis For Pandemic Preparedness?, Merline Feero

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Amid extensive research and reporting on the effects of COVID-19 on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) progress, this study explores an often neglected topic: the potential of UHC to contribute to the foundations of pandemic preparedness. Herein, quantitative analysis reveals that countries with higher UHC coverage tend to exhibit greater pandemic preparedness (as determined by the UHC Service Coverage Index and the Global Health Security Index). Complementary qualitative analysis is used to further illustrate and explain the correlation between UHC and pandemic preparedness using four case study countries, integrating literature reviews and relevant expert interviews. Through these methods, a clear tie …

The Intersectionality Of Rurality And Race On Covid-19 Vaccination Among Adults In The United States, Shiba Simon Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

Background Vaccination remains a cornerstone of public health, significantly contributing to the prevention and control of infectious diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine development was critical to prevent new SARS-Cov-2 infections. However, COVID-19 vaccination uptake among racial and ethnic minority populations and rural residents in the United States (US) lags behind their urban non-Hispanic White counterparts. Underlying causes of these disparities are unclear, but vaccine hesitancy, access to care barriers, and structural racism may be to blame. Such barriers may vary by residential urbanicity, leading to different racial/ethnic disparities in rural and urban America. Understanding the variations in vaccine uptake …

Longitudinal Associations Between Cognitive Functioning And Depressive Symptoms Among Couples In The Mexican Health And Aging Study, Joan K Monin, Gail Mcavay, Katie Newkirk, Rafael Samper-Ternent

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: To examine the bidirectional associations between older adult spouses' cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms over time and replicate previous findings from the United States (US) in Mexico.

DESIGN: Longitudinal, dyadic path analysis with the actor-partner interdependence model.

SETTING: Data were from the three most recent interview waves (2012, 2015, and 2018) of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a longitudinal national study of adults aged 50+ years in Mexico.

PARTICIPANTS: Husbands and wives from 905 community-dwelling married couples (N = 1,810).

MEASUREMENTS: The MHAS cognitive battery measured cognitive function. Depressive symptoms were assessed using a modified nine-item Center …

Author Correction: Multi-Ancestry Genome-Wide Association Analyses Improve Resolution Of Genes And Pathways Influencing Lung Function And Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Risk, Nick Shrine, Abril G Izquierdo, Jing Chen, Richard Packer, Robert J Hall, Anna L Guyatt, Chiara Batini, Rebecca J Thompson, Chandan Pavuluri, Vidhi Malik, Brian D Hobbs, Matthew Moll, Wonji Kim, Ruth Tal-Singer, Per Bakke, Katherine A Fawcett, Catherine John, Kayesha Coley, Noemi Nicole Piga, Alfred Pozarickij, Kuang Lin, Iona Y Millwood, Zhengming Chen, Liming Li, China Kadoorie Biobank Collaborative Group, Sara R A Wijnant, Lies Lahousse, Guy Brusselle, Andre G Uitterlinden, Ani Manichaikul, Elizabeth C Oelsner, Stephen S Rich, R Graham Barr, Shona M Kerr, Veronique Vitart, Michael R Brown, Matthias Wielscher, Medea Imboden, Ayoung Jeong, Traci M Bartz, Sina A Gharib, Claudia Flexeder, Stefan Karrasch, Christian Gieger, Annette Peters, Beate Stubbe, Xiaowei Hu, Victor E Ortega, Deborah A Meyers, Eugene R Bleecker, Stacey B Gabriel, Namrata Gupta, Albert Vernon Smith, Jian'an Luan, Jing-Hua Zhao, Ailin F Hansen, Arnulf Langhammer, Cristen Willer, Laxmi Bhatta, David Porteous, Blair H Smith, Archie Campbell, Tamar Sofer, Jiwon Lee, Martha L Daviglus, Bing Yu, Elise Lim, Hanfei Xu, George T O'Connor, Gaurav Thareja, Omar M E Albagha, Qatar Genome Program Research (Qgpr) Consortium, Karsten Suhre, Raquel Granell, Tariq O Faquih, Pieter S Hiemstra, Annelies M Slats, Benjamin H Mullin, Jennie Hui, Alan James, John Beilby, Karina Patasova, Pirro Hysi, Jukka T Koskela, Annah B Wyss, Jianping Jin, Sinjini Sikdar, Mikyeong Lee, Sebastian May-Wilson, Nicola Pirastu, Katherine A Kentistou, Peter K Joshi, Paul R H J Timmers, Alexander T Williams, Robert C Free, Xueyang Wang, John L Morrison, Frank D Gilliland, Zhanghua Chen, Carol A Wang, Rachel E Foong, Sarah E Harris, Adele Taylor, Paul Redmond, James P Cook, Anubha Mahajan, Lars Lind, Teemu Palviainen, Terho Lehtimäki, Olli T Raitakari, Jaakko Kaprio, Taina Rantanen, Kirsi H Pietiläinen, Simon R Cox, Craig E Pennell, Graham L Hall, W James Gauderman, Chris Brightling, James F Wilson, Tuula Vasankari, Tarja Laitinen, Veikko Salomaa, Dennis O Mook-Kanamori, Nicholas J Timpson, Eleftheria Zeggini, Josée Dupuis, Caroline Hayward, Ben Brumpton, Claudia Langenberg, Stefan Weiss, Georg Homuth, Carsten Oliver Schmidt, Nicole Probst-Hensch, Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin, Alanna C Morrison, Ozren Polasek, Igor Rudan, Joo-Hyeon Lee, Ian Sayers, Emma L Rawlins, Frank Dudbridge, Edwin K Silverman, David P Strachan, Robin G Walters, Andrew P Morris, Stephanie J London, Michael H Cho, Louise V Wain, Ian P Hall, Martin D Tobin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Lowering Of Circulating Sclerostin May Increase Risk Of Atherosclerosis And Its Risk Factors: Evidence From A Genome-Wide Association Meta-Analysis Followed By Mendelian Randomization, Jie Zheng, Eleanor Wheeler, Maik Pietzner, Till F M Andlauer, Michelle S Yau, April E Hartley, Ben Michael Brumpton, Humaira Rasheed, John P Kemp, Monika Frysz, Jamie Robinson, Sjur Reppe, Vid Prijatelj, Kaare M Gautvik, Louise Falk, Winfried Maerz, Ingrid Gergei, Patricia A Peyser, Maryam Kavousi, Paul S De Vries, Clint L Miller, Maxime Bos, Sander W Van Der Laan, Rajeev Malhotra, Markus Herrmann, Hubert Scharnagl, Marcus Kleber, George Dedoussis, Eleftheria Zeggini, Maria Nethander, Claes Ohlsson, Mattias Lorentzon, Nick Wareham, Claudia Langenberg, Michael V Holmes, George Davey Smith, Jonathan H Tobias

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to establish the causal effects of lowering sclerostin, target of the antiosteoporosis drug romosozumab, on atherosclerosis and its risk factors.

METHODS: A genome-wide association study meta-analysis was performed of circulating sclerostin levels in 33,961 European individuals. Mendelian randomization (MR) was used to predict the causal effects of sclerostin lowering on 15 atherosclerosis-related diseases and risk factors.

RESULTS: We found that 18 conditionally independent variants were associated with circulating sclerostin. Of these, 1 cis signal in SOST and 3 trans signals in B4GALNT3, RIN3, and SERPINA1 regions showed directionally opposite signals for sclerostin levels and …

Metabolomic Signatures Of Sedentary Behavior And Cardiometabolic Traits In Us Hispanics/Latinos: Results From Hchs/Sol, Jee-Young Moon, Jin Choul Chai, Bing Yu, Rebecca J Song, Guo-Chong Chen, Mariaelisa Graff, Martha L Daviglus, Queenie Chan, Bharat Thyagarajan, Sheila F Castaneda, Megan L Grove, Jianwen Cai, Xiaonan Xue, Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Ramachandran S Vasan, Eric Boerwinkle, Robert C Kaplan, Qibin Qi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to understand the serum metabolomic signatures of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behavior, and further associate their metabolomic signatures with incident cardiometabolic diseases.

METHODS: This analysis included 2711 US Hispanics/Latinos from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) aged 18-74 yr (2008-2011). An untargeted, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to profile the serum metabolome. The associations of metabolites with accelerometer-measured MVPA and sedentary time were examined using survey linear regressions adjusting for covariates. The weighted correlation network analysis identified modules of correlated metabolites in relation to sedentary time, and the modules …

Comparison Of Lotions, Creams, Gels And Ointments For The Treatment Of Childhood Eczema: The Bee Rct, Matthew J Ridd, Sian Wells, Stephanie J Macneill, Emily Sanderson, Douglas Webb, Jonathan Banks, Eileen Sutton, Alison Rg Shaw, Zoe Wilkins, Julie Clayton, Amanda Roberts, Kirsty Garfield, Lyn Liddiard, Tiffany J Barrett, J Athene Lane, Helen Baxter, Laura Howells, Jodi Taylor, Alastair D Hay, Hywel C Williams, Kim S Thomas, Miriam Santer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Emollients are recommended for children with eczema (atopic eczema/dermatitis). A lack of head-to-head comparisons of the effectiveness and acceptability of the different types of emollients has resulted in a 'trial and error' approach to prescribing.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness and acceptability of four commonly used types of emollients for the treatment of childhood eczema.

DESIGN: Four group, parallel, individually randomised, superiority randomised clinical trials with a nested qualitative study, completed in 2021. A purposeful sample of parents/children was interviewed at ≈ 4 and ≈ 16 weeks.

SETTING: Primary care (78 general practitioner surgeries) in England.

PARTICIPANTS: Children aged …

Multi-Ancestry Genome-Wide Study Identifies Effector Genes And Druggable Pathways For Coronary Artery Calcification, Maryam Kavousi, Maxime M Bos, Hanna J Barnes, Christian L Lino Cardenas, Doris Wong, Haojie Lu, Chani J Hodonsky, Lennart P L Landsmeer, Adam W Turner, Minjung Kho, Natalie R Hasbani, Paul S De Vries, Donald W Bowden, Sandesh Chopade, Joris Deelen, Ernest Diez Benavente, Xiuqing Guo, Edith Hofer, Shih-Jen Hwang, Sharon M Lutz, Leo-Pekka Lyytikäinen, Lotte Slenders, Albert V Smith, Maggie A Stanislawski, Jessica Van Setten, Quenna Wong, Lisa R Yanek, Diane M Becker, Marian Beekman, Matthew J Budoff, Mary F Feitosa, Chris Finan, Austin T Hilliard, Sharon L R Kardia, Jason C Kovacic, Brian G Kral, Carl D Langefeld, Lenore J Launer, Shaista Malik, Firdaus A A Mohamed Hoesein, Michal Mokry, Reinhold Schmidt, Jennifer A Smith, Kent D Taylor, James G Terry, Jeroen Van Der Grond, Joyce Van Meurs, Rozemarijn Vliegenthart, Jianzhao Xu, Kendra A Young, Nuno R Zilhão, Robert Zweiker, Themistocles L Assimes, Lewis C Becker, Daniel Bos, J Jeffrey Carr, L Adrienne Cupples, Dominique P V De Kleijn, Menno De Winther, Hester M Den Ruijter, Myriam Fornage, Barry I Freedman, Vilmundur Gudnason, Aroon D Hingorani, John E Hokanson, M Arfan Ikram, Ivana Išgum, David R Jacobs, Mika Kähönen, Leslie A Lange, Terho Lehtimäki, Gerard Pasterkamp, Olli T Raitakari, Helena Schmidt, P Eline Slagboom, André G Uitterlinden, Meike W Vernooij, Joshua C Bis, Nora Franceschini, Bruce M Psaty, Wendy S Post, Jerome I Rotter, Johan L M Björkegren, Christopher J O'Donnell, Lawrence F Bielak, Patricia A Peyser, Rajeev Malhotra, Sander W Van Der Laan, Clint L Miller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Coronary artery calcification (CAC), a measure of subclinical atherosclerosis, predicts future symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD). Identifying genetic risk factors for CAC may point to new therapeutic avenues for prevention. Currently, there are only four known risk loci for CAC identified from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in the general population. Here we conducted the largest multi-ancestry GWAS meta-analysis of CAC to date, which comprised 26,909 individuals of European ancestry and 8,867 individuals of African ancestry. We identified 11 independent risk loci, of which eight were new for CAC and five had not been reported for CAD. These new CAC loci …

Navigating Car Attitudes: An Analysis Of Transportation Habits, Environmental Views, And Demographics, Caroline J. Jordan, Sydney E. Lucero, Anna L. Imrie

Student Publications

Transportation plays a crucial part in the daily lives of people and society worldwide. Our study examined the transportation habits and environmental attitudes of both Gettysburg College students and individuals across the United States. We conducted a comparative analysis using a sample from students on campus and a national sample collected from the crowdsourcing platform, Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Additionally, we compared our findings with two similar studies completed by an Environmental Studies capstone nine years ago. We calculated each respondent's environmental score to gauge environmental attitudes, derived explicitly from their answers to five of the 24 survey questions. Next, we …

Roadway Characteristics And Car Accident Trends In Gettysburg, Pa, Max Smith, Jake H. Kennell, Russell H. Canova

Student Publications

This study addresses the rising motor vehicle accident and fatality rates in the United States (Moore, 2023). Focusing on the conditions in the Gettysburg Borough in an attempt to answer the following research questions: Are age of driver, weather conditions of car accidents, and traffic volume contributing to accidents in the Gettysburg Borough? What are the roadway characteristics of accident hot spot areas within the Gettysburg Borough? Utilizing Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) crash data from 2018 to 2022 and PennDot Average Annual Daily Traffic data, this study employs a comprehensive approach. Combining GIS analysis and statistical analysis to determine …

Crisis Narratives In Crisis? A Comparative Investigation Into National Covid-19 Narratives, Mouse D. Bennett

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

On January 31, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency for only the sixth time in its history. On March 11, 2020, it was stated that COVID-19 constituted a pandemic. How did countries respond? This dissertation traces the evolution of national crisis narratives in four states and assesses their relative success. The findings of this study are that pandemic crisis narratives are not generalizable to all crisis situations but require a high level of compliance to be effective in stopping the crisis. There is no formula for government success, there are no decisive variables determining outcomes. …

Discoverpath: A Knowledge Refinement And Retrieval System For Interdisciplinarity On Biomedical Research, Yu-Neng Chuang, Guanchu Wang, Chia-Yuan Chang, Kwei-Herng Lai, Daochen Zha, Ruixiang Tang, Fan Yang, Alfredo Costilla Reyes, Kaixiong Zhou, Xiaoqian Jiang, Xia Hu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The exponential growth in scholarly publications necessitates advanced tools for efficient article retrieval, especially in interdisciplinary fields where diverse terminologies are used to describe similar research. Traditional keyword-based search engines often fall short in assisting users who may not be familiar with specific terminologies. To address this, we present a knowledge graph based paper search engine for biomedical research to enhance the user experience in discovering relevant queries and articles. The system, dubbed DiscoverPath, employs Named Entity Recognition (NER) and part-of-speech (POS) tagging to extract terminologies and relationships from article abstracts to create a KG. To reduce information overload, DiscoverPath …

A Reflection Of Experiences Of Adults With Type 1 Diabetes In Integrated Physical Education Classes, Kalleigh West

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the experiences of type 1 diabetics in integrated physical education classes. In this study, we interviewed young type 1 diabetic adults and asked them to reflect on their school-based physical education experiences. An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach was adopted to guide data collection, analysis, and interpretation for this retrospective study. Eight participants (ages 19 to 32) were enrolled in this study, and semi-structured interviews focused on their physical education experiences acted as the primary data. Transcribed interview data were analyzed using an IPA approach. Three interrelated themes emerged …

Deleterious Heteroplasmic Mitochondrial Mutations Are Associated With An Increased Risk Of Overall And Cancer-Specific Mortality, Yun Soo Hong, Stephanie L Battle, Wen Shi, Daniela Puiu, Vamsee Pillalamarri, Jiaqi Xie, Nathan Pankratz, Nicole J Lake, Monkol Lek, Jerome I Rotter, Stephen S Rich, Charles Kooperberg, Alex P Reiner, Paul L Auer, Nancy Heard-Costa, Chunyu Liu, Meng Lai, Joanne M Murabito, Daniel Levy, Megan L Grove, Alvaro Alonso, Richard Gibbs, Shannon Dugan-Perez, Lukasz P Gondek, Eliseo Guallar, Dan E Arking

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mitochondria carry their own circular genome and disruption of the mitochondrial genome is associated with various aging-related diseases. Unlike the nuclear genome, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can be present at 1000 s to 10,000 s copies in somatic cells and variants may exist in a state of heteroplasmy, where only a fraction of the DNA molecules harbors a particular variant. We quantify mtDNA heteroplasmy in 194,871 participants in the UK Biobank and find that heteroplasmy is associated with a 1.5-fold increased risk of all-cause mortality. Additionally, we functionally characterize mtDNA single nucleotide variants (SNVs) using a constraint-based score, mitochondrial local constraint …

Assessment Of The Offline Setup Correction Protocol And Thermoplastic Mask Use For Head And Neck Cancer Radiotherapy: A Single Institution Experience, Furahini Yoram, Nazima Dharsee, Khamza Maunda, Jumaa D. Kisukari, Geofrey F. Soko

Tanzania Journal of Science

This study assessed the efficiency of offline setup correction protocol and the use of a thermoplastic mask for head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy at Ocean Road Cancer Institute. A prospective study was conducted from April to August 2021 to verify 62 patients’ treatment setup using an offline setup correction protocol while immobilized with a thermoplastic mask. Megavoltage images were matched with digitally reconstructed radiographs obtained during CT simulation to determine the gross set-up deviations. Box plots were used to show the deviations on three consecutive days of the first week and a successive weekly …

Health Policy Reform Through Strengthening Indonesia's Health Resilience System, Wahyu Sulistiadi

Journal of Indonesian Health Policy and Administration

The National Health System in Indonesia is developing and being discussed more seriously after entering the COVID-19 pandemic. With a national health system and several existing tools, Indonesia needed more time to be ready to face the challenges of that time. Upstream health policies should be optimized to mobilize resources and increase the nation's efforts to build a national resilience system. This paper was built using selected policy documents up-to-date and reliable literature. By reviewing empirical evidence, the author believes and shows the role of strengthening health policies in building a robust national health resilience system. Indonesia has several policies …

The Effects Of Vaccination Against Covid-19 Incidence: Is The Current Age-Priorities Appropriate?, Dian Ip Nugrahari, Nurhanifah Hamdah

Journal of Indonesian Health Policy and Administration

Age is an independent risk factor for COVID-19. Thus, the government of Indonesia prioritizes the elderly and adults with significant comorbidities for COVID-19 vaccination. To discover whether this policy is still appropriate, we evaluated the effects of vaccination against the COVID-19 incidence and infection risk.It was a retrospective cohort study of the NAR COVID-19 and Dashboard KPCPEN COVID-19 of the Depok City Health Department. The tests used to analyze the data were the chi-square and logistic regression tests. We discovered that there was a 92.7% total reduction in the COVID-19 infection rate with vaccination. The infection risk for COVID-19 in …