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Essays On Emotional Well-Being, Health Insurance Disparities And Health Insurance Markets, Disha Shende

Economics ETDs

This dissertation has three research papers. First paper looks at the effect of social networks on emotional well-being of cancer patients by studying the response of social networks on their depression symptoms. Using the data from a primary survey conducted in Nepal, the study finds that social networks significantly reduce depression symptoms among cancer patients. The results strongly advocate for the importance of the social networks in improving their emotional well-being. Second paper examines the health coverage disparities among Hispanic and non-Hispanic young adults in five southwestern states of the United States. Using the pooled data from American Community Survey …

Small Molecule Analog Studies Of Paramagnetic Dmso Reductase Enzyme Family Intermediates, Khadanand Kc

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

Pyranopterin molybdenum and tungsten enzymes are expressed in numerous organisms from all domains of life. These enzymes catalyze a variety of atom, hydride, and electron transfer reactions. The enzymes are of great importance in the biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen, carbon, and sulfur. In recent years, chemists have investigated applications for some of these enzymes as industrial biocatalysts. The dimethylsulfoxide reductase (DMSOr) enzyme family is the broadest family of pyranopterin Mo enzymes. The first coordination sphere of the Mo or W-containing active site for each member of this family is made up of 4 sulfur donors from the two pyranopterin dithiolenes …

Sex Differences In Age-Related Disease, Matthew Robert Schwartz

Anthropology ETDs

Life history theory posits the evolution of sex-biased traits through asymmetries in the costs of reproduction. The research presented here evaluated the downstream effects of sex-biases in two age-related disease profiles: tooth loss, in which females exhibit a higher disease burden, and melanoma, in which females have a survival advantage.

Among the Tsimane, a natural fertility population of forager-horticulturalists with a high lifetime fertility and no access to oral healthcare, females lose more than males and around half a tooth per child. Parity accounts for 1.2\% of variation in tooth loss within females, but no variation in tooth loss in …

Expanding The Economic Approach To Public Policy: An Analysis Of Health And Labor Market Outcomes, Joaquin Alfredo-Angel Rubalcaba

Economics ETDs

The approach used to answer many public policy questions is firmly rooted in the empirical and theoretical frameworks developed in the field of economics. The proposition of the economic approach to public policy has provided the foundation in which policy makers and practitioners design policies and investigate outcomes. The purpose and scope of this dissertation is to explore health and labor market outcomes within in the economic framework, while proposing two separate and novel analytical approaches. The theme connecting the sections of this dissertation can be characterized as a development of the economic approach to public policy analysis. In Chapter …

Can A Sex Bias Be A Good Thing: Modeling Spontaneous Clearance And Sexual Susceptibility In Hcv, Tanner K. Shea

Biology ETDs

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global epidemic that has been increasing for decades, afflicting millions of people who inject drugs (PWID) and is a major cause of liver disease. With novel direct-acting antivirals, treating the virus has become possible yet elimination remains out of reach. Prior research has shown significant differences in disease progression between men and women. These differences can lead to variation in incidence or what proportion of infections progress to chronic infections. We develop a mathematical model that accounts for potential differences between the sexes to evaluate the impacts on HCV transmission. We find that susceptibility …

Chronic And Acute Respiratory Pathogens: Evolutionary And Epidemiological Characteristics Of Tuberculosis, Influenza-Like Illness, And Covid-19, Julie Allison Spencer

Biology ETDs

Tuberculosis and influenza-like illness cause major disease burden for humans. In our first study, we conducted a pangenome analysis of 67 Mycobacterium tuberculosis genomes from Peru. We supported the paradigm that M. tuberculosis is highly clonal; however, a small amount of genetic diversity originates from infrequent recombina- tion events. In our second study, we reviewed the literature for parameters of five common viruses that contribute to influenza-like illness: influenza, RSV, rhinovirus, human coronavirus, and adenovirus. We found that their epidemiological parameters vary considerably, and can have broad ranges; their basic transmission rates are the most important for model outcomes. When …

Understanding Attitudes Toward Healthcare Reform: The Roles Of Self-Interest, Group Identity And Racial Resentment, Maria Beatrice Livaudais

Political Science ETDs

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) cemented itself as one of the most controversial pieces of legislation of the decade. Public opinion polls find Americans are often evenly split in support of the ACA. This dissertation explores the roles of self-interest, group identity, and racial resentment on attitudes toward the ACA and healthcare reform. The dissertation centers our attention on variation by race and the impact racial tensions beyond the Black-White paradigm on these attitudes. I find group identity shapes attitudes Blacks’ and Latinos’ attitudes toward the ACA but not Whites’ and racial resentment, directed toward Blacks, Latinos …

Sexual Dimorphism In Host Innate Response To Staphylococcus Aureus: Mechanisms Driving Sex Differences In Immune Cell Function And Host-Directed Interventions, Srijana Pokhrel

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

With the emerging antibiotic resistance, Staphylococcus aureus, primary causative agent of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) as well as other life-threatening conditions has become a global health concern. While factors contributing to host defense against S. aureus SSTIs has been well studied, impact of sex as a variable has not been reported. In Chapter 2, we uncover the sex-specific differences in host response to S. aureus SSTIs and the contribution of female sex hormone, estrogen (E2) in providing protection in females. In Chapter 3, we identify mechanisms of innate differences in neutrophils bactericidal efficacy between sexes and in …

Photo-Characterization Of Selective Luminescent Protein Aggregate Sensors - Oligo-P-Phenylene Ethynylene (Opes), Florencia A. Monge

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease,

and related tauopathies, are a global health care challenge due to the lack of early

treatment and diagnostic options. These diseases take an emotional and physical

toll on patients, caretakers, and a rather large economic toll on taxpayer-based

health care systems. The pathologies of these diseases are characterized by the

aggregation of misfolded proteins, amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau, into β-sheet rich

structures called amyloids. Research has found that the presence of protein

aggregates predates cognitive symptoms by years. Current diagnostic tools are

based on the detection of these amyloid aggregates, historically by …

“Pre-Packaged Sovereignty”: The Fallacy Of Indian Self-Determination In The Bureau Of Indian Affairs (Bia) Tribal Social Services Programs, April Kateri Chavez

American Studies ETDs

This thesis examines the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) tribal social services programs in New Mexico Native reservation communities. I rely on interviews with current/former BIA social workers and administrators to contextualize my analysis, while revealing the limits of existing social work scholarship and offering recommendations for future scholarship and community work. Using critical Indigenous studies and feminisms along with critical social work, I advance two primary arguments. The first is, despite the so-called self-determination era, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) functions as a settler colonial administration that diminishes tribal sovereignty and perpetuates racist and gendered violence. The capacity …

Suicide, Heroin Use And Protective Resiliency Factors Amongst Transgender Adolescents In New Mexico, Richard Gadomski

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Transgender people experience significant mental health inequities. The goal of this study was to evaluate disparities related to suicide attempt in the past 12 months and ever heroin use in cisgender versus transgender adolescents, and identify specific resiliency factors associated with a decrease in the prevalence of suicide attempt and heroin use in transgender adolescents. This study is a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of the 2017 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey among high school students. The odds of suicide attempt were 5.5-fold greater, and the odds of lifetime heroin use were nearly 14-fold greater, for transgender compared to cisgender …

Virus-Like Particle-Based Vaccines Induce Antibody-Mediated Neutralization Of Staphylococcus Aureus Virulence, Jason Alexander Joyner

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogenic bacterium that inflicts a large amount of human suffering using an arsenal of virulence factors to cause minor to life-threatening infections. Both the accessory gene regulator (agr) operon, a virulence regulatory pathway that controls expression of over 200 virulence factors, and alpha-hemolysin (Hla), a key pore-forming toxin, play a significant role in infection severity. Given the clinical trial failures of S. aureus vaccine candidates and the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains, novel and effective treatment options are urgently needed. Chapter 2 describes a novel virus-like particle (VLP) -based vaccine inducing agr-I-inhibiting antibodies …

On Love And Treason: Critical White Feminist Thought For Social Justice Praxis, Amanda Joyce Parker

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This dissertation is a theoretical piece that examines the positionality of white women in upholding white supremacy and a framework for critical white feminist thought that will move white women toward a self-reflexive and self-implicating praxis. A white matriarchy (Parker, 2018) is fully conceptualized as part of a powerful subsystem that operates under white supremacy. Concepts, such as a race-gender bribe and white women’s negative solidarity (Combahee River Collective, 1977), are exposed and discussed as part of the workings of white matriarchy. White emotionality (Matias, 2015), intergenerational whiteness, and antiracist parenting are also analyzed. I also suggest possibilities for resistance …

Biogeochemical Processes Affecting Arsenic (As) Release And Bioavailability Near Abandoned Mine Wastes, Cherie L. Devore

Civil Engineering ETDs

The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the biogeochemical processes affecting the mobilization and bioavailability of arsenic (As) from mining-impacted sediments to surface water sources and plants. The Cheyenne River Watershed has been affected by mining legacy for several decades. The biogeochemical cycling of As on tribal land is not well understood, which justified the following research objectives: 1) Investigate the effect of competing anions on the release of As from sediments exposed to oxidizing conditions; 2) Evaluate chemical and microbiological processes affecting the release of soluble As, Fe, and Mn from contaminated sediments under laboratory controlled aerobic and …

Exploratory Study Of Communication As A Psychosocial Factor Influencing Safer Sex Experiences Among Individuals Who Identify As Polyamorous, Cecilia Brooke Cholka

Communication ETDs

Even with over three decades of research on and promotion of safer sex, the rates of sexually transmitted infections continue to rise in the United States (CDC, 2017). Although communication about risk and protective factors is key to the promotion of safer sex behaviors, the meaning and impact of such communication is contingent upon culturally grounded understandings of safer sex among individuals of diverse sexual subcultures. This dissertation focuses on individuals who self-identified as polyamorous, a style of non-monogamy, and their understandings and experiences with safer sex. Drawing on the application of the AIDS Risk Reduction Model and narrative inquiry …

Trespassing And Transcending: Newcomer Crossing And Movement In Latina And Latin American Literature, Marina C. Todeschini

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

In times when walls are raised and human diversity condemned, stories that present the free urban movement of marginalized characters become political. While the system excludes the brown/black newcomer bodies and restricted them to the margins, the texts analyzed here bring these bodies to the center, claiming their active role in the construction of the urban fabric. This way, Latin American and Latina authors are contesting the idea of citizenship and the right to the city of newcomer subjects by narrating the freedom of geographic and symbolic movement of often disenfranchised peoples. This dissertation analyzes the claims to urban rights …

Early Time (E1) High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse Effects On Lightning Surge Arresters And Trip Coils, David Erney Sanabria

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

A High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) is a potential threat to the power grid. HEMP can couple on transmission lines causing large overvoltages, which could be harmful to the line and everything else connected to it. The effects of overvoltages on all sorts of devices in the power grid need to be understood. The work developed here is a joint effort between The University of New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories; The devices that are within the scope of this effort are Trip Coils and Lightning Surge Arresters (LSA). Existing data on HEMP, existing standards, and a previous analysis, were …

Impact Of Political Action Committee On Government Contracts, Bibek Acharya

Economics ETDs

This research aims to determine whether politically active corporations are more likely to get government contracts or likely to get more massive deals than corporations that are not politically active. The research question is, to what extent is the increase in government contracts due to the presence of corporate PACs or the amount spent by corporate PACs? In sum, we expect that the existence of PACs and the higher the corporation contributions in support of candidates for federal offices, the higher their chances of getting a contract or a more massive contract. We find that corporations that have a PAC …

Contesting Historical Enchantment: Militarized Settler Colonialism And Refugee Resettlement In New Mexico, Christina Juhász-Wood

American Studies ETDs

This dissertation provides an interdisciplinary critical study of refugee resettlement to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I argue that refugee resettlement to the United States cannot be understood separately from the ongoing structure of settler colonialism. I analyze Albuquerque’s post-WWII militarized settlement as a settler colonial process of extraction and suburbanization that depended on Native labor and resources to fuel the growing nuclear weapons program. Albuquerque’s Kirtland Air Force Base played a role not only in displacing and thus producing refugees during the Vietnam War but also in marking Albuquerque as a distinctly militarized geography to which they were resettled. Thousands of …

Maximum Likelihood Estimation Of Species Trees And Anomaly Zone Detection Using Ranked Gene Trees, Anastasiia Kim

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

A phylogenetic tree represents the evolutionary relationships among a set of organisms. Gene trees can be used to reconstruct phylogenetic trees. The methods in this dissertation focus on the gene tree topologies with emphasis on ranked gene tree topologies. A ranked tree depicts the order in which nodes appear in the tree together with topological relationships among gene lineages. One challenge that arises during phylogenetic inference is the existence of the anomaly zones, the regions of branch-length space in the species tree that can produce gene trees that have topologies differing from the species tree topology but are more probable …

Exploration Of The Factors Causing Autoimmune Diseases Using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps With Concentric Neutrosophic Hypergraphic Approach, Nivetha Martin, Florentine Smarandache, I. Pradeepa, N. Ramila Gandhi, P. Pandiammal

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

The Experience Of Being A Parent Of A Child Who Stutters And Subsequent Involvement In Support Groups: A Narrative Study, Katlyn A. Ferguson, Richard Arenas

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

INTRODUCTION: Developmental stuttering generally begins after a period of typical fluency and is highly variable in its presentation and persistence. This variability along with the lack of a definitive cause and social stigma often negatively impact both children who stutter (CWS) and their caregivers. However, research on the specific effects of stuttering on the caregiver is quite sparse compared to research into the caregiver experience in other disorders. Additionally, although social support has been identified as a primary protective factor for other caregivers, little evidence exists to show how support groups benefit caregivers of CWS.

METHOD: Five parents participated in …

Assessing The Validity Of Sentiment Analysis Measures Through Polychoric Correlation, Kelli N. Kasper

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

Sentiment analysis methods extract the attitude of a text via systematic algorithms. To evaluate the validity of common sentiment analysis methods, we use polychoric correlation to compare computer-mediated methods and human-rated analogues. Our main topics of interest are the internal consistency of the raters' scores, the level of consensus among raters, and how well raters' scores correlate with those given by sentiment analysis methods for randomly collected Twitter data.

Our analysis found that there is good validity for methods that measure negative and positive sentiments in short texts, both in terms of inter-rater consistency and when comparing raters to computer-mediated …

Bodies In Shame: Writing Trauma And Affective Unsettlement In Post-Genocide Rwanda Fiction, Cole A. Carvour

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis analyzes Boubacar Boris Diop’s Murambi, le livre des ossements and Véronique Tadjo’s L’Ombre d’Imana: voyages jusqu’au bout du Rwanda. I argue that both authors write trauma by employing both a dominant realist style and the trauma aesthetic with attention to the embodied experiences of genocide victims and survivors in both styles. In doing so, each author contributes to impeding indifference surrounding the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Furthermore, I assert that one effect of writing trauma is that of affective unsettlement or affective travel, or the registering of psychic and physical shame and other related affective responses in the …

Relationship Between Orthostatic Stress Response And Acute Mountain Sickness Susceptibility At High Altitude: A Pilot Study, Bryanne Bellovary, Jack Loeppky, Andrew Wells, Zac Fennel, Jeremy Ducharme, Jonathan Houck, Trevor Mayschak, Kelsey Bourbeau, Ann Gibson, Scott Drum, Christine Mermier

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a difference in hemodynamic responses to head-up tilt (HUT) in subjects who do, and do not, experience acute mountain sickness (AMS) during exposure to hypobaric hypoxia. Secondarily, we aimed to determine if those hemodynamic variables altered during HUT correlated with AMS severity. Fifteen participants completed three testing sessions: 1) VO₂max test to determine workload at 50% VO₂max for hypoxia exposure; 2) HUT test consisting of supine rest for 20 min followed by 70° upright tilting for ≤ 40 min; and 3) six hours of hypobaric …

Synthesis, Self-Assembly And High-Pressure Properties Of Nanoparticles And Hybrid Nanocomposites, Lingyao Meng

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Nanoparticles have gained significant scientific interests owing to their unique structural dimensions, size- and shape-tunable properties, and numerous fascinating applications, from opto-electronics, sensor devices, to energy, environmental, and medical fields. Furthermore, the synergistic integration of other materials, including organic polymers, with nanoparticles provides new opportunities and strategies to obtain nanocomposites with superior properties and functionalities. While there is already significant research on the synthesis and characterizations of nanoparticles and hybrid nanocomposites, some research questions, such as how to design and control the interfacial morphology in polymer/nanoparticle hybrid nanocomposites, how to synthesize metal- organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles in well-defined and uniform …

Factors Influencing The Retention Of Participants In Online Cancer Screening Training Programs In India, Kavitha Dhanasekaran, Roshani Babu, Vipin Kumar, Shalini Singh, Roopa Hariprasad

Project ECHO Bibliography

Background

Online courses have broken the boundaries in imparting knowledge. While in western countries e-learning in medical education is well accepted, it is still an upcoming field in low- and middle-income countries like India. Attrition is a major threat to online courses world-wide. The objective of this article is to share the experiences in conducting online cancer screening courses, reasons for attrition and ways to improve retention.

Methods

Online training program in preventive oncology for medical professionals is being conducted since 2017, which is 14-week long with weekly one-hour sessions and specific curriculum for healthcare professionals. Since the retention of …

2020-07-13 A Message From Chancellor Roth, Paul B. Roth

HSC Messages from the Chancellor

No abstract provided.

Mindfulness, Flow And Self-Care For Double Bass Musicians, Samuel R. Brown

Music ETDs

In this qualitative multi-case study, three college-age music majors from the local state university were interviewed, observed, and asked to complete reflections in order to answer the following questions: How do mindfulness activities affect collegiate double bass music students’ perceptions of their own playing and practicing? My secondary questions were 1) how do mindfulness activities affect flow experiences among collegiate double bass music students, and 2) how do mindfulness activities affect students’ perception of self-care? The interviews were transcribed, coded using “concept coding” (Miler, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2020), and then grouped into categories, themes, and sub-themes. The themes were time, …

The Impact Of Social Interactions On Resettled Refugee Health, Shahjadi Zaman

Political Science ETDs

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the effects of social interactions and other factors on the self-reported physical and mental health of former refugees in their host country. Social relationships and interactions consist of different layers extending from individual personal relations, to social networks, to collective activities. Using data from a public opinion survey of newly resettled Bhutanese and Rohingya refugees in Michigan, I find that along with their economic situations, like employment and income, social integration is an important determinant of physical and mental health among resettled refugees. In particular, resettled refugees tend to have better health …