Digital Commons Network^™

Control Of Vegetable Pests In Benin - Farmers' Preferences For Eco-Friendly Nets As An Alternative To Insecticides, Faustin Vidogbéna, Anselme Adégbidi, Rigobert Tossou, Françoise Assogba-Komlan, Mathieu Ngouajio, Thibaut Martin, Serge Simon, Laurent Parrot, Kerstin K. Zander

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

We investigated if eco-friendly nets (EFNs) are a viable and acceptable alternative to extremely high levels of insecticide use in vegetable production. Using a choice experiment, we found that vegetable producing farmers in Benin preferred all of the characteristics of EFNs except the higher labor requirements. The nets had been distributed in a trial phase for free but in the long run farmers would need to purchase the EFNs. The break-even point for investing in nets was found to vary with the lifespan of EFNs, their purchase price and potential health benefits from avoiding large quantities of insecticides. To break …

Thinking Outside The Plot: Addressing Low Adoption Of Sustainable Land Management In Sub-Saharan Africa, Justine E. Cordingley, Katherine A. Snyder, Judith Rosendahl, Fred Kizito, Deborah Bossio

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Sustainable land management (SLM) is seen as the best way to combat and even reverse land degradation. Despite extensive past efforts to promote SLM to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, adoption remains low. Research suggests that this is largely the result of social and economic drivers of land degradation which can vary from household to regional levels. We argue that to get a better understanding of these drivers, and to incorporate them into planning and implementation, a landscape approach that pays close attention to ecosystem services and livelihoods on a broader scale is necessary. Incorporating this wider lens calls for …

An Intersectional Perspective On Stigma As A Barrier To Effective Hiv Self-Management And Treatment For Hiv-Infected African American Women, Kimberly Adams Tufts

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Among those who are HIV-infected and striving to live well with HIV, African American women have poorer health outcomes and represent a higher portion of those women who die from HIV-related causes. Those health inequalities have been associated with the presence of social determinants of health such as stigma. This analytical review asserts that stigmas precipitated by gender, race, and class in the context of HIV-related stigma constitute substantial barriers to active engagement in HIV self-management, care, and treatment for HIV-infected African American women. The utility of the intersectionality framework for analyzing how these various stigmas interact to create unique …

Promoting Interprofessional Collaboration, Global Health Awareness And Leadership Skills Through International Service-Learning, Janice E. Hawkins, Christine A. Sump

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Session presented on Saturday, November 7, 2015 and Sunday, November 8, 2015: International service-learning programs offer a unique opportunity to incorporate interprofessional education and global health awareness into health science curriculums. Through service activities, students develop leadership skills and collaborative team approaches to promote the health of diverse populations. Appreciation, respect, integration of knowledge, and communication between multiple disciplines are crucial components of international health care teams and desired outcomes for health science students. Graduates of health science programs must have the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that prepare them to be "collaborative practice-ready" for the healthcare workforce. According to …

Effectiveness Of Health Education Teachers And School Nurses Teaching Sexually Transmitted Infections/ Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevention Knowledge And Skills In High School, Elaine A. Borawski, Kimberly A. Tufts, Erika S. Trapl, Laura L. Hayman, Laura D. Yoder, Loren D. Lovegreen

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND- We examined the differential impact of a well-established human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) curriculum, Be Proud! Be Responsible!, when taught by school nurses and health education classroom teachers within a high school curricula.

METHODS- Group-randomized intervention study of 1357 ninth and tenth grade students in 10 schools. Twenty-seven facilitators (6 nurses, 21 teachers) provided programming; nurse-led classrooms were randomly assigned.

RESULTS- Students taught by teachers were more likely to report their instructor to be prepared, comfortable with the material, and challenged them to think about their health than students taught by a school nurse. Both groups reported …

Novel Interventions For Hiv Self-Management In African American Women: A Systematic Review Of Mhealth Interventions, Kimberly Adams Tufts, Kaprea F. Johnson, Jewel Goodman Shepherd, Juyoung Lee, Muna S. Bait Ajzoon, Lauren B. Mahan, Miyoung Kim

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the quality of interventions using mobile health (mHealth) technology being developed for and trialed with HIV-infected African American (AA) women. We aimed to assess rigor and to ascertain if these interventions have been expanded to include the broad domain of self-management. After an extensive search using the PRISMA approach and reviewing 450 records (411 published studies and 39 ongoing trials atclinicaltrials.gov), we found little completed research that tested mHealth HIV self-management interventions for AA women. Atclinicaltrials.gov, we found several mHealth HIV intervention studies designed for women in general, forecasting a promising …

Synthetic Studies Of Ambruticin: Preparation Of The C1-C8 Tetrahydropyran And The C17-C24 Dihydropyran Segments, Luping Liu, Julie L. Wondergem, William A. Donaldson

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

The C1-C8 tetrahydropyran and the C17-C24 dihdropyran segments of ambruticin were prepared from L-arabinose in 11 steps, 7.6% overall yield and from (S)-ethyl lactate in 8 steps, 22.2% overall yield respectively.

Generalizations Of The General Lotto And Colonel Blotto Games, Dan Kovenock, Brian Roberson

ESI Working Papers

In this paper, we generalize the General Lotto game (budget constraints satisfied in expectation) and the Colonel Blotto game (budget constraints hold with probability one) to allow for battlefield valuations that are heterogeneous across battlefields and asymmetric across players, and for the players to have asymmetric resource constraints. We completely characterize Nash equilibrium in the generalized version of the General Lotto game and then show how this characterization can be applied to identify equilibria in the Colonel Blotto version of the game. In both games, we find that there exist sets of non-pathological parameter configurations of positive Lebesgue measure with …

Unusual Estimates Of Probability Weighting Functions, Nathaniel T. Wilcox

ESI Working Papers

I present new estimates of the probability weighting functions found in rankdependent theories of choice under risk. These estimates are unusual in two senses. First, they are free of functional form assumptions about both utility and weighting functions, and they are entirely based on binary discrete choices and not on matching or valuation tasks, though they depend on assumptions concerning the nature of probabilistic choice under risk. Second, estimated weighting functions contradict widely held priors of an inverse-s shape: Instead I usually find populations dominated by “optimists” who uniformly overweight best outcomes in risky options. A salience-based theory of choice …

An Experiment On Retail Payments Systems, Gabriele Camera, Marco Casari, Stefania Bortolotti

ESI Working Papers

We develop a novel theoretical and experimental framework to study adoption and use of cash versus electronic payments in retail transactions. The design allows us to assess the behavioral impact of sellers’ service fees and buyers’ rewards from using electronic payments. In the experiment, buyers and sellers faced a coordination problem, independently choosing a payment method before trading. Sellers readily adopted electronic payments but buyers did not. Eliminating service fees or introducing rewards significantly increased adoption and use of electronic payments. Buyers’ economic incentives played a pivotal role in the diffusion of electronic payments but cannot fully explain their adoption …

The Gender Difference In The Value Of Winning, Zhuoqiong (Charlie) Chen, David Ong, Roman Sheremeta

ESI Working Papers

We design an all-pay auction experiment in which we reveal the gender of the opponent. Using this design, we find that women bid higher than men, but only when bidding against other women. These findings, interpreted through a theoretical model incorporating differences in risk attitude and the value of winning, suggest that women have a higher value of winning than men.

Behavior In Group Contests: A Review Of Experimental Research, Roman Sheremeta

ESI Working Papers

Group contests are ubiquitous. Some examples include warfare between countries, competition between political parties, team-incentives within firms, group sports, and rent-seeking. In order to succeed, members of the same group have incentives to cooperate with each other by expending individual efforts. However, since effort is costly, each member also has an incentive to abstain from expending any effort and instead free-ride on the efforts of other members. Contest theory shows that the intensity of competition between groups and the amount of free-riding within groups depend on the group size, sharing rule, group impact function, contest success function, and heterogeneity of …

The Optimal Defense Of Network Connectivity, Dan Kovenock, Brian Roberson

ESI Working Papers

Maintaining the security of critical infrastructure networks is vital for a modern economy. This paper examines a game-theoretic model of attack and defense of a network in which the defender's objective is to maintain network connectivity and the attacker's objective is to destroy a set of nodes that disconnects the network. The conflict at each node is modeled as a contest in which the player that allocates the higher level of force wins the node. Although there are multiple mixed-strategy equilibria, we characterize correlation structures in the players' multivariate joint distributions of force across nodes that arise in all equilibria. …

Cognitive Reflection Test: Whom, How, When, Pablo Brañas-Garza, Praveen Kujal, Balint Lenkei

ESI Working Papers

We report the results of a meta-study of 118 Cognitive Reflection Test studies comprising of 44,558 participants across 21 countries. There is a negative correlation between being female and the overall, and individual, correct answers to CRT questions. Taking the test at the end of an experiment negatively impacts performance. Monetary incentives do not impact performance. Overall students perform better compared to non-student samples. Exposure to CRT over the years may impact outcomes, however, the effect is driven by online studies. We obtain mixed evidence on whether the sequence of questions matters. Finally, we find that computerized tests marginally improve …

Status And The Demand For Visible Goods: Experimental Evidence On Conspicuous Consumption, David Clingingsmith, Roman M. Sheremeta

ESI Working Papers

Some economists argue that consumption of publicly visible goods is driven by social status. Making a causal inference about this claim is difficult with observational data. We conduct an experiment in which we vary both whether a purchase of a physical product is publicly visible or kept private and whether the income used for purchase is linked to social status or randomly assigned. Making consumption choices visible leads to a large increase in demand when income is linked to status, but not otherwise. We investigate the characteristics that mediate this effect and estimate its impact on welfare.

An Applied Mathematics Approach To Modeling Inflammation: Hematopoietic Bone Marrow Stem Cells, Systemic Estrogen And Wound Healing And Gas Exchange In The Lungs And Body, Racheal L. Cooper

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematical models apply to a multitude physiological processes and are used to make predictions and analyze outcomes of these processes. Specifically, in the medical field, a mathematical model uses a set of initial conditions that represents a physiological state as input and a set of parameter values are used to describe the interaction between variables being modeled. These models are used to analyze possible outcomes, and assist physicians in choosing the most appropriate treatment options for a particular situation. We aim to use mathematical modeling to analyze the dynamics of processes involved in the inflammatory process.

First, we create a …

Scoring And Validation Of The Cystic Fibrosis Disclosure Questionnaire, Adrienne P. Borschuk

Theses and Dissertations

As more patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are living into adulthood, patients may need to disclose their CF status to others, such as in romantic or professional settings. Patients who choose not to disclose their CF status may be limited in their closeness with others, which may negatively affect their psychological functioning and health-related quality of life. Few studies, however, have examined disclosure in CF, and currently no validated measures of CF disclosure exist. The purpose of this study was to explore CF disclosure in adults and validate a new assessment of CF disclosure, the Cystic Fibrosis Disclosure Scale (CFDS). …

Good Things Come To Those Who (Peacefully) Wait: Toward A Theory Of Patience, Caroline R. Lavelock

Theses and Dissertations

Patience is among the most common colloquially known virtues, and yet its empirical attention is among the smallest of all virtues. In this dissertation, I focused on the conscientiousness-based virtue of patience in terms of theory and intervention. In my first study, I examined the effects of a preliminary intervention workbook designed to promote patience. In my second study, I examined a number of correlates informed by patience literature as potential antecedents, mechanisms, and outcomes of patience and, using structural equation modeling, present a theory of patience. Finally, in my third study, I beta tested the patience intervention workbook along …

Gas-Forming Nonstarter Lactorbacilli, Megan Jane Ostler, Jeff Broadbent, Craig J. Oberg, Donald J. Mcmahon

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

An obligatory heterofermentative lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus wasatchii sp. nov. isolated from gassy Cheddar cheese was studied for growth, gas formation, salt tolerance and survival against pasteurization treatments at 63°C and 72°C. Initially, Lb. wasatchii was thought to only use ribose as a sugar source and we were interested in whether it could utilize galactose. Experiments to determine rate and extent of growth and gas production in carbohydrate restricted (CR) de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS) medium under anaerobic conditions with various combinations of ribose and galactose at 12, 23, and 37°C were conducted with 23°C being the more optimum …

Growth And Gas Production Of A Novel Obligatory Heterofermentative Cheddar Cheese Nonstarter Lactobacilli Species On Ribose And Galactose, Western Dairy Center, Utah State University, Megan Jane Ostler, Jeff Broadbent, Craig J. Oberg, Donald J. Mcmahon

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

An obligatory heterofermentative lactic acid bacterium, Lactobacillus wasatchii sp. nov., isolated from gassy Cheddar cheese was studied for growth, gas formation, salt tolerance, and survival against pasteurization treatments at 63°C and 72°C. Initially, Lb. wasatchii was thought to use only ribose as a sugar source and we were interested in whether it could also utilize galactose. We conducted experiments to determine the rate and extent of growth and gas production in carbohydraterestricted (CR) de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS) medium under anaerobic conditions with various combinations of ribose and galactose at 12, 23, and 37°C, with 23°C being the optimum …

The Characterization Of A Putative Protease Expressed By Sneathia Amnii, Rana Mehr

Theses and Dissertations

Preterm birth, birth prior to 37 weeks gestation, is the leading cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity worldwide. While the uterine cavity and amniotic fluid largely remain sterile throughout gestation, bacterial infections can occur and are associated with preterm birth and/or preterm premature rupture of the fetal membranes (PPROM). Sneathia amnii can be detected as a component of the vaginal flora in healthy women; however, it’s also associated with bacterial vaginosis and preterm birth. Sn35, an isolate of S.amnii, was identified and sequenced through the Vaginal Human Microbiome Project at VCU. Our objective was to classify potential virulence determinants …

Targeting Autophagy In Multiple Myeloma, Yun Dai

Theses and Dissertations

Apoptosis (Type I) and autophagy (Type II) represent two major forms of programmed cell death. Numerous anticancer agents employed in standard chemotherapy or novel targeted therapy induce both apoptosis and autophagy. Of note, a cytoprotective autophagic response often counteracts apoptosis triggered by such agents, potentially contributing to drug-resistance. Mechanistically, autophagy and apoptosis share molecular regulatory mechanisms primarily governed by the Bcl-2 family proteins. However, since autophagy acts as the double-edge sword in cancer, whether autophagy should be inhibited or activated in cancer treatment remains the subject of debate. Here we report a) a novel autophagy-targeted strategy that targeting the adaptor …

Immunotherapy Of Cancer: Reprogramming Tumor/Immune Cellular Crosstalk To Improve Anti-Tumor Efficacy, Kyle K. Payne

Theses and Dissertations

Immunotherapy of cancer has been shown to be promising in prolonging patient survival. However, complete elimination of cancer and life-long relapse-free survival remain to be major challenge for anti-cancer therapeutics. We have previously reported that ex vivo reprogramming of tumor-sensitized immune cells by bryostatin 1/ionomycin (B/I) and the gamma-chain (γ-c) cytokines IL-2, IL-7, and IL-15 resulted in the generation of memory T cells as well as CD25+ NKT cells and CD25+ NK cells. Adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) utilizing these reprogrammed immune cells protected FVBN202 mice from tumor challenge, and overcame the suppressive functions of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). We then …

Graph-Based Regularization In Machine Learning: Discovering Driver Modules In Biological Networks, Xi Gao

Theses and Dissertations

Curiosity of human nature drives us to explore the origins of what makes each of us different. From ancient legends and mythology, Mendel's law, Punnett square to modern genetic research, we carry on this old but eternal question. Thanks to technological revolution, today's scientists try to answer this question using easily measurable gene expression and other profiling data. However, the exploration can easily get lost in the data of growing volume, dimension, noise and complexity. This dissertation is aimed at developing new machine learning methods that take data from different classes as input, augment them with knowledge of feature relationships, …

Impact Of E-Cigarettes On Physician Recommendations Of Tobacco Use Cessation Pharmacotherapy, Omar El Shahawy

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: E-cigarettes have been marketed as smoking cessation aids and harm reduction strategies. Prior regional surveys found that physicians are recommending them to patients despite the lack of evidence supporting these industry claims. Yet, little is known about physicians’ beliefs regarding e-cigarettes and whether these beliefs are associated with them recommending e-cigarette use in clinical practice. Methods: This three-manuscript dissertation used a mixed-methods approach including both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The aims were to: (1) Uncover the factors associated with primary care physicians’ (PCPs) decisions to recommend e-cigarettes to their patients for tobacco use cessation; (2) Estimate the prevalence …

Mast Cells In Kainate Receptor Knockout Mice, Andrea J. Elkovich

Theses and Dissertations

Kainate receptor knockout mice have unique differences within their immune system. They exhibit an attenuated T_H2 branch, while maintaining a robust T_H1 response. Specifically, blocking the formation of functional kainate receptors affects mast cells and their related pathologies. While they seem to develop and activate normally in vivo and in vitro, KAR KO mast cells release more inflammatory mediators upon degranulation. These mice experience severe anaphylactic shock due to two compounding abnormalities. First, KAR KO mast cells release significantly more histamine in vivo upon IgE-mediated activation. Second, the animals over-respond to exogenous histamine with drastic …

Characterization Of Transfer Of The Mobile Genomic Island Encoding Methicillin Resistance Among Staphylococci, Melissa D. Ray

Theses and Dissertations

The gene encoding methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is carried in the chromosome on a large genomic island called SCCmec and is always inserted at the att site within orfX. SCCmec has been designated a mobile genetic element but a mechanism by which it moves among different strains and species of staphylococci has never been demonstrated. This work shows that bacteriophage 80α is capable of transducing SCCmec into a recipient cell, after which it can integrate into the bacterial chromosome via homologous recombination. More importantly, this work characterizes a conjugative mechanism of SCCmec transfer. …

Motivation, Mindfulness, And Metabolic Factors Predicting Adolescent Adherence And Attrition In A Multidisciplinary Weight Management Program, Stephen Trapp

Theses and Dissertations

Estimated rates of obesity are notably high in the United States and pose a significant public health concern. A number of deleterious physical and psychosocial conditions are associated with pediatric obesity and the cost of its treatment is considerable. Accordingly, the number of weight management treatments has increased to meet this growing public health challenge. Unfortunately, insufficient participation in weight management treatment, namely low adherence and high attrition, often impede the effectiveness of these programs. Although the barriers associated with inadequate adherence and elevated rates of attrition are documented, there is a dearth of research on the predictors of the …

Stakeholder Views On Behavioral Health Care In The Pediatric Primary Care Setting: A Qualitative Approach Towards Integration Of Care, Alexis Quinoy

Theses and Dissertations

The pediatric primary care setting has been discussed as playing a central role for the identification and treatment of behavioral and mental health disorders in youth. Although this setting is in a unique position to provide these services, there are many barriers to the integration of mental health care and pediatric primary care. The aim of this study is to examine perspectives of multiple stakeholders (i.e., patient, parent, nurse, resident, faculty, clinic director) in a pediatric primary care setting to explore barriers, behavioral and mental health needs, and facilitators to the integration and provision of mental health care for children …

Looking “Upstream”: The Role Of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction In Service Members’ Future Orientation, Bradley J. Antonides

Theses and Dissertations

OBJECTIVE: This study explores psychological experiences that may influence service members’ self-concepts and future orientations. As stable, optimistic, future orientations have been associated with resilience to psychological distress and suicidality (Johnson, et al., 2011), it is worthwhile to explore how service members’ attitudes toward the future might be shaped in the context of intrapersonal and interpersonal experiences. METHOD: Data were collected from service members of the Virginia National Guard (N = 192) and included a Transportation unit, an Engineer unit, an Infantry unit and a group with no specific unit affiliation or substantive military experience. The study is a …