Digital Commons Network^™

Perspectives For Adolescent Engagement: The Bright Bodies Program, Athena Theodora Samaras

Public Health Theses

While responses to the obesity epidemic have largely encompassed top-down approaches with a focus on health-related outcome evaluation, for successes to be sustained, a greater emphasis is needed on local initiatives and intervention process evaluation. Pediatric weight management programs in the healthcare and community settings represent local initiatives that have had considerable health-related impacts, yet are often limited by high attrition rates. Because adolescence is marked by substantial weight shifts and the formation of long-lasting health habits, it represents a critical point for implementing obesity prevention and treatment. Accordingly, this study sought to assess factors that promote adolescent participant engagement …

Pirnas Variants And Lung Cancer Risk: A Post-Gwas Study, Rui Ye

Public Health Theses

Background: Lung cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and one of the top cause of cancer death worldwide. The recent discovery of PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), one type of non-coding RNAs, has been shown to be involved in tumorgenesis pathways of various types of cancer types by accumulating evidences. However, the role of piRNAs in lung cancer development is underexplored.

Methods: Genotype and phenotype data were obtained from a genome-wide association study of lung cancer risk (3,702 cases and 3,739 controls) and 1,173 imputed piRNAs variants were analyzed by association analysis for lung cancer risk. A secondary expression analysis is …

From Notice-And-Takedown To Notice-And-Delist: Implementing Google Spain, Aleksandra Kuczerawy, Jef Ausloos

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

New Network Neutrality Rules In Europe: Comparisons To Those In The U.S., J. Scott Marcus

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Proposal For An International Taxonomy On The Various Forms Of The "Right To Be Forgotten": A Study On The Convergence Of Norms, W. Gregory Voss, Celine Castets-Renard

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Cybersecurity In Critical Infrastructure Sectors: A Proactive Approach To Ensure Inevitable Laws And Regulations Are Effective, Chris Laughlin

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Zero-Rating Broadband Data: Equality And Free Speech At The Network's Other Edge, Ellen P. Goodman

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Sky Is The Limit: Faa Regulations And The Future Of Drones, Joshua Kohler

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Organizational Doxing: Disaster On The Doorstep, Colin J.A. Oldberg

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Battle For Electronic Health Record Financing: The Next Epoch In The Story Of The American Health Care System, Abigail Rings

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Outbreaks Reveal Deficiencies In Biotech R&D For Emerging Diseases, Rebecca Byler

Public Health Theses

The absence of commercial diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines hindered control efforts during the recent Zika and Ebola epidemics. This study evaluates the connectivity and productivity of both viruses’ R&D networks before, during, and after the epidemics to ascertain the ability of current R&D practices to support the development of crucial biotechnologies. Both network maps exhibited low baseline connectivity with emergent collaborative R&D practices during the identified outbreak period that correlated with increased research productivity. It is argued that formally establishing permanent collaborative, open R&D practices prior to epidemics can enhance scientific knowledge and innovation capabilities to more effectively advance commercial …

Refining The Staging Scheme For Human Papillomavirus-Related Oropharyngeal Carcinoma, Tiange Chen

Public Health Theses

Current TNM staging system derived empirically from human papillomavirus (HPV) unrelated oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) has been shown inadequate to predict survival for HPV-related OPC. This study used three recursive partitioning algorithms, Classification Trees (CART), Conditional Inference Trees (CTree) and Model-based Recursive Partitioning (MOB) to derive a new staging scheme based on data from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB). The derived staging systems were compared to the current system using the criteria such as hazard consistency within staging groups, hazard discrimination between groups, predictive ability and balance of distribution across groups. A total of 5,712 patients were included in the …

Predictors Of Breast Density In Hispanic And Latino Women Living In The Northeast Region Of The United States, Emma Claye

Public Health Theses

Introduction: Breast density, the fibroglandular, non-fatty tissue in the breast, has been shown to be a significant risk factor for breast cancer. Little is currently known about the predictors of breast density among the understudied but increasing population of Hispanic and Latino women in the United States.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to identify predictors of breast density among Hispanic and Latino women in Connecticut and to determine if these differ from those described in other populations. Because the hormonal milieu is somewhat different in Hispanic/Latinas compared with White women, we are interested in how these variables impact …

Survival Analysis Of Nfl Concussions During The 2014 And 2015 Regular Seasons, E.S. Emme

Public Health Theses

Prior to the 2015 season, the National Football League reported that regular season in-game concussions had fallen 35% from 2012 to 2014. However, the number of concussions suffered during the 2015 regular season increased to 182, the highest total since the league implemented a standardized protocol for diagnosing and treating concussions after the 2011 season. To determine whether this large increase likely represented an increase in actual incidence or simply an increase in diagnosed injuries, survival analysis was used to compare the risk of injury between the 2014 and 2015 seasons. To show that the risk environment of the game …

Virtual Risk: How Msm And Tw In India Use Media For Partner Selection, Heather Ferguson

Public Health Theses

In India, criminalization of adult consensual same-sex relationships and sexual encounters along with stigma toward men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TW) may impact the use of social media to help MSM and TW connect to their community and find sexual partners. Through 30 individual qualitative interviews with MSM, TW, and key informants, we sought to understand how social media shape how MSM and TW connect to their community, meet men for relationships and sex, and how use of social media influences sexual risk. Qualitative data were transcribed, translated, coded, and analyzed using grounded theory. Results …

Hands Up: A Systematized Review Of Policing Sex Workers In The U.S., Fabian Luis Fernandez

Public Health Theses

This work lays the foundation for a study of criminalization and its effects on the health of street-based sex workers in the U.S. seeking to: 1) conduct a systematized review of sources from across the country settling on seventeen that describe experiences of harassment, false arrests, theft, physical abuse, sexual assault, HIV criminalization, survival tactics, reporting practices, and positive relations with law enforcement and 2.) compare the U.S. literature to international research, reflecting on the ways that public health researchers remain complicit in sustaining these harmful institutions by failing to consider diversity, the criminalized context of sex work, the links …

Azithromycin Pharmacodynamics Against Non-Typeable H. Influenzae, James Fisher

Public Health Theses

Introduction

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Significant clinical disease in COPD patients has been tied to non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) infection. However, reasons why some NTHI strains persist despite antimicrobial therapy remain unknown.

Objective

The primary objective was to characterize the pharmacodynamics of azithromycin against a persistent pair of NTHI isolates.

Methods

A persistent pair of NTHI isolates (5P28H1 and 5P54H1) cultured from the sputum of an adult with COPD and determined to be the same strain by multilocus sequence typing was carried for 819 days. The Minimum Inhibitory …

Concussions In Female Collegiate Diving: An Exploratory Study, Sarah Kemp

Honors Program Theses

An abundant amount of research is being put into sports-related concussions. A vast majority of the research is being done on high-contact sports such as football, ice hockey, rugby, basketball, and soccer. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of concussions in women’s collegiate diving and examine the diver’s readiness to return to competitive sport. Twenty-four Division I divers from different Midwestern universities completed a survey that included prevalence questions, a checklist of symptoms that they experienced, and several questions regarding confidence to return to play. The data showed that 54.2% of the participants have had a …

"Yeah, I Taught Myself On Youtube": Young Women And Navigating The World Of Traditional Crafting, Emily A. Gardner

Honors Program Theses

In this study I work to understand how US women ages 18 to 24 navigate the world of crafting (e.g., crocheting, knitting, quilting, etc.) and how their motivations and methods may differ from the older women that traditionally inhabit that space. In-person interviews with ten younger women and results from an online mixed methods survey show that young women who participate in crafting show that young women primarily use crafting as a way to cope with stress from school and work, they participate in informal groupings to develop friendships and gain technical crafting insight, and they use internet sites extensively …

The Adolescent Refugee Experience: Cultural Attitudes Of High School Burmese Refugees Living In Iowa, Alexis Helgens

Honors Program Theses

This research seeks to explore the experience of a group of high school refugee students who currently reside in Waterloo, Iowa. At home, the Burmese refugee high school students are surrounded by a rich Burmese culture; they interact with the Burmese language, food, and family. In school, they are surrounded by American systems; English is the only accepted language, and American pop culture is inescapable. With a growing number of refugees entering the country, it is vital to understand the experience and perceptions of developing young adults. Better understanding will facilitate in giving schools and other services tools to equip …

A Healthy Herd: Addressing The Justifications For Vaccine Denial And Applying The Health Belief Model To The Current Anti-Vaccination Movement, Sarah L. Mchugh

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and analyze the existing literature regarding the refusal to receive vaccinations designed specifically to prevent Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR), which has spurred a serious public health issue that puts every unvaccinated person at risk. It will investigate the reasons people refuse to get vaccinations for themselves or their children. The analysis of the current situation and the application of the Health Belief Model to the related factors will provide potential explanations regarding how the decision-making process may strengthen efforts towards increasing vaccination rates.

Hydrogen Peroxide Induced Loss Of Heterozygosity Correlates With Replicative Lifespan And Mitotic Asymmetry In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Emine Guven, Lindsay A. Parnell, Erin D. Jackson, Meighan Parker, Nilin Gupta, Jenny Rodrigues, Hong Qin

Scholarly Works

Cellular aging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can lead to genomic instability and impaired mitotic asymmetry. To investigate the role of oxidative stress in cellular aging, we examined the effect of exogenous hydrogen peroxide on genomic instability and mitotic asymmetry in a collection of yeast strains with diverse backgrounds. We treated yeast cells with hydrogen peroxide and monitored the changes of viability and the frequencies of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in response to hydrogen peroxide doses. The mid-transition points of viability and LOH were quantified using sigmoid mathematical functions. We found that the increase of hydrogen peroxide dependent genomic instability often occurs …

5-Azacytidine Induces Transcriptome Changes In Escherichia Coli Via Dna Methylation-Dependent And Dna Methylation-Independent Mechanisms, Kevin T. Militello, Robert D. Simon, Alexandra H. Mandarano, Anthony Dinatale, Stacy M. Hennick, Justine C. Lazatin, Sarah Cantatore

Biology

Background: Escherichia coli K-12 strains contain DNA cytosine methyltransferase (Dcm), which generates 5-methylcytosine at 5′CCWGG3′ sites. Although the role of 5-methylcytosine in eukaryotic gene expression is relatively well described, the role of 5-methylcytosine in bacterial gene expression is largely unknown. Results: To identify genes that are controlled by 5-methylcytosine in E. coli, we compared the transcriptomes of cells grown in the absence and presence of the DNA methylation inhibitor 5-azacytidine. We observed expression changes for 63 genes. The majority of the gene expression changes occurred at early stationary phase and were up-regulations. To identify gene expression changes due to a …

Calibrating Participation: Reflections On Procedure Versus Procedural Justice, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

Scholarly Works

When the same defendant harms many people in similar ways, a plaintiff’s ability to meaningfully participate in litigating her rights is curtailed dramatically. Now it is the rare plaintiff who sues a nationwide (or worldwide) corporation in her home jurisdiction and is able to litigate and resolve her claims there. Although several factors play a role in this phenomenon, including tort reform efforts like the Class Action Fairness Act, one of the most significant factors is Supreme Court jurisprudence over the last ten years in the areas of arbitration, personal jurisdiction, pleading, and class actions. Of course, recent cases aren’t …

Magnetoelastic Beam With Extended Polymer For Low Frequency Vibration Energy Harvesting, Alwathiqbellah Ibrahim, Shahrzad Towfighian, Mohammad I. Younis, Quang Su

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Ambient energy in the form of mechanical kinetic energy is mostly considered waste energy. The process of scavenging and storing such energy is known as energy harvesting. Energy harvesting from mechanical vibration is performed using resonant energy harvesters (EH) with two major goals: enhancing the power scavenged at low frequency sources of vibrations, and increasing the efficiency of scavenging energy by increasing the bandwidth near the resonant frequency. Toward such goals, we propose a piezoelectric EH of a composite cantilever beam with a tip magnet facing another magnet at a distance. The composite cantilever consists of a piezoelectric bimorph with …

The Cost Of Uncertainty: Navigating The Boundary Between Legal Information And Legal Services In The Access To Justice Sector, Jennifer Bond, David Wiseman, Emily Bates

Journal of Law and Social Policy

The self-regulatory bodies that oversee legal professionals in Canada maintain strict control on the delivery of legal services, and access to justice projects must therefore always be conscious of activities that would violate certain restrictions. Careful adherence to these parameters is made difficult, however, by the lack of clarity about where the relevant boundaries are drawn. Using a project that provides legal assistance for refugees as a case study, this article highlights the challenges that the unclear distinction between “legal information” and “legal services” creates for access to justice initiatives. We conclude that the uncertainty can carry a variety of …

Contrasting American And Chinese Exceptionalism : Representations Of Political Corruption, Tatiana Rice

Honors Program Theses

This thesis compares media portrayals of political corruption in the United States of America versus the People’s Republic of China. Political corruption is considerably understudied and poses a serious threat to the social, political, and economic wellbeing of all nations. By studying each country’s corresponding media portrayals, this thesis was able to identify how seemingly opposing styles of government and culture framed political corruption in their own nation and abroad. In examining each country’s national newspapers, this study resulted in two major findings: 1) each country had differing ideas of corruption; and 2) these portrayals played a role in framing …

Government Efforts To Address Bullying In Canada: Any Place For Children’S Rights?, Mona Paré, Tara Collins

Journal of Law and Social Policy

Recently, governments in Canada have increased efforts to address bullying in schools primarily through the adoption of laws and policies. This paper examines these measures using a child rights framework, based on Canada’s international legal obligations. It examines the language of child rights and human rights that is present in these efforts, as well as the content of legislation and policies. Analysis is guided by the main child rights principles: non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, the child’s right to survival and development, and respect for the views of the child. The findings point to a fragmented presence of …

Disability Disclosure In The Digital Age: Why The Human Rights Tribunal Of Ontario Should Reform Its Approach To Anonymized Decisions, Natalie A. Macdonnell

Journal of Law and Social Policy

This paper provides a critique of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s (HRTO) approach to the anonymization of applications brought on the ground of disability. First, I examine the test for obtaining an order for anonymity and the application of this test by the HRTO. The HRTO has consistently held that the importance of open justice outweighs an individual’s privacy concerns about disclosure of disability in a public decision unless there are "unique" or "exceptional" circumstances. I discuss social science evidence related to disclosure of disability and the potential deterring impact of the HRTO’s current approach to anonymization on applicants …

Hunting Down The Meaning Of The Second Amendment: An American Right To Pursue Game, Ryan Notarangelo

South Dakota Law Review

No abstract provided.