Evaluating Relationships between Mercury Concentrations in Air and in Spanish Moss (\u3cem\u3eTillandsia Usneoides\u3c/em\u3e L.)

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is transported globally in vapor form. A major source of mercury contamination to soil, water, and biota is atmospheric deposition. Therefore, comprehensive monitoring of atmospheric concentrations is important. Limitations of conventional atmospheric measurement techniques include high cost and lack of temporal or spatial integration. Bioindicators, however, may serve as an integrative tool to add to conventional mercury measurement techniques. Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides L.) is a potential bioindicator of atmospheric mercury concentration in the southeastern United States because it is an abundant epiphyte that absorbs and accumulates atmospheric pollutants. A study was conducted in southeastern Georgia and northern Florida to test the hypotheses that 1) Spanish moss absorbs and retains atmospheric mercury in tissue, and 2) atmospheric mercury concentrations differ geographically due to nonpoint emission sources, and the concentration of mercury in Spanish moss tissue reflects these differences. To determine if Spanish moss exhibits uptake and retention of mercury, an experiment was conducted in which I transplanted Spanish moss saturated with mercury vapor in the laboratory to a field site unimpacted by mercury emissions and measured tissue mercury concentration over time. In addition, to determine if mercury concentrations in Spanish moss are reflective of atmospheric concentrations, I conducted two field studies in which the mercury concentrations of both resident and transplanted Spanish moss were compared to atmospheric concentrations at sites with different anthropogenic land use. In all studies, tissue was analyzed for mercury concentration using Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. Results suggest Spanish moss absorbs and retains atmospheric mercury, and mercury concentrations in Spanish moss tissue are associated with atmospheric concentrations over both small and large geographic scales. Thus, Spanish moss may serve as a useful measurement tool to add to existing monitoring protocols

Model based economic evaluations of diagnostic point of care tests were rarely fit for purpose

Objective: Linked evidence models are recommended to predict health benefits and cost-effectiveness of diagnostic tests. We considered how published models accounted for changes in patient pathways that occur with point of care tests (POCTs), and their impact of on patient health and costs.Study Design and Setting: Model based evaluations of diagnostic POCTs published from 2004-2017 were identified from searching six databases. For each model we assessed the outcomes considered, and whether reduced time to diagnosis and increased access to testing affected patient health and costs.Results: Seventy-four model based evaluations were included: 95% incorporated evidence on test accuracy, but 34% only assessed intermediate outcomes such as rates of correct diagnosis. Of 54 models where POCTs reduced testing time, 39% addressed the economic and 37% the health benefits of faster diagnosis. No model considered differences in access to tests. Conclusions: Many models fail to capture the effects of POCTs in increasing access, advancing speed of diagnosis and treatment, reducing anxiety and the associated costs. Many only consider the impact of testing from changes in accuracy. Ensuring models incorporate changes in patient pathways from faster and more accessible testing will lead to economic evaluations that better reflect the impact of POCTs

MicroBooNE's First Search for the MiniBooNE Anomalous Excess Under a Photon-Like Hypothesis with High-Sensitivity Search for Neutrino-Induced Neutral Current Delta Production and Radiative Decay

MicroBooNE is a liquid argon time projection chamber that collected neutrino data at Fermilab's Booster Neutrino Beam from 2015 to 2020. One of its primary goals is to investigate the “Low Energy Excess” of neutrino events observed by the MiniBooNE experiment, for which candidate photon-like interpretations include an underestimation of neutrino neutral current (NC) resonant Δ production with subsequent radiative decay or another anomalous source of single photon production in neutrino interactions. In particular, NC Δ radiative decay is poorly constrained background process to electron neutrino measurements and could be a sizable contribution to the “Low Energy Excess.” This thesis will present the analysis developed to search for NC Δ → N events in MicroBooNE, consisting of a boosted decision tree based event selection with an NC neutral pion background constraint, using data from the first three years of operations corresponding to 6.9 × 10²⁰ POT

The Influence of Religion and Spirituality on HIV Prevention Among Black and Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men, New York City

The influence of religion and spirituality (R/S) on HIV prevention has been understudied, especially for Black and/or Latino men who have sex with men (BLMSM), who bear a disproportionate burden of HIV, and who are part of racial/ethnic communities with high engagement in R/S. The specific aim of this study was to explore perspectives about R/S among BLMSM to inform HIV prevention strategies and reduce HIV-related health disparities. Data from 105 qualitative interviews with BLMSM were analyzed; 58 (55%) stated that R/S had no personal influence on HIV prevention. For those reporting any R/S influence, main themes were: (1) R/S positively influenced decision-making and self-respect, (2) perceived judgment and stigma by religious communities, (3) belief in a higher power, and (4) altruism. These findings can inform faith-based HIV prevention interventions for BLMSM

Path to Success: Development of the Pharmacist Through the Continuum of Pharmacy School and Beyond

Objective: To explore the processes and opportunities provided in the co-curriculum of the Wegmans School of Pharmacy (WSoP) that contribute to the development of successful pharmacy graduates. Methods: Pharmacy career preparation begins at orientation with workshops on emotional intelligence, leadership, and the APhA Career Pathway Evaluation Program. During the P1 through P4 years, the optional Student Development Workshop Series (SDW) offers seminars for students on a variety of topics including time management, exam taking strategies/anxiety management, learning styles, personal “brand” creation, CV/portfolio development, and interview soft skills. All students may participate in the annual WSoP Career Day, which offers networking and career opportunities, including post-graduate training options. During the P4 year, there is opportunity for a structured Residency/Fellowship Preparation Program (RPP). Additionally, local pharmacy residents/fellows participate in a Residency Teaching/Learning Curriculum Program (TLC) to develop academic teaching and precepting skills. Results: The SDW program has been successful and well attended with greater than 90% of students finding the topics relevant to their post-graduate success. After the RPP, ASHP residency match results in the 2016 class yielded an improvement from previous years, with 76 % of applied students and 94% of ranked students matching programs in Phase 1. Of the TLC participants, 90% documented an improvement in multiple types of teaching skills. Implications: Based on data and student/faculty input, career development is reassessed and improved continuously at WSoP. In the near future, a method for tracking graduates will be designed to further monitor the impact of programs on student success

The acquisition of Sign Language: The impact of phonetic complexity on phonology

Research into the effect of phonetic complexity on phonological acquisition has a long history in spoken languages. This paper considers the effect of phonetics on phonological development in a signed language. We report on an experiment in which nonword-repetition methodology was adapted so as to examine in a systematic way how phonetic complexity in two phonological parameters of signed languages — handshape and movement — affects the perception and articulation of signs. Ninety-one Deaf children aged 3–11 acquiring British Sign Language (BSL) and 46 hearing nonsigners aged 6–11 repeated a set of 40 nonsense signs. For Deaf children, repetition accuracy improved with age, correlated with wider BSL abilities, and was lowest for signs that were phonetically complex. Repetition accuracy was correlated with fine motor skills for the youngest children. Despite their lower repetition accuracy, the hearing group were similarly affected by phonetic complexity, suggesting that common visual and motoric factors are at play when processing linguistic information in the visuo-gestural modality

Identification and characterization of a novel non-structural protein of bluetongue virus

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is the causative agent of a major disease of livestock (bluetongue). For over two decades, it has been widely accepted that the 10 segments of the dsRNA genome of BTV encode for 7 structural and 3 non-structural proteins. The non-structural proteins (NS1, NS2, NS3/NS3a) play different key roles during the viral replication cycle. In this study we show that BTV expresses a fourth non-structural protein (that we designated NS4) encoded by an open reading frame in segment 9 overlapping the open reading frame encoding VP6. NS4 is 77–79 amino acid residues in length and highly conserved among several BTV serotypes/strains. NS4 was expressed early post-infection and localized in the nucleoli of BTV infected cells. By reverse genetics, we showed that NS4 is dispensable for BTV replication in vitro, both in mammalian and insect cells, and does not affect viral virulence in murine models of bluetongue infection. Interestingly, NS4 conferred a replication advantage to BTV-8, but not to BTV-1, in cells in an interferon (IFN)-induced antiviral state. However, the BTV-1 NS4 conferred a replication advantage both to a BTV-8 reassortant containing the entire segment 9 of BTV-1 and to a BTV-8 mutant with the NS4 identical to the homologous BTV-1 protein. Collectively, this study suggests that NS4 plays an important role in virus-host interaction and is one of the mechanisms played, at least by BTV-8, to counteract the antiviral response of the host. In addition, the distinct nucleolar localization of NS4, being expressed by a virus that replicates exclusively in the cytoplasm, offers new avenues to investigate the multiple roles played by the nucleolus in the biology of the cell

“My Sexuality…It Creates a Stress”: HIV-Related Communication Among Bisexual Black and Latino Men, New York City

Men who have sex with men and women (including bisexual men) comprise 35% of all men who have sex with men (MSM) in the U.S. It is estimated that 121,800 men who have been bisexually active within the past year are living with HIV in the U.S. Communication about HIV may result in risk-reduction behaviors. However, little is known about the nature or context for HIV prevention communication among bisexual men, particularly for blacks and Hispanic/Latinos who are disproportionately at greater HIV risk. Therefore, we explored patterns and contexts of HIV-related communications occurring within personal social networks among bisexual black and Hispanic/Latino men. Using respondent-driven sampling methods, we conducted semi-structured interviews from 2011 to 2012 among 36 participants living in New York City. We examined interview responses from participants for main themes using computer-assisted thematic analyses. The three main themes identified were: (1) communication strategies (e.g., “You can tell a lot from how a person responds just by the tone of their voice”), (2) barriers (e.g., “My sexuality…it creates a stress”), and (3) motivations for these communications (e.g., “I know that’s a(n) issue in the black community…if I could help another brother, I will do it”). Our findings can inform HIV prevention efforts such as social messaging campaigns and other risk-reduction interventions designed for bisexual men