Auggie: Encouraging Effortful Communication through Handcrafted Digital Experiences

Digital communication is often brisk and automated. From auto-completed messages to "likes," research has shown that such lightweight interactions can affect perceptions of authenticity and closeness. On the other hand, effort in relationships can forge emotional bonds by conveying a sense of caring and is essential in building and maintaining relationships. To explore effortful communication, we designed and evaluated Auggie, an iOS app that encourages partners to create digitally handcrafted Augmented Reality (AR) experiences for each other. Auggie is centered around crafting a 3D character with photos, animated movements, drawings, and audio for someone else. We conducted a two-week-long field study with 30 participants (15 pairs), who used Auggie with their partners remotely. Our qualitative findings show that Auggie participants engaged in meaningful effort through the handcrafting process, and felt closer to their partners, although the tool may not be appropriate in all situations. We discuss design implications and future directions for systems that encourage effortful communication.Comment: To appear at the 25th ACM Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work And Social Computing (CSCW '22). 25 page

Nevada Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS): Washoe County Comparison Report, 2017-2019

Priority health risk behaviors (i.e. preventable behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality) are often established during childhood and adolescence and extend into adulthood. Ongoing surveillance of youth risk behaviors is critical for the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions to improve adolescent health. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national surveillance system that was established in 1991 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor the prevalence of health risk behaviors among youth. YRBS data are routinely collected on high school students, but only a few states collect data in middle schools. The Nevada Middle School YRBS is biennial, anonymous and voluntary survey of students in 6th through 8th grade in regular public, charter, and alternative schools. Students self-report their behaviors in five major areas of health that directly lead to morbidity and mortality, these include: 1) Behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence; 2) Tobacco use; 3) Alcohol and other drug use; 4) Unhealthy dietary behaviors; and 5) Physical inactivity. The Nevada Middle School YRBS provides prevalence estimates for priority risk behaviors and can be used to monitor trends over time. If you have any questions or comments please contact https://www.unr.edu/public-health/research-activities/nevada-youth-risk-behavior-surve

Measurement agreement between a newly developed sensing insole and traditional laboratory-based method for footstrike pattern detection in runners

This study introduced a novel but simple method to continuously measure footstrike patterns in runners using inexpensive force sensors. Two force sensing resistors were firmly affixed at the heel and second toe of both insoles to collect the time signal of foot contact. A total of 109 healthy young adults (42 males and 67 females) were recruited in this study. They ran on an instrumented treadmill at 0˚, +10˚, and -10˚ inclinations and attempted rearfoot, midfoot, and forefoot landings using real time visual biofeedback. Intra-step strike index and onset time difference between two force sensors were measured and analyzed with univariate linear regression. We analyzed 25,655 footfalls and found that onset time difference between two sensors explained 80–84% of variation in the prediction model of strike index (R-squared = 0.799–0.836, p<0.001). However, the time windows to detect footstrike patterns on different surface inclinations were not consistent. These findings may allow laboratory-based gait retraining to be implemented in natural running environments to aid in both injury prevention and performance enhancement

MLN64 Transport to the Late Endosome Is Regulated by Binding to 14-3-3 via a Non-canonical Binding Site

MLN64 is an integral membrane protein localized to the late endosome and plasma membrane that is thought to function as a mediator of cholesterol transport from endosomal membranes to the plasma membrane and/or mitochondria. The protein consists of two distinct domains: an N-terminal membrane-spanning domain that shares homology with the MENTHO protein and a C-terminal steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR)-related lipid transfer (START) domain that binds cholesterol. To further characterize the MLN64 protein, full-length and truncated proteins were overexpressed in cells and the effects on MLN64 trafficking and endosomal morphology were observed. To gain insight into MLN64 function, affinity chromatography and mass spectrometric techniques were used to identify potential MLN64 interacting partners. Of the 15 candidate proteins identified, 14-3-3 was chosen for further characterization. We show that MLN64 interacts with 14-3-3 in vitro as well as in vivo and that the strength of the interaction is dependent on the 14-3-3 isoform. Furthermore, blocking the interaction through the use of a 14-3-3 antagonist or MLN64 mutagenesis delays the trafficking of MLN64 to the late endosome and also results in the dispersal of endocytic vesicles to the cell periphery. Taken together, these studies have determined that MLN64 is a novel 14-3-3 binding protein and indicate that 14-3-3 plays a role in the endosomal trafficking of MLN64. Furthermore, these studies suggest that 14-3-3 may be the link by which MLN64 exerts its effects on the actin-mediated endosome dynamics

Nevada Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS): 2019 Data Dissemination Evaluation

Priority health risk behaviors (i.e. preventable behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality) are often established during childhood and adolescence and extend into adulthood. Ongoing surveillance of youth risk behaviors is critical for the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions to improve adolescent health. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) is a national surveillance system that was established in 1991 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor the prevalence of health risk behaviors among youth. The Nevada High School and Middle School YRBSS is a biennial, anonymous, and voluntary survey of students in 6th through 12th grade in regular public, charter, and alternative schools. In 2019, 36 high schools were randomly chosen by the CDC to represent Nevada. To ensure greater representation from schools in all districts, the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health contracted with the University of Nevada, Reno, School of Community Health Sciences to conduct the YRBSS in all high schools and middle schools throughout the state. The 2019 Nevada High and Middle School YRBSS provides statewide data to assess priority health-risk behaviors among high school students; measure progress toward achieving national health objectives for Healthy People 2020 and other program and policy indicators; and evaluate the impact of school and community interventions at the national, state, and local level. It is our intention that these data will be used by education and health professionals, policy makers, community members, and researchers to improve the health of Nevada’s high and middle school students. This special report summarizes feedback on the dissemination and presentation of 2019 Nevada YRBSS results

Nevada Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS): Clark County Comparison Report, 2017-2019

Priority health risk behaviors (i.e. preventable behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality) are often established during childhood and adolescence and extend into adulthood. Ongoing surveillance of youth risk behaviors is critical for the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions to improve adolescent health. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national surveillance system that was established in 1991 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor the prevalence of health risk behaviors among youth. YRBS data are routinely collected on high school students, but only a few states collect data in middle schools. The Nevada Middle School YRBS is biennial, anonymous and voluntary survey of students in 6th through 8th grade in regular public, charter, and alternative schools. Students self-report their behaviors in five major areas of health that directly lead to morbidity and mortality, these include: 1) Behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence; 2) Tobacco use; 3) Alcohol and other drug use; 4) Unhealthy dietary behaviors; and 5) Physical inactivity. The Nevada Middle School YRBS provides prevalence estimates for priority risk behaviors and can be used to monitor trends over time. If you have any questions or comments please contact https://www.unr.edu/public-health/research-activities/nevada-youth-risk-behavior-surve

2019 Nevada Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS): Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Special Report

Priority health risk behaviors (i.e. preventable behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality) are often established during childhood and adolescence and extend into adulthood. Ongoing surveillance of youth risk behaviors is critical for the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions to improve adolescent health. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national surveillance system that was established in 1991 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor the prevalence of health risk behaviors among youth. YRBS data are routinely collected on middle school students, but only a few states collect data in middle schools. The Nevada Middle School YRBS is biennial, anonymous and voluntary survey of students in 6th through 8th grade in regular public, charter, and alternative schools. This special report compares the 2019 Nevada YRBS prevalence estimates of behavioral health outcomes for students with different levels of exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). If you have any questions or comments please contact https://www.unr.edu/public-health/research-activities/nevada-youth-risk-behavior-surve

Nevada High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS): Clark County Comparison Report, 2017-2019

Priority health risk behaviors (i.e. preventable behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality) are often established during childhood and adolescence and extend into adulthood. Ongoing surveillance of youth risk behaviors is critical for the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions to improve adolescent health. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national surveillance system that was established in 1991 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor the prevalence of health risk behaviors among youth. The Nevada High School YRBS is a biennial, anonymous, and voluntary survey of students in 9th through 12th grade in regular public, charter, and alternative schools. The survey asks students to self-report their behaviors in six major areas of health that directly lead to morbidity and mortality, these include: 1) Behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence; 2) Sexual behaviors that contribute to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, other sexually transmitted diseases, and unintended pregnancy; 3) Tobacco use; 4) Alcohol and other drug use; 5) Unhealthy dietary behaviors; and 6) Physical inactivity. The Nevada High School YRBS provides prevalence estimates for priority risk behaviors and can be used to monitor trends over time. If you have any questions or comments please contact https://www.unr.edu/public-health/research-activities/nevada-youth-risk-behavior-surve

2019 Nevada High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS): Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Special Report

Priority health risk behaviors (i.e. preventable behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality) are often established during childhood and adolescence and extend into adulthood. Ongoing surveillance of youth risk behaviors is critical for the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions to improve adolescent health. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national surveillance system that was established in 1991 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor the prevalence of health risk behaviors among youth. The Nevada High School YRBS is a biennial, anonymous, and voluntary survey of students in 9th through 12th grade in regular public, charter, and alternative schools. This special report compares the 2019 Nevada YRBS prevalence estimates of behavioral health outcomes for students with different levels of exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). If you have any questions or comments please contact https://www.unr.edu/public-health/research-activities/nevada-youth-risk-behavior-surve