377 research outputs found

    An Ecological Perspective of American Rodent-Borne Orthohantavirus Surveillance

    Get PDF
    Orthohantaviruses are a global group of viruses found primarily in rodents, though several viruses have also been found in shrews and moles. Many rodent-borne orthohantaviruses are capable of causing one of several diseases in humans, and the mortality associated with these diseases ranges from \u3c 0.1% - 50% depending on the specific etiological virus. In North and South America, orthohantavirus research was ignited by an outbreak of severe disease in the Four Corners region of the United States in 1993. However, despite the discovery of over 20 orthohantaviruses in the Americas, our understanding of orthohantavirus ecology and virus-host dynamics in this region is still limited, and orthohantavirus surveillance is generally restricted in scope to select regions and small portions of host distributional ranges. In Chapter I, I present a literature review on the current understanding of American rodent-borne orthohantavirus ecology. This review focused on under-studied orthohantaviruses, addressing gaps in knowledge by extrapolating information from well-studied orthohantaviruses, general rodent ecology, and occassionally from Eurasian orthohantavirus-host ecology. There were several key conclusions generated from this review that warrant further research: 1) the large number of putative orthohantaviruses and gaps in orthohantavirus evolution necessitate further surveillance and characterization, 2) orthohantavirus traits differ and are more generalizable based on host taxonomy rather than geography, and 3) orthohantavirus host species are disproportionately found in grasslands and disturbed habitats. In Chapter II, I present a prioritized list of rodent species to target for orthohantavirus surveillance based on predictive modeling using machine learning. Probable orthohantavirus hosts were predicted based on traits of known orthohantavirus hosts using two different types of evidence: RT-PCR and virus isolation. Predicted host distributions were also mapped to identify geographic hotspots to spatially guide future surveillance efforts. In Chapter III, I present a framework for understanding and predicting orthohantavirus traits based on reservoir host phylogeny, as opposed to the traditional geographic dichotomy used to group orthohantaviruses. This framework establishes three distinct orthohantavirus groups: murid-borne orthohantaviruses, arvicoline-borne orthohantaviruses, and non-arvicoline cricetid-borne orthohantaviruses, which differ in several key traits, including the human disease they cause, transmission routes, and virus-host fidelity. In Chapter IV, I compare rodent communities and orthohantavirus prevalence among grassland management regimes. Sites that were periodically burned had high rodent diversity and a high proportion of grassland species. However, rodent seroprevalence for orthohantavirus was also highest in burned sites, representing a trade-off in habitat management outcomes. The high seroprevalence in burned sites is likely due to the robust populations supported by the high quality habitat resulting from prescribed burning. In Chapters V and VI, I describe Ozark virus and Sager Creek virus, two novel orthohantaviruses discovered from specimens collected during Chapter IV. Both chapters report full genome sequences of the respective viruses and compare both nucleotide and protein phylogenies with related orthohantaviruses. Additionally in Chapter VI, I support the genetic analyses with molecular and ecological characterizations, including seasonal fluctuations in host abundance, correlates of prevalence, evidence of virus shedding, and information on host cell susceptibility to Sager Creek virus

    An Ecological Perspective of American Rodent-Borne Orthohantavirus Surveillance

    Get PDF
    Orthohantaviruses are a global group of viruses found primarily in rodents, though several viruses have also been found in shrews and moles. Many rodent-borne orthohantaviruses are capable of causing one of several diseases in humans, and the mortality associated with these diseases ranges from \u3c 0.1% - 50% depending on the specific etiological virus. In North and South America, orthohantavirus research was ignited by an outbreak of severe disease in the Four Corners region of the United States in 1993. However, despite the discovery of over 20 orthohantaviruses in the Americas, our understanding of orthohantavirus ecology and virus-host dynamics in this region is still limited, and orthohantavirus surveillance is generally restricted in scope to select regions and small portions of host distributional ranges. In Chapter I, I present a literature review on the current understanding of American rodent-borne orthohantavirus ecology. This review focused on under-studied orthohantaviruses, addressing gaps in knowledge by extrapolating information from well-studied orthohantaviruses, general rodent ecology, and occassionally from Eurasian orthohantavirus-host ecology. There were several key conclusions generated from this review that warrant further research: 1) the large number of putative orthohantaviruses and gaps in orthohantavirus evolution necessitate further surveillance and characterization, 2) orthohantavirus traits differ and are more generalizable based on host taxonomy rather than geography, and 3) orthohantavirus host species are disproportionately found in grasslands and disturbed habitats. In Chapter II, I present a prioritized list of rodent species to target for orthohantavirus surveillance based on predictive modeling using machine learning. Probable orthohantavirus hosts were predicted based on traits of known orthohantavirus hosts using two different types of evidence: RT-PCR and virus isolation. Predicted host distributions were also mapped to identify geographic hotspots to spatially guide future surveillance efforts. In Chapter III, I present a framework for understanding and predicting orthohantavirus traits based on reservoir host phylogeny, as opposed to the traditional geographic dichotomy used to group orthohantaviruses. This framework establishes three distinct orthohantavirus groups: murid-borne orthohantaviruses, arvicoline-borne orthohantaviruses, and non-arvicoline cricetid-borne orthohantaviruses, which differ in several key traits, including the human disease they cause, transmission routes, and virus-host fidelity. In Chapter IV, I compare rodent communities and orthohantavirus prevalence among grassland management regimes. Sites that were periodically burned had high rodent diversity and a high proportion of grassland species. However, rodent seroprevalence for orthohantavirus was also highest in burned sites, representing a trade-off in habitat management outcomes. The high seroprevalence in burned sites is likely due to the robust populations supported by the high quality habitat resulting from prescribed burning. In Chapters V and VI, I describe Ozark virus and Sager Creek virus, two novel orthohantaviruses discovered from specimens collected during Chapter IV. Both chapters report full genome sequences of the respective viruses and compare both nucleotide and protein phylogenies with related orthohantaviruses. Additionally in Chapter VI, I support the genetic analyses with molecular and ecological characterizations, including seasonal fluctuations in host abundance, correlates of prevalence, evidence of virus shedding, and information on host cell susceptibility to Sager Creek virus

    A Descriptive, Multi-Site Case Study to Discover the Inclusion of Disability Competencies in Undergraduate Public Health Program Curricula in California-Based Public Universities

    Get PDF
    Nearly one in four adults and one in six children in the United States (U.S.) have a disability. Despite the evidence documenting health differences, public health professionals receive inconsistent or little-to-no disability education in graduate public health curricula. Undergraduate public health (UGPH) programs have an expanding role in building the future public health workforce, including the U.S. governmental public health workforce. However, the inclusion of disability-related content within UGPH program curricula is currently unknown. The purpose of this multi-site case study was to conduct preliminary research to describe how disability-related curricula are or can be included in UGPH program curricula and to understand what supports are needed to deliver UGPH program curricula for disability-competent public health workforce preparedness. From semi-structured interviews and document analysis data, this study’s research questions aimed to discover to what extent the four public health workforce disability competencies can be included in the UGPH program curricula of California-based public universities. The social-ecological theory, which acknowledges and describes the influence of larger social systems and environments on individual and community-level health outcomes, served as the guiding conceptual model for this study. The qualitative data were examined through thematic and content analysis approaches. This study found that disability-related content in UGPH program curricula lacks focus and specificity, lacks inclusion and depth, and is influenced by faculty and student preferences. Further, faculty capacity and university and faculty resources were identified as barriers, and curriculum flexibility was identified as a facilitator to disability-content curricula inclusion

    COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Acceptance in Ethnic Minority Individuals in the United Kingdom: a mixed-methods study using Protection Motivation Theory

    Get PDF
    Background: Uptake of the COVID-19 booster vaccine among ethnic minority individuals has been lower than in the general population. However, there is little research examining the psychosocial factors that contribute to COVID-19 booster vaccine hesitancy in this population.Aim: Our study aimed to determine which factors predicted COVID-19 vaccination intention in minority ethnic individuals in Middlesbrough, using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, in addition to demographic variables.Method: We used a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected using an online survey. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews. 64 minority ethnic individuals (33 females, 31 males; mage = 31.06, SD = 8.36) completed the survey assessing PMT constructs, COVID-19conspiracy beliefs and demographic factors. 42.2% had received the booster vaccine, 57.6% had not. 16 survey respondents were interviewed online to gain further insight into factors affecting booster vaccineacceptance.Results: Multiple regression analysis showed that perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 was a significant predictor of booster vaccination intention, with higher perceived susceptibility being associated with higher intention to get the booster. Additionally, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs significantly predictedintention to get the booster vaccine, with higher conspiracy beliefs being associated with lower intention to get the booster dose. Thematic analysis of the interview data showed that barriers to COVID-19 booster vaccination included time constraints and a perceived lack of practical support in the event ofexperiencing side effects. Furthermore, there was a lack of confidence in the vaccine, with individuals seeing it as lacking sufficient research. Participants also spoke of medical mistrust due to historical events involving medical experimentation on minority ethnic individuals.Conclusion: PMT and conspiracy beliefs predict COVID-19 booster vaccination in minority ethnic individuals. To help increase vaccine uptake, community leaders need to be involved in addressing people’s concerns, misassumptions, and lack of confidence in COVID-19 vaccination

    Examining Political Discourse on Online 8Kun and Reddit Forums

    Get PDF
    A recent example of political violence in the United States was that of the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack in connection with the certification of Joseph R. Biden’s victory over Donald J. Trump in the 2020 US presidential election. This thesis analyzes the events of January 6, 2021, through the lens of social media discourse. This thesis presents a workflow that acquired over 5 million 8kun and Reddit posts from various apolitical and political forums in the three months preceding and following the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021. Techniques from text analysis are then used to group forums according to the similarities of their posting patterns. Five main groups of forums are identified. Finally, this thesis analyzes these forums for feelings of isolation and displacement from society in connection with the events of January 6, 2021. Such feelings were not clearly identified. This thesis demonstrates the challenges and opportunities of scraping and analyzing social media data

    Evaluating Item Bias and Equitability of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory- Diabetes Module 5 Item Version Amongst Income and Racially Diverse Youth Living with Type 1 Diabetes

    Get PDF
    Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is one of the most common chronic diseases among children in the United States, affecting around 244,000 children and adolescents. In 2014–2015 around 18,200 youth were diagnosed with T1D. T1D requires youth to participate in complex and burdensome health behaviors that can affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Measures such as the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory- Diabetes Module Version 3.2 (PedsQL-DM) are used to determine how T1D has influenced youth and caregivers’ daily lives. Recently, a 5-item version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory- Diabetes Module (PedsQL-DMSF5) was developed; however, it is presently unclear if this measure is meaningfully free of bias across varying sociodemographic-illness durations. As such, this study aims to explore the measurement invariance of the PedsQL-DMSF5 across racialized categories (Black/ African American and White), genders, HbA1c, illness duration, and income. Youth with T1D (N= 181, 49% female, 51% male,56 % African American, age M= 14.6, SD= 1.7, Hba1c M= 10.32, SD= 2.48, Median income = $30,000 for 152 of the participants) and their caregivers completed the full PedsQL-DM. Youth also completed Diabetes Stress Questionnaire, and their HbA1c and illness duration were obtained through medical record review. Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs) and correlations were conducted in Mplus. The youth and caregiver’s report of the youth’s T1D-HRQoL provided an excellent fit (RMSEA =.068, 90% CI: .039-.096; CFI=.957, SRMR=.053), acceptable reliability (youth/caregiver omega = .80/.68), and preliminary evidence of validity showed significant correlations of the PedsQL-DMSF5 Y/CG totals with the full 33 item PedsQL: r=.85/.84, Diabetes Stress: r=-.60/-.32., and HbA1c: r=.26/-35. There was a significant but small caregiver-youth concordance (r=.26). Youth and Caregiver PedsQL-DMSF5 scores were also found to be invariant at the scalar level across HbA1c, illness duration, gender, and median income, and partially invariant at the scalar level for race once item 1 was removed. In families with youth living with type-1 diabetes, the PedsQL-DMSFs show promise to be a psychometrically robust, measure of T1D HRQoL that may be meaningfully free of bias across some sociodemographic and illness-specific categories. Caregiver-youth concordance highlights the importance of obtaining both youth and caregiver perspectives. Further validation suggests that the PedsQL-DM SFs may be a useful, brief, and equitable measure of Health-Related Quality of Life for youth with T1D and their families

    Community-based organization perspectives on participating in state-wide community canvassing program aimed to reduce COVID-19 vaccine disparities in California

    Get PDF
    Background: Inequities in COVID-19 vaccine accessibility and reliable COVID-related information disproportionately affected marginalized racial and ethnic communities in the U.S. The Get Out the Vaccine (GOTVax) program, an innovative statewide government-funded COVID-19 vaccine canvassing program in California, aimed to reduce structural barriers to COVID-19 vaccination in high-risk communities with low vaccination rates. GOTVax consisted of a community-academic-government partnership with 34 local trusted community-based organizations’ (CBOs) to conduct COVID-19 vaccine outreach, education, and vaccine registration. The purpose of this qualitative evaluation study was to explore the barriers and facilitators of using local CBOs to deploy a geographically, racially, and ethnically diverse state-wide COVID-19 vaccine outreach program. Methods: Semi-structured online interviews were conducted with participating GOTVax CBO leaders from November 2021 to January 2022. Transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Thirty-one of 34 CBOs participated (91% response rate). Identified themes encompassed both facilitators and barriers to program participation. Key facilitators included leveraging trust through recognized entities; promoting empathetic, tailored outreach; and flexibility of milestone-based CBO funding contracts for rapid program implementation. Barriers included navigating community sociopolitical, geographic, and cultural factors; managing canvassers’ safety; desiring metrics for self-evaluation of outreach success; mitigating canvassing technology challenges; and concerns of program infrastructure initially limiting outreach. CBOs problem-solved barriers with academic and government partners. Conclusions: Between May and December 2021, the GOTVax program reached over 2 million California residents and registered over 60,000 residents for COVID-19 vaccination. Public health campaigns may improve benefits from leveraging the expertise of community-trusted CBOs and universities by providing flexible infrastructure and funding, allowing CBOs to seamlessly tailor outreach most applicable to local minoritized communities

    The Aging Population and Masking Requirements: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study

    Get PDF
    The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study is to understand the lived-experiences of individuals over 60 years old. This study was done to specifically understand psychological effects of adhering to protective measure put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. A pandemic can be described as a global epidemic that has the ability to spread to other continents. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted thousands of people worldwide. There have been multiple preventative measures put in place for individuals to follow to reduce the spread of the virus. The mandates vary depending on the country and state in which an individual lives in. Many individuals’ mental health has been impacted due to the mandates and preventative measures put in place in their communities. Individuals all over the world experienced some sort of change which may have impacted their lived experiences. More research in this area is needed to help individuals understand more about how preventative measures have the potential to alter a person’s lived experiences. This research can be used to help understand how protective mandates impact individual’s lived experiences to help people manage during future pandemics

    Conflict Checkable and Decodable Codes and Their Applications

    Get PDF
    Let CC be an error-correcting code over a large alphabet qq of block length nn, and assume that, a possibly corrupted, codeword cc is distributively stored among nn servers where the iith entry is being held by the iith server. Suppose that every pair of servers publicly announce whether the corresponding coordinates are ``consistent\u27\u27 with some legal codeword or ``conflicted\u27\u27. What type of information about cc can be inferred from this consistency graph? Can we check whether errors occurred and if so, can we find the error locations and effectively decode? We initiate the study of conflict-checkable and conflict-decodable codes and prove the following main results: (1) (Almost-MDS conflict-checkable codes:) For every distance d≤nd\leq n, there exists a code that supports conflict-based error-detection whose dimension kk almost achieves the singleton bound, i.e., k≥n−d+0.99k\geq n-d+0.99. Interestingly, the code is non-linear, and we give some evidence that suggests that this is inherent. Combinatorially, this yields an nn-partite graph over [q]n[q]^n that contains qkq^k cliques of size nn whose pair-wise intersection is at most n−d≤k−0.99n-d\leq k-0.99 vertices, generalizing a construction of Alon (Random Struct. Algorithms, \u2702) that achieves a similar result for the special case of triangles (n=3n=3). (2) (Conflict Decodable Codes below half-distance:) For every distance d≤nd\leq n there exists a linear code that supports conflict-based error-decoding up to half of the distance. The code\u27s dimension kk ``half-meets\u27\u27 the singleton bound, i.e., k=(n−d+2)/2k=(n-d+2)/2, and we prove that this bound is tight for a natural class of such codes. The construction is based on symmetric bivariate polynomials and is rooted in the literature on verifiable secret sharing (Ben-Or, Goldwasser and Wigderson, STOC \u2788; Cramer, Damgård, and Maurer, EUROCRYPT \u2700). (3) (Robust Conflict Decodable Codes:) We show that the above construction also satisfies a non-trivial notion of robust decoding/detection even when the number of errors is unbounded and up to d/2d/2 of the servers are Byzantine and may lie about their conflicts. The resulting conflict-decoder runs in exponential time in this case, and we present an alternative construction that achieves quasipolynomial complexity at the expense of degrading the dimension to k=(n−d+3)/3k=(n-d+3)/3. Our construction is based on trilinear polynomials, and the algorithmic result follows by showing that the induced conflict graph is structured enough to allow efficient recovery of a maximal vertex cover. As an application of the last result, we present the first polynomial-time statistical two-round Verifiable Secret Sharing (resp., three-round general MPC protocol) that remains secure in the presence of an active adversary that corrupts up to t<n/3.001t<n/3.001 of the parties. We can upgrade the resiliency threshold to n/3n/3, which is known to be optimal in this setting, at the expense of increasing the computational complexity to be quasipolynomial. Previous solutions (Applebaum, Kachlon, and Patra, TCC\u2720) suffered from an exponential-time complexity even when the adversary corrupts only n/4n/4 of the parties
    • …
    corecore