Creating a Voice for Black Tech Entrepreneurs in Academic Literature

In a country where inventors and innovators are noted as being at liberty to enter and contribute to the free market space, conversely studies have found that Black tech entrepreneurs face greater difficulty launching and growing their businesses. A review of the literature suggests that many of these difficulties stem from the lingering effects of historical inequalities. These inequalities have existed for decades due to laws and regulations that once limited home ownership, income earning, credit access, inheritances, and educational opportunities. Additionally, literature in the tech arena has demonstrated a lack of diversity in the field. Pattern matching or preconceived standards have also been said to impact Black tech entrepreneurs’ opportunities to receive investments to launch and grow their businesses. While great dialogue has taken place in the tech arena around these disparities, little is known in academic literature about how Black tech entrepreneurs engage in the process of creating innovative brands and marketing their companies. In light of this, the researcher conducted a qualitative case study designed to explore black tech entrepreneurs’ perceptions of how they learn to launch and grow their businesses. This study engaged participants who self-identified as tech entrepreneurs of Black or African descent who have launched apps, websites, or hybrid companies in the United States. Among the key findings that emerged from the study were: An overwhelming majority of participants described that seeking the counsel of “expert” others was a key action in securing funding to grow their companies. Further, a strong majority of participants indicated that having a positive self-concept was a key facilitator in growing their businesses; while, an equal number indicated that a misalignment between the investor and entrepreneur inhibited their ability to grow. The tech entrepreneurial field can evolve through the increased trying on of differing perspectives by both investors and entrepreneurs; the continued development of diversity tech ecosystems and support networks; and, sustained progress in increasing the investment opportunities for Black tech entrepreneurs

Simulating Micro Combustion with a Compressible Flow Solver

This thesis details the approach to simulating micro combustion with conjugate heat transfer in the compressible flow solver, Eilmer4. Background information on micro combustion is presented for context and motivation. The modelling choices are explained and support the experimental setup. Micro combustion with was achieved using conjugate heat transfer model in place. The resulting flame was not stable, after 4 ms it was thermally quenched. The process of building the complexity of the simulations from simple cold flows through to combustion with conjugate heat transfer is detailed explicitly. A number of bugs which limited micro combustion in Eilmer4 were identified and addressed

Initiation of Sexual Intercourse and Safe Sex Practices: An Evidence-Based Replication of Reducing the Risk

Purpose and Background: This study aimed to (1) identify predictors of initiation of sexual intercourse before program implementation, and (2) assess the one-year impact of Reducing the Risk (RTR) on the delay of sexual intercourse initiation and safe sex practices among a predominantly Latino sample of 9th graders in Tulare County. RTR is an evidence-based program designed to delay initiation of adolescent sexual intercourse, and increase safe practices among those who are already sexually active. The program was implemented in Tulare County; whose average teen birth rate for 2009-2011 was 60.2 per 1,000 teens aged 15-19. Methods: Baseline and one-year follow-up data were collected on 390 students, beginning in their 9th grade year (53% female, 72.2% Latino/Hispanic). Students participated in a school-based pregnancy prevention program (RTR) and answered questions on HIV/STIs knowledge, attitudes about abstinence and teen pregnancy, parent communication, sexual intercourse, and safe sex practices. Results: Over one in eight students were sexually active at baseline. Overall, students reported long-term increases in HIV/STI knowledge and parent communication, decreases in intentions to have sexual intercourse and positive attitudes about teen pregnancy. Controlling for baseline differences, sexually active students reported fewer positive attitudes about abstinence. Conclusion: RTR may be more effective in preventing pregnancy and HIV/STIs among students who are not yet sexually active. Further, RTR does appear to successfully impact students who have already initiated sexual intercourse decisions to practice safe sex; however, not to become abstinent

Metric and Path-Connectedness Properties of the Frechet Distance for Paths and Graphs

The Frechet distance is often used to measure distances between paths, with applications in areas ranging from map matching to GPS trajectory analysis to handwriting recognition. More recently, the Frechet distance has been generalized to a distance between two copies of the same graph embedded or immersed in a metric space; this more general setting opens up a wide range of more complex applications in graph analysis. In this paper, we initiate a study of some of the fundamental topological properties of spaces of paths and of graphs mapped to R^n under the Frechet distance, in an effort to lay the theoretical groundwork for understanding how these distances can be used in practice. In particular, we prove whether or not these spaces, and the metric balls therein, are path-connected.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. Published in the 2023 Canadian Conference on Computational Geometr

Assessing the association of county-level structural racism and social and economic deprivation with women’s prenatal care utilization and adverse birth outcomes

There is a growing body of research showing community- and state-level indicators of structural racism and social and economic deprivation are associated with prenatal care utilization and adverse birth outcomes among African American women. However, even after controlling for individual characteristics and community poverty, racial inequities in prenatal care utilization and adverse birth outcomes are still present. There is limited research on the effect of structural racism and social and economic deprivation when measured at the county-level on adverse birth outcomes. This study contributes to previous research by using a novel conceptualization and measurement of structural racism and social and economic deprivation to better understand racial inequities in prenatal care utilization and adverse birth outcomes. Cross-sectional birth record data (2009-2013) from women residing in California (n= 531,170) were linked to county-level data gathered from the American Community Survey (2009-2013) to conduct multilevel analyses. This study was guided by the ecosocial theory and was centered on examining the association of exposures to structural racism (e.g., residential segregation and African American and White ratios in political participation) and embodied racial inequities in adverse birth outcomes between African American and White women through two mediated pathways: (1) social and economic deprivation, and (2) prenatal care utilization. Outcome variables in this study were infants’ birth weight (measured in grams) and gestational age (measured in weeks). Women receiving less than adequate prenatal care (i.e., initiating prenatal care after the first trimester and attending 79% or less of recommended appointments) served as a secondary outcome variable. Structural racism was measured by residential segregation indices (i.e., dissimilarity, isolation, and concentration) and African American and White ratios in the number of persons incarcerated for felonies and in board of supervisor positions at the county-level. Social and economic deprivation was measured by two African American to White ratios: in having a professional and/or management job, and in having a high school diploma or higher at the county-level. Chapters 4 and 5 are two papers included in this dissertation that sought to answer the following research questions: (1) Are both traditional and novel indicators of county-level structural racism associated with adverse birth outcomes among African American and White women?; (2) Do both traditional and novel measures of county-level structural racism account for racial inequities seen in adverse birth outcomes among African American and White women?; and (3) Do county-level indicators of social and economic deprivation account for racial inequities seen in African American and White women’s prenatal care utilization? Among women included in the study sample, African American women birthed infants of lower average birth weight and earlier average gestational age, with corresponding higher percentages of infants meeting criteria for low birth weight and preterm birth in comparison to White women. Additionally, African American women, compared to White women, were more likely to have less than adequate prenatal care utilization. Traditional indicators of structural racism (i.e., isolation and dissimilarity) were associated with African American and White women’s infants’ birth weight and gestational age, after controlling for individual characteristics and county-level poverty. There was a significant interaction between race (i.e., African American) and traditional indicators of structural racism (i.e., isolation) with infants’ gestational age, where African American women who lived in counties with high isolation birthed infants at earlier gestational ages. The main effect of race on infants’ birth weight and gestational age remained significant across all models. Novel indicators of structural racism were associated with infants’ birth weight among both African American and White women. There were no statistically significant interactions between race and novel indicators of structural racism with infants’ birth weight. Only one indicator of social and economic deprivation was associated with women’s prenatal care utilization, adjusting for individual characteristics and county-level poverty. Findings indicate increasing the number of African Americans by one to every 100 Whites in professional jobs at the county-level, increased women’s likelihood of having less than adequate prenatal care by 1.03 odds. Race remained significant after accounting for individual-level factors and county poverty; however, there were no significant interactions between race and African American to White ratios in professional jobs. Findings from this study highlight the utility of county-level measures of structural racism and social and economic deprivation in understanding factors related to prenatal care utilization and adverse birth outcomes among African American and White women. Future studies should examine more comprehensive approaches to measure structural racism and social and economic deprivation to better understand the structural influences affecting racial inequities in prenatal care utilization and adverse birth outcomes

Transitioning HIV-infected adolescents to adult care at 14 clinics across the United States: Using adolescent and adult providers’ insights to create multi-level solutions to address transition barriers

HIV-infected adolescents have disproportionately low rates of care retention and viral suppression. Approximately half disengage from care while transitioning to adult clinics, in part due to fragmented care systems and lack of streamlined protocols. We conducted 58 qualitative interviews with social service and health care providers across 14 Adolescent Trials Network clinics (n=28) and 20 adult clinics that receive transitioning adolescents (n=30) from August 2015 – June 2016. We used the constant comparative approach to examine processes, barriers, and facilitators of adult care transition. Transition barriers coalesced around three levels. Structural: insurance eligibility, transportation, and HIV-related stigma; Clinical: inter-clinic communication, differences in care cultures, and resource/personnel limitations; and Individual: adolescents’ transition readiness and developmental capacity. Staff-initiated solutions (e.g., grant-funded transportation) were often unsustainable and applied individual-level solutions to structural-level barriers. Comprehensive initiatives, which develop collaborative policies and protocols that support providers’ ability to match the solution and barrier level (i.e., structural-to-structural), are sorely needed. These initiatives should also support local systematic planning to facilitate inter-clinic structures and communication. Such approaches will help HIV-infected adolescents transition to adult care and improve long-term health outcomes

Mixed Chamber Ensembles

Kennesaw State University School of Music presents Mixed Chamber Ensembles, 4:00 performance.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1428/thumbnail.jp

2020 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Reproductive Health in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154675/1/art41191.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154675/2/art41191_am.pd

Infant Outcomes Following Maternal Infection With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): First Report From the Pregnancy Coronavirus Outcomes Registry (PRIORITY) Study.

Infant outcomes after maternal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are not well described. In a prospective US registry of 263 infants, maternal SARS-CoV-2 status was not associated with birth weight, difficulty breathing, apnea, or upper or lower respiratory infection through 8 weeks of age

Clinical Presentation of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Pregnant and Recently Pregnant People.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical presentation, symptomology, and disease course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in pregnancy. METHODS: The PRIORITY (Pregnancy CoRonavIrus Outcomes RegIsTrY) study is an ongoing nationwide prospective cohort study of people in the United States who are pregnant or up to 6 weeks postpregnancy with known or suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. We analyzed the clinical presentation and disease course of COVID-19 in participants who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection and reported symptoms at the time of testing. RESULTS: Of 991 participants enrolled from March 22, 2020, until July 10, 2020, 736 had symptoms of COVID-19 at the time of testing; 594 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection and 142 tested negative in this symptomatic group. Mean age was 31.3 years (SD 5.1), and 37% will nulliparous. Ninety-five percent were outpatients. Participants who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2-infection were a geographically diverse cohort: 34% from the Northeast, 25% from the West, 21% from the South, and 18% from the Midwest. Thirty-one percent of study participants were Latina, and 9% were Black. The average gestational age at enrollment was 24.1 weeks, and 13% of participants were enrolled after pregnancy. The most prevalent first symptoms in the cohort of patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection were cough (20%), sore throat (16%), body aches (12%), and fever (12%). Median time to symptom resolution was 37 days (95% CI 35-39). One quarter (25%) of participants who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection had persistent symptoms 8 or more weeks after symptom onset. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 has a prolonged and nonspecific disease course during pregnancy and in the 6 weeks after pregnancy. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04323839