CHARACTERIZING YOUNG ADULT EXPOSURE AND ENGAGEMENT WITH SOCIAL MEDIA TOBACCO AND NICOTINE PRODUCT MARKETING AND MESSAGING

Tobacco use remains a critical public health issue in the United States. Young adults are disproportionately affected by high rates of tobacco use and heavily targeted by tobacco marketing. Social media has become an important source of exposure to tobacco and nicotine product marketing and messaging for young adults. This dissertation examined the prevalence and socio-environmental characteristics associated with young adults’ exposure to and engagement with tobacco-related social media (paper 1); the prospective associations between young adults’ exposure and engagement and tobacco and nicotine product use (paper 2); and young adults’ experiences with tobacco and nicotine product messaging on social media, as well as perceptions of existing e-cigarette social media advertisements (paper 3). Participants were two- and four-year college students from the Marketing and Promotions across Colleges in Texas Study (n=4,384; mean age=20.4, standard deviation=2.32; 64.6% female; 35.5% non-Hispanic white, 30.8% Hispanic, 18.2% Asian, 7.9% African American/black, and 7.6% another race/ethnicity or multi-racial). In paper 1, 30% of students reported past 30-day exposure to cigarette, e-cigarette, hookah, cigar, and/or smokeless tobacco advertising on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit, and/or Pinterest, and 23% of students reported engagement. Anti-engagement activities such as posting links to anti-tobacco messaging were more prevalent than pro-engagement. Racial/ethnic minorities, dual- and poly-users, higher social media users, students with friends that use tobacco, and students with higher depressive symptoms were significantly more likely to report exposure. Racial/ethnic minorities, two-year college students, poly- and dual-users, higher social media users, and students with higher depressive symptoms were more likely to report pro-engagement. Poly-users, higher social media users, students with friends that use tobacco, and students with higher depressive symptoms were more likely to report anti-engagement. In paper 2, multiple logistic regression analyses revealed exposure to and engagement with tobacco-related social media significantly predicted past 30-day use of e-cigarettes, cigars, and hookah at one-year follow up. Controlling for other social media, exposure to any product advertising via Reddit predicted e-cigarette use. Pinterest exposure predicted cigar use. Snapchat exposure predicted hookah use. Pro-tobacco engagement predicted future use of all products. Anti-tobacco engagement predicted use of cigars and hookah. In paper 3, thematic content analysis of qualitative interviews with a subsample of 30 revealed all participants recalled seeing tobacco or nicotine product messaging on social media, primarily for alternative products like e-cigarettes and hookah. Perceptions of researcher-selected advertisements were generally positive, with students preferring advertisements that did not look like traditional advertisements and conveyed fun and social themes. Findings support a critical need for social media-based federal regulation, countermarketing and health communication campaigns, and intervention focused on tobacco

Master of Science

thesisThis work uses three asphalt concrete mixtures with decreasing nominal maximum aggregate size (NMAS) to evaluate the validity of using the bending beam rheometer (BBR) to obtain flexural creep modulus of asphalt concrete mixture beams. The flexural creep modulus of asphalt pavement is an important property used to give insight into the cold property behaviors of the pavement. Previous research has indicated that asphalt mixtures can be tested using small beam samples (12.7-mm x 6.35-mm x 127-mm) in the BBR. Given that some of the dimensions are smaller than the aggregate used in the mixture, there is a concern that significant errors would be introduced due to the influence of these larger aggregate, thus the test is not being conducted on the representative volume element (RVE). This paper evaluates this concern. To accomplish this, three mix designs with NMAS, 12.5-mm, 9.5-mm, and 4.75-mm were developed and tested in the BBR. The 12.5-mm NMAS mixture was an actual mix placed on SR-201 in Salt Lake City; the 9.5-mm and 4.75-mm NMAS mixtures were developed to decrease the ratios of NMAS to beam width and NMAS to beam thickness. This approach is meant to imitate the development of an RVE while maintaining the beam size of 12.7-mm width x 6.35-mm thickness x 127-mm length. The two smaller mixtures were developed to be scaled equivalents of the 12.5-mm NMAS with similar volumetric parameters and gradation shapes. A series of experiments using the BBR were performed to calculate the creep modulus of the asphalt mixture beams. Through statistical analysis it was found that flexural creep modulus data obtained from the BBR testing come from a normal distribution with equal variances across different sample groups. This means that the large aggregate mixtures resulted in no more variability than the smaller aggregate mixtures. Consequently, creep modulus data from asphalt mixture beams collected using the BBR could be used to predict the thermal properties of asphalt mixtures. Thus, based on these results, it is concluded that the small beam samples can be tested in the BBR as they meet the minimum RVE requirements

EAGALA Inter-Professional Team Development

Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) is a team approach to problem solving in which a group or team interacts with horses to accomplish various tasks. The horses are not ridden but instead worked in an open setting to allow reflection and understanding between team members. EAGALA has been used in multiple settings, such as, combatting compassion fatigue in community care workers. (Black 8-13) EAGALA uses experiential learning to realize the goals of the participants This offered an opportunity for interprofessional collaboration between the COM, Nursing, and Social Work students with a technique that has been suggested to reduce burnout among community health professionals ..(Notgrass and Pettinelli 162-174)https://dune.une.edu/cecespring2020/1005/thumbnail.jp

Climacteric fruit ripening: Ethylene-dependent and independent regulation of ripening pathways in melon fruit

Cantaloupe melons have a typical climacteric behaviour with ethylene playing a major role in the regulation of the ripening process and affecting the ripening rate. Crossing of Cantaloupe Charentais melon with a non-climacteric melon indicated that the climacteric character is genetically dominant and conferred by two duplicated loci only. However, other experiments made by crossing two non-climacteric melons have generated climacteric fruit, indicating that different and complex genetic regulation exists for the climacteric character. Suppression of ethylene production by antisense ACC oxidase RNA in Charentais melon has shown that, while many ripening pathways were regulated by ethylene (synthesis of aroma volatiles, respiratory climacteric and degreening of the rind), some were ethylene-independent (initiation of climacteric, sugar accumulation, loss of acidity and coloration of the pulp). Softening of the flesh comprised both ethylene-dependent and independent components that were correlated with differential regulation of cell wall degrading genes. These results indicate that climacteric (ethylene-dependent) and non-climacteric (ethylene-independent) regulation coexist during climacteric fruit ripening. In addition, ethylenesuppressed melons allowed demonstrating that the various ethylene-dependent events exhibited differential sensitivity to ethylene and that ethylene was promoting sensitivity to chilling injury. Throughout this review, the data generated with melon are compared with those obtained with tomato and other fruit

Physical Activity-Related Policy and Environmental Strategies to Prevent Obesity in Rural Communities: A Systematic Review of the Literature, 2002-2013

Citation: Meyer, M. R. U., Perry, C. K., Sumrall, J. C., Patterson, M. S., Walsh, S. M., Clendennen, S. C., . . . Valko, C. (2016). Physical Activity-Related Policy and Environmental Strategies to Prevent Obesity in Rural Communities: A Systematic Review of the Literature, 2002-2013. Preventing Chronic Disease, 13, 24. doi:10.5888/pcd13.150406Additional Authors: Valko, C.Introduction Health disparities exist between rural and urban residents; in particular, rural residents have higher rates of chronic diseases and obesity. Evidence supports the effectiveness of policy and environmental strategies to prevent obesity and promote health equity. In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended 24 policy and environmental strategies for use by local communities: the Common Community Measures for Obesity Prevention (COCOMO); 12 strategies focus on physical activity. This review was conducted to synthesize evidence on the implementation, relevance, and effectiveness of physical activity-related policy and environmental strategies for obesity prevention in rural communities. Methods A literature search was conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINHAL, and PAIS databases for articles published from 2002 through May 2013 that reported findings from physical activity-related policy or environmental interventions conducted in the United States or Canada. Each article was extracted independently by 2 researchers. Results Of 2,002 articles, 30 articles representing 26 distinct studies met inclusion criteria. Schools were the most common setting (n = 18 studies). COCOMO strategies were applied in rural communities in 22 studies; the 2 most common COCOMO strategies were "enhance infrastructure supporting walking" (n = 11) and " increase opportunities for extracurricular physical activity" (n = 9). Most studies (n = 21) applied at least one of 8 non-COCOMO strategies; the most common was increasing physical activity opportunities at school outside of physical education (n = 8). Only 14 studies measured or reported physical activity outcomes (10 studies solely used self-report); 10 reported positive changes. Conclusion Seven of the 12 COCOMO physical activity-related strategies were successfully implemented in 2 or more studies, suggesting that these 7 strategies are relevant in rural communities and the other 5 might be less applicable in rural communities. Further research using robust study designs and measurement is needed to better ascertain implementation success and effectiveness of COCOMO and non-COCOMO strategies in rural communities

The regulation of MADS-box gene expression during ripening of banana and their regulatory interaction with ethylene

Six MaMADS-box genes have been cloned from the banana fruit cultivar Grand Nain. The similarity of these genes to tomato LeRIN is low and neither MaMADS2 nor MaMADS1 complement the tomato rin mutation. Nevertheless, the expression patterns, specifically in fruit and the induction during ripening and in response to ethylene and 1-MCP, suggest that some of these genes may participate in ripening. MaMADS1, 2, and 3, are highly expressed in fruit only, while the others are expressed in fruit as well as in other organs. Moreover, the suites of MaMADS-box genes and their temporal expression differ in peel and pulp during ripening. In the pulp, the increase in MaMADS2, 3, 4, and 5 expression preceded an increase in ethylene production, but coincides with the CO2 peak. However, MaMADS1 expression in pulp coincided with ethylene production, but a massive increase in its expression occurred late during ripening, together with a second wave in the expression of MaMADS2, 3, and 4. In the peel, on the other hand, an increase in expression of MaMADS1, 3, and to a lesser degree also of MaMADS4 and 2 coincided with an increase in ethylene production. Except MaMADS3, which was induced by ethylene in pulp and peel, only MaMADS4, and 5 in pulp and MaMADS1 in peel were induced by ethylene. 1-MCP applied at the onset of the increase in ethylene production, increased the levels of MaMADS4 and MaMADS1 in pulp, while it decreased MaMADS1, 3, 4, and 5 in peel, suggesting that MaMADS4 and MaMADS1 are negatively controlled by ethylene at the onset of ethylene production only in pulp. Only MaMADS2 is neither induced by ethylene nor by 1-MCP, and it is expressed mainly in pulp. Our results suggest that two independent ripening programs are employed in pulp and peel which involve the activation of mainly MaMADS2, 4, and 5 and later on also MaMADS1 in pulp, and mainly MaMADS1, and 3 in peel. Hence, our results are consistent with MaMADS2, a SEP3 homologue, acting in the pulp upstream of the increase in ethylene production similarly to LeMADS-RIN

Deep sequencing of the Mexican avocado transcriptome, an ancient angiosperm with a high content of fatty acids

Background: Avocado (Persea americana) is an economically important tropical fruit considered to be a good source of fatty acids. Despite its importance, the molecular and cellular characterization of biochemical and developmental processes in avocado is limited due to the lack of transcriptome and genomic information. Results: The transcriptomes of seeds, roots, stems, leaves, aerial buds and flowers were determined using different sequencing platforms. Additionally, the transcriptomes of three different stages of fruit ripening (pre-climacteric, climacteric and post-climacteric) were also analyzed. The analysis of the RNAseqatlas presented here reveals strong differences in gene expression patterns between different organs, especially between root and flower, but also reveals similarities among the gene expression patterns in other organs, such as stem, leaves and aerial buds (vegetative organs) or seed and fruit (storage organs). Important regulators, functional categories, and differentially expressed genes involved in avocado fruit ripening were identified. Additionally, to demonstrate the utility of the avocado gene expression atlas, we investigated the expression patterns of genes implicated in fatty acid metabolism and fruit ripening. Conclusions: A description of transcriptomic changes occurring during fruit ripening was obtained in Mexican avocado, contributing to a dynamic view of the expression patterns of genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis and the fruit ripening process