END(S) of vaping: A search query review of e-cigarettes

Background: As of December 2019, 52 electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) related deaths and over 2,400 related cases of lung damage have been confirmed in the US; the CDC refers to this pathology as EVALI—e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury. The primary endpoint of this investigation is to provide insight into the public consciousness and to shape future studies and policies on this rapidly evolving topic by updating a 2015 study by John W. Ayers, Ph.D. et al.Methods: Internet search query data were located using Google Trends (https://trends.google.com/trends). We compared the terms "vape," "vaping," "e cig," and "e cigarette," as well as searches for alternative tobacco options such as "snus," "Chantix," and "nicotine-replacement therapies." Variations in state search rates were explored by comparing ENDS searches according to 10 state specific traits: the longitude of each state, tobacco excise tax rates, cigarette smoking rate, population density, lung cancer incidence rate, national tobacco control program funding and the percentage of available funding used by the state, smoke-free air grades from the American Lung Association, crude ENDS prevalence, and the anti-smoking norms as reported by Ayers et al. All analyses were conducted using Stata 15.1 (STATA Corp., College Station, TX).Results: Total ENDS searches increased 88% over the past 5 years. We found that ENDS was searched with greater frequency than other popular smoking alternatives. Significant geographic findings for 2019 include a lower annual relative search rate for all ENDS on either coast of the United States with a higher relative search rate in the center of the country. Trends from 2015 - 2019 for different ENDS search phrases meant to represent different intentions (buying, health, and cessation) behind ENDS searches were compared and the phrase buy vape was searched the most out of this set. Over the last 5 years, both YouTube and Google Shopping saw total ENDS searches rise from 2015 to 2018 only for both to fall in 2019.Conclusion: Total ENDS searches in the United States increased dramatically over the last 5 years compared to the decade prior, peaking the week of September 8, 2019. Earlier that week, a warning was sent by the CDC of the potential link between ENDS and severe lung illnesses after more than 25 states had reported possible cases of lung illnesses associated with use of ENDS products. ENDS searches by state have become more concentrated in the last 5 years, reversing the trend of the early 2010's observed by Ayers et al. This trend could be, in part, due to states passing laws to curb the use of ENDS. The public definitively prefers using vaping terms over e-cigarette terms in a phenomenon similar to that of high fructose corn syrup versus sugar. It would be wise to frame policy discussions and public education campaigns using vaping terms as well as e-cigarette terms, and encourage states to enact policies associated with lower ENDS usage

Arbor Day Foundation Consulting Project MNGT 475L

Over the past 4 months, our team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Business Honors Academy has been working directly with Nebraska’s own, Arbor Day Foundation, or Arbor Day, in hopes of applying our skill sets and mindsets to solve a pressing problem Arbor Day currently faces. We have been tasked with the challenge of identifying creative, scalable, and profitable new business ventures for Arbor Day that will aid the generation of new revenue sources. With these sources of revenue, Arbor Day desires to further inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees and in turn solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. Our recommendations to Arbor Day are to invest in social media to increase its brand awareness and presence with a younger demographic, to make use of influencer campaigns to increase social media engagement, and to utilize on-the-ground events and personalization tactics to increase repeat donations via social media

Arbor Day Foundation Consulting Project MNGT 475L

Over the past 4 months, our team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Business Honors Academy has been working directly with Nebraska’s own, Arbor Day Foundation, or Arbor Day, in hopes of applying our skill sets and mindsets to solve a pressing problem Arbor Day currently faces. We have been tasked with the challenge of identifying creative, scalable, and profitable new business ventures for Arbor Day that will aid the generation of new revenue sources. With these sources of revenue, Arbor Day desires to further inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees and in turn solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. Our recommendations to Arbor Day are to invest in social media to increase its brand awareness and presence with a younger demographic, to make use of influencer campaigns to increase social media engagement, and to utilize on-the-ground events and personalization tactics to increase repeat donations via social media

Arbor Day Foundation Consultation

Over the past 4 months, our team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Business Honors Academy has been working directly with Nebraska’s own, Arbor Day Foundation, or Arbor Day, in hopes of applying our skill sets and mindsets to solve a pressing problem Arbor Day currently faces. We have been tasked with the challenge of identifying creative, scalable, and profitable new business ventures for Arbor Day that will aid the generation of new revenue sources. With these sources of revenue, Arbor Day desires to further inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees and in turn solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. Our recommendations to Arbor Day are to invest in social media to increase its brand awareness and presence with a younger demographic, to make use of influencer campaigns to increase social media engagement, and to utilize on-the-ground events and personalization tactics to increase repeat donations via social media

Arbor Day Foundation

Over the past 4 months, our team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Business Honors Academy has been working directly with Nebraska’s own, Arbor Day Foundation, or Arbor Day, in hopes of applying our skill sets and mindsets to solve a pressing problem Arbor Day currently faces. We have been tasked with the challenge of identifying creative, scalable, and profitable new business ventures for Arbor Day that will aid the generation of new revenue sources. With these sources of revenue, Arbor Day desires to further inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees and in turn solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. Our recommendations to Arbor Day are to invest in social media to increase its brand awareness and presence with a younger demographic, to make use of influencer campaigns to increase social media engagement, and to utilize on-the-ground events and personalization tactics to increase repeat donations via social media

The Truth About Honesty: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Trait of Honesty

In both the psychological and philosophical literature, there is little time devoted to a robust understanding of the character trait of honesty. The trait of honesty is often used as an example of a beneficial or good character trait, yet the gap in the literature raises a vexing question: what is honesty? This poster reports ongoing work aimed at identifying folk theories of honesty. We argue that an understanding of these theories can illuminate a principled understanding of this character trait in both psychology and philosophy. Currently, we are using qualitative surveys to develop an operational definition of honesty. This will allow us to develop a quantitative measure in order to assess the strength of the trait in particular individuals. The quantitative data will be used to classify and categorize the trait of honesty within the Five Factor Model of personality and to generalize the construct of virtuous traits within virtue ethics in philosophy. If honesty is shown to be distinct from existing categories of traits in psychology or if its characteristics are shown to be incompatible with situationist ethics in philosophy, then we will formulate a new research program in order to better understand the relationship between the trait of honesty and each theory. This poster sketches some approaches to these possible outcomes that we find plausible

Concert recording 2014-04-18

[Track 01]. Piano sonata no. 5 in C minor, op. 10, no. 1. I. Allegro molto e con brio ; [Track 02]. II. Adagio molto / Ludwig van Beethoven -- [Track 03]. Nocturne in D-flat major, op. 27, no. 2 / Frederic Francois Chopin -- [Track 04]. Rhapsody in blue / George Gershwin -- [Track 05]. Happy from Despicable me 2 / Pharrell Williams -- [Track 06]. Let it go from Frozen / Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez -- [Track 07]. Spain / Chick Corea

Keeping connected : identity, social connection and education for young people living with chronic illness

The ‘Keeping Connected’ project was a three year project \ud (2006-2009) co-funded by the Australian Research Council\ud and The Royal Children’s Hospital Education Institute.\ud Its focus was on young people who experience chronic illness-related \ud interruptions to their schooling. Its aims were to make visible the young\ud people, their experiences, voices, and concerns, and to explore the ways\ud in which they were being supported or hampered in various aspects\ud of their education trajectories. \ud The project brought together a large multi-disciplinary research team working\ud in collaboration with the RCH Education Institute with the aim of achieving\ud a better understanding of issues related to the support and engagement\ud of young people living and learning with ongoing health conditions.\ud Who and what do young people feel is important in creating, strengthening,\ud and maintaining educational and social connections in their lives? What do \ud parents feel are significant supports or challenges for young people (and their \ud families) experiencing interrupted schooling due to ongoing health issues?\ud What do education and health care professionals see as key areas of focus\ud in supporting young people to maintain social and educational connections?\ud This report highlights the clear and pressing need for a system of advocacy\ud on the part of young people and families within both health and education\ud systems—and between schools and hospitals. The Royal Children’s Hospital \ud Education Institute is well positioned to influence policy and practice\ud across these sectors

Cyber-Human Systems, Space Technologies, and Threats

CYBER-HUMAN SYSTEMS, SPACE TECHNOLOGIES, AND THREATS is our eighth textbook in a series covering the world of UASs / CUAS/ UUVs / SPACE. Other textbooks in our series are Space Systems Emerging Technologies and Operations; Drone Delivery of CBNRECy – DEW Weapons: Emerging Threats of Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction and Disruption (WMDD); Disruptive Technologies with applications in Airline, Marine, Defense Industries; Unmanned Vehicle Systems & Operations On Air, Sea, Land; Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies and Operations; Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Cyber Domain: Protecting USA’s Advanced Air Assets, 2nd edition; and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the Cyber Domain Protecting USA’s Advanced Air Assets, 1st edition. Our previous seven titles have received considerable global recognition in the field. (Nichols & Carter, 2022) (Nichols, et al., 2021) (Nichols R. K., et al., 2020) (Nichols R. , et al., 2020) (Nichols R. , et al., 2019) (Nichols R. K., 2018) (Nichols R. K., et al., 2022)https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1052/thumbnail.jp

A panel of genes methylated with high frequency in colorectal cancer

Background: The development of colorectal cancer (CRC) is accompanied by extensive epigenetic changes, including frequent regional hypermethylation particularly of gene promoter regions. Specific genes, including SEPT9, VIM1 and TMEFF2 become methylated in a high fraction of cancers and diagnostic assays for detection of cancer-derived methylated DNA sequences in blood and/or fecal samples are being developed. There is considerable potential for the development of new DNA methylation biomarkers or panels to improve the sensitivity and specificity of current cancer detection tests. Methods: Combined epigenomic methods - activation of gene expression in CRC cell lines following DNA demethylating treatment, and two novel methods of genome-wide methylation assessment - were used to identify candidate genes methylated in a high fraction of CRCs. Multiplexed amplicon sequencing of PCR products from bisulfite-treated DNA of matched CRC and non-neoplastic tissue as well as healthy donor peripheral blood was performed using Roche 454 sequencing. Levels of DNA methylation in colorectal tissues and blood were determined by quantitative methylation specific PCR (qMSP). Results: Combined analyses identified 42 candidate genes for evaluation as DNA methylation biomarkers. DNA methylation profiles of 24 of these genes were characterised by multiplexed bisulfite-sequencing in ten matched tumor/normal tissue samples; differential methylation in CRC was confirmed for 23 of these genes. qMSP assays were developed for 32 genes, including 15 of the sequenced genes, and used to quantify methylation in tumor, adenoma and non-neoplastic colorectal tissue and from healthy donor peripheral blood. 24 of the 32 genes were methylated in \u3e50% of neoplastic samples, including 11 genes that were methylated in 80% or more CRCs and a similar fraction of adenomas. Conclusions: This study has characterised a panel of 23 genes that show elevated DNA methylation in \u3e50% of CRC tissue relative to non-neoplastic tissue. Six of these genes (SOX21, SLC6A15, NPY, GRASP, ST8SIA1 and ZSCAN18) show very low methylation in non-neoplastic colorectal tissue and are candidate biomarkers for stool-based assays, while 11 genes (BCAT1, COL4A2, DLX5, FGF5, FOXF1, FOXI2, GRASP, IKZF1, IRF4, SDC2 and SOX21) have very low methylation in peripheral blood DNA and are suitable for further evaluation as blood-based diagnostic markers