Ending Homelessness in Santa Clara County: A Program Evaluation of HomeFirst Services’ Rapid Re-Housing Program Using Client Feedback

This research was designed to evaluate whether HomeFirst Services’ RRH Program has proven to be more effective than traditional approaches in eliminating homelessness for its participants in Santa Clara County, California. Research was based on the Program Satisfaction Survey conducted at the end of the participants’ program enrollment in comparison with data collected for clients in other HomeFirst Services programs. The research question that is being answered from this survey is whether or not the HomeFirst Services RRH Program is fulfilling the clients’ needs. This questionnaire has been able to help HomeFirst Services understand the factors that help satisfy program participant needs. Furthermore, this information enables them to modify the programs accordingly, based on the client’s feedback

Measuring the Impact of Affordable Housing on Family Well-Being in Santa Cruz County

Too many families in Santa Cruz County cannot afford housing. MidPen Housing’s mission is to provide safe, affordable housing of high quality to those in need and to establish stability and opportunity in the lives of its residents. This capstone project is a research endeavor that took advantage of a natural experiment to measure the extent by which a person’s health is affected by their living situation. By comparing families who gained access to affordable housing to families who did not through a randomized process. Our findings suggest that families living in affordable housing are overall healthier, happier, access more resources available to them, and have a more hopeful outlook on the future than families in market rate housing. It is recommended that the County provide and develop more affordable housing options for its residents

Career Aspirations and Perceptions of Self-Efficacy of Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Students of Economic Disadvantage

Career development in children largely involves learning about the world of work from family members, peers, and classroom exploration in elementary school. For children of economic disadvantage, a lack of resources, restricted access to information, and limited experience observing positive role models employed in a variety of work environments may curtail their ability to envision career attainment. The current mixed-method study explored the career aspirations of fourth- and fifth-grade students living in poverty to discern their career interests, knowledge background, understanding of educational and career pathways, and their self-efficacy for achieving their vision for the future. The data collection process involved surveys, focus groups, and individual case studies. However, the investigator highlighted the qualitative component, direct verbal exchange with and among students, as the most critical approach to understanding children\u27s aspirations. Giving voice to participants allowed the researcher to develop a comprehensive portrait of student\u27s ideations from their perspective. Study results indicated that the children of economic disadvantage envisioned a future of educational and occupational attainment, but their dreams were often circumscribed by their limited knowledge of and exposure to employment options. Nevertheless, participants described a strong family support system and fervent optimism regarding achieving their goals. Extant research on the career development in children has devoted a minimal focus to the elementary years, less on the impact of poverty on aspirations, and negligible emphasis on hearing the voice of children. The current study offers insights to begin to fill that void in understanding

The Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I in the Pathogenesis of B-Cell Lymphomas

Immune evasion is an emerging hallmark of cancer. Dysregulation of the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) is a frequent mechanism of immune evasion utilized by tumor cells and is particularly relevant to the pathogenesis of B-cell lymphomas, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). A better understanding of MHC-I dysregulation in B-cell lymphomas is necessary to identify factors related to the risk, development, and progression of these tumors. In this thesis, we investigate the role of MHC-I dysregulation in DLBCL and cHL through the application of computational approaches to study genomic data. First, we introduce some background information about the normal function of MHC-I in the immune response to cancer and viral infection as well as the phenomenon of MHC-I dysregulation in the context of cancer. We provide an overview of how factors such as germline zygosity of HLA class I (HLA-I) genes and somatic alterations in the genes B2M and HLA-I that encode the protein subunits of MHC-I contribute to the development of DLBCL and cHL. Second, we present a study of the effects of HLA-I allele zygosity on survival in a cohort of 519 DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP immunochemotherapy stratified by molecular subtype. Homozygosity in HLA-I was associated with a worse overall survival in patients whose tumors were classified in the “EZB” subtype, associated with somatic mutation in the epigenetic regulator EZH2. We find an association between the zygosity of the genes HLA-B and -C specifically and overall survival in EZB-DLBCL. These findings indicate that HLA-I zygosity may be a risk factor for worse clinical prognosis in patients with the EZB subtype of DLBCL. Third, we present a study of the genetic landscape of cHL tumors that are associated with infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). We analyze inherited HLA-I allele types, somatic mutations, copy number changes, and mutational signatures in a cohort of 57 cHL patients (15 EBV-positive). We find that EBV-positive cHL is genetically distinct from EBV-negative cHL and is characterized by lower somatic mutation load and different activities of mutation signatures. Further, we find that cHL tumors are characterized by different patterns of MHC-I dysregulation depending on the EBV infection status. Germline homozygosity in HLA-I was associated with the EBV-positive subtype of cHL, while somatic alterations in HLA-I were associated with the EBV-negative subtype of cHL. These results suggest that inherited HLA-I homozygosity may be a risk factor for the EBV-positive subtype of cHL. Fourth, we expand our study of HLA-I in virus-associated cHL to perform a comparative analysis of virus-positive and virus-negative tumors in nine cancers linked to five viruses. We find that virus-positive tumors occur more frequently in males and show geographical disparities in incidence. Genomic analysis of 1,658 tumors reveals virus-positive tumors exhibit distinct mutation signatures, recurrent mutations in the RNA helicases DDX3X and EIF4A1, and a lower somatic mutation burden compared to virus-negative tumors of the same cancer type. We find that germline homozygosity in HLA-I is a potential risk factor for the development of EBV-positive cHL, but not other common virus-associated solid or hematological malignancies. Finally, we present in the Appendix a study of the genomic characterization of plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL), a rare EBV-associated B-cell lymphoma that occurs in the context of immunodeficiency caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We find that PBL is characterized by mutations leading to constitutive activation of the JAK-STAT pathway. We additionally identify recurrent mutations in immune-related genes, such as B2M. These findings indicate a potential role for MHC-I and immune dysregulation in the pathogenesis of other B-cell lymphomas

Identification of the Causative Bacteria in Musculoskeletal Infections Using 16s rDNA - Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis Analysis

Musculoskeletal infections are infections of the bone and surrounding tissues. They are currently diagnosed based on culture analysis, which is the gold standard for pathogen identification. However, these clinical laboratory methods are frequently inadequate for the identification of the causative agents, because a large percentage (25-50%) of confirmed musculoskeletal infections are false negatives in which no pathogen is identified in culture. My data supports these results. The goal of this project was to use PCR amplification of a portion of the 16S rRNA gene to test an alternative approach for the identification of these pathogens and to assess the diversity of the bacteria involved. The advantages of this alternative method are that it should increase sample sensitivity and the speed of detection. In addition, bacteria that are non-culturable or in low abundance can be detected using this molecular technique. However, a complication of this approach is that the majority of musculoskeletal infections are polymicrobial, which prohibits direct identification from the infected tissue by DNA sequencing of the initial 16S rDNA amplification products. One way to solve this problem is to use denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to separate the PCR products before DNA sequencing. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) separates DNA molecules based on their melting point, which is determined by their DNA sequence. This analytical technique allows a mixture of PCR products of the same length that electrophoreses through agarose gels as one band, to be separated into different bands and then used for DNA sequence analysis. In this way, the DGGE allows for the identification of individual bacterial species in polymicrobial-infected tissue, which is critical for improving clinical outcomes. By combining the 16S rDNA amplification and the DGGE techniques together, an alternative approach for identification has been used. The 16S rRNA gene PCR-DGGE method includes several critical steps: DNA extraction from tissue biopsies, amplification of the bacterial DNA, PCR product separation by DGGE, amplification of the gel-extracted DNA, and DNA sequencing and analysis. Each step of the method was optimized to increase its sensitivity and for rapid detection of the bacteria present in human tissue samples. The limit of detection for the DNA extraction from tissue was at least 20 Staphylococcus aureus cells and the limit of detection for PCR was at least 0.05 pg of template DNA. The conditions for DGGE electrophoreses were optimized by using a double gradient of acrylamide (6 – 10%) and denaturant (30-70%), which increased the separation between distinct PCR products. The use of GelRed (Biotium) improved the DNA visualization in the DGGE gel. To recover the DNA from the DGGE gels the gel slices were excised, shredded in a bead beater, and the DNA was allowed to diffuse into sterile water overnight. The use of primers containing specific linkers allowed the entire amplified PCR product to be sequenced and then analyzed. The optimized 16S rRNA gene PCR-DGGE method was used to analyze 50 tissue biopsy samples chosen randomly from our collection. The results were compared to those of the Memorial Hermann Hospital Clinical Microbiology Laboratory for the same samples. The molecular method was congruent for 10 of the 17 (59%) culture negative tissue samples. In 7 of the 17 (41%) culture negative the molecular method identified a bacterium. The molecular method was congruent with the culture identification for 7 of the 33 (21%) positive cultured tissue samples. However, in 8 of the 33 (24%) the molecular method identified more organisms. In 13 of the 15 (87%) polymicrobial cultured tissue samples the molecular method identified at least one organism that was also identified by culture techniques. Overall, the DGGE analysis of 16S rDNA is an effective method to identify bacteria not identified by culture analysis

RELACIÓN DEL INGRESO POR REMESAS CON RESPECTO AL NIVEL EDUCATIVO EN MÉXICO. 2005 – 2015

El presente estudio se enfocará en dar a conocer la importancia que ha tenido el ingreso por remesas para la economía del país durante el periodo de 2005 a 2015 y buscará determinar si existe una relación entre el nivel educativo de los mexicanos con este ingreso; para lo cual se construirá un modelo de series de tiempo que permita relacionar variables como el PIB, la desocupación, la migración y la educación con el crecimiento o la disminución en la recepción de remesas en el país. 5 La construcción de este modelo además de revisar el comportamiento de las variables durante el periodo especificado tendrá como finalidad pronosticar la posible cantidad de remesas por recibir en los cuatro trimestres de 2016, que es una de las finalidades principales del análisis de series de tiempo, además también se buscará explicar cuál es el impacto que pudiera tener este ingreso ante la existencia de algún cambio en el nivel educativo de la población. Para comprender de manera adecuada la información presentada en esta tesis y los resultados obtenidos del modelo calculado, esta se ha dividido en cinco capítulos distribuidos de la siguiente manera: El primer capítulo tiene como objetivo enlistar algunos estudios, teorías y diferentes enfoques sobre el origen, las repercusiones, las formas y las implicaciones de la migración, las remesas y la educación. En este capítulo se explican conceptos básicos sobre los temas coyunturales de la presente tesis para que el lector se familiarice con el lenguaje y tenga un mejor entendimiento de la información presentada. En el segundo capítulo se presentan temas exclusivos de las remesas, se explica el panorama internacional de estas transacciones entre los países emisores y receptores más importantes, se describe el comportamiento histórico y la importancia de estos movimientos para México, se presentan y describen las cifras más relevantes para el país sobre el tema, se hacen comparaciones entre los ingresos por remesas entre las entidades federativas y el comportamiento y la importancia que ha tenido este ingreso en los diferentes estados de la república, se explica también la forma de envío y recepción de estas transferencias, así como los principales destinos y usos de las mismas. El capítulo tres tiene la finalidad de informar al lector sobre el panorama educativo de México mostrando gráficas y cifras sobre los principales componentes de la educación, los conceptos, regulaciones y organismos de regulación, la estructura y programas educativos vigentes en México y sobre todo la evolución histórica del nivel educativo del país y de las entidades federativas del mismo. 6 Estos tres primeros capítulos ponen en contexto el panorama general del país y de los estados que lo conforman en los temas principales de la presente tesis, una vez que el lector se haya familiarizado con los datos que formarán las series de tiempo y su contexto, podrá entrar en la parte técnica de la misma. El capítulo siguiente es un preámbulo de las series de tiempo y su análisis, en él se podrá encontrar la descripción teórica sobre los procesos, pruebas y análisis básicos que se utilizaron en este trabajo con la finalidad de que, los procedimientos que se presentan a continuación sean entendidos con mayor facilidad a la hora de explicar los resultados obtenidos del modelo utilizado. En la última sección de esta tesis se presentan los resultados que se obtuvieron de los procedimientos descritos en el capítulo cuatro, en este capítulo se explican las características de las series de tiempo construidas con base en los datos que se fueron presentando a lo largo del estudio, así mismo se presenta el modelo que se utilizó y los resultados de las evaluaciones del mismo. También se presentan los pronósticos sobre las remesas para el año 2016 que se obtuvieron con los resultados del modelo y las diferencias que pudieran existir entre estas predicciones y los valores reales que se registraron en las balanzas de pagos para el mismo año

Does the Missouri Safe Schools Act Past the Test - Expelling Disruptive Students to Keep Missouri\u27s Schools Safe

The Missouri Court of Appeals for Easter District of Missouri interpreted the Missouri Safe Schools Act of 1996 in Hamrick ex rel. Hamrick v. Affton School District Board of Education to require a public school to admit for enrollment a student who had been expelled from a non-public school. Shortly after the court’s decision, the Missouri General Assembly amended the dispositive language of Section 167.171.4. It is not clear that public school districts in Missouri can deny enrollment to students suspended or expelled from both public and non-public schools. This Law Summary discusses whether the statutory change furthers the goas of the Missouri Safe Schools Act and whether legislation is a sufficient mechanism for effectuating safety in Missouri’s schools

Toxo XV: A Congress at the Birthplace of Toxoplasma.

In this TrendsTalk article, the organizers of the 15th International Congress on Toxoplasma Biology and Toxoplasmosis, Professors Jorge Gomez Marin and Alejandra de-la-Torre, bring the highlights of this event and the key outcome from the inaugural workshop on the environmental transmission of Toxoplasma gondii organized by Doctors Aurélien Dumètre and Karen Shapiro

La bancarización y su relación con la evasión tributaria en una galería comercial de La Victoria, Lima, 2022

La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo principal, determinar la relación entre la bancarización y la evasión tributaria en los comerciantes de una galería de la Victoria, Lima 2022. Respecto a la metodología del estudio, el enfoque de investigación fue cuantitativo, tipo de investigación fue básica con un diseño no experimental y transversal. El estudio contó con un nivel de investigación de tipo correlacional, se llevó a cabo en una muestra de 30 comerciantes de acuerdo a un muestreo no probabilístico por conveniencia a quienes se le aplicó dos cuestionarios como instrumento con una escala de Likert de 5 puntos. Para establecer la confiabilidad del instrumento se sometió a la prueba Alfa de Cronbach a cada una de las variables arrojando una fuerte confiabilidad con 0.757 y 0.763 puntos respectivamente. La técnica de recolección de datos fue la encuesta. En cuanto a los resultados, se aplicó la prueba de normalidad de Shapiro - Wilk y la prueba de hipótesis probabilística r de Pearson siendo el coeficiente de correlación 0,421 indica que existe una relación positiva moderada, con un nivel de significancia bilateral cuyo valor p=0.021 <0.05 es significativo. Por lo tanto, se rechazó la hipótesis nula y se aceptó la propuesta por el investigador, en conclusión, existe una relación significativa entre la bancarización y evasión tributaria en los comerciantes de una galería de La Victoria, 2022.The main objective of this research was to determine the relationship between banking and tax evasion in the merchants of a gallery in La Victoria, Lima 2022. Regarding the study methodology, the research approach was quantitative, the type of research was basic with a non-experimental and cross-sectional design. The study had a correlational level of research, it was carried out in a sample of 30 merchants according to a non-probabilistic convenience sampling to whom two questionnaires were applied as an instrument with a 5-point Likert scale. To establish the reliability of the instrument, each of the variables was subjected to the Cronbach's Alpha test, showing strong reliability with 0.757 and 0.763 points, respectively. The data collection technique was the survey. Regarding the results, the Shapiro-Wilk normality test and the Pearson's r probabilistic hypothesis test were applied, with a correlation coefficient of 0.421 indicating that there is a moderate positive relationship, with a level of bilateral significance whose value p=0.021 <0.05 is significant. Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected and the proposal by the researcher was accepted, in conclusion there is a significant relationship between banking and tax evasion in the merchants of a gallery in La Victoria, 2022

Factores sociodemográficos asociados a la infección respiratoria aguda en niños menores de 6 años del Perú, según la ENDES 2020

Introducción: Las infecciones respiratorias agudas son las enfermedades más frecuentes de la infancia por lo que es fundamental estudiar los factores que están asociados a la presencia de las mismas. Objetivo: Determinar la asociación entre los factores sociodemográficos y la infección respiratoria aguda en niños menores de 6 años del Perú cuyas madres fueron entrevistadas en la ENDES 2020. Métodos: Estudio de tipo cuantitativo, observacional, retrospectivo, analítico y transversal. Se utilizó la base de datos pública de la ENDES 2020. La variable dependiente fue infección respiratoria aguda y las variables independientes estudiadas fueron los factores sociodemográficos: edad materna, ingresos económicos, nivel educativo, tipo de residencia, región de procedencia, fuente de agua, etnicidad y fuente de energía para cocinar. Para el análisis estadístico se utilizó prueba F corregida y razón de prevalencias crudas y ajustadas, mediante el modelo de regresión Poisson con varianza robusta. Resultados: La muestra fue de 8 093 niños menores de 6 años. Se halló una prevalencia de infección respiratoria aguda de 12.6%. En el análisis multivariado se encontró asociación estadísticamente significativa de la variable dependiente con: la edad materna menor a 20 años (RPa: 1.55, IC95%: 1.22-1.98), tener menores ingresos económicos (RPa: 1.19, IC95%: 1.01-1.40), vivir en la selva (RPa: 1.37, IC95%: 1.13-1.66) y pertenecer a una etnicidad diferente al castellano (RPa: 0.58, IC95%: 0.50-0.66). Finalmente, no se obtuvo asociación significativa con el nivel educativo, el tipo de residencia, fuente de agua y fuente de energía para cocinar (p<0.05). Conclusiones: El estudio determino que los factores sociodemográficos asociados a infección respiratoria aguda en niños menores de 6 años son edad materna, ingresos económicos, región de procedencia y etnicida