Among the Authentic Audience: Young Adults’ Perceptions and Responses to Youth as Scientists

Thesis advisor: George M. BarnettLifelong science learning is important for making informed decisions on science topics, and there is a need to engage broader and more diverse audiences with science. One opportunity for engagement occurs when students share science topics with a public audience. Research indicates this interaction can have benefits for students, but little is known about the impact it may have on audience members’ thoughts about science. Youth are different from typical sources of science information, and may elicit different reactions. This dissertation examines the impact youth sources may have on adults’ perceptions of and responses to science topics. Young adults (N = 399) were randomly assigned to one of two scenarios. Both scenarios stated two individuals would describe research they had done about local air quality on the news. One scenario identified the individuals as local high school students, and the other as research scientists from a local institution. Dependent variables included perceptions of the warmth and competence of the presenters, expectations of the quality of the information they would share, willingness to take action based on that information, and general trust in scientists. A subset of participants (N=22) was selected for cognitive interviews and asked to explain the thoughts that influenced their survey responses. Results showed multiple reactions to the scenario. Three groups were identified in the perceptions data: one expressed trust in the presenters, one expressed skepticism, and one based their perceptions on personal experiences doing science. Participants said intertwined thoughts about trust in scientists and assumptions about the presenters’ intentions influenced perceptions, with an overall assumption that youth would have good intentions while adults might not. Participants did not appear to separate their expectations of the information from the people who would share it. However, their willingness to take action was related to the action, not the presenter or information. Findings suggest youth may be an avenue for engaging individuals who have lower trust in typical science information sources. Implications for science education and communication are discussed.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction

Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Repeat Infection Among Pregnant Urban Adolescents

Negative maternal and fetal consequences associated with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae during pregnancy make diagnosis essential. The CDC recommends routine screening for sexually transmitted infections at the first prenatal visit, and third trimester repeat screening, specifically for C. trachomatis, is recommended for women under age 25 or at increased infection risk. The impact of repeat screening on diagnosis during pregnancy is not well documented among adolescents

Use of the Copper T380A Intrauterine Device by Adolescent Mothers: Continuation and Method Failure

This report contributes to limited empirical data regarding use of the Copper T380A intrauterine device among adolescent mothers

Examples from the atlas of major Appalachian Gas Plays

The objectives of this contract are to produce a panted atlas of major Appalachian basin gas plays and to compile a machine-readable database of reservoir data. The Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium (AONGRC or the Consortium), a partnership of the state geological surveys in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, and the departments of Geology and Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering at West Virginia University (WVU), agrees with the need to classify gas reservoirs by geologic plays. During meetings with industry representatives, the small independents in the basin emphasized that one of their prime needs was to place each producing reservoir within a stratigraphic framework subdivided by environment of deposition to enable them to develop exploration and development strategies. The text for eight of the 31 play descriptions has been completed, drafting of illustrations for these plays is underway (or complete for some plays), and the review process is ongoing

Reservoir Characterization of Upper Devonian Gordon Sandstone, Jacksonburg, Stringtown Oil Field, Northwestern West Virginia

This report gives results on use of a minipermeameter on cores to study very finescale trends in permeability, and use of neural networks to predict permeability in logged, uncored wells

Clinical Practice Guidelines for Antimicrobial Prophylaxis in Surgery

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140217/1/sur.2013.9999.pd

Contribution of isoprene to chemical budgets:A model tracer study with the NCAR CTM MOZART-4

We present a study of the sensitivity of isoprene emission calculations in a global chemistry transport model (CTM) to input land cover characteristics and analyze the impacts of changes in isoprene on the tropospheric budgets of atmospheric key species. The CTM Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Species, version 4 (MOZART-4) includes the online calculation of isoprene emissions based on the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN), which is driven by three different land parameter inputs. We also included a tagging scheme in the CTM, which keeps track of the production of carbon containing species from isoprene oxidation. It is found that the amount of tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (HCHO) and peroxyacetylnitrate (PAN) explained by isoprene oxidation ranges from 9-16%, 15-27%, and 22-32%, depending on the isoprene emissions scenario. Changes in the global tropospheric burden with different land cover inputs can reach up to 10% for CO, 15% for HCHO, and 20% for PAN. Changes for ozone are small on a global scale, but regionally differences are as large as 3DU in the tropospheric column and as large as 5 ppbv in the surface concentrations. Our results demonstrate that a careful integration of isoprene emissions and chemistry in CTMs is very important for simulating the budgets of a number of atmospheric trace gases. We further demonstrate that the model tagging scheme has the capability of improving conventional methods of constraining isoprene emissions from space-borne HCHO column observations, especially in regions where a considerable part of the variability in the HCHO column is not related to isoprene. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union

Omega-3 fatty acids and genome-wide interaction analyses reveal DPP10-pulmonary function association

Rationale: Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) have anti-inflammatory properties that could benefit adults with comprised pulmonary health. Objective: To investigate n-3 PUFA associations with spirometric measures of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and determine underlying genetic susceptibility. Methods: Associations of n-3 PUFA biomarkers (a-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid [DPA], and docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]) were evaluated with PFTs (FEV1, FVC, and FEV1/FVC) in meta-analyses across seven cohorts from the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Consortium (N=16,134 of European or African ancestry). PFT-associated n-3 PUFAs were carried forward to genome-wide interaction analyses in the four largest cohorts (N=11,962) and replicated in one cohort (N=1,687). Cohort-specific results were combined using joint 2 degree-of-freedom (2df) meta-analyses of SNPassociations and their interactions with n-3PUFAs. Results: DPA and DHA were positively associated with FEV1 and FVC (P < 0.025), with evidence for effect modification by smoking and by sex. Genome-wide analyses identified a novel association of rs11693320-an intronic DPP10 SNP-with FVC when incorporating an interaction with DHA, and the finding was replicated (P-2df = 9.4 x 10(-9) across discovery and replication cohorts). The rs11693320-A allele (frequency, similar to 80%) was associated with lower FVC (P-SNP = 2.1 x 10(-9); beta(SNP) = 2161.0 ml), and the association was attenuated by higher DHA levels (P-SNPxDHA interaction = 2.1x10(-7); beta(SNPxDHA interaction) = 36.2 ml). Conclusions: We corroborated beneficial effects of n-3 PUFAs on pulmonary function. By modeling genome-wide n-3 PUFA interactions, we identified a novel DPP10 SNP association with FVC that was not detectable in much larger studies ignoring this interaction