Gender Nonconforming Children: Education for Rural Vermont Families

Trans and Gender Nonconforming children and adolescents make up an increasing percentage of today\u27s youth. Many of their families, parents, and healthcare providers lack information on how to address the topic. Additionally, the lack of research in the field, and the ever changing definitions, can make it difficult to navigate and, as a result, there are several persistent myths and misconceptions. This project seeks to address these myths, the terminology as currently used, and local community resources from a patient and family perspective, specifically targeted at rural Vermont.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1417/thumbnail.jp

Novel Methods to Determine and Use the Magnetic Vector Potential in Numerical General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamics

Many codes have been developed to study highly relativistic, magnetized flows around and inside compact objects. Depending on the adopted formalisms, some of these codes evolve the vector potential A, and others evolve the magnetic field B = curl(A) directly. Given that these codes possess unique strengths, it is sometimes desirable to start a simulation using a code that evolves B and complete it using a code that evolves A. Transferring data from one code to another requires an inverse curl algorithm. This dissertation describes two new inverse curl techniques in the context of Cartesian numerical grids: a cell-by-cell method, which scales approximately linearly with the size of the numerical grid, and a global linear algebra approach, which lacks those ideal scaling properties but is generally more robust, e.g., in the context of a magnetic field possessing some nonzero divergence. We demonstrate that these algorithms successfully generate smooth vector potential configurations in challenging special and general relativistic contexts. In addition, we examine the magnetic helicity, which is a measure of the overall twist of a magnetic field configuration. It is defined as the integral of the dot product of A and B over the volume, and it should be conserved as a system evolves. By examining this quantity, we can put further constraints on the physical accuracy of numerical codes

Model-based machine learning to identify clinical relevance in a high-resolution simulation of sepsis and trauma

Introduction: Sepsis is a devastating, costly, and complicated disease. It represents the summation of varied host immune responses in a clinical and physiological diagnosis. Despite extensive research, there is no current mediator-directed therapy, nor a biomarker panel able to categorize disease severity or reliably predict outcome. Although still distant from direct clinical translation, dynamic computational and mathematical models of acute systemic inflammation and sepsis are being developed. Although computationally intensive to run and calibrate, agent-based models (ABMs) are one type of model well suited for this. New analytical methods to efficiently extract knowledge from ABMs are needed. Specifically, machine-learning techniques are a promising option to augment the model development process such that parameterization and calibration are performed intelligently and efficiently. Methods: We used the Keras framework to train an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for the purpose of identifying critical biological tipping points at which an in silico patient would heal naturally or require intervention in the Innate Immune Response Agent-Based Model (IIRABM). This ANN, determines simulated patient “survival” from cytokine state based on their overall resilience and the pathogenicity of any active infections experienced by the patient, defined by microbial invasiveness, toxigenesis, and environmental toxicity. These tipping points were gathered from previously generated datasets of simulated sweeps of the 4 IIRABM initializing parameters. Results: Using mean squared error as our loss function, we report an accuracy of greater than 85% with inclusion of 20% of the training set. This accuracy was independently validated on withheld runs. We note that there is some amount of error that is inherent to this process as the determination of the tipping points is a computation which converges monotonically to the true value as a function of the number of stochastic replicates used to determine the point. Conclusion: Our method of regression of these critical points represents an alternative to traditional parameter-sweeping or sensitivity analysis techniques. Essentially, the ANN computes the boundaries of the clinically relevant space as a function of the model’s parameterization, eliminating the need for a brute-force exploration of model parameter space. In doing so, we demonstrate the successful development of this ANN which will allows for an efficient exploration of model parameter space

NATO’S POST-COLD WAR EFFECTIVENESS: HOW NATO PRESERVED STABILITY AND SECURITY IN THE POST-COLD WAR WORLD THROUGH ITS CONDUCT OF MILITARY OPERATIONS

The main argument of this thesis is that NATO can be an effective post-Cold War alliance in preserving 21st century security and stability through the conduct of its military operations. In order to show NATO’s effectiveness in successfully preserving post-Cold War security and stability, this thesis looks at three interrelated aspects of NATO following the fall of communism and how these aspects may have affected NATO’s ability to conduct military operations during its involvement in various conflicts. Rather than look at the wider concepts of NATO’s security role, I was interested in examining whether the alliance has been effective since the disappearance of the communist threat. The first chapter looks at the influence of U.S. strategic interests on NATO’s decision-making process. However, I argue that the interests of other states and the organization itself within the realm of U.S. strategic interests can motivate NATO decision-making to conduct military operations. The second chapter discusses a tiered system of NATO members—based on their political and military contributions—and whether those tiers impact the conduct of the alliance during specific military operations. I argue that certain tiers contribute more political and military assets to particular military operations than other tiers. Therefore, these contributions can have a decisive impact on the outcome of two conflicts featuring NATO actions. The third chapter investigates whether NATO’s adaptation to non-state threats in out-of-area conflicts was successful. I argue that NATO’s ability to adapt to changing security challenges outside of its regional borders allowed the alliance to conduct military operations against non-state threats, which resulted in stable and secure environments on the ground. The various case studies confirm the paper’s argument that NATO is effective as a post-Cold War alliance to preserve stability and security through its conduct of military operations. The results of the thesis can serve as a guide for policymakers in favor of NATO’s continued role in 21st century security going forward. Lessons learned from this thesis about how NATO has functioned since the end of the Cold War to deal with various security challenges can help guide policymakers as they deal with ongoing global security threats from Islamic terrorism, as well as traditional state aggressors

Eliminating Barriers: Connecting Seniors to Services in Chittenden County

Introduction. Physical activity programs for older adults help to improve physical, social, and emotional health and reduce impairments in activities of daily living1. In Chittenden county, less than 1⁄3 of older adults participate in programs, while 48% report that they would like to exercise more. Our aim was to identify barriers to participation in physical activity programs by older adults in Chittenden county, such as accessibility, transportation, health, affordability, and social isolation, and to identify strategies to overcome these barriers. Methods. 144 paper and electronic surveys were administered in Chittenden County, Vermont to assess use of group programs among older adults aged ≥ 50 years including transportation, motivation, preferences, advertisement, and barriers to access. A focus group explored aspects of ideal group activities for seniors. Results. 87.9% of respondents were active for two or more hours each week, while 46.5% had participated in group programming in the past 6 months. Group par- ticipation was significantly higher among physically active respondents (p=0.020). Motivators for participation in group activity included health benefits, social aspects, and physical activity, while the most cited barrier to attendance was timing conflicts. Respondents received information about programming via word of mouth, email, and online resources. Discussion. Overall, our findings indicate that the majority of respondents are highly active, however, they frequently experience barriers that prevent them from participating in group programming. We recommend offering flexible scheduling, advertising programming via word of mouth and email, and emphasizing program health benefits.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1260/thumbnail.jp