Characterizing Coseismic Ionospheric Disturbance for Surface-Rupturing Earthquakes

Coseismic ionospheric disturbances (CID) are commonly identified using global navigation space system (GNSS) satellites. Little research, however, has focused on using total electron content (TEC) observations to characterize acoustic sources on Earth\u27s surface. For this thesis, I investigate the applicability of an analytical method to invert the TEC for the acoustic wave. The inversion is based on the modeling of a transfer function. Deconvolving the TEC by the transfer function gives the acoustic wave. Inverting for the acoustic wave in this way would remove phase differences in the TEC created by atmospheric-ionospheric coupling. I test the assumption in the model of a 1D, vertically varying ionosphere by comparing numerical models of the TEC using 1D and 3D electron density divergences. I find the results are complex and recommend obtaining a transfer function that includes a 3D ionosphere. Regardless, even with the phase shift introduced by ionospheric coupling, we are able to apply seismic methods to the TEC. I show an example of applying seismic methods to the TEC of the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. In this chapter, I highlight the ionospheric response to the rupture. I use numerical modeling and find the TEC response to be more consistent with an acoustic source located northeast of the initial rupture. I also apply backprojection to the TEC for the first time and obtain a source just northwest of the rupture area. The errors in the backprojection are consistent with expected errors from local winds, which were not included in the model. Besides accounting for local winds in future work, inversion of the acoustic wave should also improve backprojection results by removing phase differences in the TEC

Measuring Up: A Case for Redrawing the System Boundaries of Sustainability at the University of Kentucky

The primary goal of this paper is to examine the role that sustainability assessment and reporting plays in creating a sustainable campus for academic excellence. A prototype sustainability assessment and reporting system is developed for triple bottom line impact analysis of the built environment of the newly expanded and renovated Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. The prototype system utilizes a toolkit to collect environmental, social, and economic data of the building\u27s built environment for sustainable design performance analyses. The system also employs a comprehensive set of sustainability metrics to measure and report the building\u27s triple bottom line impacts on academic success. In sum, our study succeeds in (1) expanding the definition and evaluation of campus buildings\u27 sustainability to include environmental, social, and economic factors, (2) providing campus stakeholders with a toolkit for assessing the sustainability of campus buildings, and (3) creating a comprehensive sustainability metric for benchmarking and tracking campus buildings\u27 triple bottom line impacts on academic success

Entrepreneurship in South Africa's emergent township funeral industry

This chapter seeks to provide a historical and ethnographic perspective on the rise of the funeral industry and the role of funeral entrepreneurs in post-apartheid South Africa. It draws from collected life histories, interviews and participant observation of undertakers and their employees at work, largely in Cape Town’s major African townships of Khayelitsha and Gugulethu. The emergence of African-run funeral parlours can be traced to a convergence of factors in the transitional and post-apartheid periods, including democratic transition, deregulation and the rise of a credit culture, the explosion of formal and informal funeral insurance, the repercussions of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the sharpening of ethnic allegiances in South African society. I argue that entrepreneurs’ previous employment histories powerfully shaped their entry into and involvement in the funeral industry, in particular their emphasis on transport and mobility across long distances. It is the leveraging of social capital and cultural fluency, allied to a sensitive affinity to the demands of their mobile and technologically astute customer base, which characterize entrepreneurship in this particular popular economy. Ultimately, rather than viewing them as corrupt profiteers of the ‘death business’, I argue that funeral undertakers occupy a more complex and complicated role as influential mediators of the death process

Epidural infusions for trans-women undergoing neo-vaginoplasty: a case for central sensitization

INTRODUCTION: Neovaginoplasty, is a gender affirming surgery provides a way for transfeminine persons to remove masculine appearing genitalia and replace with a more gender congruent appearance. As of 2019 “bottom” surgery was reported in transgender and non-binary persons at a rate of 4-13% with prevalence increasing rapidly (Nolan et al., 2019). The benefits of combined general and epidural anesthesia for neovaginoplasty has been well described (Salgado et al., 2019). In this study we examined dosing strategies for epidural infusions at our institution for patients undergoing neovaginoplasty. METHODS: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at our institution. Non-experimental retrospective chart reviews were conducted and all trans-gender patients who underwent neovaginoplasty procedures between 2014-2019 and were over the age of 18 at the time of chart review were included. Patient demographics including age, ethnicity, BMI were collected as well as comorbidities, history of hormone use, DVT, and nausea. Lumbar Epidurals were placed preoperatively and dosed after incision. Epidural start and stop times were collected along with pain scores measured on a visual analogue scale, and blood loss was recorded. RESULTS: The final cohort consisted of 154 cases that matched the eligibility criteria of this study. About half of these patients, 49.3%, spent 2-4 hours in the PACU after their procedures. The most common ASA status was 2. As expected, an overwhelming number of patients, 141 of 154 (91.6%) reported using hormone therapy. Epidural infusion duration prior to first pain score assessment was 0 to 701 minutes. Median epidural infusion duration was 285 minutes. Patients whose epidural was begun early had an average pain score of 5.06/10 (+2.11). Epidurals which were started late had an average pain score of 5.16/10 (+3.04). Maximum EBL noted for all cases was 450 mls. CONCLUSION: Overall, pain score was not significantly impacted by epidural start time post incision. Average initial pain scores were high in both cohorts, despite good pain relief on postoperative day 1. Observed EBL for these procedures was low at our institution, with no patients requiring blood transfusion. Central sensitization may play a large role in the initial pain scores and PACU length of stays for neovaginoplasty patients. Our future protocols will move towards dosing epidurals prior to incision for these procedures

The Matter of Nobility: Materially Constituting the Arenberg Family Body in the Habsburg Netherlands 1520-1620

This thesis will explore the material construction of the noble form in the sixteenth and early seventeenth-century Habsburg Netherlands. Understandings of substance and social structures of privilege were in potent and synchronized flux during this era and Flemish noble families, such as the Arenberg clan, were required to consistently reformulate and assert their authority. The Arenberg family were powerful and socially prominent figures in the Low Countries at this time. They were staunch Catholics and active members of the Brussels court but also engaged regularly with the commercial elites of the Northern Provinces. Structured around five case studies, the investigation will focus on the nature of different media and how the particularities of each substance were deliberately co-opted into the production of social authority. It will examine how corporal encounter with textiles, glass, paper, and pigment formulated noble honour, negotiated change, produced relationships between diverse groups, and situated the family within an ever-shifting social environment. Each chapter examines a material artefact commissioned by the dynasty at a site of contest or transformation, a situation in which the privileged nature of the Arenberg clan required consolidation or reassertion. This thesis will contribute towards a growing field of study on the Early Modern Habsburg Netherlands. It will prioritise material processes in an attempt to highlight the value of substance as a methodological tool useful for research into the fields of Catholic Europe court history currently dominated by archival approaches

Second chance: the paradox of felony convictions

Title from PDF of title page viewed April 19, 2021Dissertation advisor: Chrisanthia BrownVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 100-111)Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2021Every year hundreds of thousands of individuals with felony convictions are released into the community with the expectation that those re-entering society will be “successful” upon re-entry. Society tells persons with criminal backgrounds (PWCB) they have a “second chance” upon release, yet we are reluctant to provide the resources necessary to make this happen. Stigma is frequently identified as a potential obstacle to reentry, (DeFina, & Hannon, 20109; Shivy et al., 2007; Travis et al., 2001); however, research involving stigma surrounding conviction and the career development of individuals with felony convictions is lacking. Using Psychology of Working Theory as a framework, interviews with 14 males with felonies were examined to identify how the stigma associated with felony convictions has affected their work volition and career trajectory, including the potential barriers they experience to employment. Participants reported receiving a felony conviction before age 24 and experienced post-conviction obstacles, specifically employment/job-related obstacles. Participants discussed experiencing stigma related to their felony convictions and described strategies employed to mitigate that stigma. Participants’ work history involved largely manual labor work and they discussed having career aspirations despite their felony conviction. Implications for counseling, future research and limitations are discussed.Introduction -- Manuscript -- Appendix A. Semi-structured Interview Protocol -- Appendix B. Interview Feedback Form -- Appendix C. Demographic Form -- Appendix D. Recruitment Script -- Appendix E. Consent for Participation in a Research Study -- Appendix F. Psychology of Working Theory Constructs of Interes

Local and systemic effects of adipocyte-secreted factors in breast cancer

Breast cancer is a complex disease that, once developed, progresses in response to multiple environmental factors, including local microenvironmental factors within the breast and systemic markers in circulation. Obesity affects one third of all New Zealand adults and is known to negatively impact breast cancer outcomes. Epidemiological studies have shown obese women with breast cancer have increased risk of recurrence and metastasis, poorer pathological response rates to chemotherapy, and worse overall survival. The biological mechanisms underlying these associations are complex and not yet completely understood. Cancer associated adipocytes (CAA) are fat cells located within close proximity to breast tumour cells. In vitro, CAA promote breast cancer cell migration, invasion, and resistance to therapy. Analysis of gene expression in breast cancer cells co-cultured with CAA has identified a number of genes which may be supporting disease progression. To further assess the influence of CAA on breast cancer cells, we identified and quantified changes in global protein abundance induced in breast cancer cells co-cultured with human breast adipocytes (CAA), and evaluated these changes by identifying key molecules and pathways that were significantly altered. Global differences in relative protein expression in MCF-7 (ER+, PR+, HER2-) and MDA-MB-231 (ER-, PR-, HER2-) breast cancer cells co-cultured with, or without, mature breast adipocytes in a transwell co-culture system, were measured using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) labelling and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In both control and co-cultured samples, a total of 1,126 proteins and 1,218 proteins were identified in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, respectively. Relative to controls, 85 proteins in MCF-7 cells (32 upregulated, 53 downregulated) and 63 proteins in MDA-MB-231 cells (51 upregulated, 12 downregulated) were differentially abundant by 1.5-fold or greater in co-cultured cells. Co-culture with CAA caused an enriched upregulation of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle proteins in MCF-7 cells and glycolysis proteins in MDA-MB-231 cells. The glycolytic protein, phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1), was the only protein that was upregulated by more than 1.5-fold in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells co-cultured with CAA. PGK1 is a kinase enzyme that plays an important role in the glycolytic pathway. In women with breast cancer, increased PGK1 expression in the tumour has been identified as a predictor of poor patient survival and marker of resistance to paclitaxel. As metabolic co-operation between adipocytes and breast cancer cells is a key mechanism promoting breast tumour progression, we investigated PGK1 overexpression in vitro. The transient transfection model for in vitro PGK1 overexpression utilised in this study induced differential effects in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. PGK1 overexpression increased sensitivity to chemotherapy in MCF-7 cells. Whereas, cell proliferation and viability were decreased, and conditioned media lactate concentrations were increased, in GFP and PGK1 expressing plasmid transfected MDA-MB-231 cells. In silico analysis showed PGK1 expression was higher in HER2 enriched compared to triple negative breast cancer cells, and was upregulated in HER2 overexpressing (HER2+) compared to HER2- breast tumours, suggesting that PGK1 expression may be particularly relevant to HER2+ breast cancers. Obesity is characterised by a state of low-grade chronic systemic inflammation. Breast cancer chemotherapies are predominantly metabolised in liver hepatocytes by cytochrome P450 (CYP) drug metabolising enzymes. Inflammatory cytokines have been shown to downregulate expression and activity of CYP enzymes in vitro. Additionally, CYP genotype-phenotype discordance has been observed in patients with advanced cancer. To investigate whether obesity-associated circulating inflammatory cytokines influence in vivo activity of CYP enzymes in women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer, we carried out an exploratory patient study that recruited seven non-obese and five obese women receiving adriamycin-cyclophosphamide (AC) and paclitaxel chemotherapy for stage II or III breast cancer. During chemotherapy, serum levels of B-cell activating factor (BAFF), growth and differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) increased, whereas interleukin 10 (IL-10) levels decreased. Importantly, changes in the levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines during chemotherapy were not associated with differences in body morphometry or voluntary physical activity levels. Activity of the CYP enzymes (CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4), measured using the ‘Inje’ probe drug cocktail, were largely unchanged over the course of chemotherapy, although varied between participants. However, increased serum MCP-1 levels correlated with decreased CYP3A4 activity during chemotherapy, and this finding provides preliminary evidence that circulating inflammatory cytokines may negatively influence CYP-mediated chemotherapy metabolism in women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. This study has provided, for the first time, an extensive list of breast cancer cell protein abundance alterations induced by co-culture with CAA, which can be used as a comprehensive platform for future investigations. Moreover, this study has validated, for the first time, the feasibility of using the ‘Inje’ cocktail to measure CYP activity in women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer, and in doing so, has provided preliminary evidence to support the concept that changes in circulating inflammatory cytokines during chemotherapy treatment may impact CYP activity, and thus, chemotherapy metabolism in some patients