Factors Affecting Storm Characteristics in the Battery and Vicinity

Tropical cyclones (TCs) Irene and Sandy caused major damages in back to back years to the most densely populated city in the United States stunning the residents with storms linked to seemingly impossible probabilities. Such activity has raised questions about the effect of non-stationary aspects within atmospheric circulation on storm behavior and some assumptions inherent in previous hazard studies of the New York City (NYC) area. This study analyzes statistical aspects of hazard quantification for this area related to this non-stationarity and statistical characterization. In particular this study investigates the presence of multiple populations of storms, it also tests current assumptions inherent in these previous studies which produce surge hazards which differ significantly and it investigates a natural relationship between storm characteristics and large scale climate variations through Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) of the sea surface pressure. The findings of this study show that there is a statistically significant influence of climate variability on storm frequency, intensity and direction within the Battery and vicinity (BAV, Battery Park and surrounding region). Variations in large-scale atmospheric pressure patterns as well as sea surface temperature appear to be significantly affecting the surge hazard for this region. This study also shows there is a statistically significant relationship between storm heading and intensity as well as the presence of multiple populations of storms driven by different atmospheric states that behave with alternate characteristics. These multiple populations appear to be significantly influencing the overall average of storm behavior causing inaccurate assumptions in hazard quantification which leads to misestimation in risks

Re-visionary bodies: Feminist/Brechtian theory in the plays of Paula Vogel

Paula Vogel adapts Bertolt Brecht\u27s Verfremdungseffekt, social gestus, historicization and episodic structure in the plays The Baltimore Waltz, And Baby Makes Seven, Hot \u27N\u27 Throbbing , and Desdemona: a play about a handkerchief to re-vision constructions of gender, sexuality and feminine desire, to re-define the American theatrical canon, and to create her own gestic, feminist theater. In The Baltimore Waltz, Vogel re-visions the AIDS virus in order to expose and critique stereotypes surrounding AIDS. In And Baby Makes Seven, Vogel engages in a revisionary dialogue with Edward Albee\u27s classic Who\u27s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in order to question and reinvent the American nuclear family. In Hot \u27N\u27 Throbbing, Vogel re-visions the feminist pornography debate in order to examine the destructive effects of domestic violence and pornography on men, women and children. In Desdemona, Vogel revisions Othello in order to give voice to the silenced, feminine voices in Shakespeare\u27s classic

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe purpose of this study was to examine hope both as a powerful discursive element in health-related literature and as a discursive practice in cancer research decision-making by patients, family caregivers, and physician researchers in a quaternary cancer research center. The practice of hope is an important activity for people diagnosed with cancer, but the unexamined, taken-for-granted practice of hope may exert undue influences on the decision-making/informed consent process for cancer research participation. A genealogy (systematic analysis that illustrates the complex and often contradictory historical influences that culminate in the construction of a concept) of hope was created using philosophical, theological, and literary resources. From these analyses, major discourse practices of hope were identified. Then a focused discourse analysis of representative articles on hope published between 1999 and 2008 in the journal Advances in Nursing Science examined how influential articles reify hope as an object-with the result that hope becomes something that can be given or taken away from patients, thus limiting the scope of how hope can be enacted. A secondary analysis of 109 transcripts from 25 cancer patients enrolled in Phase II clinical trials for hematopoietic stem cell transplants analyzed how patients, family caregivers (n=20), and physician researchers (n=10) used metaphors to construct and represent cancer, medicine, science, and agency. Rhetorical analysis was utilized to indentify patterns of persuasion present in the transcripts that reinforced the hope imperative for patients to enroll in cancer research. Metaphors used by study participants were not neutral, but rather were dynamic forces that demonstrated the discursive power and hope's centrality to decision-making for cancer research participation. Current discursive practices of the informed consent process allow researchers to meet federal and regulatory guidelines while ignoring a potential coerciveness in the underlying dynamics of hope-for-cure and the hope imperative. The implications of this work are significant for bioethics. This work will help cancer research professionals engage in informed consent processes that minimize the elements of coercion. The practice of hope may then be allowed to embrace outcomes beyond cure

Quantitative analysis of gradient sensing: towards building predictive models of chemotaxis in cancer

Chemotaxis of tumor cells in response to a gradient of extracellular ligand is an important step in cancer metastasis. The heterogeneity of chemotactic responses in cancer has not been widely addressed by experimental or mathematical modeling techniques. However, recent advancements in chemoattractant presentation, fluorescent-based signaling probes, and phenotypic analysis paradigms provide rich sources for building data-driven relational models that describe tumor cell chemotaxis in response to a wide variety of stimuli. Here we present gradient sensing, and the resulting chemotactic behavior, in a ‘cue-signal-response’ framework and suggest methods for utilizing recently reported experimental methods in data-driven modeling ventures.United States. Dept. of Defense. Breast Cancer Research Program (U.S.) (Fellowship BC087781)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant U54-CA112967)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01-GM081336

Qualitative Examination of Daytime Monitoring and Selective Attention in Insomnia

Purpose Insomnia is partly maintained by selective attention and monitoring for cues that indicate the presence of a poor night’s sleep. However, little published work examining the role of selective attention in insomnia from a qualitative perspective exists. Methods Eleven participants with DSM-5 insomnia disorder completed semi-structured interviews.Results“Thematic analysis” revealed two prominent, yet interrelated, themes: impairment to daytime functioning and selective attention and monitoring. Perceived difficulty initiating and maintaining asleep during the biological night was accompanied by increased efforts during the day to complete mundane tasks. In addition, reports of consciously selectively attending to sleep-related cues on awakening were frequent, and for some this behaviour extends throughout the day. Conclusion The current outcomes provide first-person support for cognitive models of the disorder. Treatment approaches may wish to target and alleviate selective attention in insomnia

Nothing about us without us : research methods enabling participation for aged care residents who have dementia

The voices of people living with dementia are rarely included in primary data collection due to cognitive challenges and the concerns of researchers and others about limitations associated with informed consent. This article presents a successfully implemented, step-by-step process enabling effective participation of aged care residents with dementia using a case study approach. Three methodological and critical steps in data collection were identified that led to the successful participation of residents with dementia in research. The process corresponds with, yet is uniquely different from the common elements in the qualitative research process. These are active participation during data collection, researcher familiarization with participants, and their set interval and time-lapse considerations (timeline). The process of involvement of people with dementia in research should proceed at a pace that is guided by the participants. It is important to consider participant interview pace, pattern, and the conversation time points when interruptions occur, to restart the whole interview process. Researchers need to facilitate active engagement by building and maintaining authentic relationships with the participants

Funding and Effectiveness of Staff Development Programs in Three North Texas School Districts

This dissertation study focused on three aspects of staff development in North Texas: 1) funding sources, 2) types of professional learning programs, and 3) teachers' views of the effectiveness of the funded programs. Qualitative data came from interviews with nine district administrators concerning funding sources and how those resources enhanced teacher skills. Quantitative data came from 1,277 responses from teachers regarding their background and perceptions about staff development. Data from interviews with district administrators were diagrammed to depict elements of funding staff development and to reveal how resources were used to plan, implement, and evaluate staff learning. An analysis of interview data revealed that availability of grants, property tax rates, and student enrollment affected how districts funded staff development. Administrators reported that districts funded professional learning that was planned according to academic initiatives, met the needs of adult learners, and adapted to the changing needs of school communities. Both administrators and practitioners reported that time was a lacking resource critical to developing staff knowledge. Practitioners reported that sufficient opportunity to collaborate with colleagues about learning initiatives was more valuable than teaching materials. Teacher questionnaires were analyzed for possible relationships between participant variables and responses concerning knowledge about funding constraints and professional development experiences. Data revealed that practitioner experience and graduate degrees were not related to teachers' use of knowledge about financial constraints to more efficiently implement learning from staff development. Participants did not perceive professional learning differently than peers. Most teachers connected professional learning with improved teaching practices but a small percent attributed student achievement to their professional learning. The majority of teachers considered collaborative learning settings to elicit more personal professional growth than other formats. The findings of the teacher questionnaire suggest that teaching practices could be impacted if participants gained more knowledge about district financial constraints when developing staff professionally. Therefore, future research about how districts share information concerning funding for professional learning is warranted

Evaluating wildlife-cattle contact rates to improve the understanding of dynamics of bovine tuberculosis transmission in Michigan, USA

Direct and indirect contacts among individuals drive transmission of infectious disease. When multiple interacting species are susceptible to the same pathogen, risk assessment must include all potential host species. Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an example of a disease that can be transmitted among several wildlife species and to cattle, although the potential role of several wildlife species in spillback to cattle remains unclear. To better understand the complex network of contacts and factors driving disease transmission, we fitted proximity logger collars to beef and dairy cattle (n = 37), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; n=29), raccoon (Procyon lotor; n=53), and Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana; n=79) for 16 months in Michigan\u27s Lower Peninsula, USA. We determined inter- and intra-species direct and indirect contact rates. Data on indirect contact was calculated when collared animals visited stationary proximity loggers placed at cattle feed and water resources. Most contact between wildlife species and cattle was indirect, with the highest contact rates occurring between raccoons and cattle during summer and fall. Nearly all visits (\u3e99%) to cattle feed and water sources were by cattle, whereas visitation to stored cattle feed was dominated by deer and raccoon (46% and 38%, respectively). Our results suggest that indirect contact resulting from wildlife species visiting cattle-related resources could pose a risk of disease transmission to cattle and deserves continued attention with active mitigation

Evaluating wildlife-cattle contact rates to improve the understanding of dynamics of bovine tuberculosis transmission in Michigan, USA

Direct and indirect contacts among individuals drive transmission of infectious disease. When multiple interacting species are susceptible to the same pathogen, risk assessment must include all potential host species. Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an example of a disease that can be transmitted among several wildlife species and to cattle, although the potential role of several wildlife species in spillback to cattle remains unclear. To better understand the complex network of contacts and factors driving disease transmission, we fitted proximity logger collars to beef and dairy cattle (n = 37), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; n=29), raccoon (Procyon lotor; n=53), and Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana; n=79) for 16 months in Michigan\u27s Lower Peninsula, USA. We determined inter- and intra-species direct and indirect contact rates. Data on indirect contact was calculated when collared animals visited stationary proximity loggers placed at cattle feed and water resources. Most contact between wildlife species and cattle was indirect, with the highest contact rates occurring between raccoons and cattle during summer and fall. Nearly all visits (\u3e99%) to cattle feed and water sources were by cattle, whereas visitation to stored cattle feed was dominated by deer and raccoon (46% and 38%, respectively). Our results suggest that indirect contact resulting from wildlife species visiting cattle-related resources could pose a risk of disease transmission to cattle and deserves continued attention with active mitigation