University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts Boston: ScholarWorks at UMassNot a member yet
8618 research outputs found
Sort by
Hemodynamic Recovery Following a Peak Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test in Black and Hispanic Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy
Get PDFBackground: Black and Hispanic breast cancer patients are especially vulnerable to chemotherapy-induced toxicity that may increase cardiovascular risk. Hemodynamics, predictive of future cardiovascular events, have been shown to be compromised in White cancer patients during chemotherapy. However, the potential alterations in hemodynamics during acute peak aerobic exercise, which might uncover cardiovascular changes not observable at rest, have not been investigated in cancer patients, nor specifically in Black and Hispanic breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Purpose: To investigate hemodynamic recovery after peak aerobic exercise in Black and Hispanic breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy Methods: Seven Black and Hispanic breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy completed a peak cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) on a cycle ergometer. Hemodynamic measures were taken at baseline, 7-min, and 10-min after CPET. Brachial blood pressure (BP), aortic BP, augmentation pressure (AP), augmentation index at 75 beats per min (AIx@75), forward pressure (Pf), and backward pressure were assessed using the non-invasive, oscillometric Mobil-O-Graph (IEM GmbH, Stolberg, Germany). One-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to test for potential differences across time. Results: Brachial and aortic pulse pressure (PP) decreased significantly from 7-min to 10-min after CPET (p \u3c 0.05). AP and Pf decreased significantly from 7-min to 10-min after CPET (p \u3c 0.05). Changes in AIx@75 approached significance (p = 0.055). Conclusion: Black and Hispanic breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy exhibited reductions in PP, AP, and Pf during recovery from CPET. Further research is warranted to identify mechanisms that underlie the hemodynamic responses of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy
Building Tolerance as a Strategy to Mitigate Violent Extremism: The Contribution of UFC to Social Cohesion in Dori
Get PDFThanks to a research grant from Innovation and Poverty Action (IPA), this dissertation conducted 340+ interviews in the commune of Dori in Northern Burkina Faso during the summer of 2019. The research evaluates the effectiveness of a local interfaith organization called Union Fraternelle des Croyants (UFC) in promoting inter-communal tolerance as a barrier to residents being recruited by violent extremist (VE) groups. UFC was created in the early 1970s to address the consequences of successive droughts that ravaged the Sahel region. As a rural development organization, UFC built dams and wells that improved residents\u27 access to water and contributed to defusing conflicts that recurrently opposed farmers and cattle herders. In the aftermath of the 9/11 events, a “new” form of insecurity emerged in the region, one that is no longer caused by disadvantageous geography alone but mobilizes ideology and identity-related drivers. In that new security environment, UFC continues facilitating peace and stability by providing spiritual guidance and economic opportunity to disaffected residents who are otherwise vulnerable to VE ideological influence and recruitment strategies. This study combines two theoretical frameworks: the Intergroup Contact Model and the Economic Interest Model. It triangulates data collected through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and structured interviews. The study uses Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) statistical models to assess the effectiveness of UFC on its beneficiaries at the individual level. The research supplements the statistical findings with group-level analysis based on the contents of the in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Four categories of residents were interviewed in Dori: (1) those who received no benefits from UFC; (2): those who benefited from poverty alleviation [PA] programs; (3): those who took part in religious guidance [RG] training, and finally (4): those who benefited from projects with both poverty alleviation and spiritual guidance components [PA&RG]. In partial contradiction to the central hypothesis of the dissertation –which associates UFC effectiveness with the combination of [PA&RG] programs—the OLS results indicate that at the individual level, only [RG] programs have positive and statistically significant effects on the beneficiaries’ behaviors. Among seven (7) indicators of tolerance identified locally, [RG] variables significantly increase the “number of visits/years” that recipients pay to outgroup friends, improve the “probability that beneficiaries will support random outgroup members in need or danger,” and raise the recipients’ overall “Integrated Tolerance Index” [ITI], ceteris paribus. On the contrary, and still, at the individual level, the OLS findings suggest that [PA] projects have either negative or statistically insignificant effects on the beneficiaries’ social behaviors justifiably because they incite win-or-lose competitions. The qualitative analysis widens the perspective of the above statistical assessment. It indicates that [PA] variables can also promote cohesion at the village level. Especially when they mobilize market-oriented activities that serve intercommunal interests through decreased search costs, improved market reach, increased bargaining powers, increased revenues, and improved access to services for all involved parties. Thus, at the group level, [PA&RG] combinations incite collaboration and facilitate participants’ identification with the values of tolerance and cohesion promoted by UFC. Building on these findings and the literature on the nexus between communal conflicts and VE, this dissertation argues that, by promoting tolerance among residents from different ethnoreligious backgrounds, UFC has been effective in reducing the ideological resonance of VE organizations, namely through processes of “bonding,” “bridging,” and “linking” that consolidate communal ties and undermine VE recruitment tactics. In neighboring communes where lack of cohesion affects intercommunal relations, VE organizations have been able to instrumentalize ethnicity and religion as divisive identity markers and to recruit new militants among the antagonized communities
Unveiling Factors Impacting Social Media Reshare in Racism Discourse
Get PDFSocial media platforms have become hubs for interaction and information exchange, yet they also contain increasing volumes of harmful content, including hate-filled posts. This dissertation investigates the complex dynamics influencing resharing behavior on social media in the context of racism. The first chapter of the study extends the sympathy and empathy to attitude model to analyze resharing behaviors of hate-filled content. By integrating heuristic cues, sympathy, and empathy processes, the research identifies their impact on users\u27 resharing behavior. The second chapter expands behavior theories by incorporating intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that drive the resharing of content related to social causes. This research identifies resharing as a nuanced behavior influenced by norms, responsibilities, and a complex interplay of motivations. These two studies offer theoretical insights and practical implications for understanding and managing resharing behaviors on social media
Investigating the Mechanisms Behind CPEB2-Mediated Regulation of Spermatogenesis
Get PDFGermline development requires molecular mechanisms that are highly conserved across the animal kingdom. Post-transcriptional regulation of mRNA is one of the prevalent features of germline development, and is carried in part by the Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation Element Binding Protein (CPEBs) family. CPEBs bind to specific mRNAs via sequence elements in the 3’- untranslated region (3’UTR) of target mRNAs and regulate their translation. Smed-CPEB2 is a CPEB that is expressed in the testes and central nervous system of the planarian flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea. Smed-CPEB2 is required for spermatogenesis and for overall sexual maturation, at least in part through regulation of neuropeptide y-8 levels. However, the precise mechanisms by which Smed-CPEB2 regulates target mRNAs are still unknown. To gain insight into CPEB2-mediated control of spermatogenesis, 63 potential protein partners were identified through co-immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry. I hypothesize that some of these candidate partners facilitate Smed-CPEB2 function and are therefore essential for sperm development. Systemic gene-specific RNA interference (RNAi) was induced for each of the 63 putative partners by double-stranded RNA feeding, and the knockdown of eight of these genes resulted in failure to complete spermatogenesis. Knockdown of eight other genes resulted in severe somatic phenotypes, while knockdown of six other genes resulted in mild phenotypes with potential indirect effects in spermatogenesis. Phenotypic analyses using stage-specific markers revealed defects at early stages of spermatogenesis upon CPSF6 RNAi, and defects at late stages for the majority of the candidate partners required for spermatogenesis. None of the genes tested phenocopy CPEB2 RNAi. These results reflect the complex post-transcriptional regulation network that occurs throughout the progression of spermatogenesis
Molecular Impacts of Vitamin A Deprivation in the Drosophila Eye
Get PDFVitamin A is essential for vision and must be obtained through our diet. Vitamin A deprivation (VAD) severely disrupts the morphology of photoreceptors, causes a loss of light-sensing pigments, and is the leading cause of preventable childhood blindness. However, even chronic VAD in Drosophila melanogaster does not lead to photoreceptor death, which led us to hypothesize that an unknown mechanism stabilizes damaged photoreceptors to preserve visual function. To understand this stabilizing mechanism and identify its components, we employed transcriptomics and proteomics to investigate the molecular consequences of VAD in Drosophila. Through these studies, we discovered a set of factors exhibiting differential expression levels in response to VAD. These factors are involved in various cellular processes, including phototransduction, Rhodopsin processing, translation, and the TCA cycle. Among these factors, we identified a novel transmembrane protein, which we named Mps (My Precious Stabilizer). Mps is highly upregulated in vitamin A-deficient Drosophila photoreceptors and stabilizes their light-sensing compartments by interacting with the photoreceptor-specific scaffolding protein InaD. Furthermore, Mps is normally required during development and genetically interacts with InaD. These findings deepen our understanding of how the eye responds to environmental stresses and could inspire novel therapeutic approaches for treating human eye diseases
Emotional Social Support Among Asian Americans: Associations with Psychological Symptoms, Well-Being and Buffering Against Effects of Racism
No full textStudies have found that Asian Americans are unwilling to seek professional treatment for psychological symptoms despite reporting significant psychological distress and prefer seeking social support from friends and family (Han & Pong, 2015; Hung, 2005; Masuda & Boone, 2011; Singh, 2015). Asian Americans have been continuously exposed to racist events that are detrimental to well-being, with a notable increase during the COVID-19 pandemic (Armanta et al., 2013; Liu & Suyemoto, 2016; Stop AAPI Hate, 2021). This study sought to examine the degree to which emotional social support is associated with psychological symptoms and well-being, and whether emotional social support would moderate the positive relation between experiencing racism and psychological symptoms, and the negative relation between experiencing racism and well-being. We found that emotional social support was significantly negatively associated with psychological symptoms and significantly positively associated with well-being, but not above and beyond the effects of general social support. We also found that emotional social support did not moderate the relation between experiencing racism and either of the outcome variables, and that the expected relations between experiencing racism and the outcome variables were not found in this sample. Limitations in this study included a possible lack of generalizability due to our participants predominately identifying as cisgendered women, and a lack of specificity in measuring anti-Asian racism in particular in our measures. Future studies would benefit from recruiting a more representative sample, and including measures that assess anti-Asian racism specifically and across several domains of interaction
A Case for Health Promotion in Social Media: A Mixed Method Systematic Review of Cardiac Heterotaxy YouTube Videos
No full textThe objective of this dissertation is to explore and describe the presence of Pender’s Health Promotion Model’s (HPM) modifying factors in social media and demonstrate the feasibility of health promotion. The first manuscript aims to demonstrate social media health can be enhanced by expanding the use of the HPM to the social media environment. The paper offered 2 contributions with 5 supporting premises to support this aim: healthcare will benefit from applying health promotion to social media, and Pender’s HPM should be applied to social media. The application of Pender’s HPM to social media provides a framework to actualize human health potential and promote well-being in social media. The second manuscript, Chapter 3, a systematic review, aims to assess the presence of modifying factors in academic literature related to cardiac heterotaxy content in YouTube videos. This chapter narrows the dissertation\u27s focus to the heterotaxy population and the social media platform YouTube. A PRISMA systematic review of heterotaxy literature and YouTube yielded 14 articles. All categories of modifying factors were captured in the article’s outcomes or limitations. The presence of modifying factors in heterotaxy related YouTube studies demonstrates the feasibility of a mixed-method systematic cardiac heterotaxy YouTube video review. The third manuscript, Chapter 4, aims to describe the presence of modifying factors in cardiac heterotaxy YouTube videos through a convergent mixed-method systematic review of YouTube videos. The quantitative phase captures the frequency of modifying factors in the social media videos, while the qualitative phase provides a thematic analysis of the modifying factors. All modifying factor categories were present in the cardiac heterotaxy videos, and themes pushing boundaries, barriers, fear, and normalcy in the videos emerged from the social media content. The study shows modifying factors are present in social media and provides a critical step towards applying health promotion to the social media environment. Throughout the dissertation, the manuscripts have progressively built a foundation for the next phase of the dissertation. Collectively, they demonstrate the presence of Pender’s HPM’s modifying factors in social media and support the application of the HPM to the social media environment
Am I Qualified Enough To Be Here? Analyzing Impostorism and Academic Persistence Intentions Amongst Students Pursuing Doctoral Degrees in Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychology
No full textUtilizing a framework informed by social cognitive career and critical race theory, this dissertation sought to better understand feelings of impostorism and academic persistence intentions in doctoral students studying clinical, counseling, and school psychology. The degree of anti-racism within one’s doctoral program, as well as the strength of the advisor and advisee relationship, were also assessed. The quantitative study surveyed 441 participants using a 62-item Qualtrics survey. Participants provided sociodemographic characteristics like racial and ethnic identity, gender identity, type of degree (Ph.D. vs. Psy.D.), discipline of degree (clinical, counseling, or school psychology), year in program, age, hours worked, and highest education earned by a parental figure. The measures used for assessment included the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), the College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ), one subscale from the Anti-Racism Behavioral Inventory (ARBI), and the Advisee Version of the Advisory Working Alliance Inventory (AWAI). The quantitative study used analyses of variance to compare sociodemographic characteristics to feelings of impostorism and academic persistence intentions. Linear regressions were also employed to determine if impostorism feelings predicted academic persistence intentions, as well as if anti-racism within one’s program and advisor/advisee relationships moderated that relationship. Results found that racial and ethnic identity and age were significant predictors of impostorism, while being a Person of Color and average hours worked predicted academic persistence intentions of doctoral students. Regression results indicated that feelings of impostorism predicted academic persistence intentions in doctoral students. Moreover, the relationship between an advisor and advisee was found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between impostorism and academic persistence intentions. The current study offers valuable insight on factors that influence doctoral students’ educational experience, and it also underscores the need for further research on first-generation college Students of Color
Functions of the Minibrain Signaling Network in Brain Development
No full textDetermining the mechanisms behind developmental diseases of the nervous system can provide insight into advancing treatments. The human kinase DYRK1A plays a role in Down syndrome, microcephaly, and cancer; however the exact mechanism through which it functions is unknown. By studying its Drosophila melanogaster homolog, Minibrain (Mnb), we can learn more about DYRK1A function. Neural stem cells (called neuroblasts in flies) give rise to differentiated cells and the adult brain structure. In this dissertation I uncover novel functions of Mnb in development, identify novel protein interactions between Mnb and endocytic proteins, and characterize additional mutation-specific proteomes of the developmentally important GTPase Neurofibromin 1 (NF1). During development, the proper number of neuroblasts must be formed from neuroepithelial cells, and this transition is a carefully regulated process. Molecular marker analysis of mnb null mutants has revealed alterations in the neuroepithelium and neuroblast regions of developing larval brains. To determine how Mnb regulates brain development, I performed affinity purification-mass spectrometry (AP-MS) on embryos expressing an endogenously tagged form of Mnb. I identified novel Mnb binding partners Ral interacting protein (Rlip) and RALBP1 associated Eps domain containing (Reps) that work together with Mnb to regulate Drosophila development. I also showed that Mnb interacts with the GTPase Ras-like protein A (Rala) to regulate brain development within the neuroepithelium. I also characterize a novel role for Mnb in early Drosophila development. In this work I show that Mnb is required for proper closure of the embryo on the dorsal side. Without Mnb, embryos do not fully close and the viability of embryos is reduced. In this dissertation I also characterize the differences in interactomes between wild type and mutant NF1. I have identified several protein interactions that are gained in mutant NF1 and are not present or present at reduced intensities in wild type NF1. This work sets the foundation for further characterization of these interactions and opens avenues for investigating the mechanisms through which mutant NF1 may regulate tumor formation. My work expands our knowledge of the Mnb signaling network and how it regulates Drosophila development as well as the NF1 interactome and how mutations may affect protein interactions. This work may suggest new approaches to developing therapies for Neurofibromatosis and DYRK1A-related diseases in humans
Examining the Potential of Online Community-Based Learning to Foster Global Citizenship Capacities in College Students: A Mixed-Methods Multi-Institutional Study
Get PDFGlobal citizenship education is one way to better prepare individuals to learn about global systems, understand their own place in those systems, and act with others to create a more just world. While global citizenship education has big aspirational goals, for this to be effective, educators must better understand what pedagogical strategies impact the development of global citizenship capacities in students. This study aims to understand the potential of one emerging pedagogical strategy in the context of higher education –online community-based learning– for fostering global citizenship capacities in an increasingly interconnected and digitized world. This research is guided by a purpose-driven transdisciplinary approach as well as experiential learning theory and critical pedagogy. With this grounding, global citizenship is conceptualized in this study as having three key elements: critical reflection, collective action, and justice. This mixed-methods analysis examines data from three institutions who moved their in-person community-based learning programs to the fully online modality during COVID school closures and includes pre/post survey data (n=187) and interviews (n=23). Mixed-methods analysis of pre/post survey data found that directly after program completion students overwhelming self-reported that participation in a online community-based learning program facilitated the development of new knowledge, mindsets, and motivation to participate in future civic actions. Analysis of interviews conducted with alumni one to three years after program completion found that the majority were participating in civic action, mostly in the form of volunteerism, and alumni felt that participation in the online community-based learning program was a way to sustain their commitment to social action during the COVID-19 pandemic and into the future. Alumni also reported various ways that skills (i.e. language) and mindsets (i.e. valuing non-Western perspectives) gained in the online community-based learning program were applied to their education or professional lives. Evidence emerged that forming trusting interpersonal relationships with individuals in the partner-community (mentors, peers, community members) in the online modality was the key program condition which influenced a change in student learning that then impacted a change in future actions. Further, mixed-methods analysis found that first-generation-to-college students reported greater learning gains than their non-first-generation peers. First-generation students displayed several attitudes and experiences—openness to an unfamiliar learning environment, intrinsic motivation for experiential learning, intercultural collaboration, and experience with resisting systems of oppression—which facilitated their learning. Finally, this analysis suggests that most students displayed conceptual knowledge of critical reflection and justice as central pieces of global citizenship; they also experienced Freire’s (1970) conscientization, or motivation to transform unjust systems; however, only a few were able to actualize this learning into future collective civic action, and this became even more challenging after leaving the campus community. In the online context most students were working independently on product-oriented tasks, which may have resulted in learning skills that increased confidence and motivation to participate in future social action while at the same time instilling an individualistic attitude towards global social change. While less common, students who displayed an understanding of collective action as an important part of civic participation were more likely to have worked on collaborative tasks with partner-community members where they had the opportunity to recognize the benefits of learning and acting with others. And those who did report participating in collective action with the goal of addressing root problems of inequities, did so mostly through involvement in on-campus advocacy for issues like environmental, racial, or gender justice. This research suggests that even in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and a rapid change to online learning, college students were eager to develop new knowledge, mindsets, and skills and that they are applying these capacities to their future actions. Thus, educators have the opportunity to develop curriculum which begins to foster global citizenship capacities that students may carry forward into future actions that are critical, collective, and just