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Mental Health and Nature: An Urban Perspective of Mental Health Ecosystem Services
No full textThe interplay between mental health and nature has gained much attention lately, with a growing body of literature suggesting the multiple positive impacts of nature on our psychological well-being. This rapidly urbanizing world with projections of further increased mental health issues rates, especially within urban environments, along with the negative impacts of climate change on our mental health and our continuously diminished nature experience, indicates the need for empirical understanding of the potential positive impacts from nature to mental health.
Drawing upon interdisciplinary research from environmental science and psychology, this dissertation explores the potential mental health benefits people obtain from nature and how these can be incorporated into the ecosystem services paradigm. This dissertation aims to underscore the importance of considering nature, emphasizing urban nature features as a valuable resource for promoting our mental health. With this understanding, this study consists of four chapters; introduction, literature review, conceptualizing mental health ecosystem services, and a case study conducted in Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts.
Chapter 1 introduces the basic terms and concepts used as well as the rationale of the study. Chapter 2 consists of a systematic literature review exploring ways studies using the ecosystem services Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (M.E.A.) (2005) classification incorporate aspects of mental health benefits other than the ones M.E.A. (2005) covers. This was done to assess the state of the field and better understand how scholars are currently using it to develop a more holistic approach to studying the mental health benefits in the frame of ecosystem services. This work contributed to developing the following chapters\u27 purpose and design.
Chapter 3 systematically conceptualizes the mental health ecosystem services and provides a classification to study nature\u27s positive effects on our psychological well-being. This chapter suggests the differentiation of the primary and secondary mental health benefits that can potentially be obtained from nature, and we provide a step-by-step framework for studying, classifying, and assessing the psychological ecosystem services.
Chapter 4 includes a case study in one of Boston, MA\u27s most nature-deprived, socio-economically vulnerable, diverse communities. We tested the framework suggested in previous chapters to assess potential positive correlations between urban nature exposure and mental health. We used public participatory map-based survey tools and employed our survey in 2023, collaborating with local organizations and community groups. Finally, in Chapter 5 we discuss the overall conclusions of the dissertation, suggest ways of improving this type of study and provide ideas for future research in this field
Estimating the Impacts of Legislation to Expand Affordable Quality Child Care and Early Education in Massachusetts: Initial Findings on Utilization, Employment, and Financial Assistance. Research Brief #1
Get PDFThe UMass Boston Early Education CUSP is led by a multidisciplinary team that designed the simulator and uses it to produce current, relevant, accurate, and responsive estimates about the key impacts of proposed legislation to expand access to affordable, quality child care and early education. One of the simulator’s valuable features is that it can produce estimates for a range of policy parameters and provisions. The team will release additional briefs in the coming months to offer a more detailed look at the impacts outlined in this initial publication. Other planned briefs will examine key topics, such as impacts related to additional family characteristics, cliff effects, and child care and early education provider supply. Therefore, this initial brief is one in a series of publications aimed to provide essential information to guide policymaking on child care and early education affordability, quality, and access in Massachusetts
Crisper Locus Combination Affects the Ecology of Enterococcus Faecalis
No full textCRISPR-cas systems are an adaptive subset of prokaryotic genomic defenses against viral infection. The systems adapt to novel infections by incorporating short DNA sequences called spacers homologous to the infectious agent into an array between identical segments of palindromic repeats of host DNA. The CRISPR array serves as a memory bank that clears active infections in tandem with compatible cas genes by recognizing and degrading invasive DNA present in the cell. This research focuses on Enterococcus faecalis, a medically significant Gram-positive bacterium present in soils and waters and as a common intestinal commensal of a wide range of animal hosts. It readily undergoes horizontal gene transfer, and mobile genetic elements drive much of the great genetic diversity of the species. Enterococcus faecalis genomes may lack or possess as many as three similar but distinct CRISPR loci in conserved locations on the chromosome. Functional E. faecalis CRISPR-cas loci have been inversely correlated with acquired antibiotic resistance from mobile genetic elements; this is consistent with the capacity to recognize and target invasive DNA. However, the conservation of CRISPR array repeats and distributions of CRISPR loci in E. faecalis populations suggest that more complex interactions between CRISPR variants exist. This research characterizes E. faecalis strains by CRISPR genotype and compares them by isolate source, mobile genetic element carriage, and repeat conservation of CRISPR loci to determine dynamics that may introduce ecological benefits or fitness costs to possessing or lacking specific CRISPR loci. The evidence presented in this work supports ecologically relevant effects of CRISPR-cas genotype, as well as suggests that the uncommon genotype possessing all three loci represents a pre-industrial wild type. CRISPR genotype variation in E. faecalis thus appears to be the result of locus loss through selective pressures and disuse rather than locus acquisition through horizontal gene transfer
Contemporary Empirical Asset Pricing: Alternative Big Data and Machine Learning Models
No full textI develop novel frameworks to predict future stock returns, using alternative big data sources, and various machine learning models. This research endeavor can be systematically described as a mixture of the following steps : 1) Study and quantify an alternative big data source that could potentially inform future returns. 2) Modify and utilize state-of-the-art machine learning approaches that could improve prior estimations or inferences. 3) Provide better interpretable and understandable conclusions of the driving forces in return predictability. Specifically, I present three related essays : (1) I examine the technical mechanics of machine learning models specifically suited for empirical asset pricing with an emphasis on loss function design and the subsequent effects on model behavior. (2) I examine whether temporal dependencies improve return predictions in a generalized framework that encompasses various factors; where I propose an interpretable long short-term memory (LSTM) framework. (3) We predict future returns by developing a novel dynamic framework to measure the proportional demand for tech-oriented skills in a firm hiring profile
Molecular Mechanisms Governing Symbiosis and Cell Cycle Progression: Analysis of DIVL/CCKA Suppressor Alleles in Sinorhizobium Meliloti
No full textThe cell cycle is a fundamental process involved in bacterial reproduction and cellular differentiation. For Sinorhizobium meliloti, its cell cycle outcomes depend on its growth environment. This bacterium shows tight coupling of DNA replication initiation and cell division during free living growth, as well as asymmetric daughter cell fate. In contrast, it undergoes a program of endoreduplication and terminal differentiation during symbiosis with its host. While several key cell cycle components of the CtrA TCS pathway have been identified as playing an important role in this differentiation process, there is a lack of resolution regarding the molecular activities that are required and whether they could be unique to this cell type. CbrA, a negative regulator of CtrA activity, is absolutely required for a successful symbiosis. In this work, spontaneous symbiosis suppressors of the ∆cbrA mutant identified alleles of divL and cckA. In addition to rescuing symbiosis development, they rescue free-living cell cycle phenotypes of the ΔcbrA mutant. Moreover, our investigation into ∆cbrA polyploidy revealed this phenotype is most likely due to a delay in cell division rather than excessive DNA replication initiation events. Biochemical characterization of the hybrid histidine kinase CckA in vitro demonstrates that it has both kinase and phosphatase activities. In particular, CckA phosphatase activity is induced by the second messenger c-di-GMP. While the suppressor CckAA373S appears to maintain phosphatase activity in response to c-di-GMP in vitro, it has a significant loss in kinase activity that would result in decreased CtrA~P activity in vivo. The findings presented in this work deepen our understanding of the CtrA TCS pathway and open new avenues for further molecular characterization of a regulatory network pivotal to the free-living cell cycle and bacterial symbiosis
Aging in Brockton: A Community Needs Assessment
Get PDFThis report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging (CSDRA) within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the City of Brockton. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Brockton’s residents age 60 or older by engaging the community regarding their experiences and needs relevant to the COA’s objective to identify and serve the needs of all Brockton citizens 60 and older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the City of Brockton, the Brockton COA, Senior Center, and organizations that work with and on behalf of older residents of Brockton for the purposes of COA mission fulfillment alongside planning and coordination of services for current and future needs of residents. The report will also help to build awareness about issues facing Brockton among community members at large
Here\u27s What\u27s Not Changing : Institutional Adaptations That Respond To A Crisis But Preserve the Core
Get PDFAn enduring tension in the study of institutions is between the micro level of agents’ activities that shape institutions and the macro level of institutions as enduring entities that tend to resist change. Institutions in crisis offer opportunities to look at urgent and adaptive changes. I study an Islamic organization that is representative of a religious institution, which has deep traditions and meaningfulness to its members. In a time of crisis, in the urban area in the United States where it is located, the organization is pressed by external parties, such as government, media, and leaders from other religions, to demonstrate its legitimacy and its appropriate responsiveness. There is also internal interest in making some changes. My research explores the question: What happens as individuals undertake ‘daily actions’ to both change and preserve features of an organization that is dealing with ongoing external pressures? Through a series of three papers, I explore this question, locating the importance of studying faith-based organizations, tracking how external jolts prompt changes but within limits, and demonstrating how the theory of ‘strategy as practice’ offers a useful toolkit for observing activities: improvisations, leadership strategic moves, unexpected discontinuous change, and sequences of action and reaction from members. I draw upon three kinds of data to understand these everyday practices: participant observation and reflective journals; interviews (expert interviews, member interviews, and opportunistic interviews); and community documents (such as flipcharts generated in brainstorming sessions). I track how the organization makes some outward-facing changes, to signal membership in what the leadership construes to be the broad institutions of American democracy and American religious participation. At the same time, I track internal changes and the members’ mix of enthusiasm and pushback regarding change, with the resulting statements about “here’s what’s not changing.” Cycles of experimenting with new practices end up preserving the meaningful core of the organization. Understanding this simultaneity of openness to change and buffers against change gives a finer portrait of how tradition-based institutions do change—how and to what extent—in moments of crisis
Exploring the Asian American Autism Family Relationship Processes Among Non-Autistic Adult Siblings from Immigrant and Confucian-Ethnic Family Background
No full textFamilies of individuals on the autism spectrum encounter a range of relational opportunities and challenges throughout the life course. Within the “autism” family, non-autistic siblings are uniquely situated and can possess one of the longest lasting relationships with the autistic child-family member (i.e., their sibling). For Asian Americans of Confucian-ethnic heritage, the centrality of familism and the integral role of relationship-oriented family dynamics are profoundly important; and, may operate in ways that have not been explicitly considered or examined by the mainstream (i.e., Euro-centric) field of autism research and clinical practice. Likewise, the voices and perspectives of individuals from marginalized family backgrounds (e.g., immigrant, lower SES, limited-English-speaking household, etc.) are largely absent within the existing body of autism literature. To address these shortcomings and limited understandings, this constructivist grounded theory interviewed twelve Asian American non-autistic adult siblings of individuals with autism, to answer the research questions: How do adult individuals who have an autistic sibling within Asian American immigrant families from Confucian-ethnic heritages experience their family relationships and relational processes? How are these relational experiences and processes influenced by the interaction of autism and racial/cultural experience? How do these relational experiences and processes change over time? The emerged theoretical model focuses on family processes of connectedness, obligation, empathy, and communication, and the influence of autism and cultural values on the ways in which these processes are (re)negotiated across the life course and family life cycle
Results of COP27 and Expectations for COP28
Get PDFSince 1995, government representatives from around the world have gathered nearly every year for the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) to advance work on multilateral agreements and to provide a way forward in tackling the significant challenges of climate change. The last of these conferences took place on November 6–20, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
COP27 brought together more than 35,000 people from across the globe to deliberate on important actions for addressing the climate. Hailed as the “African COP” and “Implementation COP,” it raised expectations that decisions from previous conferences, reflecting the needs and priorities of the most vulnerable countries, will begin to be implemented. COP27 focused on elaborating implementation plans to shift ambition into action and specifically to strengthen climate change adaptation measures. During this conference, significant decisions included adaptation, mitigation, just transition, and finance. After two weeks of negotiations, COP27 adopted the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan (SHIP) as the main decision for guiding ambitious climate actions. Notable was the historical consensus on loss and damage funding arrangements.
This article will discuss key results of COP27 and expectations at COP28 including the first Global Stocktake
Analytical Approaches for Identification of Transcriptional Regulatory Programs Driving Toxoplasma Gondii Cell Division and Virulence
No full textToxoplasma gondii is a member of the phylum Apicomplexa, which comprises many obligate intracellular parasites, including the malaria-causing Plasmodium spp. T. gondii causes opportunistic infections in humans. The global prevalence has been estimated to be between 30 – 50 % [1]. T. gondii infection consists of a short acute phase, caused by the tachyzoite stage, and a life-long chronic phase maintained by the bradyzoite stage [2]. Most infected individuals are asymptomatic; however, infection can lead to severe clinical disease including ocular lesions and neurological disorders in immunocompromised patients or in the case of congenital transmission to the developing fetus [3]. Disease pathogenesis is primarily the result of the repeated rounds of lytic cycle, causing uncontrolled expansion of parasite biomass, the associated tissue destruction, and ensuing inflammation [4]. T. gondii’s lytic cycle comprises of an asexual cell division cycle known as endodyogeny followed by egress from the host cell and reinvasion of a new host [5]. Increased efficiency in steps of the lytic cycle, including reinvasion, replication rate, and extracellular survival, can result in enhanced virulence.
In this dissertation, we have developed analytical approaches to analyze high-dimensional gene expression and chromatin accessibility datasets to study the fundamental processes and genetic factors underlying asexual reproduction and the regulation of virulence in T. gondii. We present time-series clustering methodologies for identifying gene classes, network reconstruction techniques to identify co-expressed genes, and novel pseudo-time analysis methods to map the developmental trajectory of replicating parasites. Our results indicate that transcriptional regulation plays a major role in enhanced virulence and that modules of co-regulated genes drive the cell division cycle. Overall, the work presented in this thesis provides a tailored toolbox of computational models for analysis of cell replication in T. gondii. These tools are general and can be adapted to study other apicomplexan parasites