University at Albany, State University of New York
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Climate Change in the Local News: The Role of Community Characteristics in Shaping Themes and Diversity
Full text linkDespite widespread recognition of climate change and its localized impacts, research on how local media cover this topic remains limited. The first study of this dissertation analyzes 15,788 opinion articles published from 2013 to 2020 by 391 local newspapers in the United States to examine their volume, topics, and thematic emphases. Using automated text analysis methods, including Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and Analysis of Topic Model Networks (ANTMN), the study identifies 11 topics and three overarching themes. Findings indicate that the volume, topics, and themes evolved over time, likely influenced by the severity of climate-induced hazards and political and socioeconomic contexts. Over the study period, coverage shifted from debates on climate change and macro-level policy ideologies to the emphasis on community action and localized solutions. The second study, grounded in the community structure approach, examines how community characteristics, including vulnerability to climate change, structural pluralism, political heterogeneity, and concentrated disadvantage, influence the thematic emphasis and diversity in opinion articles across 305 counties or county equivalents. Findings show that structural pluralism and political heterogeneity are positively associated with an emphasis on the theme Local Climate Policies and Sustainability Efforts but negatively associated with Macro Social-Political Ideologies. Practical Implications of Climate Change is not associated with any of the community characteristics examined. Thematic diversity is negatively associated with vulnerability to climate change but positively associated with structural pluralism. Overall, these findings support the structural pluralism model and highlight the role of community power structure in shaping local climate change coverage. Beyond its theoretical and methodological contributions, this dissertation offers practical implications for policymakers and media practitioners. Several limitations are acknowledged, along with directions for future research
A Structurationally Informed View of Emergency Medical Services Professionals’ Work-Related Communication and Behaviors While off Duty
Full text linkWork-life interrelationships and boundaries are common areas of study in communication research. While some scholars maintain that the domains of work and personal lives and their boundaries are static and exist in designated times and spaces, others argue that domains are constructed around situated contexts and through the performance of situated activities that not only produce a time and place for the domain but call upon enactment of an identity appropriate for managing the domain and the boundaries around it. The people who work in emergency medical services (EMS), emergency medical services professionals (EMSPs) face special challenges in managing work-life interrelationships. They perform as knowledge and skilled workers while they are on the clock in times and places that closely, if not identically, resemble the times and places they experience while off the clock. Unlike other high-reliability organization (HRO) members (e.g., firefighters or law enforcement officers), much of their critical, lifesaving work (e.g., performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation or hemorrhage control) can be performed without special equipment. EMSPs are also integral members of the healthcare system and, given the nature of their jobs of responding to where people need help, they are used to performing their work in any location, unlike other healthcare practitioners (e.g., physicians or nurses) who typically enact their work-related behaviors in specific locations (e.g. a hospital or clinic). In this study, I sought to understand how EMSPs’ work permeates their off-duty times and spaces, and how they construct and communicatively manage the boundaries of their work-related identities while off duty. I performed semi-structured interviews with 52 people – 39 EMSPs and 13 relevant others (ROs), who identified as people with whom the EMSPs spend time outside of work – through video or phone call between January and June 2022. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed through data immersion and iterative organizing and reflecting until there were robust responses explanations of how EMSPs and their ROs view EMSPs’ work-related permeations while off the clock. I identified seven categories of permeations which I arranged along a continuum reflecting the proportion of work- and personal-related identity involved. The continuum ranged from triaging (evaluating people for presence and severity of medical or traumatic conditions) without intervening (with very little work-related identity enacted) to physically performing care (with very little personal identity enacted). Using Giddens’ (1979; 1984) structuration theory and its concept of spatiotemporal regions and Scott, Corman, and Cheney’s (1998) framework for organizational identification and its concept of identity regions, I explain how these work-related identities are constructed in both spatiotemporal and identity regions and how these regions are related. I explain how EMSPs can enact front (identification) or back (disidentification) region occupational or organizational identities as responses to their situated contexts. I also use an adaptation of Giddens’ (1979; 1984) levels of consciousness and rules and resources to depict how EMSPs appear to enact their work-related identities while they are off the clock, both consciously and unconsciously. My findings suggest that there are rewards and harms associated with these identity enactments and that EMSPs may attempt to erect and manage boundaries to manage conflict. Implications of work-related identity enactments in off-duty spatiotemporal regions include increasing stress and burnout on EMSPs, causing tension in interpersonal relationships, and impacting the EMS workforce. The findings of this study contribute to structurationally informed communication research on work-life interrelationships, communication research on HRO socialization, and EMSP stress and burnout literature. I also identify implications for practice for individuals, organizations, and the profession
Transcriptome-Wide Gene Expression Analysis of Skeletal Muscles of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Mouse Models and Patients
No full textDuchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive muscle degenerative disease that frequently proves fatal by age 30. It primarily affects adolescent males with symptoms appearing as early as age 6. Patients quickly lose their ability to walk due to muscle weakness and are confined to wheelchairs for the remainder of their lives. DMD is caused by a mutation in the dystrophin gene. Without dystrophin, mechanical stress, injury, or shock takes a drastic toll on muscle tissue and muscle stem cells, rendering them unable to regenerate or be repaired. This results in a rapid loss of muscular strength and muscle mass. DMD patients eventually become so weak that they lose the ability to breathe, and their hearts fail to contract properly which ultimately results in death. Mdx mus musculus, a mouse model organism used to study DMD is widely accepted as accurate and is used in many different scientific studies to examine various aspects of DMD affecting patients worldwide. The most commonly used Mdx model contains a missense mutation at exon 23. However, another model has been developed with a mutation at exon 51, notated by D51. Using muscle samples taken from the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle of both human DMD patients and both Mdx mus musculus models paired with healthy control samples from the respective organisms (homo sapiens and mus musculus), I compare trends in gene expression of human Duchenne patients with each of the Mdx models, as well as the Mdx models against each other through use of bulk RNA sequencing. To further my understanding of gene expression in the D51 Mdx model organism, I use single-cell RNA sequencing to analyze and examine the impact of the Duchenne genotype on different cell types. This will provide important insight related to DMD and the specific cell types that may be more impacted than others in Duchenne patients
Molecular Epidemiologic Studies of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
No full textBackground: Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disabling multisystem complex disorder with no known etiology or approved treatment. Our studies aimed to assess the link between ME/CFS and autoimmune disease (AID) and cancer, and to identify potential biomarkers and biological mechanisms to further explore pathophysiology of this diseases.
Methods: All analyses were done using data from a case-control study of ME/CFS conducted by Dr. Roxana Moslehi and her collaborators. In our first study we estimated the cumulative incidences of AID and cancer among first degree relatives of 60 cases and 61 controls and compared cumulative incidences using Fine‐Gray sub distribution hazard model.
In our second study we compared the levels of 48 serum cytokines between cases and controls using logistic regression and 4 different machine learning classifier algorithms to identify cytokines discriminating cases from controls.
In our third study we quantified gene expression from the raw RNA-Seq reads from Illumina sequencing of 60 ME/CFS cases and 60 matched controls using the protocol developed by Dr. Moslehi and one of her collaborators on this project. The gene expression profiles were compared using a generalized linear model fit with t-test to identify differentially expressed genes (DEG). Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed on DEG to explore pathways involved.
Results: The risk of any AID diagnosis among first degree relatives of cases was 3.52 time higher than the first-degree relatives of controls (p-value = 0.001) and it was 2.68 time higher after excluding ME/CFS from the definition of AIDs (p-value = 0.023). The cumulative incidence of any cancer among first degree relatives of cases and controls was not statistically different (p-value = 0.28). After limiting the age of follow up at 60 years, the risk of any cancer diagnosis among first degree relatives of cases was 2.24 time higher than the first-degree relatives of controls (p-value = 0.03). The cumulative incidence of blood cancer among first degree relatives of cases was 3% at the follow up to 60 years and it was statistically different (p-value=0.04).
For our study on comparison of cytokine expressions, in bivariate comparison, ME/CFS cases had significantly lower plasma levels of Fractalkine (p=0.04), IL-6 (p=0.05), MIP-1α (p=0.05) and the levels of IP-10, IL-12p40, and TNFα, were lower in cases but with borderline significance. In contrast, RANTES (CCL5), was increased in the ME/CFS case group as compared to controls (OR=1.76, p-value=0.08). The sum of the scaled variable importance scores (VIP) from 3 models found 5 cytokines IL-27 (VIP =7.07), IP-10 (VIP=6.97), IL-8 (3.87), IL-12p70 (VIP=1.48), and IL-6 (VIP=0.85) with high importance in all 3 models and RANTES (VIP=4.29), IL-12p40 (VIP=3.11), Fractalkine (VIP=2.85), MIP-1β (VIP=1.94), IL-1β (VIP=1.41), IFN-α2 (VIP=1.18), GROα (VIP=1.07), M-CSF (VIP=0.96), MIG/CXCL9 (VIP=0.90), and PDGF-AB/BB (VIP=0.85) in 2 of the models with a higher importance.
In comparing RNA-sequencing data initial analysis revealed very low number of differentially expressed genes (DEG), but after batch correction for gender and samples with higher per sequence GC content, we found 93 differentially expressed genes below the FDR of 0.2. 51 genes were upregulated and 42 were downregulated in ME/CFS cases compared to controls. The DEGs were involved in immune dysregulation, neuroinflammation and neurological dysfunction, and metabolic dysregulation. GSEA analysis revealed 23 canonical pathways with FDR below 0.10.
Conclusion: Our findings revealed higher cumulative incidence of AIDs among first degree relatives of cases and increased risk of AIDs among first degree relatives of ME/CFS cases suggesting a link between ME/CFS and AID. The cumulative incidence of early onset cancers including blood cancers were also higher among first degree relatives of cases and risk of early onset cancers were higher in first degree relatives of ME/CFS cases. Our second study revealed a set of potential biomarkers reflecting the complex interplay between immune dysregulation, chronic inflammation, and tissue remodeling that underlies many of the debilitating symptoms of ME/CFS. However, further validation from proteomics and high throughput RNA-sequencing studies is required to clarify their precise roles and how they might be targeted therapeutically in ME/CFS. Our RNA sequencing analysis provides clues into the DEGs, and biologic pathways involved in ME/CFS.
Finding potential biomarkers for ME/CFS has significant public health relevance as it can lead to early detection, in personalizing treatment approaches, better understanding of comorbidities, and thus dramatically reducing healthcare burden
Emergent Sites of Language Contact: Lexical Borrowing by Mexican Bilingual Speakers in Live-Streamed Tabletop Games
Full text linkThe field of contact linguistics has investigated numerous sites of contact between languages and the resulting phenomena (Poplack et al.; 1988, for example); however, there remain many contact sites that have yet to be analyzed. The present dissertation views the lexical evidence of language contact between English and Spanish via the medium of live-streamed tabletop role-playing games. These games, often lacking accessible translations in languages other than English, have become a popular pastime over the last decade, which has increased the amount of contact between the two languages. Dungeons and Dragons, a roleplaying game which typically deals with fantasy elements, contains many lexical items that are either particular to the genre, the game itself, or generally unfamiliar to a Spanish-speaking audience. These words often lack a Spanish translation and therefore require Spanish speakers to employ various strategies to adapt them to their language.
Using archived live streams of Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, played in Spanish by Mexican Twitch streamer Mario Ortegón and a rotating cast (Ortegón; n.d.), two corpora were created to measure sociolinguistic variation of contact phenomena usage and the impact of English Lexical Insertions concerning the efficiency hypothesis (Shin 2010). Analysis of the data reveals that the lexical adaptation strategies of speakers were highly variable, demonstrating individual variance and significant conditioning by extralinguistic factors such as Role, Game Knowledge, and Group. Concerning efficiency, the findings support the hypothesis that speakers will make use of English Lexical Insertions in situations where doing so represents greater lexical efficiency
Personalizing Heat Information for Adults over 65
Full text linkIn the lead-up to extreme heat events, federal agencies, such as the National Weather Service (NWS), issue products and messages that advise people as to expected impacts, duration, and protective actions of the hazard. Within social media graphics, words such as “elderly” are used but are not defined by age. This can complicate personalization of risk to a hazard, such as extreme heat. I conducted focus groups across the United States and found that the term elderly” was not understood among the general population. Additionally, I found that definitions of aging were tied to concepts such as mobility, resource access, and health. By not defining this term, people may be unable to personalize it effectively, which reduces the likelihood of action. By using more direct terms such as “Those over 65” or “ages 65+” instead of “elderly” communicators can better target their messages to more directly inform the at-risk population about the hazard. Furthermore, by using plain language, we can target our messages to segmented sections of the population. This could lead to a greater degree of personalization of extreme heat
Identifying the Impacts of Land Use/Land Cover Changes on Ecosystem Services from a Geospatial Perspective in Albany County
Full text linkEcosystem services encompass the broad array of direct and indirect advantages that people derive from nature and its ecosystems. Considering accelerating environmental change and degradation, recognizing the importance of these services is more crucial than ever, as they illustrate the many ways in which healthy ecosystems sustain human life. However, these services are diminishing at a rapid and unprecedented rate, raising global concern over both the transformations taking place and their root causes. Among the leading threats, land-use change stands out as a particularly significant one, influenced by a variety of driving factors. Albany County, New York, characterized by its mix of forested highlands and urban areas, offers a compelling setting for assessing essential ecosystem services. This study evaluated how three projected land-use scenarios for the county would affect three vital services: recreation, water quality, and net primary productivity (NPP). The findings of this study demonstrate the major impacts that land-use changes have on the availability of key ecosystem services in the region. Through scenario-based analysis of ecosystem functions, the research sheds light on both the risks and opportunities associated with future land-use paths
Contagions of Doubt: Denialism and the Spread of Medical Conspiracy Theories
Full text linkDenialism and conspiratorial thinking have long shaped public perceptions of science and medicine, but the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how rapidly these forces can evolve and spread in a digital age. This thesis examines the historical roots, psychological foundations, and modern amplification of medical conspiracy theories, with a particular focus on vaccine skepticism and COVID-19-related misinformation. As a literature review, it synthesizes existing interdisciplinary research from psychology, public health, and communication studies to explore how medical conspiracy beliefs emerge from complex interactions between cognitive biases, emotional needs, mistrust in institutions, and evolving media environments. The rise of social media, political polarization, and foreign disinformation campaigns further intensified the spread of conspiracy narratives during the COVID-19 pandemic, undermining public health efforts. In response, this thesis highlights emerging strategies such as prebunking, media literacy initiatives, and trust-building communication as critical tools for mitigating the influence of medical conspiracy theories. The findings underscore the necessity of a multifaceted approach that addresses both individual vulnerabilities and systemic drivers of misinformation, while also identifying key areas for future research to better prepare for upcoming public health challenges
Missing Piece of the Pie: Public Expenditure on Education in Colombia
Full text linkPublic expenditure on education in Colombia is a crucial driver of socioeconomic development, with government investments that are aimed at improving access, quality, and equity across all levels of education. This thesis examines how these funds are distributed by analyzing whether financial resources are concentrated in wealthier areas or equitably distributed between wealthier and less fortunate Colombian regions. Using a comparative qualitative analysis, this study examines the sources of educational funding, the decision-making processes behind allocation, and how schools make use of their resources. A particular focus is on why primary education receives a larger share of funding compared to secondary and higher education, as well as some broader implications of this distribution. Despite increased government spending, challenges such as regional disparities, inefficiencies in resources allocation, government structure issues and gaps in educational outcomes persist. Often rural and marginalized communities receive less resources which limits their access to quality education. Additionally, while national and private sector contributions aid in the financing of education, they also create complexities in how funds are distributed. By analyzing these trends, this research highlights an analysis of Colombia’s budget for public education, specific to inefficiencies and inequalities. The findings provide insight to the policy debate on how funding decisions shape education educational opportunities and outcomes as well as improving the effectiveness of resources distribution by ensuring that public investments in education are more fair, efficient and capable of addressing the diverse needs of Colombian habitants. Policy recommendations focus on improving financial allocation strategies to improve educational development that is both inclusive and sustainable. The implementation of targeted funding programs aimed at 2 decreasing the cost of higher education and, therefore, increasing access in less fortunate communities initiates a more comprehensive educational system by addressing previously mentioned issues
The First Amendment on Trial: Hate Speech, Free Speech and College Campuses
Full text linkThis thesis examines the tension between the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and the harmful impact of hate speech on college campuses. As incidents of targeted, discriminatory rhetoric rise in academic settings, the need to reevaluate what constitutes protected speech has become increasingly urgent. Through legal analysis, including case law such as Brandenburg v. Ohio and Schenck v. United States, this paper argues that the Supreme Court must distinguish between constitutionally protected speech and harmful hate speech. The thesis uses contemporary case studies from college campuses across the country. It includes firsthand accounts from the University at Albany to demonstrate how hate speech, particularly racially and religiously motivated rhetoric, has compromised students’ emotional, psychological, and physical safety. It critiques the inaction of the Supreme Court and compares American policy to Canada’s precedent in R. v. Keegstra, suggesting that legal definitions and limitations on hate speech are both necessary and possible. The paper concludes by calling for the Supreme Court to modernize its interpretation of the First Amendment to ensure that free speech no longer enables discrimination and harassment in academic spaces