Bioculture Journal
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A multi-state evaluation of health system opportunities and challenges facing community-wide mass drug administration for the elimination of parasitic worms in India
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2020An estimated 1.45 billion people are infected with Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH) globally, with a large proportion of the burden in India. At moderate to high infection intensity, STH is associated with a number of morbidities that disproportionately affect children, including, malnutrition, impaired cognitive development and anemia. The World Health Organization Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) guidelines recommends controlling STH-associated morbidity via mass drug administration (MDA) to treat school-aged children. Recent evidence suggests however, that it may be possible to interrupt STH transmission, therefore preventing infection, by expanding MDA to a community-wide program. Similar NTDs, such as Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) already operate on a community-wide scale. This research assesses government stakeholder readiness for transitioning from school-based to community-wide MDA for STH, as well as identifies strategic opportunities to leverage existing LF infrastructure. Findings from this study are intended to proactively support government decision making, prioritization, and program planning across heterogenous implementation contexts in India in order to speed the translation of research findings into practice
PIC Modeling of Coulomb Collisional Effects in a Wall-Bounded Plasma
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2020Collisions between particles in a hot plasma can be ignored in many high-temperature plasma simulations. However, at lower temperatures, collisional effects play a significant role in determining the plasma's overall behavior. While fluid modeling can accurately capture collisional effects (with some limitations), proper definition of boundary conditions for fluid modeling depend on accurate assumptions about the kinetic (real) behavior of plasma near material surfaces, where the plasma sheath dominates the plasma behavior. This thesis project is an attempt to develop a tool to elucidate sheath and presheath plasma behavior in the presence of strong collisional effects. Using the Particle In Cell (PIC) method, a Coulomb collisional model is implemented to study near-surface plasma behavior. The information gleaned from this project could provide important refinement of boundary conditions for fluid codes, and more generally, insights into kinetic behavior of the collisional plasma sheath
Do Pacific salmon hatchery programs work for their intended purpose?
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2020Pacific salmon hatchery programs are used as a tool to increase the abundance, productivity, or probability of persistence of populations. Today, they are used throughout the North Pacific Rim. On the west coast of the United States they are used to conserve endangered or threatened populations (designated under the Endangered Species Act), fulfill tribal treaty rights and other legal requirements, provide ecocultural value, and enhance recreational and commercial fishing opportunity. To understand the breadth of hatchery programs and consider the extent to which they function as intended, twenty-two individual hatchery programs were reviewed across Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Principal selection criteria was for available management plans (to determine program purpose and objectives) and a combination of monitoring reports and independent evaluations (to determine outcomes). The question guiding the review was, “Do hatchery programs work for their intended purpose?” Through the review of programs, seven program purposes emerged (captive breeding, reintroduction, restoration, mitigation, supplementation, fill underutilized habitat, and optimum production) and were grouped together by the language embedded in management plans. These purposes demonstrated the range of applications that hatchery programs intend to provide; to intervene in the abundance of a targeted population on a continuum from extinct to abundant. Objectives were categorized as biological, ecological, economic, and social. The relationship between purpose and objectives was clear; programs focused on conserving salmon populations emphasized biological and ecological objectives while programs focused on providing opportunity emphasized economic and social objectives. Outcomes were ranked as generally positive, generally negative, and mixed. Programs with management scale mismatches (e.g., federal oversight and tribal treaty rights) had generally negative outcomes, programs with adequate funding with capacity to adapt had generally positive outcomes, and programs that integrate policy reform (e.g., HSRG framework) had generally positive outcomes. Within the twenty-two programs reviewed, there is not a one-size-fits-all policy for hatchery programs; each works for its intended purpose when managers consider the social-ecological context of the program and design policy that is achievable to implement and adapt
Greedy algorithms for physics-informed sparse sensor selection
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2020In this era of big data, many systems of interest to researchers are too large to fully sample. Thus, significant downsampling is necessary, but determining the best locations for optimal full-state reconstructions is an NP-hard problem. Solving for the optimal sensor selections would require the researcher to test all combinations of placing sensors given possible locations, which is only feasible for very small systems. Instead, researchers have developed techniques to calculate near-optimal sensor placements, usually based on convex relaxations or greedy algorithms. This text focuses on a well-known greedy algorithm, the column-pivoted QR decomposition, which is performed on basis modes from a low-rank decomposition of the system, to pick out sensor locations that are approximately maximally informative and robust to noise. The column-pivoted QR decomposition is efficient and has proven optimality guarantees, but it does not account for several important practical considerations, including sensor cost, purpose, and type. In this work, we extend the QR decomposition to account for some of these real-world constraints. First, we modify the algorithm to account for a heterogeneous cost function on sensor location, selecting sensors that are approximately Pareto optimal in cost and reconstruction quality. Next, we demonstrate that the cost-constrained column-pivoted QR decomposition can be applied to modal bases beyond the most common basis of singular vectors. In this way, we can select sensors and actuators for control systems, account for a system's estimated equations of motion, and even select sensors without training data. Finally, we approach the problem of multi-fidelity sensor selection, that is, determining where and how many of each type of sensor to place, given a fixed budget and access to cheap, high-noise sensors and expensive, low-noise sensors. This problem is complex and has a very large parameter space, but we develop guidelines for asymptotic cases of sensor cost and noise level. The above methods are demonstrated on examples from physics, climate science, and facial recognition, showing that it is possible to improve sensor effectiveness and decrease cost by considering real-world practicalities
The Role of China’s State-owned Enterprises in Preserving Social Stability
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2020As recent debates on China’s re-emphasis on the state sector mainly focused on economic profitability, this paper examines how much the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) contribute to social stability. Using a province-level panel regression, I find that the increase of SOE share of local employment is associated with the increase of protests as well as labor disputes from 2001 to 2011. This study interprets these empirical findings as evidence that SOEs may not be so effective in addressing social unrest in general, but not necessarily deteriorating social stability
Structural and Thermal Patterning in 3D Bioprinted Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2020Technologies for orchestrating cell behavior in engineered tissues through environmental or genetic control systems have immense potential to enhance our understanding of multicellular physiology and generate artificial tissues for therapeutic translation. In this work, we present a pair of technological innovations for controlling tissue architecture and cellular gene expression in engineered tissues. First, we describe our stereolithographic approach (SLATE) for bioprinting hydrogel tissues containing multiscale, entangled vascular networks (Chapter 3). Next, we apply perfusive heating of vascular networks to generate thermal profiles within three-dimensional tissues that mediate a spatiotemporal gene expression response through heat shock activation (HEAT, Chapters 4 & 5). Using these technologies, we explore hepatic tissue engineering (Chapter 6), demonstrating both: survival and engraftment of multi-material bioprinted hepatic tissues in a mouse model of liver injury, and genetic perturbation towards metabolic zonation through exogenous heat regulation
Fundamental Studies on Model Catalyst Systems: Energetics of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Oxide Surfaces and Microkinetic Analysis Using Degree of Rate Control
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2020This dissertation includes the study of metal nanoparticles supported on oxide surfaces and the microkinetic analysis of complex reaction mechanisms using the degree of rate control (DRC). In Chapters 2-5, the energetics, structure and electron transfer of Ni nanoparticles supported on MgO(100) and CeO2-x(111) are studied using Single Crystal Adsorption Calorimetry (SCAC), He+ low-energy ion scattering (LEIS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and density functional theory (DFT). Both experiments and DFT calculation shows that the extent of reduction and the presence of step edge sites on CeO2-x(111) can strongly affect its interaction with the supported Ni nanoparticles. At 300 K, Ni atoms nucleate preferentially on the step edges of CeO2-x(111), and the initial heat of adsorption is higher than that measured at 100 K where Ni atoms nucleate mainly on terraces. The initial heat of adsorption of Ni on CeO1.8(111) is lower than that on CeO1.95(111), no matter for step edges or terraces. It suggests the bonding between the Ni atoms and the lattice O dominates the interaction between Ni and CeO2-x(111). Upon adsorption, Ni can transfer electrons to stoichiometric ceria and form Ni cations at low coverages. DFT shows that adsorbed Ni monomers are in a +2 oxidation state on CeO2(111). As the Ni coverage and particle size increases, both XPS and DFT shows the charge transfer per Ni atom sharply decreases. The perturbation of the ceria support to the electronic property of Ni is crucial to understanding the nature of the active sites on the surface of Ni/CeO2 catalysts. On MgO(100), Ni has different growth modes at 300 and 100 K. At 300 K, Ni grows 3D nanoparticles. The Ni atoms form a metastable phase when the nanoparticles are smaller than 2.5 nm in diameter. At 100 K, the Ni atoms form single adatoms and then 2D islands with a thickness of 0.17 nm at low coverage. The 2D islands cover the entire surface rapidly before thickening. The initial heat of adsorption measured at 100 K is 148 kJ/mol, which corresponds to the binding energy of a single Ni atom on MgO(100). The XPS Ni 2p3/2 peak binding energy for 0.21 ML Ni on MgO(100) at 100 K is 2.2 eV higher than that for bulk Ni(solid), suggesting charge transfer from Ni to MgO(100) and formation of Ni2+ at very low coverage. The heat of adsorption and growth morphology of Ni on MgO(100) and CeO1.95(111) are then used to calculate the adhesion energy of Ni to MgO(100) and CeO1.95(111). Due to Ni’s high oxophilicity, the adhesion energy of Ni to MgO(100) and CeO1.95(111) is higher than any other metal that has been measured previously. The reported adhesion energy of Ni fits well in the trend, which states that the adhesion energy increases linearly from metal to metal with increasing heat of formation of the most stable oxide of the metal. In Chapters 6-8, the DRC analysis is applied to understand the kinetics of simple model reactions and real reaction mechanisms. In Chapter 6, we show the DRC for any catalyst-bound intermediate is proportional to its fractional population of catalyst sites, where the proportional constant is given as the DRC-weighted average of the site requirements for all the elementary steps. This relation offers opportunities to measure DRC experimentally since the fractional population of catalyst-bound intermediates can be measured. In Chapter 7, the DRC analysis is used for the interpretation of the kinetic isotope effect (KIE). The DRC analysis shows that the KIE of a multistep reaction results from the energy change of kinetically-relevant species upon isotope substitution. Considering the rate-determining step only is not enough to obtain a full understanding of KIE, and it can lead to conceptual mistakes. In Chapter 8, a general expression for the apparent activation energy is given via DRC. It shows that the apparent activation energy equals a weighted average of the standard-state enthalpies of all species in the reaction mechanism, each weighted by its DRC. This equation provides deep insights into the connection between the reaction energy diagram and the apparent activation energy
A higher plasma to red cell ratio is associated with lower 24-hour mortality in injured children receiving massive transfusion
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2020Background: Higher fresh frozen plasma (FFP) and platelet to packed red blood cell (PRBC) ratios are associated with decreased mortality in injured adults. We sought to determine if higher FFP:PRBC and platelet:PRBC ratios are associated with lower 24-hour mortality in bleeding pediatric trauma patients. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study using the Pediatric Trauma Quality Improvement Program Database from 2014 to 2016. Injured children (≤14 years) who received massive transfusion (≥40 mL/kg total blood products in 24 hours) were included. Multivariable Poisson regression was used to determine the association between ratios of FFP:PRBC and platelet:PRBC and 24-hour mortality. Results: Of 123,836 patients, 590 underwent massive transfusion, of which 583 met inclusion criteria. Of included patients, 60% were male and the median age was 5 (IQR 2 to 10) years. Cohort 24-hour mortality was 19.7% (95% CI: 16.6 to 23.2%). The high (≥1:1) and medium (≥1:2 and <1:1) FFP:PRBC ratio groups had a lower risk of death at 24 hours (high: aRR 0.49, 95% CI: 0.27 to 0.87; medium: aRR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.39 to 0.92) compared to the low ratio group (<1:2). There was no association between platelet:PRBC ratio and mortality (aRR: 0.94, 95% CI 0.51 to 1.71). Conclusions: Severely injured children with hemorrhage likely benefit from higher FFP:PRBC ratios. While this study is the largest study evaluating blood product ratios in pediatric trauma patients, larger prospective studies are necessary to further evaluate the optimum blood product ratios to minimize mortality in this population
Employment Quality, Health, and Health Inequities in the Modern U.S. Economy
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2020Social, economic, political, and technological trends over the past several decades have caused a number of adaptive changes in the labor market, including the fundamental transformation of the nature and organization of employment. One of the most notable changes is the decline in the number of jobs resembling the Standard Employment Relationship (SER; i.e., permanent, full-time, regularly-scheduled work, with secure wages and benefits). Compared to the last several generations, workers today are more likely to experience non-permanent contractual arrangements; volatile and asocial work schedules; stagnant wages and decreased access to fringe benefits; less opportunity to develop skills; and generally more imbalanced employer-worker power dynamics, including the lack of collective bargaining or other involvement in workplace decision-making. These changes are thought to have far-reaching consequences for the labor market experiences of millions of Americans, and are likely to disproportionately impact marginalized working populations. However, these employment trends have not been adequately examined from a public health perspective. This dissertation aims to improve our understanding of the linkages between employment, health, and health inequities, with a specific focus on advancing both theory and methods needed to approach this topic from occupational health and social epidemiologic perspectives. First, we develop a novel conceptual model that attempts to embed the work-health relationship within a broader social context. We argue that researchers should direct more attention to the many ways in which work influences health beyond the physical and psychosocial hazards that are typically emphasized—including the quality of the employment relationship, how work structures non-work life (e.g., determining one’s non-work-life schedule), and the contribution of work to one’s overall status within a society. We then detail specific mechanisms by which workers may be differentially exposed to, or be differentially impacted by, adverse work characteristics. Next we conduct a series of three empirical studies to advance the multidimensional construct of employment quality, which accounts for both the contractual and relational aspects of employment that effect health independently of physical and psychosocial environments. First, we used data from the U.S. General Social Survey and a latent class analysis approach to identify eight distinct forms of employment in the U.S. Consistent with theory and prior research, one EQ type resembled the historical conception of the SER, while other EQ types were characterized by various configurations of beneficial and unfavorable employment conditions. We also found that EQ is unequally distributed across sociodemographic groups and throughout the labor market. In the second study, we found that EQ was associated with three measures of health, including self-reported health (SRH), frequent mental health (FMD), and occupational injury. We also found support for three hypothesized mechanisms linking EQ to health, including material deprivation (e.g., inadequate income), employment-related stressors (e.g., job insecurity), and occupational risk factors (e.g., physical exposures). These mediators may represent potential avenues for interventions to improve workers’ health. In the third study, we found evidence that the unequal distribution of EQ across women and men played a significant role in observed gender inequities in SRH and FMD. In particular, our results suggest that if women had the same EQ as men, they would report significantly better health. While employment conditions have received less attention compared to other aspects of socioeconomic position, such as education and income, EQ is identified as a potentially important mechanism contributing to social gradients in population health
Women's Impact on Cooking Culture during the Great Depression: Limited to Being a Homemaker, Unlimited in Their Authority on Nutrition in Their Communities
No full textBachelor of Arts (BA)This paper examines American cooking culture of the Great Depression, as the impact it had on everyday people's diet was much greater than one may initially think. By analyzing interviews, photographs, and newspaper advertisements, and conducting archival research, I illuminate the public history of the Great Depression's impact on diet and the roles women played during it. The existing scholarship on the Great Depression typically focuses on the relief efforts made to help people affected by this economic downturn, but this paper will focus more specifically on the cooking culture that involved women during this desperate time. Harsh conditions experienced during World War I, societal expectations of domestic roles, and technological advancements shaped the cooking culture to not only focus on the cost effectiveness of foods, but also the interconnected community and foodways surrounding women. The conditions that limited food availability, the spread of information, preparation of food, and variety of meals all show how the cooking culture was involved with far more than just saving money during hard economic times. The significance of my research on women's impact in authoritative roles as homemakers and home economists is that we see how the Great Depression acted as a catalyst to nutrition consciousness in the United States, causing people to consider more carefully what nutrients they received, and if what they ate was sufficient for survival