Bioculture Journal
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The Association between Access to Water and Sugary-Sweetened Beverage Consumption in 37 Schools in King County
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2013Background: Water is the ideal source of hydration with several health benefits. Water can be substituted for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) to decrease energy intake and other negative health consequences of SSBs. Increasing access to water is considered a successful strategy to decrease SSB consumption, but there has been little research to show the association. The purpose of this study is to explore access to water, SSB consumption and the relationships between them. Methods: This cross-sectional study, combined data from an inventory of water and SSB access in 37 low-income secondary schools with data from the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey 2010, to examine the associations between school beverage environments and youth SSB consumption. Descriptive analyses were used to characterize access to SSBs using the number of slots of SSB in vending machines and other sources per 1000 students and access to water using the number of functional water stations per 1000 students. The quality of each water station was also used in the analysis by assigning each station a score of zero to four, based on the number of positive attributes of each station (water temperature less than 15 C°, odor-free, well-maintained, fast flowing water). Simple linear regression and multiple linear regression models were used to examine the associations between access to water, quality of water stations and SSB consumption. Regression models also examined the influence of socioeconomic status, using the percent of students eligible for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (% FRPL), on these relationships. Results: * Access to high quality water stations was limited. The average quality scores for water stations in twenty-nine schools were less than two, and eight other schools' scores were between 2 and 2.6. * High schools had higher access to SSBs compared to middle schools. Eleven out of 20 middle schools had zero access to SSBs, while this was only the case for one high school. * Access to water was negatively associated with SSB consumption during the past day in high schools (p<0.05), but not in middle schools. * The %FRPL at the school and access to water were negatively related in high schools (P<0.05) but not middle schools. Also, % FRPL at the school and SSB consumption during the past day were positively related both in middle and high schools (p<0.05, p<0.01). * Adjusting the association between water access and SSB consumption for % FRPL, made the result no longer significant. Conclusions: There is a need to improve access to water in schools. There is also a need to improve the quality of the water stations. Low access to water combined with high access to SSBs could contribute to a student choosing SSBs as a source of hydration, especially in low-income high schools. Improving water access can be aligned with other approaches to decrease SSB consumption. However, the reasons for SSB consumption and inadequate water intake are poorly understood, and more research is needed
Designing for Gender Equality in the Developing Context: Developing a Gender-Integrated Design Process to Support Designers' Seeing, Process, and Space Making
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2013Focusing on gender equality and women's empowerment has been established as a keystone strategy for addressing all major international development goals. While designers (architects, landscape architects, planners, engineers) are frequently called to serve in the developing world, they are rarely equipped to see and understand the unique challenges created by gender inequality. Without these tools, design interventions may not address these concerns; have the potential to further reinforce existing obstacles, discrimination, or influences of the built environment; and reduce the effectiveness of planned interventions. With this thesis, I examine five fields of expertise to¬ inform a Gender-Integrated Design Process. These fields range from well-established academic frameworks to areas that have been less explored in traditional design practice: the field of Women in Development/Gender and Development; gender, space, and status literature; ergonomics; proxemics; and participatory design. All research reveals that no design is gender neutral and a gender neutral lens perpetuates women's inequality. To inform and reflect upon the research, I examine six precedents spanning four continents. Through this inquiry, I identify ways to discern, value, and integrate gender into all aspects of the design process, from initial engagement to post-occupancy evaluation. The result of this work is a proposed nine-step Gender-Integrated Design Process to support designers' ¬¬seeing, process, and space making. No design is gender neutral and a gender neutral lens perpetuates women's inequality
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Training Nurses for Task-shifting in Angola
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2013Introduction: The Angolan Ministry of Health is scaling-up HIV treatment and authorized training nurses to expand their role in delivery of care and treatment to HIV patients through task-shifting. A training program was implemented in one province from May to September of 2012, which included didactic training, rotations and mentoring sessions at the work sites of nurse participants. The cost-effectiveness of the program was estimated. Methods:This analysis adopted a societal perspective to calculate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Costing data were collected from I-TECH's accounting records and estimated from information provided by local government and program participants. Effectiveness was measured through changes in knowledge and clinical competency of nurse participants. A random effects model was used to estimate the relationship between change in knowledge and the number of clinical mentoring sessions. Results: The total cost of the program was US 184,543 were financial and US 278 and US 12,343 per nurse to increase an average participant's knowledge scores to 100% and US 7,574 to US$ 3,214 per nurse if the program is replicated by Ministry of Health in Angola. Conclusion: Despite the significant costs associated with training nurses for task-shifting of HIV care and treatment in Angola, a successful training strategy can generate improvements over time, by achieving productive efficiency of health workforce
Antibody Microarray Interrogation of Tissue and Plasma for the Improved Early Detection of Pancreas Cancer
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2013Pancreas cancer, most frequently pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA), is the tenth most common cancer but is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, with a fiveyear survival rate of just 6%. This is due to its asymptomatic nature and resistance to current treatment regimens. The majority of patients present with unresectable disease upon diagnosis of PDA, and, even with chemotherapy, have a median survival of only 6-11.1 months. Those who are diagnosed with resectable disease and undergo surgery, the only current potential curative option, have improved five-year survival rates but will also still eventually succumb to recurrent metastatic disease. Thus, efforts are being directed towards both developing better early detection strategies and improving treatments of advanced disease. The focus of this doctoral dissertation was to find biomarkers, or measurable biological characteristics, that can be used for early detection of pancreas cancer. I utilized our laboratory's experience in the design and fabrication of antibody microarrays to create a pancreas cancer-specific platform consisting of >4000 unique features to identify protein biomarkers. We have also used a variation on our platform to identify and preliminarily validate markers in pre-diagnostic triple negative breast cancer plasma samples. In efforts to find proteins that could serve as true early detection biomarker of PDA, I took a dual approach, interrogating the primary tumor tissue and plasma proteome of a highly faithful mouse model of pancreas cancer as well as mining human plasma samples collected from a cohort of women before they were diagnosed with and eventually succumbed from PDA. Using this approach, I identified and validated a panel of 7 tissue markers in the mouse model, which were also able to distinguish early stages of pancreas cancer from chronic pancreatitis. This included STK4, a novel biomarker of PDA that is up regulated at preinvasive disease stages and that I show is also up regulated in human PDA. Furthermore, the dynamic expression pattern of STK4 at early disease stages suggests it may functionally contribute to pancreas cancer progression. Plasma biomarkers discovered in the mouse model were cross-referenced with biomarkers identified in pre-diagnostic human plasma samples to further validate and better define their utility as markers for human PDA. These parallel array experiments yielded a panel of 3 proteins, ERBB2, TNC and ESR1, all of which have been previously identified as markers of PDA in samples collected at diagnosis, and that thus warrant further validation in patients at high risk of developing pancreas cancer. Collectively, these antibody microarray experiments identified promising plasma and tissue markers that call for further follow up as potential diagnostics and could help us gain insight into the molecular processes underlying disease progression
La Dolce Vita, the Italian Case Study: Linking Culture, Policy and 'Active Aging'
No full textBachelor of science in nursing (BSN)By 2025, the global demographic trend reveals a chalice-like structure, indicating an aging population. Active Aging (AA) policies are sustained on social capital or networking wherein people are successful, positive, and experiencing a high quality of life in their aging years. The major backbones supporting activity in the elderly must be reinforced by the culture of that society, the policies and the political support which is witnessed in societies with a large aging population, such as Italy. Adopting culturally inappropriate policies contrary to social norms create social dilemmas, thereby policies are rejected and no change occurs. Objective: To present the coalition of policy and culture as corroborated in this Italian case study with the intention of examining the ramifications for policy implementation in the United States. Methodology: Participatory observation in UW Italian Nursing Study Abroad, interviews with local people, and literature review of socio-anthropological analysis of the Italian culture and its policies on aging. Limitation: The critical Italian literature research accessed is limited to English resources only, as most research articles are published in Italian language. Conclusion: Adopting culturally appropriate policies make those policies more effective and long-lasting. At the core of effective implementation of AA is the need for a broad social support from the younger generation. The elderly who were not physically active in their 30s, nor whose activity was not made easier by environmental age-friendly structures, cannot expect to have a 360-degree change. Habits are developed through time. The AA policies do not concern just the elderly - these concern our future
alexander_svoboda_1897_Notes_20130126_doc
No full textOn the 15th of April, 1897, a 19 year-old European resident of Baghdad, named Alexander Richard Svoboda, set out on a long journey to Europe by caravan, boat and train. From a large and influential family of merchants, artists, and explorers settled in Ottoman Iraq since the end of the 18th century, Alexander traveled in the company of his parents and a departing British diplomat accompanied by his retinue. They followed a circuitous route through the Middle East to Cairo and thence to Europe on a three and a half month journey which Alexander described day-by-day in a journal written in the Iraqi Arabic of his time.Alexander Svoboda travel journal- notes on the text by chapter.Newbook Digital Text
Vasa Creek Channel Conditions and Slope Stability, Bellevue, Washington
No full textThe focus of this report is is the channel conditions at Vasa Creek, Bellevue, Washington, with regard to kokanee habitat and slope stability. This required a geomorphic and geologic assessment of the stream and riparian corridor along Vasa Creek.
I focused my efforts in a 720m study-reach just south of I-90 in which City of Bellevue had no information. My assessment is divided into 3 categories: channel morphology, geology, and landslide hazards. I described the channel morphology by determining the gradient of the channel, longitudinal and cross-channel geometries, grain size distribution, embeddedness observations, type of channel reaches present, and the locations of significant in-channel woody-debris, landslides, scarps, landslide debris, and erosional features. This was done by conducting a longitudinal survey, 7 cross-channel surveys, pebble counts, and visual observations with the aid of a GPS device for mapping.
I completed my geological assessment using both field observations and borehole data provided by GeoMapNW. Borehole data provided logs of the subsurface material at specific locations. In the field, I interpreted local geology using material in the channel as well as exposures in the adjacent slope.
I completed the landslide hazard assessment using GIS methods supplemented by field observations. GIS methods included the use of aerial LiDAR to discern slope values and locations of features. Features of interest include the locations of scarps, landslides, landslide debris, and erosional features which were observed in the field. I classified 4 slope classes using ArcMap10 along with the locations of previously mapped landslides, scarps, and landslide debris. I describe the risk of slope failure according to the Washington Administration Code definition of critical areas (WAC 365-190-120 6a-i).
My results are presented in the form of a map suite containing a channel morphology map, geology map, and landslide hazard map. The channel is a free-formed alluvial plane-bed reach with infrequent step-pools with riffles associated with landslide debris that chokes the channel. Overall I found that there is not the potential for kokanee habitat due flashy behavior (sudden high flow events), landslide inundation, and a lack of favorable conditions within the channel. The updated geologic map displays advance outwash deposits and alluvium present within the study-reach, as opposed to exposures of the Blakeley Formation along with other corrections from borehole data interpretations. The landslide hazard map shows that there are areas at high risk for slope failure along the channel that should be looked into further
A Kaleidoscope Perspective: Change in the Semantics and Structure of Facets and Isolates in Analytico-Synthetic Classification
No full textExamines the limitations of the dynamic theory of classification in accommodating the changes and rapid growth of new topics in the universe of knowledge. Change in an analytico-synthetic scheme for classification is much more a web of connections and mapping these changes is a complex process. Suggests that there is need for exploration of this complexity for both improving systems, and revisiting our theory
Signals Controlling Peripheral B Cell Development, Selection, and Activation
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2013Control of B cell development through transitional stages in the periphery is critical for the proper maintenance and selection of mature, functional B cell subsets capable of mediating humoral immunity. We have established an important role for T cells and CD40 in supporting development and selection of transitional B cells. T cells and CD40 are required for optimal B cell homeostatic proliferation in response to lymphopenia, and expression of CD40 provides a competitive advantage to B cells developing in a mixed BM chimera environment. Further, transgenic BCR models demonstrate altered BCR-specificity based selection in the absence of CD40. The combination of single-cell BCR cloning and high throughput BCR sequencing was used to determine the role of CD40 on B cell selection in a non-transgenic setting with unrestricted clonal diversity. We found altered specificity profiles of cloned BCRs and reduced BCR diversity in high throughput sequence data sets from CD40-deficient mice. In addition, a critical, B cell-intrinsic role was demonstrated for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp). In the setting of B cell-specific deficiency of WASp, mice develop spontaneous autoimmune disease dependent on B cell expression of the Toll-like receptor signaling adapter MyD88. Collectively, the data presented here expand our understanding of the control of B cell development, selection, and activation in peripheral lymphoid compartments, and suggest novel methods for modulating B cell subsets in the settings of immunodeficiency and autoimmunity
"Claude Debussy: Reflections in the Water", Faculty Recital, April 16, 2013
No full textConcert program for "Claude Debussy: Reflections in the Water",
Faculty Recital, April 16, 201