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Effect on Home Prices from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
No full textM.P.P.The Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID) provides a popular tax expenditure for millions of US homeowners. However, a recent change in the law altered who can take the deduction and how much they receive. This thesis investigates the impact of this change on the US housing market, specifically US home prices. It explores the causal impact of this change on home prices for US homeowners from the years 2015-2019. Previous research has investigated the MID’s impact on home prices and other related housing market outcomes. However, this literature has not investigated the impact of the MID on the US housing market from this new law. I employ a regression discontinuity design on homes within 100,000 or $50,000 of the cap. This paper also shows that the loss in home value is not uniform; rather, it demonstrates racial differentials between Whites and Non-Whites. This result adds to the large literature which highlights the MID’s policy shortcomings and the need for its reform
Evaluating Usability of a Home Health Tablet Device Among Adult Palliative Care Patients
No full textD.N.P.The Covid-19 pandemic hastened the shift towards home-based health management. Although studies have indicated that remote monitoring, digital applications, and telehealth can positively impact quality of life, enhance chronic disease management, and decrease hospital visits, few focus on the experience of palliative care patients with such technologies. Palliative care patients and their informal caregivers face challenges when managing care at home. Augmenting traditional in-office care with virtual technology-supported care in the home can reduce burden for patients and caregivers, while increasing access to resources. The objective of this study was to elicit patient, and/or informal caregiver, perception of usability of a tablet device to facilitate palliative care at home, with the ultimate goal of identifying ways to improve tablet usability. Thispilot study included 22 participants; 10 (45%) palliative care patients; 12 (55%) informal caregivers. All patients were provided tablet devices for home health management, symptom monitoring, and telehealth appointments by the palliative care practice.
Participating caregivers utilized these tablets either with, or on behalf of the patient. Participants were interviewed by phone. Interviews included one question regarding access to a personal computer, as well as the Pew Digital Savviness (PDS) Classifier and the System Usability Scale (SUS) survey questions. A usability score was computed for each participant. Within-group and between-group analyses were conducted using independent samples t-tests. Seventy percent of patients and 75 percent of caregivers had SUS scores above 68, indicating above average usability ratings. There was no statistically
significant difference in scores among participant subgroups. A positive perception of usability was identified among both patients and caregivers. This suggests that tablets can facilitate access to palliative care services virtually, decreasing burden on patients and caregivers. Further qualitative and observation studies are recommended to obtain valuable insights on the barriers and facilitators to successful use of tablets. This pilot study serves as a foundation for research in the area of tablet usability to improve access to care for clinically vulnerable populations and their caregivers. These findings support the next phase of a larger study to delineate specific tablet functionality adaptations and increase utilization
THE ATLANTIC HURRICANE DISASTER RELIEF ON THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH RESPONSE FOR FLORIDA'S INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS (IAFF) MEMBERS
No full textThe state of Florida's fire service is affected by natural disasters, significant incidents, and hazardous conditions that threaten disaster behavioral health of its members when Atlantic hurricanes hit. Hazardous conditions are threats of significance such as hurricanes, storm surges, wildfires, tornados, flash flooding, and mass casualty incidents. When these hazards occur, assistance from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Go Team’s plan for the response, recovery and preparedness can lower the risk to their member's behavior health, physical health, as well as their spiritual wellbeing with developing a collaboration policy. A behavioral health response collaboration policy is the best way to extinguish negative impacts to these emergency disasters.
This research discusses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and hazards of the IAFF Go team's peer support response. Would a policy impact Atlantic hurricane response from Florida Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative Team, State of Florida Fire Marshal’s office, and the state of Florida's IAFF union firefighters peer support post disaster from Atlantic hurricanes? This is a qualitative study with an ethnographic methodology within observance of participants for the IAFF peer support teams. This research also collects data from interviews, and virtual meetings with IAFF officials in charge of past hurricane responses, Florida Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative, as well as the State Fire Marshal’s office.
Results recommend Florida non-profit organizations, and the Florida State Fire Marshal’s office build a policy with structure for the broadband of IAFF members who are at risk and need the peer support teams who respond to these disasters while reducing the risk
Interpreting structural plasticity in the intact hemisphere after perinatal stroke
No full textDepartment of Neurolog
Effect of Party Control on Average Tenure of Statewide Elected Officials
No full textM.P.P.This thesis examined the relationship between political polarization and average tenure. The
focus of the research is to determine if officeholders in states that are one party in nature serve
more than their counterparts in competitive states, or more than 8 years. This is examined by
cataloging every officeholder in every statewide office in every state elected since 1990. The
officeholder is subject to various statistics, such as the degree of control their party had over the
legislature during their tenure, results in their state from the presidential election, whether they're
subject to term limits, and so on. The results found that many officeholders in one party states
not subject to term limits on average serve more than 8 years. By contrast, many officeholders in
one-party states subject to term limits served less than 6 years, which was in line with many
competitive states subject to the same limits. The finding is that while term limits do not
fundamentally change the political environment they are introduced to, they do succeed in
making operatives within that environment more responsive to the voters. This is accomplished
by preventing opportunistic politicians from holding on to an office through the incumbent effect
and forcing them to either retire or reenter serious political competition. The overall policy
recommendation is that term limits seem to be a useful tool in any state to increase the
responsiveness of public officials and avoid personalistic political power
Centering Communities in the Energy Transition: The Effect of Community Engagement on the Success of New Renewable Energy Infrastructure Projects
No full textM.P.P.The climate crisis necessitates the rapid buildout of renewable energy infrastructure projects, like wind and solar. However, renewable energy projects often face opposition across the country from communities. This thesis seeks to understand why renewable energy projects succeed, fail, or stall. This thesis explores how community engagement—or the lack thereof—drives the ultimate outcome of renewable energy projects. Our results indicate that early and robust community engagement positively impacts project outcomes, highlighting the importance of such engagement to build out renewables equitably at pace and scale. Project developers, governments, and renewable energy proponents should work to incorporate and center such community engagement on all renewable energy projects, not only because our early evidence shows that such processes and provisions can help build support for projects and aid in their ultimate success, but also to advance principles of a just renewable energy transition. Future work is needed to understand the full effect of community consultation processes and community and labor benefits on renewable energy project outcomes
Drug Repositioning: A Case for Riluzole Use in ER+ Breast Cancer
No full textPh.D.This thesis delves into the issue of drug resistance in cancer and proposes drug repurposing as a potential solution. The paper starts with a literature review on cancer and drug resistance, highlighting the complexity of cancer and the need for innovative strategies. The mechanisms behind drug resistance, such as changes in growth signaling and drug targets, are examined to gain deeper insights into cancer therapy. The paper explores various solutions, including novel synthetic derivatives, combination therapies, nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems, and drug repositioning. The second chapter focuses on Riluzole, originally used to treat ALS, as a potential therapeutic agent for ER+ Breast Cancer. The research demonstrates Riluzole's antitumor activity, arresting cell cycle and inhibiting pro-survival signaling molecules. Combination studies with endocrine therapies, Fulvestrant and Tamoxifen, reveal additive effects, indicating potential for treating ER+ breast cancer. Further validation of Riluzole's efficacy is shown in vivo through experiments using patient-derived models, although optimization of drug combinations is highlighted.
The closing chapter highlights ongoing work to unravel Riluzole's mechanism of action in ER+ breast cancer cell models. Preliminary results identify cell cycle regulation, DNA replication, and ferroptosis as recurrent cellular processes Riluzole affects. While this work provides valuable insights, it acknowledges the need for further research to optimize therapeutic interventions against evolving drug resistance challenges. In summary, this thesis contributes to the understanding of drug resistance mechanisms, explores unconventional therapeutic avenues, and lays the groundwork for future investigations into the potential of Riluzole in ER+ breast cancer treatment
Impact of the Number of Providers on Total Knee Arthroplasty Price and Frequency in the Medicare Population
No full textM.P.P.Patients rely on their physicians to know best. A patient can’t reasonably be expected to diagnose their own condition, beyond the most common and basic of ailments, and their ability to self-treat is appropriately far more limited still. While physicians do swear an oath to “do no harm” we also place a more ambiguous burden on them in the US healthcare system to “do what’s best”. This thesis investigates the relationship between the billing and treatment patterns of the providers performing the knee replacement or total knee arthroplasty procedures and the number of orthopedic surgeons in their area using Medicare claims data and data collected by the Agency for Healthcare Quality Research on Social Determinants of Health. This thesis finds that providers in areas with higher number of surgeons perform more TKAs and charge a higher amount than their peers working in areas with lower number of providers
An Exploration of Correlated Quantum Materials In and Out of Equilibrium
No full textPh.D.Correlated materials are those in which the simplest description of a solid, thatof a sea of free electrons, unencumbered by each other, their nuclei, fear of god,
or anything at all, fails. To properly describe the behavior of these materials one
must consider some type of interaction- between the electrons themselves, between
electron and nuclei, between electrons in different orbitals, or some other interaction.
These complex materials display interesting properties, like checkerboard or striped
charge and spin orderings, magnetic phases, and superconductivity. I seek to account
for features of these materials in extreme situations by using simple models which
include an electron-electron interaction, an electron-lattice interaction or both. In
this report I present results from studies of the Falicov-Kimball Model, the nonequilibrium Holstein-Hubbard model, the generalized Hatsuagi-Kohmoto model and
the static Holstein plus core-hole model. I begin with the necessary background to
contextualize these results, and conclude with some comments on the implications of
this work and possible future directions worth consideration
Climate Policy: An Analysis of Available Technology to Measure Emissions in Real-Time
No full textM.P.P.Accurate emissions measurements are essential to goals focused on reversing the effects of climate change. Calculations are commonly used to estimate the number of greenhouse gasses emitted, which can be highly flawed because estimations via calculations involve a certain amount of bias and uncertainty. Nonetheless, many countries are beginning to create emissions inventories. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which the U.S. uses for its own emissions inventory, requires large emitters (that emit more than 25,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year) to report their greenhouse gas emissions. The emissions can be calculated or measured directly via continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS). This analysis found that using CEMS is associated with an increase in emissions reported, which means that the alternative method (estimation via calculation) results in underreporting emissions. Underreporting emissions can affect the creation and implementation of policies that reduce emissions