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A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX REACTION TIME ON A STROOP TASK ACROSS ATHLETES AND NON-ATHLETES
Get PDFThere is limited research comparing reaction time (RT) differences between college-aged athletes and non-athletes, particularly regarding the role of sport type. Objective: To examine potential differences in complex RT on a Stroop task between athletes and non-athletes, and between dynamic and non-dynamic sport participants, with attention to implications for individualized post-concussion assessment. Participants: 75 college-aged individuals (n=35 athletes, n=40 non-athletes), with athletes further divided into dynamic (n=24) and non-dynamic (n=11) groups. Methods: This cross-sectional, repeated-measures study used the CNS Vital Signs Stroop Test to assess complex and executive RT at two time points. Group, time, and interaction effects were analyzed, with additional comparisons by sex. Results: None of the comparisons were statistically significant, but some effect sizes (Partial η² ≥ 0.06) suggest a potential relationship between sport participation and RT that warrants further investigation. Conclusion: Findings provide exploratory evidence that with a larger sample size, athletic participation—particularly in dynamic sports—may be associated with more efficient RT. These differences highlight the potential value of considering sport background when interpreting RT-based post-concussion assessments, though causality remains unclear and further research is needed.Bachelor of Art
The Day After: Primary Care in a Post-Election Landscape
Get PDFThis narrative essay explores the intersection of health care, politics, and identity from my perspective as a family physician on the day following the consequential and polarizing 2024 US presidential election. I recall and grapple with the profound grief, anxiety, and uncertainty expressed by my patients, particularly those from marginalized communities, as they face threats to their health care and very identities. These experiences highlight the tension between professional neutrality and our moral imperative to advocate for vulnerable populations
Chemotherapy safe handling practices in Ethiopia: A comprehensive multi-center evaluation
Get PDFIntroduction The increasing incidence of cancer and capacity for cancer care in Ethiopia has led to an upsurge in chemotherapy use in the country; however, studies indicate that there is a gap in the safe handling of chemotherapy by healthcare workers. There exists a need to understand if such unsafe practices occur in Ethiopia and, if so, which areas along the chemotherapy life cycle need the most improvement. Methods This study utilized a multi-method design through an online survey administered to health care professionals and evaluative site visits of eight cancer units in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to understand the current conditions of chemotherapy handling. In addition, a survey was conducted among Ethiopian health care professionals from across the country. Results Fifty-five percent of survey participants disagreed or strongly disagreed that there are systems in place to identify, prevent, and address chemotherapy hazards in their workplace, and 71% of respondents denied having an active and effective health and safety committee and/or worker health and safety representative where they work. At evaluative site visits, only 30% of health care workers met the minimum guidelines for proper hand hygiene, and 20% of health care workers used adequate Personal Protective Equipment according to guidelines across the chemotherapy lifecycle. Conclusions Results of this study indicate an urgent need for implementation of evidence-based interventions to improve chemotherapy handling in Ethiopia so that all patients and health care workers are protected from the hazardous toxicities of these drugs
Basal Ganglia Tissue Iron Development and Associations with Depressive Symptoms Across Adolescence
No full textAdolescence is a critical developmental period marked by the maturation of brain regions, including the basal ganglia, and is often when mental disorders first emerge in predisposed individuals. Basal ganglia tissue iron concentrations can be used as an indicator of dopaminergic functioning and have been implicated in reward processing, motivated behavior, and depression severity. However, developmental relationships between tissue iron and depressive symptoms have not been characterized. Utilizing longitudinal neuroimaging and survey data collected from 167 adolescents (ages 11.9-18.6) over five years, the current study aimed to delineate the relationship between developing tissue iron and depressive symptom severity across adolescence. We anticipated that adolescents with diminished age-related increases in tissue iron would exhibit increasing depressive symptom severity across adolescence. In agreement with prior work, basal ganglia tissue iron significantly increased with age. Further, a significant age x sex interaction on caudate tissue iron was observed, with girls showing relatively higher age-related increases. While we did not observe significant relationships between within-person changes in tissue iron and depressive symptoms, exploratory analyses demonstrated a significant relationship between average depressive symptoms and caudate tissue iron development, such that adolescents with higher average depressive symptoms displayed relatively greater age-related increases in caudate tissue iron when controlling for sex. These findings suggest that while age effects on the developmental trajectory of basal ganglia tissue iron are empirically supported, interactions with depression may be more complicated than initially expected. Further research is necessary to explore how biological sex and external forces, including early life stress, influence the relationship between tissue iron and depression development to inform adolescent mental health interventions.Bachelor of Scienc
Bestias
Get PDFIn my collection, titled Bestias, I examine Mexican and Mexican-American gender dynamics through the lens of animals and/or beasts. Mexican culture, heavily steeped in machismo, uses the male gaze as a weapon and tool. In these stories, women are pinned against the male gaze and refuse it, in whichever way they decide to do so. Men are both secondary and essential, the focus kept on the women and their relationships with themselves and each other. “Disappointed or [expecting] to be disappointed, judgemental and insecure… cowardly and brave,” these women do what they can to work within the narratives expected from them while still fulfilling their loves and desires, often relating to animals. Bachelor of Art
Achieving End-to-end RTT Fairness with End-point Taxation
Get PDFTCP controls the rate at which packets are sent within Internetflows–however, it does not result in equal throughput for competingflows with different RTTs. Cebinae, a recent proposal, implementsan in-router taxation mechanism to achieve network fairness. It,however, is not deployable since it requires most routers to beupdated in order to achieve network-wide fairness. We propose anend-point taxation mechanism that taxes the congestion windowwhile the node sends packets on the network. We show that end-point taxation mechanisms yield better TCP fairness results than theTCP New Reno and Cubic protocols. Furthermore, our mechanismsachieve better fairness than even Cebinae, while achieving muchbetter bottleneck link utilization.Bachelor of Scienc
Fake News, Real Consequences: Examining Young Adults’ Perceptions of Post-Truth Politics and its Implications for Public Policy
Get PDFIn an era where misinformation thrives and truth is increasingly contested, young adults stand at the crossroads of democracy’s future. This thesis investigates how adults aged 18-22 perceive and experience the phenomenon of post-truth politics and examines the broader implications of these perceptions for the stability of American democracy. As a generation that primarily consumes news through social media yet remains skeptical of its credibility, young adults face unique challenges in distinguishing fact from fiction in political discourse. Through a mixed-methods approach, combining survey data and focus group interviews from undergraduate students at UNC-Chapel Hill, the result of this research identifies key factors that shape young adults' relationship with truth in politics. In doing so, it contributes to the growing discourse on how to safeguard democracy in an era where truth itself is under siege. The findings offer practical insights and policy recommendations aimed at cultivating a new generation of politically engaged and informed citizens capable of navigating the post-truth era.Bachelor of Art
Felony Definition and Felony Disenfranchisement: A North Carolina Analysis
Get PDF Although civic participation is a cornerstone of democracy, the United States continues to uphold practices of felony disenfranchisement. This study examines felony definitions and minimum felony sentencing in an effort to examine what mechanisms perpetuate practices of disenfranchisement. By developing a comparative, state-level database, the research identifies national trends in how felonies are defined. The analysis reveals that North Carolina stands out for its unusually short minimum felony sentence. To investigate the implications of this short minimum sentence, this project performis a hypothetical reclassification experiment that applies the identified national sentencing trend to North Carolina’s felony conviction data. The research ultimately concludes that North Carolina’s minimum felony sentence amplifies racial disparities in felony sentencing and disproportionately disenfranchised Black offenders.Bachelor of Art
PRESENTATION: Learning from COVID: How state DOTs can support resilient responses to disruptive events
Get PDFThis interactive slide deck summarizes research and recommendations developed with support from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, under Research Project 2024-09: Lessons learned from COVID-related street reconfigurations: How DOT policies can facilitate resilient responses to system disruptions
Serum Lipids, Inflammatory Markers, and Uric Acid as Potential Predictors of Liver Damage and Health in a Hispanic Pediatric Population: The Viva La Familia Study
Get PDFChildhood obesity is a major public health concern, with a prevalence of 20% in the United States.1 It is closely linked to liver health in children and increases the risk for obesity and other metabolic diseases in adulthood.2 Our aim in this study was to investigate the associations between markers of liver damage and health and obesity-related factors, including serum lipids, uric acid, and inflammatory markers, in Hispanic children from the Viva La Familia Study (VFS).3 Anthropometrics measurements (Body Mass Index Z-score (BMIZ) and Waist Circumference (WC) and serum concentrations of aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), serum uric acid (SUA), a panel of inflammatory markers, lipids (Total, HDL, and LDL cholesterol and triglycerides), were measured using reference procedures. Statistical analysis was employed using multiple linear regression and student t-tests. AST to ALT ratio was used as a surrogate marker for liver health. Given that there is no established cutoff for AST/ALT in the pediatric population, a ratio was evaluated as “high” if it was greater than two standard deviations of the mean, based on previous literature determination. Regarding obesity-related markers, age (pre-pubertal, pubertal, and post-pubertal) and sex (males and females)-specific analysis showed a significant association between AST/ALT ratio and BMIZ in males (-0.22 ± 0.063, p < 0.0001) and females (-0.26 ± 0.061, p < 0.0001) only in the pubertal age group, respectively. However, in the female pre-pubertal age group, significant associations were observed between AST/ALT and lipids, LDL (-140 ± 61, p < 0.03), and triglycerides (-27 ± 12, p < 0.03). Furthermore, a significant inverse association between AST/ALT and IFN-γ was observed in all female pubertal groups [pre-pubertal (-0.01 ± 0.003, p < 0.03), pubertal (-0.01 ± 0.003, p < 0.001), and post-pubertal (-0.009 ± 0.004, p < 0.03)]. Significant mean differences between participants with high and normal AST/ALT were observed in serum LDL (p < 0.003), triglycerides (p < 0.0001), total cholesterol (p < 0.002), SUA (p < 0.0001), and IL4 (p < 0.008). These findings highlight the potential mediating role that age and sex play in the associations between lipids, inflammatory markers, and liver health markers during childhood.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt