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Florida Studies
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Piloting a Spanish-language Web-based Tool for Hereditary Cancer Genetic Testing
No full textCancer genetic services (including genetic counseling and testing) help identify patients and families at increased risk of developing cancer so that steps can be taken to reduce risks or find cancers early. Receipt of genetic services in the Hispanic/Latinx population is low due, in part, to a shortage of Spanish-speaking genetic counselors. To address this concern, a 12-minute online tool designed to inform individuals about cancer genetic services was translated into Spanish. The objectives of this pilot study were to determine if the educational tool improves knowledge and informed decision making and to assess usability and appropriateness of the tool in the Hispanic/Latinx population. Individuals with a personal or family history of cancer were recruited at a Cancer Center in Puerto Rico as well as through social media and 41 completed a survey before and after viewing the tool. Additionally, 10 select participants completed a semi-structured interview in Spanish. Paired t-tests and Cohen’s d were calculated to assess for changes in knowledge and informed decision making. Interview transcripts were translated from Spanish to English and inductively coded and analyzed. Participants showed large increases in both knowledge scores (p\u3c.001, ds=0.56) and feelings of being informed and empowered to decide about getting genetic testing (p\u3c.001, ds=0.91). Despite significant improvements, 49% of participants did not feel fully informed and empowered after viewing the tool. Although participants found the tool aesthetically pleasing and easy to use with informative and valuable content, they also made recommendations for general improvement to be applied in future iterations. In addition, while some participants expressed understanding of topics covered in the tool, there were some who were still unclear. Results suggest this Spanish-language tool is user-friendly and appropriate at informing and empowering many individuals to decide about cancer genetic testing. However, individuals who are not fully informed and empowered after reviewing the tool may benefit from genetic counseling prior to testing
Emerging and Submerging : Silence, Commemoration, and Sexual Violence in Minneapolis
No full textDedicated in Minneapolis in October 2020, the Survivors Memorial became the first permanent memorial to survivors of sexual violence in the United States. However, as my research reveals, sexual violence has long been a part of the commemorative landscape in northeast Minneapolis. Whereas the Survivors Memorial explicitly commemorates survivors of sexual violence, a much older site, the 1936 Pioneers Monument - commemorates sexual violence through silence. This thesis argues that with the building and dedication of the Survivors Memorial, a different memory than the one embodied within the Pioneers Monument begins to take shape. An older narrative of peaceful conquest and passive Native encounters with white settlers is no longer tenable. Transformed into a more complex and painful version of memory and historical events, the Survivors Memorial and its creation, dedication, and reception helps to undo the layers of silence and misdirection present in the same processes of the Pioneers Monument. Intertwining their stories illuminates how the commemorative landscape in Minneapolis has changed over time, from one of silence, erasure, and forgetting, to one that explicitly reckons with sexual violence enacted against Native and other marginalized peoples historically and contemporarily
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Immigration-Related Stressors, Pregnancy, Birth, and Post-Partum Experiences of Women Living Along the US-Mexico Border
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic coupled with immigration-related stressors had a profound effect on women who lived on the U.S.-Mexico border and their pregnancy, birth, and post-partum experiences. This project focused the experiences of 17 women living in El Paso, Texas and how border closure, economic insecurities, and family separation during the COVID-19 pandemic shaped women’s experiences. This research included interviewing maternal and child health experts to propose recommendations geared towards policy change. Finally, this project highlights the vast complexities that go into the pregnancy, birth, and post-partum period for women living on the U.S.-Mexico border, and how these experiences shape maternal and child health outcomes
Enhanced Methods in Forensic Mass Spectrometry for Targeted and Untargeted Drug Analysis
No full textForensic science has long used mass spectrometry for the analysis of drugsand metabolites. Traditionally, screening methods consisted of color tests or immunoassay and confirmation methods used gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, which was considered the gold standard for identification. In the last several decades, advances in liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LCMS) have brought this technology to the forefront of forensic drug identification. Drug identification in forensic drug chemistry and forensic toxicology has become increasingly challenging due to the rapid increase in illicit drug analogs including novel opioids such as fentanyl analogs. Traditional screening methodologies are often unable to identify these new drugs. This research uses LCMS as a screening method for both traditional analytes as well as novel fentanyl analogs. First, a targeted triple quadrupole method was developed and validated to replace a traditional immunoassay screen which improved accuracy and specificity. Second, an untargeted high resolution screening method for the identification of potential fentanyl analogs using mass defect and common product ions was implemented. This method was able to identify ~200 fentanyl analogs. Finally, sample preparation was investigated to help overcome some of the matrix challenges involved with LCMS
Rational Functions of Degree Five That Permute the Projective Line Over a Finite Field
No full textRational functions over a finite field Fq induce mappings from the projective line P1(Fq) to itself. Rational functions that permute the projective line are called permutation rational functions (PRs). The notion of permutation rational functions is a natural extension of the permutation polynomials which have been studied for over a century. Recently, PRs of degrees up to four have been determined. This dissertation is a project aimed at determining PRs of degree five.
Rational functions of degree five (excluding those that are equivalent to polynomials) are divided into five cases according to the factorization of their denominators. Our main results can be summarized as follows:1. We showed that in Cases I and II, there are no PRs, whenever q is sufficiently large. 2. In Case III, we completely determined all PRs. When q is odd, there is an infinite family; when q is even, there are two infinite families. 3. In Case IV, we determined all PRs under an additional condition. There is an infinite family each for odd q and for even q.
Our approach is based on a combination of two methods. One uses the Carlitz power sum formula, which is a new technique that is particularly effective for PRs of low degrees. The other method relies on the Hasse-Weil bound on the number of zeros of an absolutely irreducible polynomial in two variables. This is a well-known technique that allows people to relate permutation properties of a rational function with the factorization of an associated polynomial