COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy Among Pregnant People in Arizona

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Description

With recent reports indicating that there is a relatively low number of pregnant people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States (~30% per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October, 2021), this study aims to understand the reasons for

With recent reports indicating that there is a relatively low number of pregnant people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States (~30% per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October, 2021), this study aims to understand the reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the pregnant population in the state of Arizona. Using a mixed-methods approach, this cross-sectional study employs both semi-structured qualitative interviews (n = 40) and a quantitative survey instrument (n = 400) to better understand the reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant people, with data collected over the course of a few months. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression are employed to analyze the quantitative data and the semi-structured interviews are inductively coded to analyze themes across participant interviews. The results from this study are not only able to help better address disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations among pregnant people, but they also provide implications for vaccine hesitancy overall in order to develop interventions to address vaccine hesitancy. Future research is warranted to better understand regional differences in vaccine hesitancy and differences across populations.

Date Created
2022-05
Agent

Course Outline: The Intersection of Urban Planning and Public Health

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Description

Public health and urban planning are tightly linked, yet their intersection is not always addressed in courses. Urban planning plays a critical role in determining a city’s environmental impact, transportation infrastructure, walkability, and so much more. Creating a class that

Public health and urban planning are tightly linked, yet their intersection is not always addressed in courses. Urban planning plays a critical role in determining a city’s environmental impact, transportation infrastructure, walkability, and so much more. Creating a class that explores the ways urban planning and public health connect for pre-med and public health students is important because their education shapes the type of health advocates they become. Ultimately, understanding urban planning provides future public health advocates and doctors with a new toolset to improve the public’s health and produce healthier cities. This creative project aims to address this issue by creating a class with 15 modules showing the various ways that urban planning and public health intersect.

Date Created
2022-05
Agent

Looking at Racial and Gender Biases in Medical School Textbook Images: A Case Study

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Description
A case study using Bate Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking to look at gender and racial biases in medical school textbooks. 5 chapters were looked at specific based on their racial and gender themes present in the images

A case study using Bate Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking to look at gender and racial biases in medical school textbooks. 5 chapters were looked at specific based on their racial and gender themes present in the images in the chapters. Data from these chapters demonstrate the medical field as beneficial for white and male patients, while women and patients of racial minorities are underrepresented. This underrepresentation impacts future medical care, where these patients are dying as a result of this underdeveloped material.
Date Created
2022-05
Agent

Combating COVID-19 in Maricopa County’s Homeless Population

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Description
The purpose of this report is to review the current literature concerning management of the COVID-19 pandemic in homeless populations, and to use it to analyze the specific interventions established in Maricopa County—such as those aimed at education, vaccination and

The purpose of this report is to review the current literature concerning management of the COVID-19 pandemic in homeless populations, and to use it to analyze the specific interventions established in Maricopa County—such as those aimed at education, vaccination and testing, and maintaining continuity of care. In doing so, I hope to illustrate the unique challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness, provide context for disparities in health outcome, and inform action for both the ongoing pandemic and future outbreaks
Date Created
2022-05
Agent

What the Health is This?

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Description
“What the Health is This” is a creative project that aims to provide health education, improve health literacy, encourage young adults to do their own reputable health research, and empower them to make informed health decisions through that research. Centered

“What the Health is This” is a creative project that aims to provide health education, improve health literacy, encourage young adults to do their own reputable health research, and empower them to make informed health decisions through that research. Centered on topics of interest for young adults, the podcast covers four main concepts: wellness, self-care, health care, and public health. Each episode is approximately 20 minutes.
Date Created
2022-05
Agent

What the Health is This?

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Description
“What the Health is This” is a creative project that aims to provide health education, improve health literacy, encourage young adults to do their own reputable health research, and empower them to make informed health decisions through that research. Centered

“What the Health is This” is a creative project that aims to provide health education, improve health literacy, encourage young adults to do their own reputable health research, and empower them to make informed health decisions through that research. Centered on topics of interest for young adults, the podcast covers four main concepts: wellness, self-care, health care, and public health. Each episode is approximately 20 minutes.
Date Created
2022-05
Agent

Enzymatic Reactive Extraction for the Production of Short-Chain Esters

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Description

Esters are important solvents in multiple industries including adhesives, food, and pharmaceuticals. Although esters are biodegradable solvents, the conventional process of producing them is not eco-friendly because they are largely derived from petrochemicals. This has led scientists to consider implementing

Esters are important solvents in multiple industries including adhesives, food, and pharmaceuticals. Although esters are biodegradable solvents, the conventional process of producing them is not eco-friendly because they are largely derived from petrochemicals. This has led scientists to consider implementing biological routes in their production process by incorporating heterologous or improving inherent esterification pathways. However, due to inequality in the biosynthesis of esters and their precursors (organic acid and alcohol), a significant amount of precursors are left unconverted, thereby lowering overall esterification efficiency. Therefore, the primary goal of the current research is to improve the ester titers by incorporating one more step of in vitro esterification with the culture broth, thereby esterifying the unconverted precursors using high efficiency commercial enzymes in the presence of compatible organic solvent. In principle, the medium containing the precursors will be treated with the enzyme in presence of organic solvent, where the precursors will be distributed in both the phases, aqueous and organic, based on their polarity, and the enzymatic esterification will happen at the interface. Hence, as a first step, efforts were made to optimize the reaction conditions, beginning with choosing the most efficient organic solvent and corresponding enzyme candidate. Our results showed that, for production of ethyl acetate through this reactive extraction approach, Novozyme435 exhibited significant esterification with chloroform, with almost 85% conversion efficiency. Further optimizations with phase ratios, pH and incubation time showed that the pH 6.0 (3.1 g/L) was the most optimum where ethyl acetate titer was found to improve 10 times than that at pH 7.0 (0.164 g/L) with the phase ratio of 1:1. The kinetic studies further added that the incubation at 37oC gives the maximum ethyl acetate production within 8h. After initial optimization studies, cell broth from E. coli cells transformed to overproduce an esterase was also tested with the reactive extraction method. It was found that there was a ~7.5X decrease in ethyl acetate production in the cell media versus synthetic samples with the same concentration of reactants. Such a large decrease indicates that enzymatic promiscuity or inhibition currently prevent the cell samples from reaching the same conversion as synthetic studies. To characterize the maximum reaction rate (Vmax) and affinity constants of the substrates to Novozym 435, further kinetic studies were performed with one minute of reaction. The mathematical model employed assumes that enzyme kinetics rather than diffusion was the rate limiting step, that the concentrations of reactants at the interface are equivalent to the initial concentration of reactants, and that neither substrate is an inhibitor. Vmax was found to be 18.5 Mmol min-1g-1 (of catalyst used), and the affinity constants were 0.957 M and 0.00557 M for acetic acid and ethanol respectively. Vmax was similar to literature values with Novozym 435, and the affinity constants indicate a much higher binding efficiency of ethanol in comparison to acetic acid, indicating that a cocktail of esters are likely produced from Novozym 435 in cell broth. Overall, moving away from fossil-fuel dependence is necessary to promote sustainable industry standards, and microbial cell factories combined with reactive extraction, if optimized for industrial applications, can replace harmful environmental procedures. By optimizing the reactive extraction process for ester production, biorefineries could become more competitive and economically feasible for numerous applications.

Date Created
2022-05
Agent

Sun Devil Hockey on the Sun Devil Radio Network

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Description

The Sun Devil Radio Network broadcasts every ASU football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball contest and also carries select ASU baseball contests. It is only fitting to add another revenue sport to the network. A well-rounded program that includes the

The Sun Devil Radio Network broadcasts every ASU football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball contest and also carries select ASU baseball contests. It is only fitting to add another revenue sport to the network. A well-rounded program that includes the addition of a brand-new arena and regular broadcasts on the Sun Devil Radio Network will have an increased prestige, not only around The Valley, but nationwide. A well-executed broadcast can serve as a volatile arm of public relations for the program.

Date Created
2022-05
Agent

The Role of Walkability in Fostering Neighborhood Place Identity in a Warm, Desert Metropolis

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Description
In urban planning and design, creating emotional bonds, known as place identity, between people and their surroundings is paramount to improving the well-being of those who reside there. However, determining how to alter the built environment in order to increase

In urban planning and design, creating emotional bonds, known as place identity, between people and their surroundings is paramount to improving the well-being of those who reside there. However, determining how to alter the built environment in order to increase place identity is a difficult task to achieve. Walkability is a good mechanistic link between the built environment and place identity. Walkability is comprised of a suite of factors that take into consideration both the natural and built environment. This thesis aims to determine if walkability is positively correlated with place identity in an extreme climate such as Phoenix. To test this, ecosystem services and disservices are used as factors to measure overall walkability. We found that access to recreational opportunities, aesthetic features of the pathway, and safety were all significant predictors of place identity. This has positive implications for walkable infrastructure to be strengthened in desert cities.
Date Created
2022-05
Agent

The Impact of International Aid on Sustainable Development in Haiti

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Description
This thesis explores what factors have hindered the effectiveness of international aid in promoting sustainable development—an approach that focuses on not just immediate responses, but long-term changes that promote the well-being of current and future generations in relation to environmental degradation, social equity, and economic growth—in Haiti.
Date Created
2022-05
Agent