Click on this link to download the full high-definition interactive pdf for AJUR Volume 19 Issue 2 (September 2022) or https://doi.org/10.33697/ajur.2022.058
Links to individual manuscripts, abstracts, and keywords are provided below.
p.3. Evaluating Driveway Cross Slopes and Social Equity in Cedar City, UT
Brock Anderson* & Jamie Spinney
Department of Geosciences, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT
https://doi.org/10.33697/ajur.2022.059
Student: brock20anderson00@gmail.com*
Mentor: jamie.spinney@suu.edu
ABSTRACT
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the most comprehensive law governing accessibility, and it requires local governments to develop transition plans to become compliant. Among the key ADA requirements is a continuous unobstructed pedestrian circulation network that consists of a sidewalk that has a cross slope of no more than two degrees. The primary objective of this research was to evaluate whether driveway cross slopes in Cedar City were ADA compliant, so a digital level was used to measure a random sample of driveway cross slopes. A secondary objective was to determine whether there is evidence of social inequities in Cedar City’s pedestrian environment. The estimated value of each residential property (a proxy for income) was retrieved from Zillow® to evaluate the statistical relationship between incomes and driveway cross slopes. The results of this study indicate that there was no widespread evidence of social inequities. However, most driveway cross slopes (78.8 percent) were not ADA compliant and, thus, require retrofitting that should incorporate more widespread use of sidewalk buffer strips. The results also highlight priority areas for sidewalk improvements and can be used to inform a transition plan for sidewalk enhancements and funding.
KEYWORDS
Social Equity; ADA; Sidewalks; Advocacy Planning; Driveway Cross Slope; Walkability
Anamaria Tepordei* & Kirsten Foot
Department of Communication, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
https://doi.org/10.33697/ajur.2022.060
Student: anamaria.tepordei@outlook.com*
Mentor: kfoot@uw.edu
ABSTRACT
Restaurant employees in the United States have experienced unprecedented challenges to their mental health and well-being (MHW) during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet little is known about communication regarding MHW in the restaurant industry. Drawing on health, organizational, and interpersonal communication concepts, this exploratory, survey-based study probed whether, how, and why or why not restaurant employees in western Washington State conversed about MHW with one another and their managers during the winter of 2021. Key findings include that there are many reasons why some restaurant employees do not engage in conversations about MHW with other members of the workplace. However, when such conversations do occur, they are typically mutual, positive, and relationally-oriented—more so among coworkers than between employees and managers. Additionally, both coworkers and managers are sources of social support and resource exchange during these conversations, although the evidence is stronger among coworkers. Our findings contribute to the extant literature on mental health communication in the workplace and demonstrate the merit in more closely examining superior-subordinate and coworker communication about personal and sensitive topics, like MHW. Comparative analysis of employees’ MHW-related communication with coworkers versus managers revealed both similarities and differences that carry implications for managerial practice and future research.
KEYWORDS
Mental Health and Well-being (MHW); Disclosure; Superior-subordinate Communication; Peer Coworker; Social Exchange; Social Support; Interpersonal Communication Motives (ICM), Restaurant Employees
p. 33. Differential Expression of Hub Genes and Activation of p53 by Anti-cancer Compound Curaxin CBL0137
Tanvi Patel*, Rochelle Ratner, & Niharika Nath
Department of Biological & Chemical Sciences, New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY
https://doi.org/10.33697/ajur.2022.061
Students: tpatel60@nyit.edu*, rratne02@nyit.edu
Mentor: nnath@nyit.edu
ABSTRACT
Cancer is a global concern and there is a need for effective drugs. CBL0137 is a small water-soluble molecule and a new second-generation compound in the family of curaxins with potential anti-cancer activity. Curaxins in general, including CBL0137 intercalate into DNA, and act by targeting the histone chaperone ‘facilitates chromatin transcription’ (FACT) complex and have the potential to treat tumors by reducing the growth of cancer cells which is shown in a variety of cell lines and animal models. CBL0137 is found to activate the tumor suppressor gene p53. However, the mechanism of p53 activation is poorly understood. Utilizing bioinformatics analysis on available datasets of CBL0137 treated cancer cells of glioma, cervical and multiple myeloma, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that may lead to the activation of p53 were examined. Three GEO datasets of cells treated with various concentrations of CBL0137 were analyzed, namely HSJD-DIPG007 (GSE153441), MM1.S (GSE117611) and HeLa S3 (GSE117611). The DEGs were identified based on p-values less than 0.05, logFC values greater than 1 and less than -1 and analyzed using GEO2R, Enrichr, and STRING, and data visualization was performed on Tableau. Compared to the controls, a total of 229, 1425, and 1005 genes were upregulated while 368, 2322, and 1673 genes were downregulated for HSJD-DIPG007, MM1.S and HeLa S3 datasets, respectively. Further collective analysis revealed a total of 38 common DEGs among the three datasets. Using Enrichr and STRING on these 38 DEGs, seven hub genes were obtained, SKP2, RGS16, CSRP2, CENPA, HJURP, DTL, and HEXIM1 with these possible mechanisms: inhibition of AKT phosphorylation by upregulated genes RGS16 and CSRP2, p300-mediated acetylation of p53 via SKP2, inhibition of MDM2 by DTL downregulation and HEXIM1 upregulation, and inhibition of AURKB via CENPA and HJURP downregulation. This study analyzed the three datasets and highlighted how these identified hub genes may play a role in leading to p53 activation by CBL0137.
KEYWORDS
Curaxin; CBL0137; Differentially Expressed Genes; Cancer; p53; Glioblastoma; Cervical; Myeloma
p. 43. Cemetery Analysis of Whitewater, WI
David H. Nehlsen
Department of Political Science and Philosophy at the University of Green Bay, WI
https://doi.org/10.33697/ajur.2022.062
Students: nehldh03@uchicago.edu*
Mentor: weinscha@uwgb.edu
ABSTRACT
Procedures and customs surrounding funerals, burial, and grave marking vary widely by time period, location, culture, and religion, among many other factors. This project investigated the gravestone customs of cemeteries in Southern Wisconsin, USA. Utilizing a dataset of 500 gravestone samples collected from cemeteries in Whitewater, WI, the aim of this project was to objectively measure how people choose to remember their dead and how these practices have evolved over the years. Because of the decline in American religiosity in recent decades, the expectation of this project was to see the usage of religious symbols decline. Based upon this analysis, this does not appear to be the case. Practices such as the recording of one’s name and year of birth/death have remained constant; however, other customs of remembrance, such as the use of religious symbols and the recording of one’s date of marriage, have shifted dramatically over the years, reflecting the evolution of society and culture.
KEYWORDS
Cemetery; Symbols; Funeral; Thanatology; Death; Demography; Monuments; History