Radical prostatectomy is the main surgical treatment for prostate cancer and is associated with various short-term complications. Racial and ethnic minority patients have worse postoperative outcomes than White patients following prostate cancer surgery. One of the factors that may contribute to the racial differences in postoperative outcomes is the differential use of new medical technology of robot-assisted surgery (RAS) across racial and ethnic groups. Patients undergoing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) have been shown to have reduced short-term complications, length of stay (LOS), and readmissions and comparable long-term survival compared with patients undergoing open radical prostatectomy (ORP). Previous studies demonstrated that racial and ethnic minority patients with prostate cancer were less likely to receive RARP than White patients. However, critical gaps remain in 1) understanding current evidence on racial and ethnic disparities related to RAS in pelvic cancer surgery thoroughly; 2) determining the impact of RARP on racial and ethnic disparities in postoperative outcomes among prostate cancer patients, and; 3) investigating the role of surgeons on the differential use of RARP across racial and ethnic groups. To address these gaps, this dissertation conducted a systematic review to comprehensively understand racial and ethnic disparities in the use of RAS in four major pelvic cancer treatments (prostate, uterine, bladder, and rectal cancers). Following the systematic review, empirical analyses were performed using linked New York State Cancer Registry and statewide discharge records to determine the contribution of RARP to racial and ethnic disparities in the short-term outcomes after prostate cancer surgery, including determining the presence and pattern of interaction between race/ethnicity and RARP use. Based on a multilevel framework, two important hypotheses were also tested to assess surgeons’ influence on the use of RARP across racial and ethnic groups through access to care and the process of care. The systematic review found consistent evidence that Black and Hispanic patients were less likely to receive RAS than White patients in all four pelvic cancer surgeries. There is a lack of formal assessment to determine the impact of RAS use on racial and ethnic disparities in postoperative outcomes. The systematic review also found that racial and ethnic minorities were less likely to receive treatment at RAS-performing or high-technology centers than White patients. But there is a paucity of research examining physician-level factors that may be related to differential use of RAS across racial and ethnic groups. The first empirical analysis detected a statistical interaction between race/ethnicity and procedure approach that was present on the additive scale but not on the multiplicative scale. Specifically, when undergoing RARP rather than ORP, non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and Hispanic men with prostate cancer, as compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) men, experienced a greater reduction in the risk of adverse short-term outcomes of major events (NHB vs. NHW: RERI -0.32, 95% CI (-0.70,-0.01); Hispanic vs. NHW: RERI -0.28, 95% CI (-0.74,0.09)) and prolonged LOS (NHB vs. NHW: RERI -0.32, 95% CI (-0.70,-0.01); Hispanic vs. NHW: RERI -0.28, 95% CI(-0.74,0.09)) on the absolute risk (additive) scale. The second empirical analysis confirmed the two hypotheses related to surgeons’ role in the racial and ethnic disparities related to RARP use. First, NHB and Hispanic patients were more likely to be treated by surgeons who were low-RARP users (NHB vs. NHW: OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.58-1.90; Hispanic vs. NHW: OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.90-2.41) or by surgeons at non-RARP facilities (NHB vs. NHW: OR 4.26, 95% CI 3.45-5.27; Hispanic vs. NHW: OR 4.01, 95% CI 3.44-4.67) than NHW patients, supporting racial and ethnic disparities in access to care. Second, when treated by the same surgeon and having similar conditions, NHB and Hispanic patients were less likely to receive RARP than NHW patients (NHB vs. NHW: OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.59-0.91; Hispanic vs. NHW: OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.55-0.96), supporting racial and ethnic disparities in the process of care. In summary, this dissertation identified gaps in current literature and showed that NHB and Hispanic patients with prostate cancer were less likely to receive but benefitted more from RARP than NHW patients. Increasing equitable penetration of robot-assisted technology may help reduce racial disparities in patient outcomes after radical prostatectomy. This dissertation also revealed that NHB and Hispanic patients were less likely to be treated by high-RARP-use surgeons and less likely to receive RAPR when treated for similar conditions by the same surgeons than NHW patients. Addressing structural barriers faced by racial and ethnic minority patients during care-seeking and the process of care can help reduce disparities in RAS use.

In January, 1966, six counties in New-York State reorganized their respective Cooperative Extension Service organizations. The Cooperative Extension Association of Jefferson County, one of the six, was chosen for this study. Objectives of the study were to determine (1) levels of knowledge and attitude held by lay leaders and members of the Extension reorganization, (2) the relationships between the levels of knowledge and attitude of the leaders and members, and (3) the relationships of the levels of knowledge and attitude held by leaders and members when compared with certain variables. The two groups studied consisted of all 36 leaders and a five percent sample of the Extension membership or 116 members. The instrument of observation was an interview-schedule. Data were obtained through personal interviews. Chi-square tests for significance were accepted at the .05 percent level. Findings included: (1) Leaders had a significantly higher level of knowledge and a more favorable attitude of the Extension reorganization than members. (2) Extension participation was significantly higher in the leader group than the member group. (3) Attitude and knowledge were not significantly related to each other in either the member or leader groups. (4) Knowledge of the Extension reorganization was not significantly related to the variables of age, education, sex, occupation, income, residence, tenure and Extension participation in either study group. (5) In the member group, women had a significantly more favorable attitude toward the Extension reorganization. Sex was not significantly related to attitude in the leader group. (6) None of the remaining variables of age, education, occupation, income, residence, tenure, and Extension participation were significantly related to attitude in the member or leader groups. / M.S.

The purpose of this study is to foster preservation and to encourage the correct development of East 96th Street and its surrounding neighborhood. Present as-of-right zoning regulations allow extremely tall buildings to be constructed that would create walls along the street. Modification of these zoning regulations are proposed to establish a planning guide that will improve East 96th Street aesthetically, economically and socially as well as encourage developers to invest in the neighborhood. / Master of Architecture

no abstract provided by author / Master of Science

This study consisted of a site characterization followed by a biomonitoring study utilizing the zebra mussel, <i>Dreissena polymorpha</i>, at the Times Beach Confined Disposal Facility (CDF), located in Buffalo, New York. Concentrations of the selected contaminants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and the following metals: arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), barium (Ba), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), selenium (Se) and silver (Ag), were at or below detection limits in the water column. In the sediment toxicant concentrations were as high as 549 mg/kg for total PAHs, 9 mg/kg for PCB Aroclor 1248, and 54, 99, 6, 355, 637, and 16 mg/kg for the metals: As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Hg respectively. To predict contaminant bioavailability, elutriate and whole sediment toxicity tests were performed utilizing the cladoceran, <i>Daphnia magna</i>. The whole sediment tests showed a significant impact. Control survival was 84%, while the sediment treatment survival range was 1-7%. Mean control reproduction was 86.8 neonates, whereas treatment group reproduction ranged from 1.4 to 9.0. Zebra mussels, placed both in the water column (Upper) and at the sediment level (Lower), survived the 34-day exposure. Contaminants which significantly accumulated in zebra mussel tissue during the exposure period (mg/kg) were total PAHs (6.58), fluoranthene (1.23), pyrene (1.08), chrysene (0.98), benzo(a)anthracene (0.60), PCB Aroclor 1248 (1.64), As (0.97), Cr (2.87), and Ba (7.00). The accumulation of benzo(a)anthracene was statistically higher in the Upper mussels; however, this did not occur for any other toxicant. Accumulation of these contaminants in zebra mussel tissue represent a potential hazard to organisms (ie. fish and birds) which feed on them. / Master of Science

The finite element method is used to analyze the soil structure-interaction of a protection structure built over the Holland Tunnel. The purpose of the structure is to minimize movement of the tunnel during fill placement in the Hudson River adjacent to Manhattan Island. Because of the large differences in movement expected in the riverbed soils and the protection structure system, two meshes are used to represent the problem. Continuity between the two meshes is achieved using an iterative substructure approach. A nonlinear model is used to define the response of the soil medium, all structural units are assumed to behave as linear elastic materials, and at the interface between the protection structure and soil the load development is assumed to be linear up to failure. The initial conditions in the soils around the Holland Tunnel are determined based on assumed tunnel deformation pattern. An analysis using the at-rest earth pressures only, is performed as a baseline for comparison with the finite element predictions using the iterative substructure approach. The predicted earth pressures are determined using the iterative substructure approach and are found to have almost the same effects on the protection structure and the tunnel as the at-rest case. It is concluded that the downdrag forces generated on the structure due to the settling soils have no significant effects. General displacements and bending stresses induced in the tunnel and pier by the fill loading are shown to be small. / M.S.

The Speculator Sheet and the Wells-Tenantville Sill are intruded into the Rooster Hill/Little Moose Mountain Formations in the southern Adirondacks. The Wells Sill consists of a medium-grained gabbro forming the top and basal layers, and an inner core of anorthositic gabbro rimmed by a fine-grained chill margin called the Tenantville facies. The Speculator Sheet consists of gabbroic anorthosite and has a mafic lower margin due to gravitational settling of mafic phases. Plagioclase and pyroxene compositions suggest that the Wells gabbro is distinct from the rest of the sills and is related to the Oregon Dome. Whole rock data show that the gabbroic anorthosite and the rocks of the Thirteenth Lake Dome have a differentiation trend of minor iron enrichment, while the Wells gabbro, Oregon Dome and Snowy Mountain Dome have a trend of more extreme iron enrichment. Field evidence indicates that the Wells gabbro was intruded first as a mafic differentiate of the Oregon Dome/Snowy Mountain Dome magma, and was later intruded by the anorthositic gabbro. This later intrusion was concurrent with the emplacement of the Speculator Sheet and the Thirteenth Lake Dome. These data suggest that the contacts of anorthosites against country rock in the southern Adirondacks are igneous and not the product of sedimentation on an anorthositic basement. Textural and analytical evidence and graphical analysis suggest that the differing metamorphic mineral assemblages are controlled by variations in water fugacity. The development of orthopyroxene-plagio-clase coronas on some of the garnets is dependent on the iron contents of the garnets. / Master of Science

The designers of architecture in our national and state parks appear remarkably unenlightened in a day when the design of nearly all our structures is being given a careful re-analysis of function and purpose. Indeed, these designers go to great lengths to avoid admitting that any progress has been made in the building profession in the past 300 years. This thesis is an attempt to refute the current dominant philosophy of national park architecture, and to present a possible new approach to the problem. The building designs included here, for an actual site in the Adirondack mountains of New York, are intended to illustrate the tenet of contemporary structures for the needs of contemporary man. / Master of Science

This thesis proposes a large wine estate on the shores of one of New York’s Finger Lakes. The estate’s prominent location on Bluff Point demands an architecture that reinforces the vineyard’s highly visible regional presence. Not only a winery, this estate includes a teaching center for viticulture, allowing continual vineyard experimentation. The public is encouraged to tour the estate, and is courted with a restaurant and tasting facility. Over a five year period, 50 acres of vineyards on the 200 acre property would be phased in, producing 10,000 cases yearly. Further expansion is anticipated in ten years. The traditional rituals of the wine harvest provide the ideas behind the architecture of the estate. The project explores transformations as a way to honor these traditions, extending outward on the site to redefine the vineyard as massive terraces. Inside the winery, the transformation of grapes to wine is sequenced from one level to another, allowing the architecture to reinforce the theme of procession that already is established on the site. / Master of Architecture

M.S.