O início do desenvolvimento do sistema nervoso central (SNC) é caracterizado por diversos processos, com períodos críticos, que podem ser influenciados por xenobióticos. Este estudo teve como objetivo comparar os efeitos das diferentes concentrações de nicotina em elementos da transmissão sináptica durante o desenvolvimento de camundongos C57Bl/6. Para tanto, foram utilizados cigarros com duas diferentes concentrações de nicotina, o 3R4F (0,73 mg de nicotina/cigarro) e o 4A1 (0,16 mg de nicotina/cigarro). As exposições ocorreram diariamente a partir do 3° dia de vida (P3) até o 14° dia (P14) por duas horas, e os animais controle foram expostos somente ao ar sintético. Os animais foram eutanasiados em P15, P35 e P65 e avaliamos as seguintes proteínas: sinapsina (SYN1), sinaptotagmina (SYT), sinaptofisina (SYP), sinaptobrevina (SYB), PSD-95 e EGR-1, por Western blotting; o gene Egr-1 por PCR Real Time; MAP-2 e neurofilamentos (Neu) por imunofluorescência no hipocampo, tronco encefálico e cerebelo. Nossos resultados mostraram que na infância (P15) a fumaça do cigarro 3R4F diminuiu SYN1, assim como EGR-1, MAP-2 e Neu no cerebelo. No hipocampo houve aumento de SYN1 e MAP-2, diminuição de PSD-95, Egr-1 e Neu. No tronco encefálico esse cigarro não modificou nenhum dos parâmetros avaliados. Nessa mesma idade, a fumaça do cigarro 4A1 diminuiu MAP-2, Neu e a expressão gênica de Egr-1 no cerebelo; diminuiu MAP-2 e Neu no hipocampo e não promoveu alterações no tronco encefálico. Em P35 (adolescência) o 3R4F manteve reduzido SYN1, EGR-1, MPA-2 and Neu, e também reduziu Egr-1 no cerebelo. A diminuição de SYN1 também foi observada no hipocampo, mas nessa estrutura o 3R4F também aumentou SYT, SYP, MAP-2 and Neu; diminuiu EGR-1 e a expressão de Egr-1. No entanto, no tronco encefálico, foram observados aumento de SYN1 e MAP-2, e uma diminuição de Neu. Em relação à fumaça do 4A1, em P35, nossos resultados mostraram diminuição de SYB, Egr-1, MAP-2 and Neu no cerebelo; aumento de Egr-1, MAP-2 e diminuição de Neu no hipocampo; no tronco encefálico houve aumento de SYB, Egr-1, Neu e diminuição de MAP-2. Na fase adulta (P65) as únicas diferenças estatísticas encontradas foram: no cerebelo: diminuição de SYB pelos cigarros 4A1, aumento de EGR-1 pelo 3R4F e aumento de Egr-1 e MAP-2 por ambos os cigarros; no hipocampo: aumento de Neu por ambos os cigarros; tronco encefálico: aumento de SYB e EGR-1 e diminuição de SYT pelo 4A1, diminuição de SYN1, aumento de EGR-1, Egr-1 e MAP-2 pelo 3R4F. Nossos resultados indicam que a exposição à fumaça do cigarro nos primeiros dias de vida de camundongos, mesmo que em baixas concentrações de nicotina, podem acarretar em alterações em elementos da transmissão sináptica em várias regiões encefálicas durante a infância, adolescência e na fase adulta. / The initial steps of the development of the central nervous system are characterized by several critical processes, which can be affected by xenobiotics. The present study aimed to compare the effect of two different nicotine concentrations in cigarettes on synaptic transmission elements during the development of C57/Bl6 mice. To reach this aim we exposed C57Bl/6 mice to smoke from two different cigarettes - 3R4F (0.73mg of nicotine/cigarette) or 4A1 (0.16mg of nicotine/cigarette), from the third day of life (P3) until the fourteenth (P14) for a period of 1h, twice a day (at 8am and at 3pm). The control animals were exposed only to synthetic air. At P15, P35 and P65, the animals were submitted to euthanasia and different encephalic areas were collected (cerebellum, hippocampus and brainstem); quantification of synapsin (SYN1), synaptotagmin (SYT), synaptophysin (SYP), synaptobrevin (SYB), PSD-95 and EGR1 protein expression was assessed by Western blotting, gene expression of Egr-1 by was assessed by RT-PCR and MAP-2 and neurofilaments (Neu) were assessed by immunofluorescence. Our results showed that exposure to 3R4F smoke decreased the quantification of SYN1 at infancy (P15), as well as EGR-1, MAP-2 and Neu at cerebellum. At hippocampus, there was an increase of SYN1 and MAP-2, decrease of PSD-95, Egr-1 and Neu. At brainstem, 3R4F smoke did not modify any parameter. At the same age, 4A1 smoke decreased the quantification of MAP-2, Neu and the expression of Egr-1, at cerebellum; decreased MAP-2 and Neu at hippocampus and did not alter any parameter at brainstem. At P35 (adolescence) 3R4F smoke still reduced SYN1, EGR-1, MAP-2 and Neu, and reduced Egr-1 at cerebellum. The reduction of SYN1 quantification was also observed at hippocampus, but at this area, 3R4F smoke also increased the quantification of SYT, SYP, MAP-2 and Neu and decreased EGR-1 and the expression of Egr-1. However, at the brainstem, an increased quantification of SYN1 and MAP-2 and a decrease of Neu were observed. Regarding 4A1 smoke, at the same age, our results showed a decreased quantification of SYB, Egr-1, MAP-2 and Neu at cerebellum; increase of Egr-1, MAP-2 and decrease of Neu at hippocampus; and at brainstem, increase of SYB, Egr-1, Neu and decrease of MAP-2. At adulthood (P65) the only statistical differences were: at cerebellum - decreased quantification of SYB by 4A1 cigarette smoke, increase of EGR-1 by 3R4F and increase of Egr-1 and MAP-2 by smoke of both cigarettes; at hippocampus - increase of Neu by smoke of both cigarettes; at brainstem - increase of SYB and EGR-1 and decrease of SYT by 4A1 smoke, decrease of SYN1, increase of EGR-1, Egr-1 and MAP-2 by 3R4F smoke. Thus, we can conclude that exposure to cigarette smoke early in life, even at low nicotine concentrations can modify elements of synaptic transmission, compromising such transmission at several encephalic areas.

This work aims to explore the possibilities in re-design by using secondhand party-dresses as the main material to construct new garments with a focus on street wear silhouettes. Deconstruction is commonly used when working with secondhand and will also be used in this work, as well as draping. The goal is to find new expressions when working with re-design and to only focus on one type of garment (the dress) and use streetwear as a tool to build silhouettes that rely on the typical garments used in street wear. The idea is to explore what these two styles and shapes (evening wear versus street wear) can bring forward to the re-design field. This work will find a new style and silhouettes from these two worlds (unfashionable dresses and streetwear)with the help of experiments by deconstructing and draping the dresses and treating them as ”raw-material ”to make clothes. As it is now, re-design is heavily looked upon as patchwork, often in smaller pieces and the clothes used as materials are often bundled into one category- something that is a disadvantage to the future of re-design. This work shows the results of focusing on one garment as a base to re-design. It lets the designer come closer to understand how to work with the garment in the progress of making new clothing. Also to highlight the transformation a rarely used (because of its exclusive use to special occasions) an evening dress (often uncomfortable, inappropriate for everyday wear) can go to become a more used and functional garment by making use of street wear aesthetics (looser fit, everyday-appropriated wear).The work shows both wearable examples and more exaggerated shapes, to show that this method can be adapted to be used both commercially and for showpieces. Approximately 55 were purchased to have a catalog to chose from. After gathering pictures of street wear from different medias, the garments were picked out (such as hoodies, t-shirts) and also pin pointing details (buttons, zippers etc) and this set the frame for what variables were used when starting to create the new garments. Each garment was made out of 1-4 dresses. The point was not to make street garments, but to find what will become of these dresses after going through the process of street-wear silhouettes and details to become more updated and wearable clothes. In the end, it turned out to be a fruitful clash of silhouettes and materials suited for both men and female collections. The variations in shape and colors set a tone of its own. Instead of letting that secondhand dress hang in a vintage store waiting for some compassion or an 80’s themed party just to be thrown back into a second-hand store the next day, and even for the future special occasion dresses, worn once then never again, this method can be applied to transform and bring them back to usage. This method can expand the life of these dresses, limits only to the wear of the fabric which could be well over 100 years more of use.

No description available.

Introduction: Despite the known consequences of cigarette smoking, almost 20% of adults in the United States smoke. Smoking has been shown to harm nearly every organ of the body. Its detrimental effects have been seen not only in smokers themselves but also in those exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) at work and in other public places. Methodology: The purpose of this thesis was to examine compliance with the signage requirement of the Georgia Smokefree Air Act (GSAA) of 2005 among 99 hospitality venues located in Atlanta. Photographs of bars and restaurant entrances were taken and raters then classified each venue as compliant or non-compliant with smoking status signage requirements of the GSAA. Additionally, air samples were collected using Sidepak equipment from 59 venues in order to estimate the PM2.5 levels, which is a recognized measure of air quality. With Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient (r), analyses were run to determine correlations between signage compliance, number of cigarettes being smoked, and smoking permitted with air quality (PM2.5). Analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19. Results: Of the 99 venues assessed, only 21 (21.2 %) complied with the signage requirements of the GSAA. Venues that do adhere to signage requirements and indicate no smoking on their signs and at the same time via telephone stated that smoking is prohibited had the lowest PM2.5 levels =15.03. On the contrary, those venues that display signs permitting smoking and via telephone indicated smoking is allowed had the highest PM2.5 levels =230.31. It was determined that there is a strong positive correlation between PM2.5 and “number of cigarettes” (r=.611, n=59, p<.001) as well as moderate correlation between PM2.5 and “smoking permitted” as indicated from phone calls (r=.464, n=59, p<.001). However, analysis showed a weak correlation between PM2.5 and “signage compliance” in accordance with GSAA (r=.107, n=59, p>.001). Conclusions: Enforcement of GSAA must be enhanced in order to better protect workers and patrons of Atlanta’s bars and restaurants from harmful exposure to SHS. Findings from this study support that prohibiting smoking in bars and restaurants and having signs stating that smoking is prohibited would improve air quality and protect workers by eliminating their exposure to SHS while working.

The incremental awareness ofenvironmental issues and sustainability has shifted the retail industryin past years. Consumers are increasingly demanding for sustainable products and services and consequently, companies need to address customers’ demands to maintain their profitability. One of the most sustainable consumption patterns is thrift shopping which has several economic, social, and environmental benefits. Despite the huge sustainable benefits of secondhand shopping,only a few studies investigated the behavior of thrift shoppers to identify determinants or barriers to their secondhand purchase behavior. This study is going to address this gap in the literature by extending the theory of planned behavior in the context of secondhand shopping. This leadsto three research questions which provide a strong theoretical and practical contribution to the secondhand shopping literature:RQ1: How large is the gap between the intention and the behavior of consumers buying secondhand products?RQ2: Is the gap more contributed by those who intend to buy them while they do not so, or those who intend not to buy them but do so?RQ3: What are the determinants ofpurchasing secondhand products?This study aims at investigating Swedish consumers’ secondhand purchasing behavior regardingsecondhand household durables. A quantitative research approach was adopted using a self-administered survey among 179respondents.The main findings of this study state that there is a positive gap between secondhand purchase intention and behavior. Inclined abstainers whose intention to buy secondhand products is higher than their thrift shopping behavior coverthe largestshare of the respondent in this study. Additionally, the results of this study posit that thrift shoppers’ attitude toward used goodsand thrift shopping, their past experience of secondhand shopping, social norms and peer pressure, trust in the performance of used products, product availability and shoppers’ access to thrift stores, and thrift shoppers’ perceived value are the positive determinants of thrift shopping behavior through the mediation role of purchase intention. Conversely,thethrift shoppers’ perception of the risks associated with used products negatively impacts on their secondhand shopping behavior.

Background: In the last decade, the world has been facing global challenges of climate change as the climate has worsened significantly. Excessive consumption has been identified as one of the biggest contributors to the climate change where people purchase more products than what meets the basic needs. The excessive consumption of products has been prominent in the fashion industry, where female consumers generally purchase more clothes than men. Today, the fashion industry is dominated by fast fashion, where consumers purchase more clothes with a shorter life span. Thus, the fashion waste increases, leaving serious environmental effects. Sweden is said to be one of the greenest countries in the world but is still one of the countries with the highest levels of consumption globally. The private consumption is high in Sweden and one of the biggest consumer markets that have a negative effect on the environment is the fashion industry. As a result, sustainable fashion consumption is becoming more important.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the sustainable behavior of Swedish female consumers and later understand how different factors is affecting the IB gap in sustainable (secondhand) fashion consumption.   Method: To be able to achieve the purpose of this exploratory study, a qualitative research strategy was applied. The empirical data was collected through in-depth interviews held with Swedish female consumers with intentions to purchase secondhand fashion, which later was interpreted and analyzed through an abductive approach, incorporating a thematic analysis.   Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the behavior of intenders can be characterized by sustainable intentions that do not translate into behavior. Further, the behavior can be characterized by a weak social support system (barrier), poor availability (barrier), low task- and maintenance self-efficacy, high recovery self-efficacy, and no planning. In addition, the results of this study showed that the behavior of actors can be characterized by sustainable intentions and sustainable behavior. Further, the behavior can be characterized by a strong social support system, good availability, high task- and recovery self-efficacy, medium to high maintenance self-efficacy, and planning. The comparison between intenders and actors showed that the perceived barriers for intenders was contributing factors to the IB gap together with their low task- and maintenance self-efficacy through their most likely negative effect on intenders planning. Intenders lack of planning was shown to serve as a negative mediator between intention and behavior, which thereby contributes to the IB gap. While the recovery self-efficacy was high for both intenders and actors, actors has recovery self-efficacy for the desired behavior of purchasing secondhand on a regular basis, while intenders does not.

No description available.

Background: Tobacco use exacerbates diseases, including tuberculosis (TB) and interferes with recovery from such outcomes. However, there is sparse research on the integration of tobacco cessation into TB programs. Moreover, there is limited evidence on how mHealth solutions for tobacco can enhance cessation among TB patients. This study aimed to assess the impact of a training program to integrate tobacco cessation in TB program on the knowledge of health workers. Methods: In June 2017, a 5-day training about tobacco use and control and the use of mHealth solutions to improve tobacco cessation and enhance adherence to TB treatment was conducted in Uganda. A comparison of percent of participants reporting knowledge on selected health outcomes of tobacco use and secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure was conducted. Knowledge was assessed on a 21-outcome-item before and after training. A non-parametric test, signrank for comparison of paired observations was conducted. The changes were considered statistically significant if the p-value was less than 5%. Results: Twenty three trainees from across the country attended (13 females, 10 males), with median age of the trainees was 39 years. Pre-training knowledge about tobacco use (66.6%) was higher than SHS exposure (45%). Following the training, both sets of knowledge significantly improved (median 100%). Pre-training knowledge about health effects of tobacco use was particularly low for diabetes (27%), meningitis (9.5%), ear infection (43%), impotence (47.6%), and fibrosis (30%). Except heart attack (76%), lung illness among children (91%), lung cancer (81%), and chronic lung disease (81%), pre-training knowledge about SHS was low for all other disease outcomes. Conclusions: Healthcare providers play critical role in preventing and reducing tobacco use. The low pre-training knowledge of the TB health workers suggests the critical need for training health providers in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa in order to curtail the increasing trend in usage.

Using game elements in a non-game context, called gamification, has grown popular recently and can be seen in education, health, and on e-commerce websites. In this thesis, the use of game elements, specifically badges is evaluated on a secondhand website. The gamification component is implemented in three steps: a paper prototype, a digital prototype, and an implementation in ReactJS. All iterations are iterated using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) with feedback from the client and with Lean UX. The game elements are evaluated using A/B testing and interviews with users from the A- and B tests.  The results show that gamification can have a positive, although small impact on user engagement on a secondhand website. It also shows that gamification can be incorporated to communicate the core values of the business. The A/B test indicated that there is room for improvement in the gamification component, specifically by more clearly showing that badges are clickable and by adding an explanation of how they can be achieved. These improvements would likely contribute to a better user experience and could increase user engagement with the gamification component.

Current methods for the risk assessment of environmental exposures commonly involve questionnaires, stationary monitoring, and personal air sampling. However, as these approaches do not capture the body's internal response, they lend minimal understanding to the biologic consequence of exposure. In order to address the unmet need of connecting external exposure measurements with signatures of internal exposure, this thesis examines the overarching hypothesis that transcriptomic changes in the human airway epithelium can serve as indicators of physiologic responses to inhaled pollutants. This is an extension of previous work that has demonstrated an airway ''field of injury'' effect where cigarette smoke exposure alters gene-expression in epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract. Specifically, I examine transcriptomic changes and the biologic responses associated with exposure to the following pollutants: environmental tobacco smoke (Aim 1), household air pollution from smoky coal combustion (Aim 2), and electronic cigarette vapor (Aim 3). First, I performed whole-genome transcriptional profiling of the nasal epithelium in children and adults and detected gene-expression changes associated with exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Next, I employed similar approaches to detect a signature of coal smoke exposure in the buccal epithelium of healthy, non-smoking females exposed to household air pollution Xuanwei, China. The findings from these studies suggest that upper airway gene-expression can reflect the host response to prolific sources of environmental exposures that are major risk factors for chronic lung disease. Lastly, I examine the cellular and physiologic consequences of electronic cigarette (ECIG) aerosol exposure by analyzing transcriptomic profiles of human bronchial epithelial cells that have either been (1) differentiated and exposed in vitro or (2) acquired via bronchoscopy from the airway epithelium of ECIG users. The studies detailed in this dissertation offer valuable insight that will accelerate the efforts to evaluate the health effects of both well-established and emerging types of inhaled exposures in large-scale population studies. Furthermore, the transcriptomic strategies woven throughout the following chapters push for a novel assessment paradigm that may enable the public health community to rapidly characterize the physiologic host response to inhalation exposures of different sources, and to evaluate the biologic consequences of exposure-reduction initiatives. / 2017-05-01T00:00:00Z