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Objective: To develop an original survey on public attitudes, knowledge and practices on West Nile Virus (WNV), mosquitoes, and pesticides. We sought to gain insight on what personal protective behaviors (PPBs) are used by the public and whether the public is supportive of pesticide use in combating the threat of WNV. An effective WNV control program must take into account the public's attitudes regarding PPBs and what would influence their use of PPBs. The survey findings will be used to develop a new educational plan for the West Nile Virus Surveillance and Control Program of Delaware County. We sought to determine if knowledge and concern about one's personal risk of contracting WNV were driving forces in one's use of PPBs and support of pesticide use. Results: The sample population was highly informed on WNV and used many PPBs. Knowledge of WNV and concern about contracting WNV were not significant predictors of PPB use or pesticide support. However, odds ratios indicate an increased odds of being in the high PPB group with increasing knowledge. Knowing someone who has or has had WNV was a factor in PPB use, although the outcome of WNV infection is rarely reported. Older age predicted greater PPB use while higher education predicted a lack of support for pesticide use. Conclusion: Future surveys of the public knowledge will need to reach a more diverse population than that of the current study. It appears that many people are using PPBs despite not believing in their efficacy at preventing mosquito bites and WNV. Future studies should seek to identify what is motivating people to use these PPBs, besides knowledge of WNV and concern for their health. / Public Health

Infection with Human papillomaviruses has been suggested to play an important role in the etiology of a number of human malignancies. The most investigated of HPVs is HPV-16. Infection with HPV-16, in association with other unknown factors, is implicated in the development of cervical cancer. Genetic analysis of HPVs has been hampered by the lack of an in vitro system in which the complete replicative cycle and the transcription of the various genes is possible. Replication and transcription of HPVs seem to be in part regulated by cellular factors expressed at different stages in the maturation of epithelial cells which constitute the normal hosts of those viruses. This study was primarily designed to address this difficulty. HPV-16 genome was introduced into a viral system, HSV-1, hoping that virally encoded factors can substitute for cellular factors required for the expression of HPV genes. This hypothesis was tested by analyzing the activity of the HPV-16 early promoter P₉₇ , in the constructed recombinant, in cells which are unsusceptible to infection with HPV-16. In Vero cells infected with the recombinant, P₉₇ was shown to be active. This suggests that HSV-1 encoded factors can influence transcription from endogenous papilloma promoters. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

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