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Owing to the presence of muscle stem cells (MuSC), adult skeletal muscle is capable of regenerating after injury. Quiescent muscle stem cells become activated and proliferate into myoblasts which undergo myogenic differentiation to repair damaged tissue. The transcription factor (TF) Six1 is a known regulator of muscle stem cells which potentially plays a role in the early stages of MuSC activation. When bound to the appropriate cofactor, Six family transcription factors are capable of activating or repressing transcription. Previous work suggests that Six1 establishes the accessibility landscape required for the myogenic regulatory factor (MRF) MyoD to bind to DNA. It was hypothesized that Six1 recruits p300 to acetylate Histone H3 lysine 122 which then renders DNA more accessible and facilitates gene transcription. The objective of this research was to investigate the role of Six1 in regulating the epigenetic and accessibility state of DNA in myoblasts. It was found that Six1 and the histone acetyltransferase p300 coincide at many gene enhancers. In addition, Six1 knock-down is associated with reduced DNA accessibility at a large number of loci in C2C12 myoblasts and with gene downregulation. In this research, we determined that recruitment of p300 by Six1 alters chromatin accessibility and gene expression in proliferating myoblasts, providing evidence of Six1 pioneer factor activity.

Water, a fundamental human right, impacts human health through its quantity (i.e., physical amount and ability to access it) and quality. Consumption of poor-quality water can lead to a variety of waterborne illnesses, often manifested as diarrhoea. Millions of individuals worldwide lack access to drinking water that is free from contaminants and is available and accessible when needed. In areas where water is not piped to homes, several physical, demographic, socio-economic and health factors affect access to potable water. These factors may also influence which water point an individual fetches water (i.e. their waterpoint choice) from in the presence of multiple alternative waterpoints. Through this study, effects of various physical, health, demographic and socio-economic factors on waterpoint choice were explored. This study, based on datasets from a rural Maasai community in Kenya, implements a multinomial logit model to explore effects of various physical (travel time and water quality), health (aggregate frequency of self-reported diarrhoea stratified by age groups), demographic (average household age, household population, number of children under 5, number of women between 8-45 years of age and ratio of household population to number of women between 8-45) and socio-economic factors (education and income) on waterpoint choice. Travel time to the most probable waterpoint as predicted by the model was compared with the travel time to a household’s chosen waterpoint. Both travel times were calculated using the least-resistance path function incorporating slope and landcover. Results from model optimization showed that combinations of travel time, average household age, diarrhoea among adult women, income, education and number of women between 8-45 years were significant contributors to the three waterpoint choice models. The expected travel time to the most probable waterpoint predicted by these models and actual travel time to chosen waterpoint fit well, showing that the models explain waterpoint choice well. / Thesis / Master of Public Health (MPH)

Homelessness is a layered issue, not only limited to social justice, but also impacting architectural and urban planning concerns. Treated as an identity rather than a temporary condition, many cities fail to address the complex variety of external factors which contribute to homelessness. The result often being budget-driven shelters congregated in already resource deficient, low income areas. The misconception that homelessness only happens in a city's poorest areas is rooted in prejudice and functions to only further prevent the same types of developments seen in more desirable neighborhoods. With a specific socioeconomic climate and disparity in Orlando, Florida, Parramore presents itself as an opportune place to provide a central downtown sanctuary that additionally will provide greater access to necessary services for the adjacent neighborhoods. A study of queer theory and ergonomics were an integral part of the design process. The former primarily concerned with the development of queer spaces from illicit "underground" safe havens of refuge built out of a necessity to exist freely in space (a precursor to present-day DIY culture) to now transparent, integrated queer spaces existing almost indifferently to the naked eye. The emergent idea being that together, the community campus is intended as an accessible series of places, rather than a singularly defined one / Master of Architecture / Homelessness is a social issue which affects everyone. There is a long history of intolerance towards the homeless which is evidenced by discriminatory policies that prevent the homeless from existing in the public and/or stress a homeless individual's ability to access the necessary services needed to escape homelessness. Current housing assistance for the homeless are often limited by inconsistent access to services (e.g. healthcare, counseling, job assistance, etc.), traditional living arrangements, availability, accessibility, and budget-driven designs. Additionally, the social stigma around homelessness is counterproductive to a critically vulnerable group of people's recovery and re-assimilation into society. Supporting the development and design exploration of services such as permanent supportive housing is beneficial because it is a model focused on embedding users into the community through thoughtful and holistic design. (i.e. a housing assistance service which places chronically homeless individuals into market-rate apartments or similar residential dwelling; usually centrally located and/or connected to necessary services). Another important aspect of this thesis is exploring non-traditional sites for such projects as it is equally as important for city's to reassess the opportunity to renew areas lost to discriminatory planning. This thesis references various ideas, philosophies, and design strategies borrowed from similar vulnerable groups to establish connections and create a roadmap for how the architectural intervention will be developed for the specific user group and site context. It is my hope that this optimistic reimagining of lost spaces as sites for supportive housing and community can help redefine what and who homelessness is and shed light on how services could like moving forward into the future.

The accessibility of consumer products is an issue for many people with special needs. This study addresses the usability of non-single-lens reflex (NSLR) cameras for people with limited hand grip strength and finger dexterity, namely people with quadriplegia or people with arthritis. It proposes a three-phase methodology to eliminate or mitigate accessibility barriers on a consumer product. A usability test was conducted with a NSLR camera. Problems were recorded with the Critical Incident technique. Prioritization of the problems reported by the subjects show that the shutter release control and the camera grip are the two major accessibility barriers of the product. Four new camera models were developed: three with gripping aids (rubber pads, a thumbsleeve, or a handle) and one with a remote wired shutter release control. A fifth model was obtained by combining the remote shutter release control and the handle. A designed experiment was conducted with the five models and the standard camera. Performance measurements of framing tilt and camera shake were collected, as well as subjective opinions. Results indicate a recurrent difference between performances of quadriplegics and performances of other subjects. The remote shutter release control was shown to eliminate accessibility barriers. The handle also increased ease of grip and camera stability for disabled subjects. / Master of Science

Accessibility plays an important role in a number of scientific fields, and significant advances in measuring accessibility have been made over the past two decades. However, since the comprehensive review of accessibility measures conducted by Geurs and van Wee in 2004, no attempt has been made to update their study. In addition, the emergence of Automated Vehicles (AVs) is expected to dramatically impact accessibility. Therefore, based on the relevant assessment criteria proposed by Geurs and van Wee (2004) (i.e., theoretical basis, interpretability, operationalization, and usability), this research reviews: (1) progress made over the past two decades on measuring accessibility; and (2) how accessibility measures have incorporated the impacts of AVs. A total of 495 papers and books were identified through a search of Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost in May 2019. The results found that the existing accessibility measures have been further refined, and new measures have been created by leveraging more advanced behavior theories and/or models. In addition, the operationalization of almost all of the measures has become easier due to more readily available data and more advanced implementation tools. As a result of these changes, accessibility measures are becoming more usable and can more accurately assess social, economic, and environmental impacts. However, the interpretation of these measures is becoming more difficult due to the incorporation of more complicated theories and models. Interestingly, very few papers discussed AVs in the context of accessibility measures. Finally, as a result of this study, future research opportunities are identified. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning / The concept of accessibility plays an important role in a number of scientific fields (e.g., transportation planning, environmental conservation, and economic development, etc.), and a change in accessibility can have a direct impact on an individual's quality of life. Transportation accessibility is a function of the connectivity between origins (e.g., a home) and destinations (e.g., a place of employment). Significant advances in measuring accessibility have been made over the past two decades. However, since the comprehensive review of accessibility measures conducted by Geurs and van Wee in 2004, no attempt has been made to update their study. In addition, the emergence of Automated Vehicles (AVs) is expected to dramatically impact accessibility. Therefore, based on the relevant assessment criteria proposed by Geurs and van Wee (2004) (i.e., theoretical basis, interpretability, operationalization, and usability), this research reviews: (1) progress made over the past two decades on measuring accessibility; and (2) how accessibility measures have incorporated the impacts of AVs. The theoretical basis refers to whether an accessibility measure is developed based on solid theories or models, and whether the measure is sensitive to: (a) opportunity changes (e.g., changes in the location of jobs); (b) transport cost changes (e.g., travel time changes); (c) temporal changes (e.g., the change of travel options throughout different times-of-day); and (d) individual changes (e.g., how residents' travel behavior changes due to the emergence of a new subway line). Interpretability refers to how easy an accessibility measure can be explained and understood by planners, engineers, and decision makers. Operationalization refers to how easy it is to use a measure in practice. Finally, usability refers to whether the results of an accessibility measure can be used to assess social, economic, and environmental impacts. A total of 495 papers and books were identified through a search of Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost in May 2019. The results found that existing accessibility measures have been further refined, and new measures have been created by leveraging more advanced behavior theories and/or models. In addition, the operationalization of almost all of the measures has become easier due to more readily available data and more advanced implementation tools. As a result of these changes, accessibility measures are becoming more usable and can more accurately assess social, economic, and environmental impacts. However, the interpretation of these measures is becoming more difficult due to the incorporation of more complicated theories and models. Interestingly, very few papers discussed AVs in the context of accessibility measures. Finally, as a result of this study, future research opportunities are identified.

Yes / Maintenance planning for busy railway systems is challenging because there is growing pressure on increasing operation time, which reduces the infrastructure-accessible time for maintenance. This paper proposes an optimization model that is aimed at finding the best maintenance schedule for multiple components in a railway track to minimize the total cost in the planning horizon. One distinct and practical feature of the model is that the track accessible time for maintenance is limited. We formulate all relevant costs in the component's life cycle, including maintenance cost, fixed track-closure (possession) cost, social-economic cost related to the effects of maintenance time on the train operation, and service-life shortening cost due to the shifting of activities. Generally, it is beneficial to cluster and maintain several components in a single possession because this helps reduce the cost by occupying the track only once. However, the decision must depend on the available possession time. A sensitivity analysis is performed to highlight the effects of available possession time on the number of required possessions as well as the total cost incurred.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / Research suggests that web-based education increases opportunities for underserved populations to be integrated into educational activities (Schmetzke, 2001; Burgstahler, 2002; Opitz, Savenye, & Rowland, 2003). This may be true for students with disabilities because they have more flexibility to participate in formal education. However, Moisey (2004) found that people with disabilities had lower rates of enrollment and educational achievement than people without disabilities. These findings raise the question of whether or not web-based = education helps increase students with disabilities' access to learning opportunities and improve their learning outcome. This study investigated the degree of difficulty blind persons had in accessing and using web-based educational resources provided by Thailand Cyber University (TCU). Based on a mixed methods design, the data were collected in two phases. Quantitative data were collected first, in order to identify accessibility problems and conformance levels reported by automated web accessibility evaluation tools. Qualitative data was collected from interviews with blind participants in the second phase to expand the understanding of the accessibility problems and usability issues that were not discovered in the quantitative phase by the automated web accessibility evaluation tools. The findings indicate that all of the 13 selected web pages failed to meet a minimum requirement of WCAG 2.0. This means those selected web pages would be inaccessible for the blind. However, the findings indicate blind participants rated only one of the 13 pages as inaccessible. Moreover, their ratings of difficulty on "usability" were higher than their ratings of difficulty on "accessibility" on the same web page. On six out of 22 tasks, blind and sighted user groups agreed on the ratings. Nevertheless, the time that it took to complete each task varied greatly between the two user groups. / 2999-01-01