In the last several years, there has been growing worldwide interest in making streets safer for all users-pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. One approach, shared space, is a traffic calming technique as well as urban design concept. This technique strives to fully integrate the roadway into the urban fabric by removing elements such as lane markings, curbs, and traffic signs. By removing these elements and creating a more plaza-like space, these sites become ambiguous and no user group as priority. The technique is relatively new, and the majority of existing research concerns pedestrians only. This mixed methods research focused on six intersections in England with the goal of understanding how bicycle riders perceive and travel through shared space intersections. Using video observations of the six sites in three cities, three shared and three control, this project analyzed the variations in the paths cyclists rode through the intersections. Data were collected on several variables related to both the cyclists and their interactions with the site itself such as helmet use and riding through crosswalks. Path analysis required the development a new evaluative variable in order to compare individual paths by how much deviation there was in each path ridden as compared to other cyclists. Site-specific surveys addressed the perceptions, bicycling experience, demographics, and path and route preferences by cyclists at both shared space and control intersections. The analysis indicated that cyclists rode similarly through both shared and control intersections, and that a large percentage of riders preferred to ride farther from motor vehicles when given the space to do so. This project offered further insight in how to best design shared space projects for nonmotorized users by looking at the ii spatial layout and the elements that most influenced a rider's path choice. Results indicated that, in these cases, shared space was not the panacea for nonmotorized users as some literature suggests, but nonetheless appeared to be a valid form of traffic calming. This research offered further insight in how to best design shared space projects for nonmotorized users by looking at the spatial layout and the elements that most influenced a rider's path choice iii DEDICATION This is for my husband for his patience and support on this long, crazy ride. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was generously supported by a National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) Dissertation Fellowship. My thanks to my committee for encouraging me on this logistically-challenging, international adventure. I greatly appreciate all of your support as well all of the pushes I needed to keep going.

Growing evidence indicates the involvement of a genetic component for CaP susceptibility and clinical severity. Somatic mutations of TP53 have been associated with 50% of diverse human cancers. Studies have also reported the role of germ line mutations and single nucleotide poly-morphisms (SNPs) of TP53 as possible risk factors for cancer development. In this single De-partment of Defense institutional retrospective study, we identified common SNPs in the TP53 gene in AA and CA men and performed association analyses for functional TP53 SNPs with clinico-pathological features of CaP. The CPDR Oncoarray database on blood derived genomic DNA from 321 men treated by radical prostatectomy at WRNMMC were used to examine clini-co-pathological associations with TP53 SNPs. The SNP genotyping analysis on the final cohort of 308 patients (212 AA; 95 CA) identified 74 SNPs in the TP53 gene region with a minor allele fre-quency (MAF) of at least 1%. Two SNPs were non-synonymous in the exonic region of TP53: rs1800371 (Pro47Ser) and rs1042522 (Arg72Pro). The Pro47Ser variant, had a minor allele frequency of 0.01 in AA, however, was not detected in CA. Arg72Pro was the most common SNP with a minor allele frequency of 0.50 (0.41 in AA; 0.68 in CA). Additionally, Arg72Pro was associated with time to biochemical recurrence (BCR) after statistical adjustment for patient age at diagnosis, self-reported race, and Gleason score (p= 0.046; HR = 1.52). The present study demonstrated ancestral differences in allele frequencies of TP53 Arg72Pro and Pro47Ser SNPs in AA and CA CaP, providing a valuable framework for the interrogating CaP disparity among AA and CA men.

Despite the many benefits of cycling, there is still a widespread perception that riding bicycles on public roads is unsafe. There has been a substantial increase in cycling research over the past decade, but little work has explored the challenges to greater uptake of cycling from a rider-centered perspective. To explore this, our research undertook a large international survey for experienced cyclists in which rider perspectives were explored using an in-depth process called the Critical Decision Method. The results revealed a wide range of self-reported cycling experiences, and most respondents classified themselves as either strong and fearless or enthused and confident. Few actual differences with respect to threatening incidents and rider countermeasures were present, illustrating how overall similarly experienced cyclists respond to threatening incidents. An overarching summary of all survey responses is presented with respect to each gender, then a more specific case study of two riders, one female and one male, is presented showing how many emotions and fear responses were similar for the different riders, but their coping strategies and reactions were somewhat different. It is concluded that further work to explore the issue from a rider-centered perspective is needed, and that the wide variety of cyclist types implies that there is no single recommendation for encouraging greater uptake of riding.

No abstract

No abstract