Digital Commons Network^™

Forest Schools, Ecofeminism, The Gender Binary, And Androcentrism, Jana Elizabeth Schwai

Theses and Dissertations

Gender in forest schools is a topic that should be at the forefront of discussion when creating a forest school, its pedagogy, curriculum, and principles. Gender is a large part of who we are as humans and having teachers aware of its complexities, presentation, and presence in the forest school setting is imperative. This study consists of interviews and focus group data collected at a midwest United States public forest preschool and an eastern United States private forest preschool. The teachers at these schools were cisgender, as were the students ages three through five who were observed. This paper analyzes …

The Impact Of A Body Self-Compassion Program On Body Image And Experiences Of Exercise, Gretchen Paulson

Theses and Dissertations

Body image concerns are a prevalent and pervasive issue among young adult women and are associated with a host of physical and psychological consequences including disordered eating, depression, and anxiety. Body image concerns play a role in physical activity and exercise behavior, where negative body image is related to lower levels of exercise engagement. Self-compassion is a way of relating to oneself with kindness and understanding, particularly in the presence of suffering or feelings of inadequacy. Self-compassion consists of three interrelated components: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness, and has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing body image concerns, while fostering positive body …

The Effects Of Task Complexity On Knee Mechanics And Joint Coordination Variability During A Side-Step Cutting Task, Carter Michael Schmitz

Theses and Dissertations

Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a very common and debilitating injury suffered by athletes of all ages, genders, and abilities. Practitioners attempt to minimize risks by implementing ACL prevention programs designed to physically prepare athletes for the demands of sport, however, the success of these programs is very inconsistent. The majority of past ACL prevention programs prioritize constrained run and cut activities, the removal of motor variability - attempting to “idealize” mechanics - and limited task complexity. Due to the inherent complexities that exist within sport, it is possible that more task complexity and motor variability is …

Estimating Energy Cost Of Physical Activities From Video Using 3d-Cnn Networks, Pragya Shrestha Chansi

Theses and Dissertations

This research proposes a machine learning model that can estimate the energy cost of physical activities from video input. Currently, wearable sensors are commonly used for this purpose, but they have limitations in terms of practicality and accuracy. A deep learning model using three dimensional convolutional neural network (3D-CNN) architecture was used to process the video data and predict the energy cost in terms of metabolic equivalents (METs). The proposed model was evaluated on a dataset of physical activity videos and achieved an average accuracy of 71% on energy category prediction task and an root mean squared error (RMSE) of …

Does State Of Mind Predict Prototype-Based Category Learning In Older Adults?, Kana Kimura

Theses and Dissertations

Category learning plays an important role in day-to-day lives across all ages, allowing us to organize related experiences, develop expectations, and determine how we behave given those expectations. Despite its importance, the current body of literature on category learning in older adults is much smaller than that of other memory domains. Thus, little is known about how well older adults learn new concepts and what factors best promote learning novel categories. One factor that may affect category learning abilities is an individual’s state of mind. A number of studies demonstrate the effects of sleep, stress, affect, and motivation on cognition, …

Can Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate Serve As A Feed Ingredient For Feeding Juvenile Yellow Perch (Perca Flavescens)?, William J. Sullivan

Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated the potential of alfalfa nutrient concentrate (ANC) used in feed for yellow perch. We assessed the quality of ANC based on pellet functionality, digestibility, and growth performance of perch fed with diets including various levels of ANC (0-20 g/100 g diet) to replace fishmeal protein in a control diet based on a 9-week feeding with three replications per diet. Pellet bulk density, durability, water stability, and oil retention capacity increased with fishmeal replacement. Growth rate, feed conversion ratio, satiation feed intake, and protein retention were similar for fish fed different diets (P>0.05). Fish fed ANC-20 had …

The Effects Of Cheerleading Surfaces On Landing Characteristics During Vertical And Flip Landings, Anthony Vu Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

Lateral ankle sprains are common injuries in cheerleading and typically occurring during tumbling. The landing surface can impact injury risk by modulating loading parameters and risky joint positions. Most surface-landing studies have used vertical landing tasks to study acrobatic populations, and few studies have compared vertical and flipping tasks. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two cheerleading surfaces between vertical drop landing and flip landing tasks. Doing so explained surface characteristic influences on landing and the validity of using vertical landing tasks to represent acrobatic sports. Twelve collegiate cheerleaders (7 females, 5 males; age: …

Tales From The Tooth Worm: Reconstruction Of The Historic Oral Microbiome At The Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery, Ashley Brennaman

Theses and Dissertations

Paleomicrobiological investigations of the human oral microbiome have primarily focused on samples of ancient origin, while fewer targeted studies of younger archaeological samples from the historic era have been conducted. However, the study of archaeological samples from the recent past, particularly the nineteenth century, can yield pertinent insights into the shifting temporal patterns of oral microbial diversity. For example, the sugar-rich diet associated with the Industrial Revolution of the mid-nineteenth century caused a shift in the composition of the oral microbiome towards a pathogenic state. Recent research has also demonstrated that the oral microbiomes derived from samples of modern and …

Development Of An Assessment Of Recovery Activities For Athletes, Carly Wahl

Theses and Dissertations

To optimize the performance and health of elite athletes, there has been an increase in the development of athlete monitoring systems to measure if athletes perceive themselves to be adequately recovered (i.e., counterbalancing the effects of stressors after a demanding activity). While these monitoring systems have been instrumental in describing athlete recovery states, little research has been conducted to establish why and how athletes engage in recovery behaviors or to identify barriers that prevent athletes from initiating the recovery process. As such, the purpose of the current study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of an assessment that …

Interactions Among Sex, Apolipoprotein E Genotype, And 17-Beta Estradiol In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Lisa Taxier

Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, yet its cause remains a mystery and no truly effective treatments exist. The high incidence of AD, coupled with its devastating health and economic impacts, highlight the urgent need for continued research into the etiology of this disease (Ernst & Hay, 1994; Rice et al., 1993). Although existing and efficacious treatments for AD are lacking, several risk factors for AD have been identified. One such factor is apolipoprotein E genotype, which is the greatest genetic risk factor for AD (Ertekin-Taner, 2007; van der Flier et al., 2011). Another factor is …

The Use Of A Biopsychosocial Framework In Evaluating And Treating Patellofemoral Pain, Jennifer Thorpe

Theses and Dissertations

Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is a chronic pain condition of the knee that afflicts approximately 25% of the population, and may lead to long-term complaints of pain and dysfunction. In the current literature, PFP is primarily studied using the framework of the pathomechanical model of biomechanical and muscular factors that increase patellofemoral joint loading. However, PFP may be better understood examining it through the Biopsychosocial Model of Sport Injury Rehabilitation (Brewer et al., 2002) as a conceptual framework to explore how injury characteristics, sociodemographic factors, and intermediate biopsychosocial outcomes may impact a patient’s perceptions of pain and function. These relationships may …

Effect Of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage On Brain Functional Connectivity And Structural Properties In Trauma-Exposed Adults, Elisabeth Kathleen Webb

Theses and Dissertations

Though there has been substantial progress towards understanding brain-behavior relationships and characterizing the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, research has not translated as expected into novel prevention and treatment of mental health conditions. One limitation may be the emphasis on individual-level variables (e.g., income) and omission of relevant area-level factors (e.g., neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage). Recently, attention has been directed towards identifying the biological mechanisms by which neighborhoods impact mental health. The chronic stress associated with living in a disadvantaged neighborhood promotes a cascade of maladaptive events, which in turn impact brain structure and functioning. The processes affected by chronic neighborhood stressors …

Resting State Functional Connectivity In The Default Mode Network: Relationships Between Cannabis Use, Gender, And Cognition In Adolescents And Young Adults, Megan Ritchay

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance in the United States, and nearly 1 in 4 young adults are current cannabis users. The psychoactive component of cannabis, THC, is active at cannabinoid receptors, type 1, or CB1 receptors. CB1 receptors play a critical role in neural development, and chronic cannabis use causes desensitization and downregulation of these receptors. Chronic cannabis use is associated with changes in resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) in the default mode network (DMN) in adolescents and young adults, although results are somewhat inconsistent across studies, likely due to differing methodologies. Additionally, cannabis effects appear …

Longitudinal Changes In Resting-State Functional Connectivity Of The Salience Network Among Individuals At-Risk For Ptsd Development, Kyrie Sellnow

Theses and Dissertations

Predicting post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a traumatic event has been a focus of recent neuroimaging research in the hopes of identifying key biomarkers that contribute to the disorder’s development. One possibility relies on understanding the connectivity between intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs), including the salience network (SN). Prior research has consistently identified hyperconnectivity among SN regions among those with chronic PTSD, and this study aimed to examine the role of SN connectivity over time on PTSD symptom development. To do so, this study recruited individuals presenting to the Emergency Department with traumatic injuries to complete two resting-state fMRI scans: one …

Neural Correlates Underlying The Interactions Between Anxiety And Cannabis Use In Predicting Motor Response Inhibition, Richard Ward

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to effectively withhold an inappropriate response is a critical feature of cognitive control. Prior research indicates alterations in neural processes required for motor response inhibition in anxious individuals, including those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and those who engage in regular cannabis use. However, thus far most research has examined how anxiety-related symptoms and cannabis use influence response inhibition in isolation of one another. The current study examined the interactions between anxious symptomology and recent cannabis use in a sample that recently experienced a traumatic event using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the completion of a Stop-Signal …

Functional Responding To Appetitive Faces Among Cannabis-Using Adolescents And Young Adults, Ryan Michael Sullivan

Theses and Dissertations

Cannabis use is associated with attenuated reward signaling, yet few studies have examined this relationship when viewing rewarding appetitive faces while undergoing functional neuroimaging. Furthermore, few neuroimaging analyses have examined the moderating role of gender on task-based fMRI outcomes. This study explored functional BOLD response elicited by appetitive faces while engaged in an affective go/no-go task, and specifically investigated the differences between cannabis-using and control groups, whether gender moderate findings, and brain-behavior associations. Participants (ages 16-26 years) were scanned after at least 3-weeks of monitored abstinence (cannabis-using group = 35; control group = 33). The findings demonstrated aberrant activation in …

Predicting Factors Of Re-Hospitalization After Medically Managed Intensive Inpatient Services In Opioid Use Disorder, Brian Kay

Theses and Dissertations

IntroductionOpioid use disorder has continued to rise in prevalence across the United States, with an estimated 2.5 million Americans ailing from the condition (NIDA, 2020). Medically managed detoxification incurs substantial costs and, when used independently, may not be effective in preventing relapse (Kosten & Baxter, 2019). While numerous studies have focused on predicting the factors of developing opioid use disorder, few have identified predictors of readmission to medically managed withdrawal at an inpatient level of care. Utilizing a high-fidelity dataset from a large multi-site behavioral health hospital, these predictors are explored.

MethodsPatients diagnosed with Opioid Use Disorder and hospitalized in …

The Impact Of Task Load On Neural Entrainment To Attended Speech: A Dual-Task Magnetoencephalography (Meg) Paradigm, Michelle Tamar Kassel

Theses and Dissertations

Speech comprehension in a noisy environment requires active cognitive control mechanisms to select the relevant speech signal while filtering out irrelevant distractions. When processing speech in a multitask scenario, neural resources underlying cognitive control are considerably burdened and interfering information becomes more difficult to ignore. The present study utilized magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate the impact of multitasking on selective attention to speech. Twenty healthy adults performed a multitask paradigm with varying levels of both competing auditory distraction and concurrent visual working memory load. While increased visual working memory load was associated with reduced selective attention to speech in both the …

The Association Of Aerobic Fitness With Resting State Functional Connectivity And Verbal Learning And Memory In Healthy Young Adults, Kyle Joseph Jennette

Theses and Dissertations

The beneficial effects of exercise and cardiopulmonary fitness on general health, quality of life, and reduction of mortality are well known in older adults. There is evidence to support the positive effects of exercise and aerobic fitness on psychiatric and neurocognitive function in children, adults, and older adults. Indeed, many studies have explored the positive effects of aerobic fitness on slowing cognitive decline associated with normal and pathological aging. However, comparatively fewer empirical studies in the literature exist to support and understand the effects of aerobic fitness on the developing brain, particularly during adolescence and young adulthood, especially as it …

Shaped By The Environment: The Influence Of Childhood Trauma Exposure, Individual Socioeconomic Position, And Neighborhood Disadvantage On Brain Morphology, Elisabeth Kathleen Webb

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between an individual’s socioeconomic position (SEP) and their overall physical and mental health has been well demonstrated. Far less is known about how area-level factors, such as neighborhood disadvantage, “get under the skin”. Previous research indicates lower SEP and childhood trauma negatively effects brain structure and function. The hippocampus, amygdala, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) are particularly vulnerable to adversity. The current study investigated how individual SEP, childhood trauma, and neighborhood disadvantage impact these structures. Two-hundred and fifteen individuals were recruited from an Emergency Department in southeastern Wisconsin. Two-weeks post-traumatic injury, participants completed a structural magnetic resonance imaging …

Neural Substrates Of Active Avoidance And Its Impact On Fear Extinction, Elizabeth Parisi

Theses and Dissertations

Models of anxiety suggest that avoidance of a conditioned fear stimulus prevents new safety learning, thereby serving to maintain fear. However, there is little empirical data in humans on the impact of avoidance of conditioned fear stimuli on subsequent fear extinction. In the present study I investigated the effect of avoidance of threat on neural activity during avoidance/control and a subsequent extinction phase using ultra high-resolution (7T) fMRI. Results indicated that active avoidance was associated with increased activity in regions involved in reward prediction, but this did not differentiate active avoidance from an active control condition. Neural activation during the …

Practical Problems And Moral Discourses: An Ethnography Of Breastfeeding, Tara Ann Gallagher

Theses and Dissertations

Universal and bioactive, breastfeeding is a burgeoning biocultural topic because it incorporates biological and social determinants of human behavior. The topic has amassed media attention framed as part of a bigger imagining of motherhood as an idealized state directed at the female body’s performance. This paper questions media and public policy’s role in the dissemination of culture and the symbolic value of breastmilk. This study examines breastfeeding discourses through the lens of an American, mostly white, Midwestern middle-class social structure. Using participant observation data of two postpartum support groups and semi-structured interviews with six primiparous mothers, my data suggests that …

Prehistoric Humans And Elk (Cervus Canadensis) In The Western Great Lakes: A Zooarchaeological Perspective, Rebekah Ann Ernat

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the relationship between humans and elk (Cervus canadensis) in the western Great Lakes region from prehistoric through early historic times, with a focus on Wisconsin archaeological sites. It takes a social zooarchaeological perspective, drawing from archaeological, ecological, biological, historical, and ethnographic sources. I also use optimal foraging theory to examine subsistence-related decisions. Based on my review of 34 Wisconsin archaeological sites or site components, elk diminished in relative dietary importance in prehistoric times as subsistence strategies shifted. The use of their bones, especially scapulae and antlers, in tool production increased. Other roles, as markers of group and …

Sexual Dimorphism And The Shape Of The Proximal Tibia In A Radiographic Sample, Emily Eiseman

Theses and Dissertations

SEXUAL DIMORPHISM AND THE SHAPE OF THE PROXIMAL TIBIA IN A RADIOGRAPHIC SAMPLE

This study investigates the use of radiographs to determine sexual dimorphism in the shape of the tibia. The goal of the research was to identify a small set of markers that would allow researchers to efficiently and accurately determine a person’s sex from a radiograph of the proximal tibia.

The sample consisted of radiographs including 75 females and 46 males ranging in age from 21 to 81. Measurements were taken on 27 points around the area of the knee including the tibia, patella, and femur. The measurements …

Cannabis-Using Youth Demonstrated Blunted Rostral Anterior Cingulate Cortex Activation, But Normal Functional Connectivity, During An Emotional Go/No-Go Task, Kristin Elizabeth Maple

Theses and Dissertations

Cannabis use has been associated with deficits in self-regulation, including inhibitory control. Cannabis users have previously exhibited both structural and functional deficits in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), a region involved in self-regulation of emotional response and inhibitory control. The present study aimed to examine whether abstinent cannabis users demonstrated abnormal functional activation and connectivity of the bilateral rACC during an emotional inhibitory processing task, and whether gender moderated these relationships. The study also aimed to examine whether bilateral rACC activation and connectivity in cannabis users was related to perceived stress. It was hypothesized that cannabis users would exhibit …

Multi-Tap Extended Kalman Filter For A Periodic Waveform With Uncertain Frequency And Waveform Shape, And Data Dropouts, Justin Saboury

Theses and Dissertations

Gait analysis presents the challenge of detecting a periodic waveform in the presence of time varying frequency, amplitude, DC offset, and waveform shape, with acquisition gaps from partial occlusions. The combination of all of these components presents a formidable challenge. The Extended Kalman Filter for this system model has six states, which makes it weakly identifiable within the standard Extended Kalman Filter network. In this work, a novel robust Extended Kalman Filter-based approach is presented and evaluated for clinical use in gait analysis. The novel aspect of the proposed method is that at each sample, the present and several past …

White Matter Integrity In Individuals At-Risk For Ptsd Development: A Longitudinal Investigation, Carissa Weis

Theses and Dissertations

Trauma exposure is prevalent and while most are resilient, some go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—an anxiety-related disorder that results from traumatic experience. The brain changes that result from traumatic experience and PTSD are not well understood. Further, little is known about what distinguishes those who are resilient after trauma from those at risk for developing PTSD. Previous work indicates white matter integrity may be a useful biomarker in predicting PTSD and researchers have found changes in the integrity of three white matter tracts—the cingulum bundle, corpus callosum (CC), and uncinate fasciculus (UF)—in the aftermath of trauma. However, …

White Matter Integrity In Individuals At-Risk For Ptsd Development: A Longitudinal Investigation, Carissa Weis

Theses and Dissertations

Trauma exposure is prevalent and while most are resilient, some go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—an anxiety-related disorder that results from traumatic experience. The brain changes that result from traumatic experience and PTSD are not well understood. Further, little is known about what distinguishes those who are resilient after trauma from those at risk for developing PTSD. Previous work indicates white matter integrity may be a useful biomarker in predicting PTSD and researchers have found changes in the integrity of three white matter tracts—the cingulum bundle, corpus callosum (CC), and uncinate fasciculus (UF)—in the aftermath of trauma. However, …

Do Stand-Biased Desks In The Classroom Change School-Time Activity And Sedentary Behavior?, Ann M. Swartz, Nathan Tokarek, Krista M. Lisdahl, Hotaka Maeda, Scott J. Strath, Chi C. Cho

Kinesiology Faculty Articles

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of stand-biased desks on the physical activity and sedentary behavior of third, fourth and sixth grade students across the school year. Methods: This within classroom crossover design study used teacher-determined allocation for seating within each classroom. Half of the students used a stand-biased desk and half used a sitting desk. Five-day hip-worn accelerometer assessments were completed at baseline and at the end of each nine-week intervention period. A mixed effects model was used to determine the differences in the percentage of time spent active and sedentary. Results: A …

Investigating The Hip And Trunk Kinematic And Strength Differences Between Those With A History Of Exertional Medial Tibial Pain And Healthy Controls, Allison Hocking

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Exertional medial tibial pain (EMTP) has been shown to be one of the leading injuries in females who have weakened hip strength. Increased trunk and hip kinematic excursion and decreased hip external rotation and hip abductor strength are related to injury in the athletic population but there is a lack of research in the role of hip strength in the development of exertional medial tibial pain in competitive female runners. Purpose: Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate differences in hip strength, hip kinematics, and trunk kinematics between those with a previous history of exertional medial tibial …