Digital Commons Network^™

Weekly One-Day Water-Only Fasting Interventional Trial For Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Reduction (Wonderful), Ciera Lynn Bartholomew

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Fasting has been promoted as a method of preventing disease and aging for thousands of years. With heart disease being a leading cause of death in the U.S., researchers have explored the effects of fasting on variables that influence cardiovascular disease (CVD), like LDL cholesterol. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the effects of weekly water-only fasting on LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) in men and women with metabolic risk factors for CVD. Methods: This study was a randomized control trial in adult men and women. Participants were randomized to fasting (treatment) or normal diet (control). The fasting …

Prehabilitation Prior To Cabg, Casey Bunker, Neil Peterson

Student Works

Background and Purpose: Globally, coronary artery disease (CAD) affects 126.5 million adults. To decrease mortality, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgeries are often performed. CABGs have inherent risks such as financial burden, physical complication, and emotional stress. Cardiac rehabilitation programs help decrease complications postoperatively. However, few interventions are performed preoperatively. Prehabilitation (prehab) programs have been created to address this gap in other types of surgeries. Prehab is the purposeful implementation of physical activity before a procedure to improve perioperative outcomes. Prehab prior to CABG has not been well studied previously. Furthermore, it is unknown if families should support a sedentary …

"I Understand, Honey": Perceived Spousal Empathy's Moderating Influence On The Links Between Depression And Marital Satisfaction And Marital Satisfaction And Physical Health, F. Javier Celestino

Theses and Dissertations

An adapted version of the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation model was used as a theoretical guide for this study, which proposes that adaptive processes exist and can moderate relationships between enduring vulnerabilities and different outcomes. Relationships of interest include the negative link between depression and marital satisfaction and the positive link between marital satisfaction and physical health. An adaptive process of interest is empathy, due to its well-researched positive impact on mental, relational, and physical health. This study examined whether perceived spousal empathy (i.e., the empathy perceived by one spouse coming from their spouse) had any moderating effects on the previously mentioned links. …

Thucydides' Plague, A Narrative Aggressor, Masen J. Williamson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis expands upon the notion that Thucydides’ plague narrative in his History of the Peloponnesian War punctuates his argument for the unique greatness of the Peloponnesian War. Through the plague, Thucydides displays the collapse of Greek society’s standards and practices. He does this by describing a plague which does not conform to 5th century BCE Greek medical ideas. Balance, human art, and divine intervention all fail in their attempts to restore the health of the individual and society. Thucydides portrays the plague as a narrative aggressor whose intent is to topple Athens and its ideals. Lucretius’ plague narrative, because …

Empathic Listening Processes In Couple Therapy: A Task Analysis Of Effective Interventions By Therapists In Training, Samuel Ryland

Theses and Dissertations

Listening is a fundamental and deceptively complicated component of talk therapy that has received very little specific research attention. The work of Carl Rogers and others promotes the importance of empathic listening to create safety and process client experiences, and several models identify its importance in processing and regulating client emotions (especially in couple therapy, where empathic listening can disrupt rigid conflict cycles and model coregulation skills). Much of the dysregulation and resistance we see in therapy may be related to a perceived lack of safety caused by persistent conflict or previous trauma, explained by the unconscious processes of the …

Let's Talk! An Investigation Of Parent-Child Conversations About Self-Conscious Emotions, Alexandra Marie Cooper

Theses and Dissertations

Parents play an important role in socializing children's emotion understanding. Previous research on parents' conversations with their children shows that parents emphasize different aspects of emotion contexts depending on the emotion depicted. However, there is limited research on how parents and children discuss self-conscious emotions, such as embarrassment, guilt, and shame. The current study explored the socialization of self-conscious emotions in parent-child conversations during a storybook task. One hundred and sixty-six children between the ages of 24 and 36 months were observed reading a storybook with their parent. Analyses of parent-child conversations revealed that while parent and child utterances were …

Light And Truth: Measuring Unseen Harm In Individuals And Communities, Hannah Pfost

Undergraduate Honors Theses

While the fields of physics and international development may seem disparate, the insights gained from studying each one of them can improve understanding of the other. Here, I demonstrate that concept as applied to computational optics and historical memory. Thus, the purpose of this project is threefold: (1) to computationally model light transport through tissue, and use that model to inform choices about a physical system; (2) to determine the types of historical memory recommended in the final reports of truth commissions; and (3) to give evidence for the usefulness of human-centered design in both areas. To model light transport, …

The Relationship Between Hip Mobility And Performance On The Functional Movement Screen In Apparently Healthy Older Adults: A Preliminary Study, Kimberly Jaye Lindstrom

Theses and Dissertations

Limited or asymmetrical hip mobility can affect movement patterns common to everyday living. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between hip mobility and performance on the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) in apparently healthy older adults. This relationship was evaluated in both males and females. In this observational study, 20 older adults (10 male, 10 female, mean age = 65.65 ± 10.18 years old) completed the Functional Movement Screen and measurements of passive hip range of motion. Separate regression analyses and Pearson Product-Moment Correlations were used to evaluate the relationship between hip mobility measures and FMS composite …

A Survey Of Compound Heterozygous Variants In Pediatric Cancers And Structural Birth Defects, Dustin B. Miller, Stephen R. Piccolo

Faculty Publications

Compound heterozygous (CH) variants occur when two recessive alleles are inherited and the variants are located at different loci within the same gene in a given individual. CH variants are important contributors to many different types of recessively inherited diseases. However, many studies overlook CH variants because identification of this type of variant requires knowing the parent of origin for each nucleotide. Using computational methods, haplotypes can be inferred using a process called “phasing,” which estimates the chromosomal origin of most nucleotides. In this paper, we used germline, phased, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data to identify CH variants across seven pediatric …

Censorship And The Satanic Verses: Policing Blasphemy In A Secular World, Alixa Brobbey

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Free speech is currently a hotly debated topic in the world of arts. This thesis traces the history and abolition of blasphemy law in England in light of its relationship with censorship in English literature. I examine the Rushdie Affair and its legacy, particularly in comparison to the Gay News trial. Building on previous scholarship, I examine the arguments that hate speech laws serve as a replacement for blasphemy law. I conclude with the suggestion that hate speech laws be amended to include a clause specifying that works of artistic merit cannot be prosecuted under such laws, mirroring the language …

Mothers Without Borders Program Evaluation: Establishing Effective Program Evaluation To Assess Holistic Orphan Care Initiatives In Zambia, Alyssa Baer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper uses an interdisciplinary approach—combining theories and methodologies from the Social Impact and Public Health disciplines—to design an evaluation of Mothers Without Borders’ (MWB) programs in Lusaka, Zambia. Their programs aim to support communities as they care for children in crisis living in their communities—with a focus on communities with large populations of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This paper provides an overview of the orphan crisis, international orphan care standards, and evaluation practices in order to understand and design an effective evaluation plan for the organization. This project aims to provide …

Is Thinness Truly Next To Godliness?: Examining Moral Judgements Against Women With Larger Bodies In A Latter-Day Saint Population, Sydney Rasmussen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Weight stigma exists in many ways within our society, though how exactly it manifests in a religious context has not been well-researched. This study investigates the relationship between female body size and perceived morality among college-age Latter-day Saints. 260 Latter-day Saint BYU students between the ages of 18 and 30 were randomly assigned one of two surveys: one featuring the image of a larger-bodied woman and the other featuring the image of a smaller-bodied woman—both being similar in complexion and dress. The survey asked participants various questions regarding their assigned woman’s moral character, with items adapted from the Ethical Behavior …

Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine (Pinus Aristata) Is A Confirmed Host To Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus Ponderosae), Barbara J. Bentz, E. Matthew Hansen, James C. Vandygriff, S. Sky Stephens, David Soderberg

Western North American Naturalist

Mountain pine beetle (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) is a native bark beetle that reproduces in pine (Pinus) species across western North America. High population levels can result in widespread host tree mortality. Over the past 2 decades, MPB has been responsible for pine mortality across millions of forested hectares in the western United States. Although a majority of the pine species found in the western United States are considered hosts to MPB, the host status of Rocky Mountain (RM) bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) is unclear. We surveyed stands across the range of RM bristlecone pine …

How Does External Referencing Define Sense Of Self And Link To Relational Well-Being?, Amber A. Price

Theses and Dissertations

As individuals develop, it is natural to reference social situations to learn about the self. Even as adults, some learning about the self comes from interactions with others. However, when adults consistently allow others to define their sense of self, their focus may shift away from connection and intimacy toward external factors. No studies have examined how allowing others to define the sense of self is associated with intimacy and satisfaction in relationships. Using structural equation modeling, this study examined whether allowing others to define the self is associated with a decrease in emotional intimacy, relational satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction …

Effects Of Actual And Perceived Air Pollution On U.S. Twitter Sentiment, George R. Garcia Iii

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Objective

This study examines the associations between actual and perceived air pollution (PM_2.5, AQI, and ground visibility), weather information, and expressed sentiment via US Twitter. Heterogeneity in the associations across date and county characteristics are also explored.

Methods

A sentiment index was constructed using 27,827,828 geotagged U.S. tweets posted between May 31 and November 30, 2015. Associations between AQI category changes and the sentiment index were estimated using multi-cutoff regression discontinuity models. Associations between same-day and lagged PM_2.5, ground visibility, and the sentiment index were estimated using weighted linear regression models. Models include weather variables and …

How Has Covid-19 Changed Consumer Participation In Value Co-Creation?, Katelynne Hinckley

Student Works

This research documents value co-creative interactions between firms and consumers during the Covid-19 pandemic. I offer insights based on theory to explain how and why consumers are changing, especially in relation to service industries. The context of Covid-19 demands that both companies and consumers adapt by shouldering a greater burden of the value creation process in order to create value that is at least comparable to and, at most, exceeding that of pre-pandemic times. The extent to which a consumer or a firm becomes a greater participant than before is highly dependent on the industry and Covid-19 restrictions. While many …

Engineering Cell-Free Protein Expression Systems For Biotherapeutics And Biosensing, John Porter Hunt

Theses and Dissertations

Therapeutic proteins have become a cornerstone of modern medicine since the FDA approval of recombinant human insulin in 1982. Likewise, biosensors transform chemical detection and disease diagnostics by identifying biomarkers, chemical contaminants, and infective agents. Long-standing methods for creating therapeutics and biosensors employ whole cells such as Escherichia coli (E. coli). Alternatively, cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) employs the enzymatic reactions necessary for protein production and biosensing within a cell, but in an engineered reactor environment facilitating unprecedented access to and control over biochemical machinery, preservation by cryodesiccation for portable deployment, and functionality in cytotoxic applications. This dissertation reports advances in …

Milk-Fat Intake And Differences In Abdominal Adiposity And Bmi: Evidence Based On 13,544 Randomly Selected Adults, Klarissa Rae Wilkinson

Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between milk-fat intake and obesity, particularly abdominal obesity, in 13,544 U.S. adults. A secondary objective was to determine the extent to which the association was influenced by multiple potential confounding variables. This cross-sectional study used data from the 2011–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Level of milk-fat content regularly consumed was the exposure variable. Body mass index (BMI) and sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD), a measure of abdominal obesity, were the outcome variables. SAD correlates strongly with visceral fat, when measured by computed tomography, and has been shown …

Lymphocyte Proteomics For Monitoring Long Term Immune System Dynamics, Michaela Mccown

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Time dependent change in lymphocytes provides a necessary background for monitoring the development of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia from asymptomatic to malignant. Several bulk proteomics studies characterize differences between tumor cells and healthy B cells, yet the transition to symptomatic disease is not well understood. This could be shown by a longitudinal study beginning with asymptomatic patients if the rare tumor cells in early stages can be isolated from small volume blood draws and effectively characterized with few cells, such as was done here using healthy B cells to provide a baseline for such studies to discriminate routine fluctuation from pathogenic …

Connected: A Return To Ecological Awareness In Traditional And Modern Media, Jacob Reese

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis responds to the claim that traditional literary forms and narrative structures have contributed to the global climate crisis by perpetuating anthropocentric viewpoints and reinforcing the modern fixation on progress in industrial cultures. Ecocritics argue that by creating an unrealistic separation between humans and their environment in their narratives, artists are allowing the ecologies and spaces which create a cohesive world to become a mere setting for the social or psychological human drama rather than serving as an integral part of the narrative. With these criticisms in mind, this thesis provides an analysis of three pieces of traditional and …

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Psychological Distress, And Fathering Behaviors, Kevin Shafer, Scott D. Easton

Faculty Publications

Objective

This study examines the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), internalized and externalized psychological distress, and six measures of parenting behavior among fathers in the United States.

Background

Prior research on ACEs and parenting has focused almost exclusively on mothers, specific types of childhood adversity, and the intergenerational transmission of abuse, neglect, and other traumatic experiences. This study extends the literature by considering ACEs in fathers, using a multidimensional measure of ACEs, and multiple measures of positive and negative fathering behavior.

Method

Using the ecological model of father involvement, this study is based on a national sample of more …

Finances, Depressive Symptoms, Destructive Conflict, And Coparenting Among Lower-Income, Unmarried Couples: A Two-Wave, Cross-Lagged Analysis, Melissa A. Curran, Xiaomin Li, Melissa Barnett, Olena Kopstynska, Alexa B. Chandler, Ashley B. Lebaron

Faculty Publications

Following from an adapted family stress model (FSM), we used two-wave, secondary data from the Building Strong Families project, focusing on 4,424 primarily lower-income, unmarried couples expecting their first child together. We used cross-lagged analyses to test the directionality of the associations among financial difficulties, depressive symptoms, destructive interparental conflict, and coparenting alliance for both fathers and mothers when children were 15 and 36 months old. Two of the three hypotheses provided support for the FSM. First, destructive conflict predicted coparenting alliance (but not the reverse). Specifically, higher destructive conflict at 15 months for both fathers and mothers predicted lower …

Report On Japanese-Language Manga Magazine Survey 2020, Victoria Rahbar

Journal of East Asian Libraries

The North American manga boom occurred in the early 2000s, but the anime and manga studies boom is occurring now as fans grow up and design their research based on childhoods complete with idols, magical girls, ninjas, and superheroes. Japanese-language manga magazines are one text utilized by these fans turned anime and manga studies researchers, and yet there has been no documentation prior on where patrons are able to access these magazines in North America. Thus, the Japanese-language manga magazine survey was primarily developed to document the availability of Japanese-language manga magazines at North American East Asian academic libraries with …

Jeal 172 Full Issue

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

From The President, Hana Kim

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

Council On East Asian Libraries Statistics 2019-2020 For North American Institutions, Vickie Fu Doll, Wen-Ling Liu

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

Documenting And Mapping Covid-19 Responses By Ceal Libraries, Ryuta Komaki

Journal of East Asian Libraries

This paper presents an ongoing project to collect as-it-happens data on CEAL libraries’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and discusses the information collected so far. The author collected website and social network site postings of CEAL libraries (n=43), which were posted from March to mid-September, 2020, and analyzed them using visualization tools. In the period of initial responses in March, most CEAL libraries suspended in-person reference services and circulation of print holdings, and closed their physical locations to patrons. Access to print books restarted in some libraries during the spring semester/quarter, while other services remained relatively unchanged. Print collections became …

Ladylike In The Extreme: The Propogandism Of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Britain's "African Princess", Megan Orr

Student Works

While visiting an African kingdom in 1851, British naval captain Frederick Forbes rescued a five year-old girl from a sacrificial ritual, brought her to England, and presented the girl to Queen Victoria. Her Majesty was taken with the girl and made her a ward of the Crown. Christened Sarah Forbes Bonetta, she was raised in the public eye and bestowed the endearing moniker of “Britain’s African Princess”. A seemingly heartwarming tale, Bonetta’s life played out as an experiment that became Victorian Britain’s ultimate propaganda. Her African history, distinct features, and intelligence were ubiquitously highlighted. This living testament to the “civilizing” …

The Roles Of Identity Formation And Moral Identity In College Student Mental Health, Health-Risk Behaviors, And Psychological Well-Being, Sam A. Hardy, Stephen W. Francis, Byron L. Zamboanga, Su Yeong Kim, Spencer G. Anderson, Larry F. Forthun

Faculty Publications

Objectives: This study examined the roles of identity formation and moral identity in predicting college student mental health (anxiety and depressive symptoms), health-risk behaviors (hazardous alcohol use and sexual risk taking), and psychological well-being (self-esteem and meaning).

Method: The sample comprised 9,500 college students (aged 18–25 years, mean = 19.78, standard deviation = 1.61: 73% female; 62% European American), from 31 different universities, who completed an online self-report survey. Results: Structural equation models found that identity maturity (commitment making and identity synthesis) predicted 5 of the health outcomes (except sexual risk taking), and moral identity predicted ail of the health …

Religiousness And Levels Of Hazardous Alcohol Use: A Latent Profile Analysis, Peter J. Jankowski, Sam A. Hardy, Byron L. Zamboanga, Lindsay S. Ham, Seth J. Schwartz, Su Yeong Kim, Larry F. Forthun, Melina M. Bersamin, Roxanne A. Donovan, Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Erica A. Hurley, Miguel Ángel Cano

Faculty Publications

Prior person-centered research has consistently identified a subgroup of highly religious participants that uses significantly less alcohol when compared to the other subgroups. The construct of religious motivation is absent from existing examinations of the nuanced combinations of religiousness dimensions within persons, and alcohol expectancy valuations have yet to be included as outcome variables. Variable-centered approaches have found religious motivation and alcohol expectancy valuations to play a protective role against individuals’ hazardous alcohol use. The current study examined latent religiousness profiles and hazardous alcohol use in a large, multisite sample of ethnically diverse college students. The sample consisted of 7412 …