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Anthropomorphism In Architecture: An Investigation Into Anthropomorphism Through Ancient Greco-Roman Religious Structures, Emily Wilcox

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper will outline and detail an investigation into religious Greco-Roman structures of antiquity through the lens of anthropomorphism. Through defining anthropomorphism, three lenses of thought have presented themselves as means of inquiry: metaphor, scale and proportion, and ergonomics. Previous research into these structures and cultures has shown that there was indeed consideration for the human body in designing in construction; this project hopes to solidify these claims and present new supporting information regarding specific relationships to the body using anthropomorphism. Many contemporary buildings approach the relationship to the human body as a mask or an afterthought, disregarding what reflecting …

Hallucinogenic Neoshamanism As Antimodernism: Development And Ethical Considerations, Ethan Thompson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Humans have been using hallucinogenic plants and fungi for thousands of years. Historically, people around the world have made use of these substances to aid in their spiritual development. Studies of the usage of hallucinogens in indigenous societies often use the term “shamanism” to characterize the associated system of belief and ritual practices. In popular understanding, shamanism is a religious system that features highly ritualized performances in which a practitioner (shaman) utilizes an altered state of consciousness to gain access to realms inhabited by spirits with the intent of recruiting their help to resolve a problem, cure a patient, correct …

Recipe Modification For Cardiovascular Health, Meg Tolbert

Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally. CVDs affect the heart and blood vessels. The most prominent CVDs are coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, and other conditions. More than four out of five CVD deaths are due to heart attacks and strokes.

The most important behavioral risk factors of heart disease and stroke are unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, but also include harmful abuse of tobacco and alcohol. These lifestyle factors display themselves as phenotypes like high blood pressure, high blood glucose and blood lipids, diabetes, and obesity. These risk factors, outside of genotype …

The Effect Of Pet Ownership And Interaction On Stress During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lucinda Prettyman

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented event in most people’s lives across the entire world. There has not been an event in recent history that has affected the globe in a similar way. This has created a unique opportunity to study the stress that this global event has caused. This exploratory study sought to examine the interplay between stress experience by participants during the COVID-19 pandemic and various aspects of pet ownership. A sample of 743 adult participants was asked to complete several self-report, online measures about their experiences with stress, pets, and interpersonal closeness during the COVID-19 pandemic. …

Wildlife Associates Of Nine-Banded Armadillo (Dasypus Novemcinctus) Burrows In Arkansas, Brett A. Degregorio, John T. Veon, Andrhea Darleen Massey

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) is a widespread burrowing species with an expanding geographic range across the southeastern and midwestern United States. Armadillos dig numerous, large burrows within their home ranges and these burrows are likely used by a diverse suite of wildlife species as has been reported for other burrowing ecosystem engineers such as Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus), Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizi), and Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). We used motion-triggered game cameras at 35 armadillo burrows in 4 ecoregions of Arkansas and documented 19 species of mammals, 4 species of …

Helping Small Businesses In Belize, Laura Hollingsworth

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper will discuss my summer internship project with Peacework in Belize. The study abroad Special Projects in Belize with Peacework was supposed to be the summer of 2019. The trip was going to be two months long and while there we were going to get paired with a community leader or a local development organization to work on a community project in Dangriga, Belize. Because of COVID-19, the trip was cancelled for the summer of 2019 and then for the summer of 2020 it was moved to virtual. The Belize team was still paired with people from the community …

Behavior And Immune Response Of Conventional And Slow-Growing Broilers To Salmonella Typhimurium, Ashlyn M. Snyder, Sean P. Riley, Cara I. Robison, Darrin M. Karcher, Carmen L. Wickware, Timothy A. Johnson, Shawna L. Weimer

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fast growth rate in broiler chickens comes with welfare concerns and the contribution of growth rate to pathogen resistance and sickness behavior is relatively unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate physiological and behavioral responses of conventional (CONV) and slow-growing (SG) male broilers challenged with Salmonella Typhimurium. CONV (n = 156) and SG (n = 156) chicks were raised in a pen with wood litter shavings until day 7 of age, when birds were transferred to 24 isolators (n = 11 chicks/isolator). On day 14 of age, half of the birds (n = 12 …

Clostridium Perfringens-Induced Necrotic Diseases: An Overview, Ying Fu, Tahrir Jatli Alenezi, Xiaolun Sun

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Clostridium perfringens, a prevalent Gram-positive bacterium, causes necrotic diseases associated with abundant life loss and economic burdens of billions of USD. The mechanism of C. perfringens-induced necrotic diseases remains largely unknown, in part, because of the lack of effective animal models and the presence of a large array of exotoxins and diverse disease manifestations from the skin and deep tissues to the gastrointestinal tract. In the light of the advancement of medical and veterinary research, a large body of knowledge is accumulating on the factors influencing C. perfringens-induced necrotic disease onset, development, and outcomes. Here, we present …

Experimental Cyclic Heat Stress On Intestinal Permeability, Bone Mineralization, Leukocyte Proportions And Meat Quality In Broiler Chickens, Alessandro Rocchi, Jared Ruff, Clay J. Maynard, Aaron J. Forga, Roberto Señas-Cuesta, Elizabeth S. Greene, Juan D. Latorre, Christine N. Vuong, Brittany D. Graham, Xochitl Hernandez-Velasco, Guillermo Tellez Jr., Victor Petrone-Garcia, Lauren Laverty, Billy Hargis, Gisela Erf, Casey M. Owens, Guillermo Tellez-Isaias

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The goal of this research was to assess cyclic heat stress on gut permeability, bone mineralization, and meat quality in chickens. Two separate trials were directed. 320 day-of-hatch Cobb 500 male chicks were randomly assigned to four thermoneutral (TN) and four cyclic heat stress (HS) chambers with two pens each, providing eight replicates per treatment in each trial (n = 20 chicks/replicate). Environmental conditions in the TN group were established to simulate commercial production settings. Heat stress chickens were exposed to cyclic HS at 35 °C for 12 h/day from days 7–42. Performance parameters, intestinal permeability, bone parameters, meat quality, …

Role Of Autophagy Machinery Dysregulation In Bacterial Chondronecrosis With Osteomyelitis, Alison Ramser, Elizabeth S. Greene, Adnan A.K. Alrubaye, Robert Wideman, Sami Dridi

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Autophagy is a cell survival and homeostasis mechanism involving lysosomal degradation of cellular components and foreign bodies. It plays a role in bone homeostasis, skeletal diseases, and bacterial infections as both a cell-survival or cell-death pathway. This study sought to determine if autophagy played a role in bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO). BCO is a prominent cause of lameness in modern broilers and results from bacterial infection of mechanically stressed leg bone growth plates. The protein and gene expression of key autophagy machinery was analyzed in both normal and BCO-affected broilers using real-time qPCR and immunoblot, respectively. Gene …

The Effects Of Metronomic And Maximum-Tolerated Dose Chemotherapy In Colorectal Cancer Angiogenesis: A Combined Approach Using Endoscopic Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy And Mrna Expression, Ariel Isaac Mundo Ortiz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Colorectal cancer (CRC) continues to be one of the most incident and deadliest types of cancer worldwide. Chemotherapy has proven effective to reduce tumor burden for CRC patients, but there are several disadvantages associated with the use of mainstay maximtolerated dose (MTD) chemotherapeutic strategies. Metronomic chemotherapy (MET) has been developed as an alternative that addresses the shortcomings of maximum-tolerated dose chemotherapy but so far its effectiveness as a neoadjuvant strategy for CRC has not been explored.

This dissertation uses a combined optics and molecular biology approach (using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and mRNA expression) to study the changes in angiogenesis and …

A Geochemical And Mineralogical Evaluation Of The Mona Lisa Turquoise Mine, Polk County, Arkansas, Alexander Arai Goodsuhm

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The presence of turquoise in Arkansas has long been disputed by geologists and gem collectors. Despite the prevalence of other phosphate minerals in Arkansas, such as planerite, wavellite, and variscite, the absence of an obvious copper (Cu) source required for turquoise formation was considered too great of an obstacle for turquoise mineralization. In this study, geologic, mineralogical, and geochemical techniques provide overwhelming evidence that the novaculite-hosted Mona Lisa Mine in Arkansas does produce turquoise. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy have confirmed the structural nature of the material and identified other phosphate minerals, such as crandallite, often found in assemblage with …

To The Window, To The Wall: Improving Environmental Monitoring Protocols, Sarah Jones

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Detecting microorganisms on environmental surfaces via an environmental monitoring (EM) program is part of a preventive food safety culture. Environmental monitoring should 1) verify that food safety plans are reducing cross-contamination risk from surfaces to food, 2) pinpoint microbial niches, and 3) prevent the transmission of pathogens. Environmental monitoring programs utilize EM tools, such as sponges, to sample food contact and non-food contact surfaces. However, EM tool selection is determined by the individual food firm. This dissertation evaluated and characterized factors influencing EM program effectiveness in the food industry. Specifically, this dissertation focuses on the release of microorganisms from EM …

Examination Of The Colorful Semantic Approach Via Telepractice For Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Samadhi Pusuba Devayalage

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Hearing loss, deafness or hard of hearing are considered to be the inabilityof perceiving sounds beyond 20 dB. Due to a direct impact of a hearing loss, a developing brain undergoes difficulties in acquiring age-appropriate syntax and speech sounds. As a result, children with hearing loss present language, speech, and literacy disabilities. The current study discusses the efficacy of the colorful semantics approach in order to see its impact on sentence structure development. Methodology: A single subject withdrawal experimental study conducted following ABAB model. Two participants (6 years and 10 years) were recruited to the study following an inclusion …

Evaluation, Characterization, And Utilization Of Weed-Suppressive Sweetpotato Cultivars For Sustainable Weed Management, Isabel Schlegel Werle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is a low-technology, subsistence crop that enhances food and nutrition security particularly in developing nations. Weed interference with the crop can reduce sweetpotato storage root yields and product quality. Current weed management practices in sweetpotato include PRE or POST herbicides application, cultivation, mowing, or handweeding. Unlike row crops, herbicide options for sweetpotato are few; therefore, alternative weed control practices are needed. The overall objective of this research was to determine the weed suppressive ability of several sweetpotato cultivars. This research also provides information about cover crop use for weed suppression in sweetpotato production in Arkansas. Field …

Introduction Of Human Acidic Fibroblast Growth Factor (Fgf1) Variant With Increased Stability And Bioactivity, Azadeh Tavousi Tabatabaei

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human acidic Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 (FGF-1) involves in a broad spectrum of biological processes, including cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, migration, angiogenesis, wound healing, and embryonic development. hFGF1 non-selectively binds to cell surface hFGF receptor isoforms to elicit these cell-signaling processes. Since hFGF1 plays a significant role in tissue repair activity, that is a prime candidate for novel wound healing therapeutics. However, hFGF1 has been found to unfold near physiological temperature due to a strong electrostatic repulsion created by a dense cluster of positively charged amino acids near the c-terminus. The problem not only leads to proteolytic degradation of the …

Examining The Effects Of Oral Contraceptive Use On Thermoregulation, Whitley C. Atkins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of combined (estradiol and progestin) monophasic oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use on thermoregulation. Further, we sought to evaluate OCP use on acute rehydration post-exercise in the heat using recommended rehydration guidelines. Methods: Twelve healthy, aerobically trained (VO2peak = 47.8 ± 4.7 mL/kg/min), long term female oral contraceptive users completed a familiarization trial and two experimental days separated by ≥ 7 days. The two experimental trials were identical except for the hormone dosing phase. One trial was completed during the third week of active pill dosing (ACT) and one during …

Optimizing Virus Prefiltration For Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing, Solomon Isu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Virus filters are single-use devices that use a size-based separation process. In virus filters, contaminating virus particles are retained while the therapeutic molecules pass through the membrane pores. Virus filters are an essential component of the overall virus clearance strategy. Sections 1 and 2 of this dissertation provide an introduction and extensive review of monoclonal antibody (mAb) process development, where virus filtration is pivotal. In section 3, prefiltration studies were performed with an industrially relevant IgG1 type mAb using adsorptive and size-exclusion-based prefilters with different mechanisms of action. This mAb has an isoelectric point range of 7.1 to 8.0 and …

Using Thermal Units To Predict Biomass Accumulation And Total Nitrogen Uptake For Cover Crops In Arkansas, Mila Victório Pessotto

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Including cover crops in agricultural production systems is an important management practice. Cover cropping can improve soil health, increase plant-available nitrogen (N), provide surface residue to prevent erosional soil loss, increase water infiltration, and increase weed suppression. Cover crops growth can be predicted using thermal days or growing degree days [GDD] similar to commodity crops such as corn (Zea mays L.) or rice (Oryza sativa). Growing degree day calculations are a well-known tool to predict crop growth stage or development stage and can be adapted for use in any plant species, including cover crops. Identifying and developing the relationship between …

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms Vary Within And Across Years At Lake Fayetteville, Arkansas, Alyssa Ferri

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The occurrence of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (HABs) and toxins are a nationwide concern. Although Lake Fayetteville likely experienced HABs for many years, microcystin, an algal toxin, was not monitored until 2019. The objectives of this study were to: 1) observe temporal variation in water quality and total microcystin concentrations, 2) quantify thresholds with microcystin and nutrients, algal parameters, and environmental factors, and 3) evaluate complex relationships between total microcystin and nutrient supplies, algal parameters, and environmental factors using a classification and regression tree model (CART). Three sites (dam, inlet, and mid) at Lake Fayetteville were sampled weekly to monthly …

Breeding Soybean [Glycine Max (L) Merr.] Under Reduced Irrigation, Francia Seconde Ravelombola

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soybean [Glycine max (L) Merr.], a legume species native to East Asia in the Fabaceae family, ranks among the most important food crops in the world. It is widely grown and known for its high protein and oil concentration. Soybean is valuable because its seeds have multiple applications in food, feed, pharmaceutical, and industrial enterprises. Even though seed yield is the most important trait, breeders have recently given a significant attention to quality traits, such as high protein or modified oil concentration. Soybean seed protein inheritance has been extensively studied; however, genetics of high-protein ‘BARC-7’ soybean are still unknown.On the …

Growth Differentiation Factor 5 Is A Paracrine Regulator Of Sarcopenic Obesity, Landen W. Saling

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sarcopenic obesity attributes to skeletal muscle loss more than sarcopenia and obesity alone. Individuals with SO suffer from the comorbidity of excess body fat and concurrent muscle mass loss due to aging. Growth differentiation factors (Gdfs) have never been recognized as playing a role in skeletal muscle maintenance in those with SO. Specifically, Gdf5, has been recognized as playing a part in Bone Morphogenic Protein signaling to activate protein synthesis and deactivate protein degradation via SMAD 1/5/8 and SMAD 4 complex. Using RNA sequencing, Gdf5 was identified as being significantly upregulated in SO mice. Purpose: To determine the cellular role …

Cyanobacterial And Microcystin Response To Nutrient Additions At Lake Fayetteville Throughout The 2021 Growing Season, Lillie Haddock

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are becoming a global concern due to their increasing distribution, frequency, intensity, and the occurrence of toxins. While it is known that eutrophication influences algal blooms, there is less known about what triggers these HABs to produce toxins, especially microcystin. In this study, we conducted 21 community bioassays at Lake Fayetteville, a hypereutrophic reservoir in Fayetteville, Arkansas, from April-November 2021 to examine how the addition of phosphorous and nitrogen influence cyanobacteria concentrations, microcystin concentrations, and microcystin toxin production. These experiments included a control, nitrogen (1.0 mg/L as KNO3), low phosphorus (0.025 mg/L as K2HPO4), high phosphorus …

Evaluation Of The Effect Of A Lippia Organoides Essential Oil Extract On Clostridium Perfringens Proliferation In Vitro And Necrotic Enteritis In Broiler Chickens, Makenly E. Coles

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present research was to assess the effects of essential oils derived from the plant Lippia organoides on performance parameters, intestinal integrity, and necrotic enteritis (NE) in broiler chickens. To do this, a previously established challenge model for NE was utilized which included challenging with Salmonella Typhimurium on day 0, Eimeria maxima on day 18, and Clostridium perfringens on days 22 and 23. Treatment groups included a 1) non-challenged, negative control, 2) challenged control, and 3) challenged, Lippia origanoides (37ppm in the diet). Group 1 (negative control) had significantly (P < 0.05) higher body weight gain from d8-25 and d0-25 compared to both challenged groups. Feed intake was significantly different for all three groups (P < 0.05) at 8-25 days and 0-25 days with group 1 having the highest feed intake for both time periods. Total mortality was greater in the positive control when compared to both the negative and treatment groups. NE lesion scores were significantly different between all groups with the positive control having the highest mean lesion scores and the negative control having a mean lesion score of 0. The positive control group had the highest FITC-d amounts detected in the sera, being statistically higher than both the treatment group and negative group which were both statistically different from each other. At the present inclusion rate for the essential oil (37 ppm), there was an overall reduction in the negative impact from the NE infection. Further studies should be conducted to reach more significant conclusions.

Memory Hunger: A Geocritical Study Of Nostalgia And The Glorification Of Paris In Works Written By Lost Generation Writers During The Interwar Period., Gabrielle Vatthanatham

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

The literary representations of Paris in the works of the Lost Generation communicate a nostalgia, longing for, and glorification of an irrecoverable past. The romanticization and abstraction of the setting of Paris in the works of the Lost Generation elucidates the emotional situations of their characters as they contemplate the nature of their existence. The abstraction of Paris liberates the city from its physical locale and demonstrates the repressional mechanisms of anchoring and sublimation outlined by existential philosopher Peter Wessel Zapffe in his essay “The Last Messiah.” In the connection of Paris with Zapffe’s existential theory, Paris becomes, for certain …

The Hot Springs Creekway & The Rediscovery Of The Water That Made Hot Springs Famous, Zane Colvin

Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Arkansas’s Hot Springs National Park was the first natural reservation in the United States and is the oldest park in the National Park System. In Hot Springs, 47 springs release almost a million gallons of potable 143° water every day - the problem is, almost all of this water is hidden from sight, funneled directly into an 1884-constructed tunnel underground, where no person (or other life) can experience it.

Hot Springs Creek should be daylighted and connected with the surrounding National Park, creating thermal 'pools' for public use, and restoring its banks to pre-settlement ecologically rich conditions. My plan to …

3d Volumetric Mapping Of Tissue Properties Via A Catheter-Scale Microendoscope Imaging System, Andrew Stark

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The study of tumor microvasculature is an important area of interest for research and clinical communities; however, there are significant limitations in the clinical characterization of the tumor microenvironment. Optical methods offer quantitative real-time measurement of tissue structure and perfusion and can be miniaturized for deployment endoscopically into previously inaccessible locations. However, conventional optical methods (i.e., optical coherence tomography, white light endoscopy, etc.) gives limited information about tissue perfusion while the diameter of various optical probes along with the complexity of scanning mechanisms make it difficult to access certain areas. In this study, a new technique for characterizing the tumor …

“Implacement”: The Importance Of Place And Community In Schooling, Emily Coady

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three chapters exploring my overarching research question: How does sense of place shape a teacher’s orientation to their profession? My first chapter empirically answers the question: Is there a relationship between place attachment and measured aspects of teacher quality? In an attempt to qualify the strength of bond between a teacher and his or her community, I adapted a place attachment instrument developed by Raymond, Brown, and Weber (2010). Each teacher is given a place attachment score informed by their responses on the 21-item survey. Next, I correlated these scores to other aspects of teacher quality …

Investigating Molecular Mechanisms Behind Bacterial Chondronecrosis With Osteomyelitis (Bco) Pathogenesis In Modern Broilers, Alison Ramser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO), a leading cause of lameness in broiler chickens, is characterized by infection, inflammation, and bone attrition. There are currently no effective treatments and positive diagnosis is only possible through necropsy evaluations. Lameness is also a rising animal welfare and economic concern, making prevention and detection of BCO all the more critical. These challenges are exacerbated by a lack of mechanistic understanding of BCO’s etiology. The question I asked during my dissertation was how bacteria induce bone attrition in BCO pathology. My research has shown that mitochondrial dysfunction is characteristic of BCO conditions along with autophagy …

The Role Of Ccaat Binding Factor In The Regulation Of Catalase Gene Expression In Candida Albicans, Zahra Al-Rumaih

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Candida albicans is a fungal opportunistic human pathogen. Its infections range from surficial infections like skin rash to fatal systemic infections. Filamentation growth mode is associated with C. albicans virulence because it helps penetration of the host’s epithelial cells. The CCAAT-binding factor (CBF) is a conserved heterooligomeric transcription factor found in 30% of eukaryotes genes. In C. albicans it is composed of 4 major subunits, including Hap2, Hap3, Hap4, and Hap5. Hap2 and Hap5 are essential for DNA binding and function. Hap4 has 3 homologous subunits: Hap41 and Hap42 are putative subunits of CBP. Hap43 is the only Hap4 subunit …