Digital Commons Network^™

Staying Compliant Or Staying In Office? International Cooperation, Post-Coup Signals, And Coup-Born Regimes, Jennifer Flinchum

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Although there has been a great deal of scholarly work that explores the various determinants of coups, their effects have received considerably less attention, especially in the realm of international cooperation. Even less attention has been paid to the consequences of post-coup signals sent to the new regimes that staged these coups from the international community. This dissertation investigates how both the presence of leaders who seized power via coup and how the international community reacts to such a power grab affects their behavior, specifically in areas where there is either an obligation to comply with pre-existing international legal agreements …

News Treatment Of The Supreme Court: Language Selection, Ideological Directions, And Public Support, Alexander Denison

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

In an increasingly diverse media landscape, how much of the ideological trends seen in current news reporting affect coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court? This work examines two different aspects of the Court's activities, their decisions and the confirmation hearings of Court nominees, analyzing what factors, if any, lead to differences in coverage language. Finally, through the use of a survey experiment, I analyze whether these differences in language, in combination with positive symbolic imagery, affect attitudes toward the institution. This work provides a novel consideration of whether the Court is subject to the same ideological slant found in coverage …

The Influence Of The Federalist Society On Judical Politics And Law In The United States, Peter S. K. Lynch

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation examines the Federalist Society, which is a network of conservative and libertarian attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. The organization was founded by law students at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and the University of Chicago Law School in 1982, and has, over the last four decades, come to play a central role in law and politics in the United States. Individuals affiliated with the Federalist Society influence the law through a variety of avenues.

Federalist Society-members advance the goals of the conservative legal movement in a variety of capacities—by writing amicus curiae briefs providing the …

Elucidating The Role Of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 In Lung Stem Cell Fate And Lung Disease, Aria Byrd

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

The average human lungs take ~22,000 breaths and inhale ~2,000 gallons of air each day. This organ is the primary conduit for the transfer of oxygen to the internal organs, making it crucial for the sustainment of life. Consequently, mechanical malfunction of the lungs and/or pollution of inhaled air negatively impact internal organ function and ultimately put survival in jeopardy. Epigenetics, by nature, is a plastic phenomenon in which environmental stimuli influence short term, long term, and generational gene expression patterns. Chronic exposure of harmful stimuli to the lung epithelium has also been shown to alter epigenetic pathways, engender aberrant …

Extracellular Vesicles And Cancer Therapy: An Insight Into The Role Of Oxidative Stress, Jenni Ho

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

As a result of improvements in cancer detection and treatment methods, a growing population of cancer survivors are living with side effects associated with their cancer therapy. Oxidative stress plays a significant role in the development of cancer and as a mechanism for cancer therapy to exert its therapeutic effects, resulting in off-target tissue damage. Radiation has been long established as a means to utilize the generation of reactive oxygen species to kill cancer cells, and 50% of chemotherapy agents currently used are associated with inducing oxidative stress. One major side effect observed in cancer survivors is a decline in …

Overcoming Resistance To Sg-Aris In Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer, Chaohao Li

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Prostate cancer (PCa) ranks as the most diagnosed type of cancer and the second leading cause of death in men. Androgen receptor (AR) signaling plays a pivotal function in promoting the survival and progression of PCa. Therefore, medication for PCa mainly focuses on the inhibition of AR pathway, which is termed androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). However, the disease eventually progresses and develops to a lethal stage called castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) that is characterized by resistance to canonical ADT. To deal with this situation, several second-generation AR inhibitors (SG-ARIs) have been created that have better efficacy against AR, including Enzalutamide …

Birthing While Black: Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practices For Improved Maternal Health Outcomes, Sara Hall

DSW Capstone Projects

Black women die at a disproportionate rate than white women in the United States due to maternal mortality. Black women are three times more likely to die because of a maternal complication than any other demographic. Although the United States has a highly developed healthcare system, it also has the worst maternal mortality rate out of developed nations. The focus of this research is social work practices that can be implemented to improve Black maternal health outcomes.

The systematic literature review focuses on gaps in social work literature related to maternal mortality and health equity, solutions for social workers to …

Forage News [2022-01], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

No abstract provided.

Using Communities Of Practice To Support At-Home Gospel Learning From A Release Time Seminary Classroom, Nicholas A. Davis

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

This mixed-methods action research study examines the effect of communities of practice on the development of home-centered gospel learning activities from the perspective of twelve release-time Seminary teachers for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from October—December 2021. Beginning in 2019, leaders of Seminaries and Institutes began to implement a Churchwide initiative to encourage home-centered, Church-supported gospel learning. Although Seminary leaders have made several systemwide adjustments, teachers have commonly made minimal adjustments to support this approach. Throughout the mixed-methods study, participants learned about the importance of this home-centered gospel learning approach, in addition to principles of design thinking …

The Use Of Video Modeling To Improve Transitions Within A Preschool Classroom, Amanda L. Duncan

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Video modeling is a widely accepted and utilized intervention for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A multiple probe design across participants was utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of using video modeling to decrease transition duration within a preschool classroom. Participants were between the ages of 3-5 and students within an interdisciplinary public preschool classroom in a rural county. All sessions were conducted in the student’s classroom during their typical routine and the intervention was implemented by their classroom teacher. Preliminary results indicate that video modeling is an effective intervention for reducing the duration of transitioning.

Medical Memoirs As A Teaching Tool Within Narrative Medicine, Shelby Mccubbin

Gaines Fellow Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Mujer Y Discurso Empresarial: El Caso De Las Publicaciones Para Las Mujeres Empresarias/Emprendedoras, Yanira B. Paz

Hispanic Studies Faculty Publications

Michelle Lazar (2006) acuña bajo el término “power femininity” una suerte de postfeminismo light orientado hacia el consumo y los medios. El mismo supone una forma de discurso popular global que incorpora contenidos de emancipación y empoderamiento de la mujer, aunque –en realidad—resulta en un tipo de feminismo vaciado de su contenido político. Este artículo se propone analizar la representación de la mujer empresaria/emprendedora mediante el estudio de las características del discurso (multimodal) en cuatro revistas impresas y digitales dirigidas a este tipo de mujeres y decidir si responde a la expresión de un feminismo que asume el empoderamiento de …

Coaching Pre-Service Aba Students To Correctly Respond To Challenging Behaviors During A Functional Analysis, Gabrielle Lonnemann

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

As Board Certified Behavior Analysts, we are responsible for training and implementing a variety of skills including a functional analysis. Bug in Ear teaching is an effective way to teach a variety of skills to a variety of professionals in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), as well as related fields. This study examined the effectiveness of using a Bug in Ear treatment package to teach preservice ABA masters students how to implement a functional analysis with isolated contingencies. This study suggests that the BIE treatment package may be an effective approach to teaching pre-service ABA students how to conduct a functional …

How Do Parents Of Typically Developing Children Perceive And Interact With Children With Exceptionalities?, Zurisaday N. Decker

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of this study was to examine how parents with children displaying typical development, perceive and interact with children who have exceptionalities or disabilities and explore parents’ openness to having discussions about exceptional children in inclusive classrooms. Given that parents function as foundational sources of knowledge to children in their early childhood years, understanding parents’ perceptions of and interactions with children with disabilities may help to understand how these parents’ children will, in-turn, perceive and interact with classroom peers with disabilities. This line of inquiry is supported by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, which views microsystems such as the family, …

The Effects Of Interactive Shared Book Reading Recall Procedures On Preschoolers' Friendship Development, Samantha M. Mcgehee

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Developing friendships is an important aspect in the lives of children. Children begin developing friendship related skills in toddlerhood and can begin maintaining these friendships by preschool-age. Few Tier 1 interventions exist to support children in preschool classrooms to develop these critical friendships. Interactive shared book reading is a common practice in early childhood classrooms that involves an adult reading a book to one or more students with embedded questions about the book to increase engagement and understanding with book themes. Reading to Engage Children with Autism in Language and Learning (RECALL) is an adaptation of interactive shared book reading …

The Effects Of Peer Training And Coaching On The Implementation Of Aided Language Modeling With An Aac User With Extensive Support And Complex Communication Needs, Sara Elizabeth Henderson

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of training peers at a middle school in aided language modeling. The peers were trained and then coached as they implemented the strategy during a social break time in the resource classroom when communicating with an AAC user with extensive support and complex communication needs (ESCCN). A multiple probe across participants design was used to evaluate the effects of the peer training and coaching program. The results showed that the implementation of a peer training and coaching program were effective in increasing the frequency of aided language modeling and the …

Posthuman Ethics In The Science Fiction Of Rosa Montero And Rita Indiana, Brittany Frodge

Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies

In this dissertation I put Posthumanist theory in tension with the ‘lived’ experiences of the posthuman protagonists of two recent Science Fiction trilogies. My aim in doing so is to uncover the shortcomings of Posthumanist accounts of ethics and discover alternative paths forward.

The first chapter of my dissertation is an overview of Posthumanist theory and Science Fiction, with a particular emphasis on the contributions Hispanic authors and women have made to the genre. In the second chapter, I develop a critique of Posthumanist ethics that place the onus of ethical-political intervention on marginalized subjects through a close reading of …

Exploring The Relationship Between Place Attachment And Attitudes Toward Tourism Development In Powell County, Lindsay Vance

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

This study explores the relationship between Powell County, Kentucky residents’ place attachment, and the perceived sociocultural, environmental, and financial benefits of the future Warrior’s Path development. A survey consisting primarily of five-point Likert scale questions was shared with several local organizations to distribute to their members. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Chi-square test of independence tests were used to discover any correlation between place attachment and perceived sociocultural, environmental, and financial benefits of tourism development. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r=.465) determined a moderate positive correlation between place attachment and perceived sociocultural benefits of the Warrior’s Path and tourism development. Of …

An Improved Understanding Of Diplodia Ear Rot In Kentucky Corn, Nolan Ryan Anderson

Theses and Dissertations--Plant Pathology

Stenocarpella maydis and Stenocarpella macrospora are both causal agents of Diplodia ear rot (DER) of corn in the U.S. The current prevalence and distribution of each is unknown worldwide. Signs and symptoms of DER include white mold on and between kernels, bleached husks, and pycnidia visible in the cob pith. The term hidden Diplodia describes when no mycelia or bleached husk is present, but pycnidia are still visible inside the cob. This phenomenon is reported to be caused by late infections of Stenocarpella spp. New fungicide nozzle technology has been promoted to increase spray coverage in the lower canopy, which …

Use Of Heterothallic Mat Deletion Strains Of Fusarium Graminearum As Test Mates In Crosses To Evaluate The Genetics Of Pathogenicity And Fitness, Gabdiel Emmanuel Yulfo-Soto

Theses and Dissertations--Plant Pathology

Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium graminearum sensu stricto and other members of the F. graminearum species complex (FGSC), is a plant disease that occurs on cereal crops worldwide. FHB causes yield losses not only by reducing grain weight, but also by contaminating the kernels with dangerous trichothecene mycotoxins, especially deoxynivalenol (DON). There is a high degree of genotypic and phenotypic variation among pathogen species and strains, but current FHB risk assessment models and treatments do not account for pathogen diversity. Therefore, it is difficult to predict what will happen if a new, potentially more aggressive variant is introduced, …

Large-Scale Modeling And Dr Control Of Electric Water Heaters With Energy Star And Cta-2045 Control Types In Distribution Power Systems, Huangjie Gong, Evan S. Jones, A. H. M. Jakaria, Aminul Huque, Ajit Renjit, Dan Ionel

Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky Faculty Publications

The paper proposes a generalized energy storage (GES) model for battery energy storage systems (BESS), electric water heaters (EWH) and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to enable demand response control complying to Energy Star and CTA-2045 standards. The demand response control has been implemented in the DER integration testbed, which was originally developed by EPRI, to demonstrate that the “energy content” and “energy take” for BESS and EWH with mixing valve technology are comparable for typical residential ratings. A distribution power system was modeled using the modified IEEE 123-bus feeder system, measured residential loads, and EWH power simulated based …

Multi-Physics And Artificial Intelligence Models For Digital Twin Implementations Of Residential Electric Loads, Steven Poore, Rosemary E. Alden, Huangjie Gong, Dan M. Ionel

Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky Faculty Publications

Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) and electric water heating (EWH) represent residential loads. Simulating these appliances for electric load forecasting, demand response (DR) studies, and human behavior analysis using physics-based models and artificial intelligence (AI) can further advance smart home technology. This paper explains the background of residential load modeling, starting with the concept of digital twin (DT) as well as the different types of methods. Two major types of appliance load monitoring (ALM) and their advantages/disadvantages are then discussed. This is followed by a review of multiple studies on residential load modeling, particularly for HVAC, EWH, and human behavior. …

The Clean Water Act And The Ocean: An Unfulfilled Promise, Robin Kundis Craig

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

After Copyright: Pwning Nfts In A Clout Economy, Brian L. Frye

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Copyright is a means to an end, not an end in itself. We created copyright because we wanted to encourage the creation and distribution of works of authorship, not because we wanted to enable copyright owners to control the use of the works they own. We stuck with copyright because it was the best tool we had, despite its flaws. Was copyright ever efficient? No. But marginal improvements matter.

Technology has changed the copyright calculus. Distribution of works of authorship gradually got cheaper and cheaper. And then the Internet made it free. But creation remained costly, even though technology helped …

Introduction To Data Science, Spencer P. Greenhalgh

Information Science Textbook Gallery

This book was developed for ICT/LIS 661: Introduction to Data Science, as offered in the University of Kentucky's School of Information Science. It adapts and expands on openly licensed materials to introduce readers to basic statistical concepts, the R programming language, and philosophical critique of data science.

This open access textbook was supported by the University of Kentucky Libraries Alternative Textbook program

“Don’T Feel Like You Have To Do This All On Your Own”: Exploring Perceived Partner Support Of Breastfeeding Among Black Women In Kentucky, Jardin Dogan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Background: Partner support improves breastfeeding initiation and continuation among mothers. However, few studies have explored partner support for breastfeeding among Black women living in the southeastern U.S., who report the lowest rates nationally of breastfeeding compared to women of other racial groups. Ways to increase support of Black women’s breastfeeding may be best understood from an Afrocentric perspective.

Research Aim: This qualitative study aimed to explore perceptions of partner support among Black mothers to abductively develop a culturally relevant framework of partner support to improve their rates of breastfeeding. Our research question was, “What partner support behaviors do Black …

Guanabenz In The Horse – A Preliminary Report On Clinical Effects And Comparison To Clonidine And Other Alpha-2 Adrenergic Agonists, Andreas F. Lehner, L. Dirikolu, Thomas Tobin

Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

In veterinary medicine, a number of alpha-2 receptor agonists are marketed as sedatives/hypnotics and analgesics, with their principal use being the chemical restraint of large and small animals. Guanabenz (Wytensin®) is an alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonist marketed for use in humans as an anti-hypertensive agent. Recent reports indicate that guanabenz has been administered to horses in small doses (0.04 mg/kg) for its anti-hypertensive effects. While this offers both benefits of sedation of the horse as well as amelioration of pulmonary hypertension during running exercise and consequent Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (EIPH), guanabenz is currently proscribed in most racing jurisdictions and its …

Learning A Scalable Algorithm For Improving Betweenness In The Lightning Network, Vincent Davis

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

This paper presents a scalable algorithm for solving the Maximum Betweenness Improvement Problem as it occurs in the Bitcoin Lightning Network. In this approach, each node is embedded with a feature vector whereby an Advantage Actor-Critic model identifies key nodes in the network that a joining node should open channels with to maximize its own expected routing opportunities. This model is trained using a custom built environment, lightning-gym, which can randomly generate small scale-free networks or import snapshots of the Lightning Network. After 100 training episodes on networks with 128 nodes, this A2C agent can recommend channels in the Lightning …

Accuracy And Uncertainty In Traffic And Transit Ridership Forecasts, Jawad Mahmud Hoque

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Investments of public dollars on highway and transit infrastructure are influenced by the anticipated demands for highways and public transportations or traffic and transit ridership forecasts. The purpose of this study is to understand the accuracy of road traffic forecasts and transit ridership forecasts, to identify the factors that affect their accuracy, and to develop a method to estimate the uncertainty inherent in those forecasts. In addition, this research investigates the pre-pandemic decline in transit ridership across the US metro areas since 2012 and its influence on the accuracy of transit forecasts.

The sample of 1,291 road projects from the …

Evaluation Of Scoring Methods For Prioritizing Pedestrian And Bicycle Projects, Daria Korostina

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

To increase the number of pedestrian and bicycle facilities and to grow the number of people using those facilities in Kentucky more such projects need to be implemented. The Strategic Highway Investment Formula for Tomorrow (SHIFT) is a data-driven approach that Kentucky uses for prioritizing projects in the state, but its focus is auto-centric. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a prioritization scoring approach for pedestrian and bicycle projects that could be implemented into SHIFT. The study used the SHIFT–2022 pedestrian and bicycle projects to develop and evaluate different scoring scenarios. After scoring each project on …