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The Ideal Religious Community: Articulating The Possibility Of Collaborative Community Within Religious Contexts, Kayla Bohannon

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

This dissertation seeks to explain a certain instability that characterizes many contemporary religious communities. Why are people abandoning organized religion at an unprecedented rate? And why do so many religious people behave in vicious ways, even as they claim to preach a message of love? These phenomena are related, and they are both usually explained on epistemological grounds. According to many of religion’s recent critics, religious belief requires the suspension of rational thought, and those who abandon it have simply seen the light of reason. Meanwhile, those who remain religious do so despite the testimony of their reason, and the …

Being And Historical Change In Hegel's Science Of Logic, Jarrad Felgenhauer

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

This dissertation, Being and Historical Change in Hegel’s Science of Logic, examines the immanent relationship between metaphysics and history, specifically historical change, through an examination of Hegel’s Science of Logic. It seems to me that this relationship has been under-explored both in metaphysics broadly and Hegel scholarship specifically. For instance, many authors have discussed the role of history in Hegel’s philosophy and many others have focused on his metaphysics. But only a few have discussed how these two aspects immanently intersect with one another; specifically, what the examination of metaphysics can teach us about interpreting history and historical …

The Impacts Of Public Policies On Health-Related Outcomes, Yaxiang Song

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

This dissertation consists of three chapters that study how public policies affect health-related outcomes in China. The first two papers examine the impacts of the country’s Critical Illness Insurance program on health-related outcomes. The third paper studies the effects of maternal education on children’s early childhood health outcomes and cognitive skills.

The first chapter evaluates the impact of a recent social health insurance benefits expansion program on middle-aged and elderly individuals. In 2012, China launched a Critical Illness Insurance (CII) program, which aimed to reduce out-of-pocket costs for individuals covered by the government’s health insurance programs. This chapter utilizes the …

Safety In The Woods: Studying The Effectiveness Of The Kentucky Master Logger Program, Austin Winn Leake

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Logging is a dangerous field; in this study the researcher looks to see the knowledge both before and after professional loggers participate in the Kentucky Master Logger Program. This information was used to see the overall effectiveness of the Kentucky Master Logger Program. The researcher found an overall improvement in logging professionals’ perceptions and understanding of logging safety. The researcher recommends creating an emphasis on a safe work culture through safety incentives and a greater focus on less used personal protective equipment such as insecticide

Significant Life Experiences Of Kentucky Youth Climate Activists, Jeri Katherine Howell

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

The purpose of this study is to better understand Kentucky youth climate activism. The research questions explore how youth define their climate activism in Kentucky, their Significant Life Experiences (SLE) that motivated them to commit to climate activism, and what challenges and sustains their involvement. This qualitative study utilizes a blended framework of social/environmental positionality and political ecology to analyze 7 semi-structured interviews with participants between the ages 18 to 24 years old who are acting to address climate change in Kentucky. New contributions to the existing body of SLE literature are discussed.

The Resiliency And Thriving Of Underrepresented Agricultural Educators: A National Mixed Methods Study, Caleb Michael Hickman

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Gay men in agricultural education do not have comprehensive support within the agricultural education profession. When gay men decide to become agriculture educators, they often keep their identity private. This national mixed methods study aims to seek if gay agriculture educators are resilient and thrive in rural communities. The thriving elements of spiritual influence, personal competence, peer support, and family cohesion were surveyed and analyzed using a resiliency lens. Findings include gay male agricultural educators thriving in a heteronormative profession. Recommendations include ensuring LGBTQIA+ teachers have a voice in agricultural education.

Examining Social Mission In Kentucky Social Enterprises, Bo Milburn

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Social Enterprises are business entities that incorporate social value creation into their business operations. This study aims to investigate, explore and share key insights gained through the lived experience of owners or managers of these organizations. The reputational method of sample selection was used to identify informed individuals who participated in interviews to share phenomenological knowledge by telling the stories of their organizations, describing how they manage the balance between profitability and sustainability, sharing observations about the influence of social mission at their firms and other insights. Participants identified stronger relationships between coworkers, increased professional creativity, and greater employee engagement …

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind: An Evaluation Of Secondary Agricultural Textbooks, Tara Elizabeth Rojas

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Students are impacted by representation present within their lives in the media they consume, organizations in which they participate, and school interactions. Among school interactions with primarily White school staff, students interact with textbooks to learn about industry norms and concepts. Missing representation can harm students’ sense of belonging which can lead to feelings like solo-status or isolation. Using both critical race theory and social semiotics, this work explores the representation present within secondary agricultural textbooks. The first study utilizes photos and case studies, observing both gender and race as mutually exclusive variables and compares data to the current public-school …

The Youth - Adult Partnership Between Secondary Agriculture Educators And Native American Youth: A Qualitative Case Study, Hunter Anne Julian

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

This case study examines the connection made between secondary agriculture educators through Youth-Adult Partnerships (YAP). This study provides insight into the elements of YAP and contributes to the limited body of research surrounding Youth-Adult Partnership in secondary agriculture education and in the Native American community. Data was collected through qualitative interviews of six agriculture educators teaching on Native American reservations. The findings of this study indicate that YAP is present in secondary agriculture education programs and offers insight into how agriculture educators form connections with the Native American communities they teach in.

Membrane Palmitoylated Protein Magu-3 Regulates The C. Elegans Locomotor Circuit Via Modulation Of Cholinergic Activity, Henry Richburg

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

Precise coordination of the activity and transmission in excitatory and inhibitory neural circuits is essential for healthy information flow. Synaptic scaffolding proteins play a key role in the regulation of circuit activity through the localization and organization of receptors, channels, and other synaptic machinery to facilitate signal transduction. Using the C. elegans motor circuit which has both cholinergic (excitatory) and GABAergic (inhibitory) inputs onto muscles, we revealed an unexplored role of a family of scaffolding molecules known as membrane palmitoylated proteins (MPPs). Here, we examined magu-3, a C. elegans ortholog within the membrane palmitoylated protein family, using GFP tagging …

Investigating The Effects Of In-Vivo Therapeutics Hypoxia Treatment Paradigms In Neurite Outgrowth Patterns, Jae Hyun Yoo

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

Spinal cord injury, specifically in the cervical C3-C4 region of the cervical spine, contributes to impaired breathing and a diminished quality of life. Therefore it is important to find effective and safe therapeutics to restore breathing function. Indeed, there are a myriad of research being performed in addition to valuable collaboration amongst different institutions. As such, inspired by a previous experiment, we decided to test our hypothesis that an enriching environment consisting of different hypoxic environments - sustained and intermittent hypoxia alongside normoxia - would result in neurite outgrowth. Moreover, we hypothesized that sustained hypoxia would result in the greatest …

Mammalian Target Of Rapamycin Cell Signaling Pathway In Phosphatase And Tensin Homolog Induced Kinase 1 Knockout Rat Model Of Familial Parkinson's Disease, Martha Helena Mortell

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

More than 10 million people are living with Parkinson’s disease (PD), one million of which are people in the United States. PD is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder, after Alzheimer’s disease, and is characterized by the accumulation of a-synuclein aggregates and the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. The loss of endogenous dopamine in PD brain accounts for the motor decline presented clinically in PD patients. Etiological factors of PD include oxidative damage and inflammation, although the detailed mechanisms remain unknown. Risk factors for PD include gender, age, environmental factors, and gene mutations.

The current thesis research employed phosphatase and …

Trem2: Gene Expression And Role In Alzheimer’S Disease, Henry Snider

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

Genetic mutations in the TREM2 gene are highly correlated with risk of Alzheimer’s disease, but alternative splicing patterns of TREM2 transcripts have not been fully described. Characterization of TREM2 alternative splicing will be of significant use to the scientific community as the field of Alzheimer’s disease research progresses. The goal of this study was to fully describe splicing patterns in TREM2, as different splicing isoforms of genes can alter express and/or function of the final protein. Human blood and anterior cingulate cortex brain tissue from 61 individual donors was processed and used for PCR and quantitative PCR as well as …

Apoe Genotype And Sex Modulate Ketogenic Diet Enhancements To Metabolism And Gut Microbiome In Young Mice, Andrew T. Yackzan

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

The apolipoprotein ε (APOE) allele in humans has been associated with risk for development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). There are predominately three variations of the allele – ε2 (E2), ε3 (E3), and ε4 (E4) – with E4 contributing the greatest risk of AD development. Recent research has unveiled evidence of neurometabolic and neurovascular deficits in E4 carriers present decades before the onset of dementia; it is believed these chronic defects play a major role in the development of AD, thus making them a potential target for preventative intervention. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a …

Classification And Effect Of Correctors On Sitosterolemia-Associated Mutants In Abcg8, Brittney Poole

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

Objective: To classify mutants of ABCG8 identified in subjects with clinically confirmed Sitosterolemia, a rare form of Familial Hypercholesterolemia distinguished by the accumulation of phytosterols in plasma and tissues and determine the effects of correctors and/or regulators of proteostasis on maturation of the ABCG5/ABCG8 sterol transporter.

Methods: Disease-causing missense mutants within the cytosolic domain of ABCG8 were generated through site-directed mutagenesis. Normal and mutant proteins were expressed in human hepatocytes. Cellular proteins were prepared, and maturation was assessed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. Formation of the higher molecular weight, mature form of glycoproteins was used as a bioassay for trafficking the …

Evaluating The Microbiome To Boost Recovery From Stroke: The Embrs Study, Tyler Hammond

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Accumulating evidence suggests that gut microbes modulate brain plasticity via the bidirectional gut-brain axis and may play a role in stroke rehabilitation. A severely imbalanced microbial community has been shown to occur following stroke, causing a systemic flood of neuro- and immunomodulatory substances due to increased gut permeability and decreased gut motility. Here we measure post-stroke increased gut dysbiosis and how it correlates with gut permeability and subsequent cognitive impairment.

We recruited 12 participants with acute stroke, 12 healthy control participants, and 18 participants who had risk factors for stroke, but had not had a stroke. We measured the gut …

Evaluating The Role Of Mmp9 In Hyperhomocysteinemia Induced Cerebrovascular Pathology, Alexandria Linton

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) is one of the leading causes of dementia, along with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and often manifests as a comorbidity of AD. Elevated plasma homocysteine, known as hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy), is a risk factor for VCID; however, the mechanism underlying the connection between HHcy and development of VCID pathology remains elusive. Understanding this mechanism would reveal novel therapeutic targets with the potential to be disease modifying, which are a critical need for a disease that lacks any approved treatment. Previous studies from our lab have strongly associated neuroinflammation and blood brain barrier (BBB) dysregulation …

Peripheral And Central Glucose Flux In Type I Diabetes, Jelena Anna Juras

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder, of which high blood glucose concentration is the primary hallmark. Type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is characterized by the lack of insulin production, due to a poorly understood autoinflammatory cascade. In the words of historian Barnett “Diabetes may no longer be a death sentence, but for more and more people in the 21st century, it will become a life sentence”, making it the focal point of many research groups. It is estimated that around 20 million individuals worldwide live with T1DM.

Effects of long-term chronically elevated blood glucose are not only seen in micro/macro-vascular …

Interleukin-1 Receptor 1 Signaling In Mild Tbi: Do Endothelial Cells Play A Major Role?, Colleen N. Bodnar

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Across the world, over 69 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) per year making TBI a major health concern worldwide. Of all the TBIs that occur each year, it is suggested that up to 90 percent are mild in nature. Even a mild TBI causes both physical damages to the cells of the brain and activation of a variety of biochemical cascades. Inflammation is an extremely common pathology seen in the brains of TBI survivors of all severities. Chronic inflammation can cause detrimental effects within the brain including neurodegeneration. A major pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-1 (IL-1), is upregulated within …

Conceptualizing Attorney Motivation: A Study Of The Representatives For Parents And Children In The Child Welfare System, Shannon Moody

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Background. Attorneys who represent parents and children in dependency, neglect, and abuse (DNA) proceedings are key in influencing the outcomes of the cases they carry. These influences include the length of time a child spends in the custody of the state or the necessity for foster care, visitation with family members, length of time to reunification, and recommended services for the child and parents (Courtney & Hook, 2012; Goldman, 1993; Thornton & Gwin, 2012; Zinn & Peters, 2015). The American Bar Association’s analysis is that there are “four constants: high caseloads, low compensation, inadequate training, and lack of supervision” …

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Psychological And Social Factors On Labor Market Integration In A Gender Stratified Sample Of Refugees In Germany, Theresia M. Pachner

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Refugees are disproportionally more likely to be unemployed. Additionally, women have a higher unemployment rate than men. Prospective gender-stratified research on refugee labor market integration is both rare and needed. The goal of this dissertation was to determine the effects of psychological, social, and demographic factors on employment outcomes within a gender-specific framework.

This secondary data study used data from a representative longitudinal panel study of refugees in Germany. Data spanned two years with collection at two time-points (T1 and T2) including baseline (T1) and one year later (T2). Using a complex samples framework in SPSS, logistic regression analyses were …

Rural Suicide: A Three Manuscript Dissertation Utilizing The National Violent Death Reporting System, James Watts

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Purpose: Rural residents and veterans are at a greater risk of death by suicide but there is little research to compare rural versus urban suicide decedents. There is also a lack of research specific to rural veteran suicide. This three-manuscript dissertation study explores 1. epidemiology of suicide specific to rural areas comparing rural veterans to rural non-veterans 2. veteran suicide decedents that lived in rural areas compared to veterans that live in urban areas and 3. How the continuum of rurality is related to demographic and circumstantial variables associated with suicide Methods: Data was obtained from the Centers for Disease …

When Should Sales Managers Get Involved In Their Salesteams' Transactions, Daniel E. Chavez

Theses and Dissertations--Marketing and Supply Chain

The existing literature on sales teams explores various aspects of team members and their effects on sales performance. The literature on sales management has described how managers can promote better results from salespeople. The question at the intersection of these two streams of literature – if managers should be part of sales teams -- has not been addressed and is what we explore. Using data from a Fortune 1,000 firm that operates automotive service stores across the US we test these effects. The data presents a natural experiment as sales teams with different compositions are assigned randomly to the customers. …

Three Essays On The Economic Implications Of Oil Shocks, Ryan Hanson

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

My dissertation consists of three papers on the response of various economic indicators to crude oil shocks. In the first paper, I investigate the Western Australian gasoline market for asymmetric responses in gasoline prices to changes in input costs, otherwise known as the rockets and feathers hypothesis. This theory states that after a positive cost shock, firms will swiftly increase their retail prices to consumers; after a decrease in input costs, however, they take longer to adjust and lower prices. Using daily, establishment level data, I estimate a multi-stage error correction model and find evidence of asymmetric price adjustment in …

Essays On Immigration Policy, Andres Felipe Mira

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

Considerable interest has been placed on the subject of what to do with the sizable undocumented population currently residing in the United States. Having a full understanding of the size of this population and the impact immigration policy has on them is of critical importance to policy makers. Data limitations in nationally-representative surveys have limited the analyzes of the effects of immigration policy in the academic literature. As such, this dissertation consists of three essays contributing to the literature on the impact of immigration policy and on identifying unobserved populations.

In my first essay, I examine the labor market response …

Establishment And Verification Of A Sars Cov2 Antibody Detection Assay Comparing Venous And Mitra Samples, Stephen C. Mayer

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the need for highly-specific, wide-spread, and rapid serological testing surged. In this study, we showed very strong positive correlation between venous blood collection and Mitra home sampling kits for the detection of anti- spike IgGs using an in-house ELISA protocol (based on a protocol from Mt. Sinai). This study demonstrates the utility of using at-home, patient-centric testing to enhance the sero-surveillance methods currently in place for viral tracking and monitoring.

Multivariate Statistical Modeling For Radio-Genomics Study, Tiantian Zeng

Theses and Dissertations--Statistics

Radiogenomics is a new direction in cancer research that focuses on the associations among radiomics, genomics and clinical outcome. Currently, the major challenge for Radiogenomics lies in the effective integration of genomics and imaging data for promising clinical outcome prediction. Herein, we propose a multivariate joint model that can integrate imaging and genomic data for better predicting the clinical outcome. Specifically, we jointly consider two multivariate group lasso models, one regresses imaging features on genomic features, and the other regresses patient’s clinical outcome on genomic features. An L1 penalty term is introduced for each variable, and weight in the penalty …

Statistical Theory For Specialized Linear Regression Adjustment Methods Compared To Multiple Linear Regression In The Presence And Absence Of Interaction Effects, Leon Su

Theses and Dissertations--Statistics

When building models to investigate outcomes and variables of interest, researchers often want to adjust for other variables. There is a variety of ways that these adjustments are performed. In this work, we will consider four approaches to adjustment utilized by researchers in various fields. We will compare the efficacy of these methods to what we call the ”true model method”, fitting a multiple linear regression model in which adjustment variables are model covariates. Our goal is to show that these adjustment methods have inferior performance to the true model method by comparing model parameter estimates, power, type I error, …

Deriving The Distributions And Developing Methods Of Inference For R2-Type Measures, With Applications To Big Data Analysis, Gregory S. Hawk

Theses and Dissertations--Statistics

As computing capabilities and cloud-enhanced data sharing has accelerated exponentially in the 21st century, our access to Big Data has revolutionized the way we see data around the world, from healthcare to investments to manufacturing to retail and supply-chain. In many areas of research, however, the cost of obtaining each data point makes more than just a few observations impossible. While machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are improving our ability to make predictions from datasets, we need better statistical methods to improve our ability to understand and translate models into meaningful and actionable insights.

A central goal in the …

Beta Mixture And Contaminated Model With Constraints And Application With Micro-Array Data, Ya Qi

Theses and Dissertations--Statistics

This dissertation research is concentrated on the Contaminated Beta(CB) model and its application in micro-array data analysis. Modified Likelihood Ratio Test (MLRT) introduced by [Chen et al., 2001] is used for testing the omnibus null hypothesis of no contamination of Beta(1,1)([Dai and Charnigo, 2008]). We design constraints for two-component CB model, which put the mode toward the left end of the distribution to reflect the abundance of small p-values of micro-array data, to increase the test power. A three-component CB model might be useful when distinguishing high differentially expressed genes and moderate differentially expressed genes. If the null hypothesis above …