Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Elevated Extracellular Dopamine On Astrocytes In The Nucleus Accumbens, Mengfan Xia

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences

Nucleus accumbens is involved in processing of motivational and affective behaviors and plays a significant role in development and maintenance of substance use. Released from the ventral tegmental area into the nucleus accumbens, the mesolimbic dopamine controls incentive salience and facilitates learning of reinforcement and reward-related motor functions. Recent studies reveal that, in the context of cocaine exposure, dopamine transmission in the ventromedial striatum is pivotal to the regulation of initial drug use. Astrocytes, a major subpopulation of the brain glial cells, are an active component of the so-called tripartite synapse and communicate with neurons through the release of transmitters …

"No, Not There": The Literary Precarity And Profundity Of Queer Spatiality, Samuel James Aftel

Theses and Dissertations--English

Love, broadly defined, needs space to grow. For love to materialize and sustain itself (in both literature and society), it must find hospitable geosocial, institutional, and psychic terrain. This is especially true for queer intimacies beyond heteronormative relationality, for the prospect of love’s radical––or reactionary––possibilities is contingent upon the more general sociality in which it develops. Yet love is often a worldmaking and, sometimes, historic mechanism unto itself. Love and its concomitant sexualities must therefore be understood within and without normative structures of hegemony; the workings of (neo)colonialism and capitalism––as well as patriarchy, white supremacy, and heterosexism––dictate to love, and …

Maternal Occupation And Pediatric Brain Cancer In Kentucky, Mary Begley

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Pediatric brain cancer is a rare and potentially deadly diagnosis that affects children in Kentucky at a higher incidence than those nationally. Limited exposures in children early in life to warrant the development and progression of brain cancer point to the role parental exposures experienced in the period prior to conception and throughout pregnancy may play in its development. Many of these exposures may be experienced through occupation. Data on a subset of pediatric brain cancer cases in Kentucky was compared to all cases diagnosed in the state from 1995 to 2019. Survey data of the study sample was collected …

Cardinal's Blues: Implementation Of A School-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program For Jefferson County Public Schools In Louisville, Kentucky, Loui Chang

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

With the increasing rate of adolescent depression and anxiety1 2, developing mental health interventions is necessary. Many adolescents’ times spent in schools increased compared to 20 years ago5, which makes school-based intervention programs suitable for reaching adolescent population effectively. Though there are numerous treatment providers available in Jefferson County, Kentucky, the school-based prevention programs addressing adolescent’s negative mental health outcomes have never been implemented. The Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development developed a program called the Blues Program24. The Blues Program provides an adapted version of group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy sessions to train and educate adolescents coping skills and cognitive restructuring24. …

Deep Community Partnerships: The Future Of Community-Based Senior Care In A Value-Driven Era, Diana Wilcox

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone reviews three scholarly products that examine how chronically ill older adults interact with healthcare systems and senior service delivery systems in the United States. The systematic literature review examines how community-based senior programs that are funded by the Older Americans Act (OAA) positively impact health outcomes and promote health and wellness among the older adult population. The conceptual paper examines how Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) interact with the patient and with one another using the lens of Systems Theory. The practice application paper examines best practices regarding care coordination …

"It's All Lateral Violence": How Sexual Minority Men Cope With Appearance Discrimination, Matthew T. Richardson

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

Sexual minority men experience higher rates of body dissatisfaction (BD) than heterosexual men (Frederick & Essayli, 2016). BD is associated with negative health outcomes in this population, including eating disorders (Yean et al., 2013), depression (Blashill et al., 2016), suicidality (Grunewald, Calzo, et al., 2021), and risky sexual behavior (Goedel et al., 2017). Sexual minority men who use dating apps may be at greater risk of experiencing BD via exposure to appearance-based discrimination (Tran et al., 2020), sexual objectification, and weight stigma (Filice et al., 2019). Little is known about sexual minority men’s experiences of appearance discrimination on dating apps …

The Role Of Authenticity In The Link Between Self-Determination, Gender Minority Stress, Psychological Well-Being And Distress In Transgender, Nonbinary, And Gender Expansive Individuals, Zakary Alexander Clements

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

Transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive individuals (TNB and GE) have the same basic psychological needs (BPN) for self-determination as their cisgender counterparts yet face unique gender minority stressors (GMS) that may impact psychological distress and well-being. Authenticity is an important factor that may also affect psychological well-being and distress in TNB and GE people. Few research studies have examined BPN attainment or GMS factors and psychological well-being and distress. The role of authenticity, which is associated with psychological well-being in cisgender samples, has yet to be examined in TNB and GE people on the context of BPN attainment or GMS. …

Exploration Of Factors Associated With Rural Appalachian Women's Use Of Buprenorphine Prior To Incarceration, Kelsey A. Redmayne

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

The Gelberg-Anderson Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations was used to identify factors related to buprenorphine use in general and through diversion (versus formal treatment) among rural Appalachian women using substances in the six months prior to their incarceration. This study is a secondary analysis of data from interviews completed with rural Appalachian women (N=400) residing in rural Kentucky jails. Independent variables were analyzed using chi square and independent t-tests for buprenorphine use generally and diverted buprenorphine use. The significant predictors were then evaluated through hierarchical logistic regression to explore which factors account for the most variance in general …

The Effect Of Exceptionality Label On School Psychologists During The Evaluation Process, Rachel Jacob

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

School psychologists often lead the evaluation process that is responsible for identifying students with an education-based disability. They are also responsible for providing recommendations for the student following the evaluation. The current study is focusing on the variable of exceptionality label as it is a universally present variable that has the potential to affect all evaluations. Two recent studies have examined and found labeling bias on preservice educators (Allday et al., 2011; Fisher et al., 2022). This study sought to expand this research by looking at labeling bias in school psychologists. The study measured the effect of exceptionality label on …

An Examination Of Factors Impacting Home-School Collaboration In Head Start Populations, Madison Mei-Mei Yee

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

Two essential pillars in a preschool-age student’s life include their caregiver and their teacher. In turn, it is unsurprising that a more cohesive relationship between these two figures can promote better wellbeing, academic skills, and overall developmental growth in young children. Unfortunately, a multitude of barriers impede home-school collaboration, such as socioeconomic status, non-English speaking households, and caregiver mental health, just to name a few. Head Start, a federally funded preschool program, targets underserved populations who often relate to these named barriers. Head Start works out of the Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework, a framework specifically geared toward …

The Effect Of Mandatory Reporting Policy Knowledge On College Sexual Assault Disclosure, Amelia Ann Stanley

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

The purpose of this study was to examine the association that objective knowledge of mandatory reporting policies has with recent college sexual assault survivors’ disclosure. Chi-square analyses were used to determine if any differences exist between groups of sexual assault survivors who demonstrated various levels of knowledge of mandatory reporting policies and who disclosed or did not disclose their assault to various sources. This study was a secondary analysis of a large Southern university’s campus climate survey, collected in the spring semesters of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Data from those students who indicated being a survivor of any type of …

The Spread Of Nuclear Technology: The Difficulty Of Arms Control And The Consequences Of Nuclear Proliferation, Bryce Allen Beschorner

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

The potential impact of nuclear technology on international relations raises a number of important questions for scholars and policymakers. This dissertation focuses on different aspects of nuclear-related cooperation and competition and attempts to answer some of these questions. In this dissertation, I address three main puzzles related to nuclear politics using a mixed methods approach. First, I examine the consequences of the spread of nuclear technology on the outcomes of international crises, specifically focusing on the impact of nuclear weapons tests on crisis outcomes. Using data on nuclear weapons tests, I argue and find support for the notion that nuclear …

Coalition Of The Ending: Why States Withdraw From International Military Coalitions, Weiss Mehrabi

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation examines the causes and conditions motivating states to discontinue supporting an ongoing military coalition operation and prematurely abandon their partners. In exploring coalition defection through a three-article dissertation, I advance three separate theoretical arguments focusing on three levels of analysis.

The first article contributes to the literature by investigating the effects of political regime types on coalition abandonment during interstate wars. I argue that anocracies are dependable wartime partners and will not abandon coalition warfare earlier than autocracies and democracies. I advance two arguments for the theory of anocratic reliability. First, leaders of mixed regimes expect severe post-defeat …

Damsels In Defense: Exploring The Relationship Between Women And Violence Against Civilians During Armed Conflict, Baylee Harrell

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Conventional wisdom dictates that women are mostly victims of violence in armed conflict, but recent studies reveal women are often active participants and perpetrators of violence as well. Meanwhile, research shows armed group composition is a frequent determinant of violence against civilians, but many unconventional, yet influential, actors have received little attention regarding this outcome. Furthermore, few studies provide quantitative and cross-national evidence of how women’s shifting roles from victim to perpetrator affects violence against civilians. In this dissertation I examine the relationship between armed group composition, women, and violence against civilians in civil war by evaluating women’s roles as …

Conserved Novel Interactions Between Post-Replicative Repair And Mismatch Repair Proteins Have Differential Effects On Dna Repair Pathways, Anna K. Miller

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

DNA mismatch repair (MMR) is the DNA repair mechanism that repairs base-base mispairs and small insertions and deletions remaining after replication. MMR is also required for apoptosis after certain types of exogenous DNA damage that result in damage-associated mispairs. The basic MMR mechanism is well understood; however, proteins associated with MMR continue to be identified. The roles of these interacting proteins in MMR are largely unknown. We have identified the yeast protein Rad5 as a novel interactor of the critical MMR proteins Msh2 and Mlh1. Rad5 is a DNA helicase and E3 ubiquitin ligase involved in post-replicative repair. However, to …

Elucidating The Functional Importance Of Peroxiredoxin Iv In Prostate Cancer And Its Secretion Mechanism, Na Ding

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Prostate cancer is the most common and second leading cause of cancer death in men. Prevailing theories state that inflammation may drive prostate carcinogenesis via oxidative stress and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that induce somatic mutagenesis. Since high proliferating cells or cancer cells exhibit aberrant metabolism to satisfy the needs of energy for rapid cell proliferation, they also generate high levels of ROS which stimulates the expression of cellular antioxidants to overcome the dysregulation of redox homeostasis through the regulation of redox-sensitive transcription factors. Among different antioxidants, peroxiredoxin (Prx) family proteins are the highly conserved and mostly …

Beyond Mitosis, Plk1-Mediated Phosphorylation Re-Wires Cancer Metabolism And Promotes Cancer Progression, Qiongsi Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) is a well- characterized regulator of cell division and is known to be highly expressed in certain types of tumors. It has been demonstrated the multifaceted roles of PLK1 in regulation of transcription, translation, epigenetics, DNA damage and cellular metabolism et al. Despite these findings, the precise mechanisms by which PLK1 regulates these processes beyond mitosis remain unclear. PLK1-mediated phosphorylation and misregulation of its substrates has been linked to tumorigenesis, cancer progression, drug resistance and worse prognosis. In this study, we investigated the non-canonical functions of PLK1 in cancer metabolism and drug resistance. We found that …

Disparities In Mental Health Technology Among African Americans: Breaking Cultural Inclusion Barriers, Nyoki Cosey-Brown

DSW Capstone Projects

Mental health technology is a healthcare delivery model of the future. The engagement in virtual healthcare was intensified when traditional healthcare methods were inaccessible during the federal restrictions implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing digital apparatuses for healthcare improved the convenience, efficiency, and accessibility of various mental health services that were inoperable in past healthcare models. However, the historical constructs of stigma, discrimination, inequity, exclusion, and structural racism in mental healthcare were prevalent problems that remained present in virtual mental health platforms concerning the experiences of African-American patients and professionals who utilized the spaces.

This research explored mental health …

Technology As A Change Agent For Social Work Supervision, Hermaya Onunwor

DSW Capstone Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a critical impact on the social work profession, with social workers relying heavily on technology to deliver services. There have been concerns about the effectiveness of these evolved practices, and practitioners are questioning whether they are acceptable as emergency orders caused by the pandemic begin to lapse. To address these concerns, a systematic literature review was conducted to synthesize scholarly literature on the effectiveness of telesupervision in social work practice. This capstone project aims to provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of telesupervision in social work practice

When evaluating the training and development of social …

Forage News [2023-01], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

No abstract provided.

Substance Use And Trauma Among Adult Education Students In The United States, Brittany Miller-Roenigk, Michael Awad, Maria C. Crouch, Derrick M. Gordon

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Adult basic education (ABE) programs in the United States serve millions of students annually to help them achieve high school equivalency, English proficiency, and other skills. These skills are necessary for upward mobility and competitiveness in the labor market, which is important for ABE students who are disproportionately affected by racial/ethnic disparities and poverty. Among learners who are not in ABE programs, substance use and trauma affect student outcomes. Similar research is limited among ABE students. Understanding the influence of these factors among ABE students can better inform interventions. The current study, grounded in Stress and Coping Theory, examined rates, …

Magnetic Anomaly Data Products Of The Central And Eastern United States, Dhananjay Ravat

Earth and Environmental Sciences Research Data

This data set contains Central and Eastern U.S. Magnetic Anomaly, DRTP, Tilt Derivative, and Analytic Signal Amplitude Products ultimately derived from Ravat, D., Finn, C., Hill, P., Kucks, R., Phillips, J., Blakely, R., Bouligand, C., Sabaka, T., Elshayat, A., Aref, A., and Elawadi, E., 2009, A preliminary, full spectrum, magnetic anomaly grid of the United States with improved long wavelengths for studying continental dynamics--A website for distribution of data: U.S. Geological Survey Open- File Report 2009–1258, 2 p.

Writing New Normals: A Study Of American Pandemic Fiction In The Wake Of Covid-19, Riley E. Droppleman

Gaines Fellow Senior Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the aspects of pandemic fiction that extend beyond the illness itself. In this thesis, I show that while the disease that spreads is a large focus of pandemic fiction, the truths that spring from these novels reveal larger societal issues, such as class hierarchies, racial inequalities, and failings of the government to fight the pandemic. In fact, pandemics act as catalysts for the uncovering of these societal ills, and the authors of pandemic fictions bring these greater faults of society to the forefront of their novels. I analyze three novels from the …

The People We Carry, Abigail E. Eplin

Gaines Fellow Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Revitalization Through Reuse: A Proposed Repositioning Of A 1960s Shopping Mall In Balcones Heights, Texas - Site History And Literature Review, Sophie Gershtenson

Gaines Fellow Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Restorative Landscapes And Their Potential Application To The University Of Kentucky Campus, Felix Lowery

Gaines Fellow Senior Theses

Exposure to natural environments has been shown to have significant positive impacts on both mood and attention, as well as the potential to decrease stress and other negative emotions. Hospitals and other healthcare settings have been on the forefront of implementing spaces designed with the intent of improving mental health. However, this is not the only setting in which restorative landscapes are needed. Implementing restorative landscapes on college campuses would be an innovative way for colleges to address their students’ mental health needs. The objective of this thesis is to understand what aspects of a natural landscape promote cognitive restoration, …

Cyborgs, Dolls And Passing Narratives: Trans-Femininity In Popular Music, Quinn J. Troia

Lewis Honors College Thesis Collection

The Cyborg is a figure that has been used by feminist scholars as a metaphor for feminist issues and transgender identity because the embodiment of both transgender people and cyborgs challenges binary understandings of male/femaleness and human/nonhumanness respectively. This comparison has also suggested the potential of reading cyborgs as passing figures who attempt to perform normative social identities; however, scholarship analyzing Cyborg figures has not explored this in ways that are specific to trans-feminine people. By combining contributions from the theory of gender performativity and research on transgender linguistic practices and identity construction, I perform a visual and textual analysis …

A Literature Review On Inclusive Pedagogy And How Instructors Can Create Inclusive And Effective Classroom Groups, Johnathan K. Hurley

Lewis Honors College Thesis Collection

The presented document sought to analyze the ongoing issue of inclusive policy-making in the context of group work at institutions of higher education, while providing tailored advice for students in a particular field of study on how to behave inclusively. The researcher composed an extensive literature review to answer the first query, addressing the questions of: how to define inclusivity; how to form inclusive groups; and how to maintain inclusivity in classrooms. After this step, the researcher then took undertook efforts to craft a memo advising future students in CLD 490, a senior-level course for Community and Leadership Development students, …

Il-1r1 Within The Meningeal Lymphatic System, Nolan Abdelsayed

Lewis Honors College Thesis Collection

The meninges are made up of three membranes; the pia mater, arachnoid mater, and dura mater, that surround the brain and spinal cord. These specialized layers work in concert with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), to protect the central nervous system by adding a layer of cushion and removing waste products from the CNS. Additionally, the meninges act as a physical barrier between the central nervous system and the periphery. The meningeal lymphatic system is a specialized group of vessels that lie within the meninges that assist in the flow of fluid and waste products from the brain. If the meningeal lymphatic …

Data For "Linking Previous Experiences To Behavior And Health In The Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera)"", Rebecca R. Westwick, Clare C. Rittschof, Gavin P. Brackett, Cameron E. Brown, Bethany J. Ison, Zainulabbeudin Syed, Anna M. Foose

Entomology Research Data

An organism’s ability to respond to changing conditions can be vital to its success. Indeed, plasticity is a common feature of living organisms. Much of the research in this area, though, has focused on effects caused by environmental conditions. What has received relatively less attention is how social experiences and broader features of an organism’s social environment can lead to long-lasting changes in health and behavior. This knowledge gap exists despite the well-documented existence of health and behavioral effects after social interactions in certain taxa such as humans.

Social insects such as honey bees provide an excellent opportunity to better …