Cop9 Signalosome Component Csn-5 Promotes Accumulation And Function Of Stem Cell Regulators Fbf-1 And Fbf-2, Emily Osterli

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

RNA-binding proteins FBF-1 and FBF-2 (FBFs) are required for stem cell maintenance in C. elegans, although the mechanisms by which FBFs protein levels are regulated remain unknown. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen, we identified an interaction between both FBFs and CSN-5, a component of the COP9 (constitutive photomorphogenesis 9) signalosome. This highly conserved COP9 complex can affect protein stability through a range of mechanisms including deneddylation, deubiquitination, and phosphorylation (Wolf et al., 2003). Mapping protein-protein interactions between FBFs and CSN-5 suggested that the MPN (Mpr1/Pad1 N-terminal) metalloprotease domain of CSN-5 interacts with the RNA-binding domain of FBFs at physiologically …

The Radicalism Of Rebecca Felton: Reforming Southern Masculinty And Creating And Destroying History: Butte, Montana’S Model City Program, 1968-1975, John C. Stefanek

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This professional paper is made up of two individual papers required for the M.A. degree in history. In my first paper, I discuss the radical suffragist Rebecca Felton. In 1897, Felton spoke to the Georgia Agricultural Society. Felton, a native Georgian who would later become the first female U.S. senator, gained prominence in the U.S. South as a politician, suffragist, and white supremacist. Her speech, “Woman on the Farm,” discussed the economic struggles of southern farmers. Felton’s speech also addressed a variety of controversial issues including agricultural economics on the farm, prison reform, and temperance. From the 1870s until her …

Family Read Aloud Club: Engaging Students And Supporting Parents, Julie B. Papp

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Conservation And Conversation In The Anthropocene, Brittany Alyse Garner

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The driving questions of this dissertation consider both the scientific and communicative understanding of conservation and extinction in the Anthropocene. Overall, this dissertation portfolio explores this topic via genetic and genomic data, international policy, big data analytics, human values, and the performing arts. Chapter 1 analyzes the use of genetics and genomics in conservation, finding multiple case studies within and outside of peer-reviewed journals. Chapters 2 and 3 quantify and describe the use of genetic principles and tools in a global species extinction risk assessment, the IUCN Red List, and finds low overall use but high potential for genetics to …

Identifying And Measuring Resilience Factors Among Children With Prenatal Substance Exposure In A Tribal Nation And In Association With Covid-19 Mortality, Helen Cecelia Russette

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Background: Historical and contemporary trauma among Native Americans is linked to disparate health outcomes across the lifespan including the very recent coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Early and prolonged exposure to positive family-child engagement activities and the natural environment (greenspace) act as protective factors against a range of maladaptive development across the lifespan. Yet, little is known regarding specific activities relevant among high-risk families in Tribal Nations and no evidence exists in terms of measuring that impact of greenspace against risk of COVID-19 mortality.

Purpose: 1) Partner with a Tribal Nation to develop a study to identify resilience promoting factors in …

"A Splendid Investment": Black Colonization And America's Pacific Empire, 1898-1904, Jolie Colette Scribner

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Fun Ctional Implications Of Dual Transmitting Neurons On Aggression, Lewis Michael Sherer Ii

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Optimal Construction Of A Layer-Ordered Heap And Its Applications, Jake Pennington

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The layer-ordered heap (LOH) is a simple data structure used in algorithms that perform optimal top-$k$ on $X+Y$, algorithms with the best known runtime for top-$k$ on $X_1+X_2+\cdots+X_m$, and the fastest method in practice for computing the most abundant isotopologue peaks in a chemical compound. In the analysis of these algorithms, the rank, $\alpha$, has been treated as a constant and $n$, the size of the array, has been treated as the sole parameter. Here, we explore the algorithmic complexity of LOH construction with $\alpha$ as a parameter, introduce a few algorithms for constructing LOHs, analyze their complexity in both …

The Effect Of Test Difficulty On Perceived Memory Performance, Phoebe S. Bean

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Neuropsychological testing is a critical element of the assessment and treatment of a host of neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. Certain non-neurological variables may also affect an individual’s test performance. Such secondary factors may include current psychiatric issues, chronic pain, sleep, and the effort put forth during testing. Little is known, however, about the effect the testing process itself has on people’s actual and perceived cognitive abilities. For example, the process of undergoing memory testing may, through a variety of mechanisms, influence memory performance and impact the person such that their view of their …

The Impacts Of Integrating Interdisciplinary, Introductory Computer Science In High School Courses, Jan Roddy

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Risk, Trust And Emergent Groups: Covid-19 Mutual Aid Networks, Allison M. Cutuli

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Throughout the world, thousands of local mutual aid networks (MANs) have emerged in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mutual aid involves exchanging resources, connecting people to services and building community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mutual aid includes sharing COVID-19 information, social support, food and emergency funds in informal local networks. To learn more about these community networks and explore the perspectives and experiences of MAN participants around the United States, I conducted survey research. There are 101 individuals from 16 MANs in 11 states included in the survey sample.

There are two parts to this research. The first explores descriptive …

Understanding The Effect Of Community Resources On Disability Employment In The Mountain West, Arin James Leopold

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examines the relationship between community resources and disability employment rate in the Mountain West. It draws on the five categories of Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) as defined by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) (2020) to select community resource variables. The determinants include: economic resources, health and health care, social and community context, infrastructure, and education. While there has been a good deal of work to understand how the SDOH can influence health outcomes, there has been little exploration of the influence that the SDOH has on employment outcomes for persons with disabilities (Frier …

Characterization Of Nucleocapsid-Rna Interactions In Rift Valley Fever Virus Infection, Miyuki Hayashi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a mosquito-borne virus that infects humans and livestock and exhibits potential for global spread. No vaccine or treatment is currently available for human use. The nucleocapsid protein (N) in RVFV is a multifunctional RNA-binding protein that is necessary for viral replication and dissemination. Because of its essential roles, N is a promising candidate to be targeted for anti-RVFV therapy. The goal of this dissertation is to characterize N-RNA interactions in RVFV infected cells. To achieve this goal, two methods, strand-specific reverse transcription and quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) as well as multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry …

Species Selection And Plantation Management In Enrichment Planting With Native Timber Species In The Panama Canal Watershed, Abigail A. Marshall

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Large areas of the Panama Canal Watershed have been converted to monocultures of teak (Tectonia grandis), a non-native timber species that is generally not providing hoped-for economic and ecological benefits of Forest Landscape Restoration. Enrichment planting offers a potential strategy for revitalizing these underperforming plantations through the addition of high-value, native species to the understory, but more information is needed to guide implementation and management in this region and other tropical areas. I assessed the performance of six promising native species (B. crassifolia, D. retusa, D. oleifera, H. alchorneoides, P. pinnatum, T. amazonia) as an enrichment …

The New Monumental Era: Daniel Webster And The Commemoration Of Compromise In The Age Of Disunion, 1853-1865, Michael James Larmann

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Professional Paper 1:

This professional paper is an in-depth analysis of a statue of Daniel Webster erected in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1859. Daniel Webster was a congressman for Massachusetts who became a controversial figure after he spoke in support of the Fugitive Slave Law as part of the Compromise of 1850. This paper analyzes the Daniel Webster statue and argues that the fractured politics of Union politicized public commemoration in the late antebellum period after the Compromise of 1850. This paper furthermore analyzes one of the first debates surrounding the public commemoration of a controversial historical actor with close ties …

Discourse Of Renewal: A Qualitative Analysis Of The University Of Montana’S Covid-19 Crisis Communication, Haley Renae Gabel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a public health crisis that has affected lives and impacted organizations across the world. The pandemic has interrupted student learning and threatened universities nationwide. Crises are trying times for organizations, and when faced with a crisis, an organization has an obligation to keep its members informed; therefore, it must carefully choose how to respond and communicate about the crisis. This study uses discourse of renewal theory as a lens to analyze the University of Montana’s communication about COVID-19, studying 37 pages of university emails and documents on the university website. Results indicate that …

Calcium Signaling And Alg-2 In The Regulation Of Constitutive Secretion, John Robert Sargeant

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The constitutive secretory pathway influences almost every aspect of cellular function: generation and maintenance of subcellular compartments; cell growth and differentiation; and production and deposition of the extracellular matrix. Classically, constitutive trafficking was thought to be continuous and unregulated—in contrast to regulated secretion, wherein vesicles are stored intracellularly until a Ca2+ signal causes synchronous membrane fusion. However, early studies demonstrated a Ca2+ requirement for endosome fusion, ER to Golgi, and intra- Golgi trafficking, demonstrating that Ca2+ is a regulator of constitutive trafficking steps as well. In Chapter 1, I review recent evidence for Ca2+ involvement and the specific Ca2+-related machinery …

Generation, Characterization, And C-H Bond Activation Reactivity By Mononuclear High-Valent Cobalt(Iv) And Nickel(Iv) Non-Oxo Complexes, Yubin Maria Kwon

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The study of terminal high-valent transition metal-oxo complexes has increased significantly over the years as it is believed that they are key reactive intermediates for a wide range of biological and industrial catalytic processes. These complexes are powerful oxidants for the activation of strong C-H bonds. The chemical and physical properties of these complexes remain elusive. It is therefore desirable to study the properties and function of these complexes through synthetic models. There have been many efforts and reports of synthetic high-valent metal-oxo complexes of early and middle transition metals (up to group 8 on the Periodic Table of Elements), …

Evaluating A Need For Somatic Access To Classical Objects In Public Museums, Jerod G. Peitsmeyer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Physical experiences with ancient art objects in museums are rare. Display paradigms in most public institutions continue to propagate systems of participant interaction that reinforces unequal power structures. The Montana Musuem of Art and Culture (MMAC) is the current custodian of an ancient, Rhodian wine amphora that provides an opportunity to examine a novel system of somatic participation. This proposal upends traditional gatekeeping practices and serves as a powerful and progressive, humanist touchstone; an olive branch extended to the general public from behind the walls of higher education and the ramparts of privileged scholarship. This study reimagines the amphora's future …

A Comprehensive Forensic Case Report For The Bonner County Coroner Case #20-100, Megan Copeland

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This report consists of an inventory of the skeletal remains of case #20-100, assessment of the minimum number of individuals (MNI), a biological profile if possible, and a literature review of ­­­the use of DNA in ancestry estimations. The skeletal remains are consistent with an MNI of one. The remains are likely from a male individual, and skeletal features display a mixture of European and Asian characteristics. The individual is estimated to be between of 25-35 years old with an estimated stature of between 5’1” and 5’6”.

Appealingly Unpeeled: The Layered Lemons In Dutch Golden Age And Contemporary Art, Amanda Barr

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In seventeenth-century Dutch painting, the lemon holds a prominent visual, economical, socio-cultural, and moral position. This trend would then be repeated in contemporary art, beginning in roughly the 1970s. This thesis, in two parts, will explore the significance of the prevalence of the lemon and their recurrent presence in both Dutch Golden Age art and modern and contemporary artwork. This multivalent approach will look at lemons as not only a visual representation of fruit, but a symbol of larger concepts such as globalization, commercialism, colonialism, sexuality, religion, linguistics, mythology, and pop culture.

Lost In Translation, Amanda Barr

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Lost in Translation addresses the issues that trauma can create in communication; whether that be a physical trauma that damages ability to speak, think, or understand language, or mental and emotional trauma that significantly effects abilities to process, connect, and manage interpersonal relationships. My work is my voice, and a way to help others connect, to feel heard, and to even help them begin to communicate.

Management And Conservation Of Westslope Cutthroat Trout In An Impacted, Connected River System, Troy Weant Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Westslope cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi (WCT) is a native species of high conservation value that historically exhibited partially migratory behavior throughout its range. Long-term persistence of WCT is threatened by human habitat modification, fragmentation, introduction of non-native species, and hybridization. As a result of these changes, remnant populations in Montana have shifted toward resident populations in headwater systems and away from migratory populations in larger connected river networks. This is compounded by the historic introduction of rainbow trout O. mykiss (RBT) that hybridize with WCT, especially in larger river habitats. Rock Creek in western Montana, USA was historically managed …

Wildlife-Friendly Fence Policy On Federal Public Lands Managed By The U.S. Forest Service And Bureau Of Land Management, Joshua D. Elliott

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Many wildlife species are negatively impacted by the presence of fences on the landscape. Climate change is only exacerbating the problem as home ranges shift and species face heightened levels of stress. In recent decades, wildlife biologists have studied these impacts and devised ways of constructing fences to increase habitat connectivity and significantly reduce fence-related injury and mortality rates. Conservationists attempting to address this issue on a landscape level face significant challenges resulting from complex land ownership patterns, specifically across the western United States.

The two largest landowners in the U.S. are the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the …

All In Due Time: Multi-Trait Assessment Of Elk Acclimation To Translocation, Ellen Marie Pero

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildlife translocation – the intentional movement of animals – is a crucial conservation tool for restoring species and halting global biodiversity decline. However, this practice is challenging for wildlife, and animals must adjust to their release landscapes for restoration to be successful. The period following release is a vulnerable time for translocated wildlife and determining when and how animals eventually acclimate following releases allows researchers to efficiently tailor post-release management to each species’ needs, thus maximizing the success of translocations while minimizing costs of an already expensive conservation practice. In this dissertation, I investigate changes in the physiological, behavioral, and …

Inference Of Surface Velocities From Oblique Time Lapse Photos And Terrestrial Based Lidar At The Helheim Glacier, Franklyn T. Dunbar Ii

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Using time dependent observations derived from terrestrial LiDAR and oblique
time-lapse imagery, we demonstrate that a Bayesian approach to glacial motion es-
timation provides a concise way to incorporate multiple data products into a single
motion estimation procedure effectively producing surface velocity estimates with
an associated uncertainty. This approach brings both improved computational effi-
ciency, and greater scalability across observational time-frames when compared to
existing methods. To gauge efficacy, we apply these methods to a set of observa-
tions from the Helheim Glacier, a critical actor in contemporary mass loss trends
observed in the Greenland Ice Sheet. We find that …

Policy And Collaborative Governance: Case Studies Of Three Wildlife Crossings, Nicholas Maya

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Over the last several decades, the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions in North America has significantly increased, driving substantial loss of human life and wildlife and economic costs. The most effective wildlife-vehicle collision mitigation is wildlife crossing structures (undercrossings and overcrossings), with some studies suggesting they can reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions by 97% when paired with wildlife exclusion fencing. However, cost, funding, jurisdiction, land ownership, and local support are limiting factors in constructing these crossing structures. This paper presents case studies of three crossing projects in Snoqualmie, Washington, Teton County, Wyoming, and Summit County, Colorado, to illustrate the similarities and differences in …

Using Formulation To Unlock Vaccine Adjuvant Efficacy For Toll-Like And C-Type Lectin Receptor Agonsts, Kristopher Kenneth Short

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ligands for pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) have been isolated or synthesized for use as adjuvants in order to improve the magnitude and quality of the immune response of vaccines. In particular, basic research of toll-like receptor (TLR) and C-type lectin receptor (CLR) families has culminated in the production of novel ligands with agonist activity. To use these PRR agonists as vaccine adjuvants, it is necessary to properly formulate them in delivery systems to unlock their agonist activity. The objective of this work was to develop liposomal and oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion formulations for TLR4 and TLR7/8 agonists and to develop O/W …

Towards Evidence-Based And Data-Driven Recommendations Promoting Independence In Later Life: Gait Speed, Falls, And Activities Of Daily Living In Older Adults, Claire Elaine Adam

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Background: Falls in older adults are a significant public health challenge. Fall prevention as well as intervention after a fall both are critical to reduce the negative consequences and improve quality of life in older age.

Purpose: 1) Quantify the association between gait speed and fall risk in a cross-sectional analysis for older adults with and without cognitive impairment. 2) Determine if there is an association between change in gait speed and fall risk in a longitudinal analysis including older adults with and without cognitive impairment. 3) Quantify the association between falls and difficulty with activities of daily …

Size Matters: Nanoparticles, Biological Sex, And Lung Disease, Jessica Lynn Ray

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The majority of lung diseases occur with a sex-bias is prevalence and/or severity. However, due to the historical disregard for sex as a biological variable in basic and clinical research, there is a fundamental lack of understanding on when and why respiratory inflammation preferentially affects males or females. The inhalation of engineered nanomaterials (ENM; intentionally produced by anthropogenic means and defined as having one dimension as < 100 nm) are of particular concern when considering emerging threats to lung health. Due to their extremely small size, these respirable particles are capable of reaching the functional gas exchange region of the lungs, where they cannot be easily cleared and subsequently lead to persistent inflammation, decreased lung function, and susceptibility to the development of other respiratory diseases. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) are an ENM of interest due to their widespread use in industrial, consumer, and medical applications, making them a potential hazard in both occupational and environmental settings. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) are the resident immune cells within the lungs that are responsible for phagocytosing and clearing inhaled xenobiotics, including ENM. However, typical AM clearance mechanisms are ineffective at removing persistent and pathogenic ENM such as MWCNTs, leading to the production of inflammatory mediators and the recruitment of other inflammatory immune cells. AMs have the ability to adopt a wide spectrum of functional phenotypes dependent upon endogenous and exogenous signals; these phenotypes ensure that the appropriate immune response is initiated in response to a given xenobiotic. However, when dysregulated, these phenotypes are also associated with different disease states. Interestingly, there is emerging data that sex steroid hormones (estrogen, specifically) impact AM phenotype development and inflammatory signaling, which may be, in part, responsible for the reported sex-biases observed in human lung diseases. The present research identifies sex-differences in MWCNT-induced lung inflammation, AM phenotype development, and one mechanism by which sex hormones impact AM function and subsequent inflammation.