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Acute And Chronic Oral Administration Of Cannabidiol-Dominant Cannabis Products: Sex- And Formulation-Dependent Effects On Anxiety-Like Behavioral Patterns In Rats, Carlos R. Maestas-Olguin

Psychology ETDs

Interest in the anxiolytic-like effects of cannabidiol (CBD), the non-intoxicating phytocannabinoid found within the genus, Cannabis, has grown significantly in recent years. However, preclinical investigations of CBD’s anxiolytic potential often elect to forgo translationally relevant models that maximize external validity in favor of greater internal and mechanistic validity. As a result, the effects of relatively low dose (< 3mg/kg) oral CBD administration on anxiety-like behaviors are not yet fully characterized. The present studies examined the impact of two orally delivered CBD-dominant cannabis products – a “full-spectrum” formulation derived from the whole plant and a CBD isolate derived from the same chemovar – on innate defensive behaviors exhibited by adult male and female rats in various tests of anxiety. Results indicated that acute and chronic low dose oral CBD administration attenuated anxiety-like behavior in rats, regardless of sex or formulation. These findings extend the growing corpus of literature describing anxiolytic-like effects of CBD.

Examining Associations Between Socioecological Factors And Addiction Cycle Domains In Separate Community And Treatment- Seeking Samples, Kara Link

Psychology ETDs

The Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment (ANA) is a multimodal clinical assessment framework designed to capture the heterogeneity of addictive disorders and inform personalized treatment. The ANA is grounded in three neurofunctional domains aligned with the Koob and LeMoal addiction cycle stages: incentive salience (IS; binge/intoxication), negative emotionality (NE; withdrawal/negative affect), and executive function (EF; preoccupation/anticipation). In addition to these primary domains, the ANA also proposes ancillary assessment domains thought to be related to these neurofunctional domains. However, the ANA developers do not provide a rationale for including these ancillary measures in the framework nor hypothesize about their relevance to the ANA …

The Concept 'Pollination' And Bee Pan-Trap Color And Uv Reflectance Determine The Taxonomic Compositions Of Bee Taxa Captures Across An Elevation Gradient And Seasons In The Jemez Mountains Of New Mexico, Esther A. Burton, Kelly B. Miller, Paul J. Watson, David C. Witherington, Steven Poe, David Lightfoot

Biology ETDs

This thesis examines the pollinator concept and tests how sampling methods shape bee communities. Chapter 1 provides a conceptual and philosophical analysis, arguing that pollination is a process and that pollinators are context-dependent functional roles rather than fixed taxonomic categories. It traces the concept’s development from natural history to ecological theory, introduces a dual-goal model separating plant reproduction from visitor foraging, and proposes a classification framework based on evidentiary certainty and pollination potential to resolve ambiguity in pollination research.

Chapter 2 applies these ideas empirically by evaluating how pan-trap color and ultraviolet (UV) reflectance influence bee assemblages across elevation and …

From Cranes To Clinics: Genomic Epidemiology At The Human-Animal Interface, Sarah Shrum

Biology ETDs

Emerging infectious diseases represent a significant, increasing threat to human life, economic stability, and global security. The One Health framework, which promotes human health and wellness through the understanding that animal, environmental, and human health are interwoven, is critical to understanding pathogen emergence and transmission. This is underscored by the fact that roughly 60% of all human pathogens and 75% of emerging infectious disease are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted from animals to humans.

The work presented in this dissertation integrates genomic epidemiology, ecological analysis, and One Health Surveillance approaches to characterize cross-species circulation of opportunistic yeast pathogens (Candida …

Investigating Changes In The Stable Isotopic Composition Of Juniperus Osteosperma Over 34,000 Years Of Climatic Shifts, Lisa S. Garcia

Biology ETDs

Isotopic compositions of plants from the past provides empirical evidence for paleoclimatic shifts and plants physiologically response. This study used Neotoma paleomiddens (fossilized debris piles) collected from Death Valley National Park, which contained preserved abundant plant materials. These middens range from modern to >35,000 years and capture different climatic events in Earth history. Employing Juniperus osteosperma (Utah Juniper) leaves found in middens, I investigated variation in carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic composition. To help interpret paleomidden results, we used modern field and herbaria samples of Juniperus from a spatial gradient stretching across their geographic range. Results showed δ ¹³C …

Rhythms Of Hippocampal Function And Memory After Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure, Lilliana May Sanchez

Psychology ETDs

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders involve morphologic and neurobiological abnormalities in offspring subjected to prenatal alcohol exposure. Although not as well studied as high exposure, moderate prenatal alcohol exposure represents the most common and undetected form in humans. While learning and memory deficits have been well characterized at the behavioral level in humans with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and in animal models of moderate prenatal alcohol exposure, few studies have determined the circuit or systems level mechanisms of the behavioral deficits. A complete understanding of the neural bases of memory deficits after moderate prenatal alcohol exposure is needed to ultimately identify …

The Effect Of Acute Hypoxia Exposure, With Exercise, On Bone Metabolic Biomarkers, Alyssa Bailly

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Hypoxic environments, resulting from decreased atmospheric partial pressure of oxygen, reduce oxygen availability in the blood and tissues, leading to a mismatch between supply and demand. This elicits several physiological adaptations and may influence bone metabolism. Although evidence suggests that hypoxia can modulate bone remodeling through hypoxia-inducible pathways, findings remain mixed, with most data derived from chronic hypoxic exposures in animal and cell culture models. Exercise, an essential stimulus for bone health, may exacerbate hypoxic stress; however, the skeletal response to acute hypoxic exposure combined with exercise remains unclear. We propose that intermittent exercise in hypoxia may increase negative markers …

Empowering Pedagogical Practice Through Autoethnography Within The Context Of Family Literacy Projects, Sarah M. Johnson

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Family Literacy Projects being used in the high school setting to promote cultural and linguistic identities. The Family Literacy Project is used to bridge the gap between student identities at school and the identities at home. The purpose of this study was for the teacher to reflect in an autoethnographic study of herself in relation to the context of community, pedagogy, and the perceived needs and changes of the project for both students and the school’s culture. Through the autoethnographic study, the focus of the Family Literacy Project is in its importance to the school, community, students, and teachers was …

Impact Of Third Trimester Alcohol Exposure (Ttae) On Oligodendrocyte Development And Behavior In Mice, Estrella Villicana

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) during late gestation can cause cognitive, behavioral, and motor impairments associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). The third trimester corresponds to a critical period of brain growth and maturation. This study examined the effects of Third Trimester-equivalent Alcohol Exposure (TTAE) on oligodendrocyte development and adult behavior. Neonatal mice were exposed to ethanol or air vapor from postnatal day (P) 4–8. Immunohistochemical analyses were performed at P8 and P30 to assess myelination, apoptosis, and oligodendrocyte lineage progression. TTAE significantly reduced myelin basic protein (MBP) expression at P8, which was recovered by P30, indicating delayed developmental myelination. …

Design And Optimization Of Epitope Based Malaria Vaccine Targeting Pre-Erythrocytic Stage, Yogesh Nepal

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Malaria remains a major global health challenge. Currently available vaccines provide only modest and transient protection. In this work, we developed virus like particles (VLPs) based vaccine to target vulnerable epitopes of circumsporozoite protein, a key surface protein of pre-erythrocytic sporozoite stage, across different structural contexts. The immunogenicity of these highly immunogenic vaccines were further enhanced using immune stimulating agents, adjuvants, and the most promising VLP and adjuvant combinations were evaluated in preclinical challenge models to assess efficacy. In parallel, we performed research in an antigen agonistic manner using VLP library immunization that displays different fragments of a target protein …

Unpacking The Roots Of School Vouchers: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Its Origins And The Arizona Model, Swechha Singh

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Critical Race Theory (CRT) gained prominence in mainstream political discourse following President Trump issuance of Executive Order 13950, Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping, which intensified political debate surrounding CRT, diversity initiatives, and educational curricula. This study used Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis to examine how ideological forces gave rise to the enactment of school vouchers. Using CRT as a theoretical lens, the study examined historical and contemporary data to explore how ideology functioned to advance an expansive education policy agenda, including Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program. This study offers evidence of the impact of the anti-CRT movement, as well as sustained …

Brain-Based Mechanisms Of Behavioral Impairment In Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (Fasd): The Neuroimaging Biomarkers Of Inhibitory Control, Zinia Pervin

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

The developing brain is highly susceptible to alcohol-induced toxicity, often resulting in long-term deficits in executive function and behavioral regulation. Inhibitory control impairments are among the most prominent deficits observed in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This study investigated the neural mechanisms of inhibitory dysfunction using a multimodal MEG–DTI approach in 67 children aged 6–8 years (34 with FASD, 33 controls) who performed a Go/No-Go task. Source-level MEG analyses revealed reduced stimulus-locked cortical activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and significant group-by-hemisphere interactions in the superior parietal cortex and cuneus. Time–frequency analyses showed diminished response-locked beta power in the sensory-motor …

Advertising Influence On Climate Change News Coverage: A Comparison Of The New York Times And The Guardian, Natalie L. Hamren

Communication ETDs

This study examines how fossil fuel advertising may influence climate change coverage by comparing The New York Times, which publishes fossil fuel advertisements, and The Guardian, which has banned them. Drawing on the Hierarchy of Influences and Social Responsibility Theory, the study uses ethnographic content analysis by analyzing (n=104) articles between 2022 and 2025 to examine framing, source usage, tone, and emphasis. Findings indicate that The New York Times more frequently framed climate change through political and economic lenses and relied heavily on government and business sources. In contrast, The Guardian more often employed scientific framing, cited researchers, …

Blockade Logic: Settler Consciousness And The Petro-Security Apparatus, Sarah Seroy

Communication ETDs

This study examines contemporary CID legislation and surrounding political rhetoric in Canada and its implications for Indigenous communities. It reveals how settler consciousness is affirmed through such legislation and how discourse rooted in colonial logics serves to strengthen Canada’s petro-security apparatus. Drawing from Teun van Dijk’s (1995) method of Ideological Discourse Analysis and integrating Indigenous epistemologies, it offers a research approach of anticolonial discourse analysis. This analysis reveals CID legislation as a racialized, colonial tool and a form of biopower the settler-state exerts over Indigenous communities. It normalizes settler-state hegemony and justifies the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous communities. This study …

The Role Of Gender And Salient Social Identities In Producing Vulnerability And Maladptation To Flooding In Koraso, Berekum, Ghana, Kingsley Damoah Oppong

Geography ETDs

This paper highlights how social identities like polygamy, illiteracy, and ethnicity hinder rural women farmers in Ghana from adapting to climate change. It advocates for an intersectional approach to address these challenges, moving beyond simplistic gender binaries. Using qualitative interviews (n=49) in a flood-prone village in Berekum, Ghana, the study reveals how these identities intersect with gender roles and colonial legacies, exacerbating vulnerability. It bridges Black feminist thought with climate change, an underexplored area, offering insights into climate change and environmental studies, as well as Black feminist scholarship. This research urges a reevaluation of how we understand climate change in …

Dungeons And Dragons As Game-Based Learning, Moses Allen

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This phenomenological qualitative study explored the use of the Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Role-Playing Game as a Game-Based Learning (GBL) model, measuring middle school student perceptions of engagement, motivation, and skill development through interactive storytelling. The study used a Practitioner Research theoretical framework and Thematic Analysis to identify emergent themes from the collected data. The study included gameplay of D&D after school with a small group of participants grades 6-8. Results indicated that participants reported consistently high levels of motivation and engagement. Participants perceived that D&D gameplay promoted the development of 21st Century Skills and middle school curricula skills, specifically …

A Planetary Health Approach To Address Food Insecurities In New Mexico, Mariah Kennell

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Food insecurity remains a persistent public health concern throughout New Mexico, impacting both rural and urban populations and contributing to significant health disparities. Limited access to affordable, locally sourced fresh foods exacerbates chronic disease burden and undermines community health. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice project was to conduct a comprehensive policy analysis to identify feasible state-level strategies to improve food access through strengthening local food systems. Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention POLARIS policy analysis framework, a structured evaluation of existing and potential state and community-level policies was conducted. The analysis incorporated stakeholder interviews with …

From Synapse To Circuit: Mechanisms Of Behavioral Flexibility And Its Restoration After Prenatal Alcohol Exposure, Jayapriya Chandrasekaran

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Behavioral flexibility—the ability to adapt behavior when contingencies change—is a fundamental executive function supported by orbitofrontal–striatal circuitry. This dissertation examined molecular, motivational, and circuit mechanisms underlying flexibility and its restoration after prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). In healthy mice, GluN2B-containing NMDA receptors in the orbitofrontal cortex increased during outcome updating, while AMPA receptor subunits in the dorsal striatum rose during new learning, defining temporally distinct plasticity processes. PAE impaired reversal learning under low-reward conditions, but not when motivation was high, indicating altered thresholds for circuit engagement rather than permanent loss. Finally, optogenetic stimulation of OFC→dorsal striatum projections rescued flexibility in PAE …

Advancing Neutrosophic Topology Through Gamma Generalized Alpha Closed Sets, B. Kalaiselvi, K. Sivakumar, S. Chandrasekar, P. Kalarani, A. Kesavan

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

This paper introduces a new class of Neutrosophic closed sets, termed Neutrosophic γ-generalized α-closed sets (Ne.(γGα)CS), together with their corresponding open sets (Ne.(γGα)OS), within the framework of Neutrosophic Topological Spaces (NTS). The study is motivated by limitations in existing classes of Neutrosophic closed sets, including α-closed, semi-closed, and γ-closed sets, which often lack sufficient flexibility for modeling hybrid structures characterized by partial membership, indeterminacy, and uncertainty. To overcome these limitations, the proposed Ne.(γGα)CS are defined using β-closure operators and α-open supersets, providing a more comprehensive framework that extends and unifies several previously established concepts. The properties of these sets are …

Advancing Common Fixed Point Theorems In Bipolar Fuzzy-2 Metric Space And Applications In Nonlinear Analysis, Rajesh Kumar Saini, Mukesh Kushwaha

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

This study advances common fixed point theorems (CFPT) in bipolar fuzzy-2 metric space (BF2MS) and explores their applications in nonlinear analysis. BF2MS generalizes traditional metric and fuzzy metric spaces (FMS) by incorporating dualistic relationships, allowing the representation of both attraction and repulsion effects. We extend classical fixed point theorems (FPTs) to BF2MS, establishing conditions for the existence of common fixed points (CFPs). The study's applications span nonlinear analysis, stability analysis, control theory, and multi-criteria decision-making under uncertainty. Our findings refine existing results and provide practical real-world applications, supported by numerical examples, enhancing fuzzy mathematics and nonlinear systems modeling.

Integral Type Contractive Condition In E-Chainable Neutrosophic Metric Space And Common Fixed Point Theorem, Rajesh Kumar Saini, Mukesh Kushwaha, Moh. Kasim

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

Nonlinear Optimization, Game theory, economics and study of differential equations are just a few of the many domains in which fixed point theory (FPT) is essential. It is possible to construct new forms of infinite products by using continuous triangular norms (TN) and continuous triangular co-norms (TC). Banach contraction principal has been established in the context of neutrosophic metric space (NMS) within the framework through the use of these newly define infinite products. We introduced integral type contractive condition in -chainable NMS and establishes a common fixed point theorems (CFPTs) in the current work. The result acquired in this study …

Energy Management And Water Balance In Migrating Hummingbirds, Shayne R. Halter

Biology ETDs

Small body size and rapid metabolism make annual migrations challenging for North American hummingbirds. Many of these birds make annual journeys of over 10,000 km. During migrations, hummingbirds use stopover sites, where they remain for several days to accumulate body fat. At these stopovers, they often encounter uncertainties in food resources, competition, and weather. To save energy, hummingbirds sometimes enter nocturnal torpor. My dissertation uses respirometry data, lipid measurements from Quantitative Magnetic Resonance, and feather hydrogen stable isotopes to understand how energy levels, migration patterns, torpor use, and water balance interact in four species of migrating hummingbirds. I discovered lipid …

“El Concilio De Buen Manejo” Spmdtu Council No. 2, Capulín, Colorado, José A. Rivera Ph.D

Faculty Publications

From among the sixty-four local councils affiliated with the Sociedad Protección Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos (SPMDTU), Council No. 2 at Capulín was among the earliest organized, quickly grew in membership, and was known for its attention to recordkeeping of minutes, financial ledgers, and attendance logs. The council was established around 1901, and by midcentury a history of the SPMDTU noted: “Este concilio siempre ha tenido buen manejo. Tiene buena propiedad con su propio salón y ha llegado a tener buen número de miembros.” (This council has always enjoyed good management. It has a nice property with its own …

Eoq Model For Deteriorating Items With Exponential Demand Rate, Price Dependence And Shortages Under Trapezoidal And Neutrosophic Fuzzy Techniques, Partha Ray, Agniva Dey, Somen Seal

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Class Of Analytic Function Defined By Neutrosophic Poisson Distribution, Olushola Adeyemo, Sayo Abidemi Gbangbala, Adeniyi Abimbola Ayeni, Folorunso Isola Akinwale, Abel Onaolapo Aremu

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Bad Men In The Bordertown: Confronting Police Violence Against Native Americans With The Bad Men Treaty Clauses, Taylor Graham

New Mexico Law Review

In nine treaties signed by Tribal Nations and the United States between 1867 and 1868, the United States promised redress to Native Americans for wrongs committed against them by “bad men among the whites.” Today, Native Americans are more likely to be killed by police than any other group, with much of this violence concentrated near the borders of Tribal Nations. Although claims brought under the “bad men” treaty clauses offer an avenue for combatting this epidemic of violence, courts have begun interpreting the clauses to apply only when “wrongs” occur within Tribal boundaries. This article argues that the territoriality …

Predicting The Future Past: Human Cognitive Limits And Proximate Cause Determinations In Civil Actions, Dr. Molly Wilson, Helen Webster

New Mexico Law Review

Juror decision-making is inherently influenced by psychological biases, which pose a significant challenge to the fairness and accuracy of proximate cause determinations in tort cases. This Article explores the cognitive and social biases—such as hindsight bias, primacy, anchoring, belief in a just world, and moral outrage—that affect jurors as they engage in the complex reasoning required to assess foreseeability and causation. Given that jurors must disregard their knowledge of actual harm and set aside emotional responses to tragic injuries, the risk of bias is substantial. Traditional jury instructions have proven insufficient in mitigating these effects. As a solution, this Article …

Madm Model Based On Trigonometric Aggregation Operators Of Linguistic Neutrosophic Values And Its Application In Selecting The Crawling Robot Design Schemes, Yongbiao Luo, Hui Pan

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

The Light Eaters, Anna Linn

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Protection Forests: Intersections Of Law And Science, Jamison E. Colburn

Natural Resources Journal

The national forests of the eastern United States are where and what they are today based in good part on a mistake. When they were being acquired and established in the early twentieth century, hydrology was in its infancy. Yet many hydrologists and their students in government were promising that these forests would provide significant protection from floods. They promised more than they should have. Forests as protection from floods were embroiled in a contentious and prolonged factual inquiry almost immediately thereafter. Indeed, that inquiry would later mature into a distinct scientific subfield, forest hydrology, that went on to influence …