Digital Commons Network^™

Nanostructuring Organic/Inorganic Multicomponent Composites For Solution Processable Solar Cells, Brad W. Watson

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

The current state of organic photovoltaics is centered on systems of polymeric donors and some type of acceptor molecule (i.e. fullerene) formed into an active layer that adopts a bulk-heterojunction morphology. Although these devices have come a far way from where they were when they were first discovered in the 1980’s much work is still needed to make them a viable technology. Two of the limitations of this type of devices revolve around the relatively narrow absorption window of the components and lack of control over the morphology after the film is cast. To overcome these shortcomings there are several …

Ecophysiology Of Ponderosa Pine Seedlings After Severe Fire: The Effect Of Tree Canopy, Lauren Michele Bansbach

Biology ETDs

Ponderosa pine forests evolved with low-severity surface fires to maintain forest structure and process. However, increasingly common high-severity fires often result in complete overstory canopy loss and a shift from forest to shrub- and grass-dominated vegetation that may persist as an alternate stable state due to limited rates of ponderosa seedling regeneration in severely burned areas. Though overstory tree canopy is an important driver of understory plant response, little is known about how the absence of tree canopy following severe fires interacts with changes in year-to-year climate to affect the physiological function of ponderosa pine seedlings. This field study tested …

Riparian Vegetation In The Face Of Environmental Variability, Kelly A. Steinberg

Biology ETDs

Riparian ecosystems are among the most highly disturbed ecosystems globally, over the past century dryland riparian forests have become less likely to flood, removing the largest historical disturbance. Yet these provide many essential ecosystem services. Climate change adds further change and uncertainty to the future of these ecosystems. In the southwestern United States, climate models predict changes in the mean and variance of temperature and precipitation. Determining the ecological consequences of interactions between slow changes in long-term climate means and amplified variability in climate is an important research frontier in plant ecology. We used long-term plant cover, groundwater and precipitation …

Mechanisms Of Oriented Cell Division And Their Roles In Tissue Development, Evan Blake Dewey

Biology ETDs

Properly executed cell division is crucial to development, maintenance, and longevity of multicellular organisms. Defects in both symmetric and asymmetric divisions can lead to improper developmental patterning, as well as genomic instability, disruption of tissue homeostasis, and cancer. Our research focuses on how regulators orchestrate proper cell divisions. Mushroom Body Defect (Mud) is one such regulator, and here we describe how Mud is regulated via the Hippo signaling pathway kinase Warts (Wts), showing Wts phosphorylates Mud to enhance interaction with the polarity protein Partner of Inscuteable, promoting spindle orientation activity. We next focus on another regulator, Shortstop (Shot), describing a …

Nitrate Dynamics In An Arid Irrgation Network: Can Nutrient Loops Be Closed With Management Techniques?, Kelsey B. Bicknell

Civil Engineering ETDs

Nutrients are the third leading cause of impairment in aquatic ecosystems, yet they remain necessary to support our growing agriculture system. Mining (as with phosphorus) and manufacturing (as with synthetic nitrogen) fertilizers deplete non-renewable resources and consume large amounts of energy. We have opportunities to optimize food-energy-water (FEW) resources, particularly in arid regions where wastewater, rather than agriculture, is the number one contributor of nutrients. This study evaluates the capacity of three unique channels (i.e., the Drain canal, the Delivery canal, and the Rio Grande River) within the agriculture system of the Middle Rio Grande Valley to process nutrients from …

Modeling Multiphase Flow And Substrate Deformation In Nanoimprint Manufacturing Systems, Andrew Cochrane

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Nanopatterns found in nature demonstrate that macroscopic properties of a surface are tied to its nano-scale structure. Tailoring the nanostructure allows those macroscopic surface properties to be engineered. However, a capability-gap in manufacturing technology inhibits mass-production of nanotechnologies based on simple, nanometer-scale surface patterns. This gap represents an opportunity for research and development of nanoimprint lithography (NIL) processes. NIL is a process for replicating patterns by imprinting a fluid layer with a solid, nano-patterned template, after which ultraviolet cure solidifies the fluid resulting in a nano-patterned surface. Although NIL has been demonstrated to replicate pattern features as small as 4 …

Iron-Containing Nanoparticles For The Treatment Of Chrionic Biofilm Infections In Cystic Fibrosis, Leisha M. A. Martin

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common genetic disease resulting in the morbidity and mortality of Caucasian children and adults worldwide. Due to a genetic mutation resulting in malfunction of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) protein, CF patients produce highly viscous mucus in their respiratory tract. This leads to impairment of the mucociliary clearance of inhaled microbes. In addition to reduced microbial clearance, anoxic environmental conditions in the lungs promote biofilm-mode growth of the pathogenic bacterial species Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Chronic infections of P. aeruginosa begin in early childhood and typically persist until respiratory failure and death result. The …

Developing A Synthetic Model Of The Candida Albicans Cell Wall Using Self-Assembled Monolayers To Host Beta-Glucan As Ligands, Ushnik Ghosh

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

The goal of this investigation is to study mechanisms the immune cell receptor, Dectin-1, uses to identify the fungal cell species, Candida albicans. Dectin-1 identifies extracellular matrix polysaccharides that Candida albicans express known as β-glucan. To study the interaction of β-glucan – Dectin-1 at the nanoscopic scale, the investigators of this project have endeavored to model the Candida albicans cell wall with engineered Self-Assembled Monolayers presenting β-glucan as a ligand for immobilized Dectin-1 receptors. By engineering a simplified ex-vivo model of the Candida albicans cell wall, the investigators of this study aim to gain precise control of the composition …

Perspectives Of Behavioral Health Providers In School Based Health Clinics (Sbhc) About Behavioral Health Services And Low-Income Adolescent Males’ Academic Achievement, Suzanne Gagnon

Nursing ETDs

ABSTRACT

Low-income adolescent males are subject to both health and educational inequities. Male adolescents are the least likely of all pediatric age and gender groups to access either primary care or behavioral health services. This same population is most likely to not complete high school or college. Health and educational outcomes are both affected by social determinants. School-based Health Centers (SBHCs) are known for providing access to primary care and behavioral health services for low-income and vulnerable populations. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to identify themes from one-on-one semi-structured qualitative interviews with behavioral health providers, who provide …

It Is More Than A Game: An Ethnography Of Communication Treatment Of Resilience As A Key Element Of Basketball Culture, Matthew Charles Higgins

Communication ETDs

This study, theoretically and methodologically grounded in the ethnography of communication (Hymes 1974; Carbaugh, 1992; Covarrubias, 2008; Philipsen, 1992; Philipsen, Coutu, & Covarrubias, 2005), investigated the relationship between communication and resilience as expressed by professional basketball players and coaches from a particular city in southwest United States, referred to as PG City. Guiding questions include: Is there a basketball culture? Does basketball constitute a speech community? How do basketball and basketball culture help players and coaches fight through adversity? What is the role of resilience within basketball culture? Interviews, using ethnography of communication approaches, were used to uncover elements …

By Talon And By Tooth: Disaster Culture, American Literary Naturalism, And The Aesthetics Of (Dis)Integration, Vincent M. Basso

English Language and Literature ETDs

This study demonstrates how American literary naturalism, roughly between 1870-1910, and U.S. print culture more generally, projected an aesthetics of (dis)integration. The term (dis)integration is particularly useful in thinking through the ways traumatic and disintegrative episodes coordinate and integrate U.S. publics. I periodize this work in the turn-of-the-century because it was then that realist literature coincides with the expansion of the national press and new media technologies like photography and film, all of which facilitated the widespread dissemination of crisis narratives, marking the period as the advent of what is popularly referred to as disaster culture in the United States. …

Incorporation Of Egfr And Ron Receptors Into Nanodiscs, Cristina Flores-Cadengo

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Understanding the structure-function relationship of membrane receptors is essential to comprehend the crosstalk between key signaling pathways. Aberrant trans-activation between receptors can lead to tumorigenesis. Two of these receptors known to be involved in cancer development are receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), RON (Recepteur d'Origine Nantais) and EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor). There has been evidence of heterodimerization and crosstalk between these two receptors based on co-immunoprecipitation, however the structural requirements behind these interactions remain unknown. Structural studies could provide insights into these RTKs’ modes of dimerization and structure-function relationship. However, structural studies of full-length membrane proteins are often difficult due …

Exploring The Variability In Institutional Characteristics Related To Meeting Various National Stem Baccalaureate Agendas, Tim Schroeder

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions are said to drive the American economy, provide access to the middle class for underrepresented minorities, and bolster national security. Since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, American STEM educators have been under pressure to improve STEM educational outcomes. In order to respond to these pressures, education policy makers must understand the relationship between institutional characteristics and STEM outcomes. In this study, I articulate three specific national STEM agendas, and then I explore the relationship between these agendas and the institutional characteristics of America’s four-year colleges and universities.

Utilizing data from the U.S. …

Cerebellar Vermis: Contributions To The Phenomenology Of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Moriah Eve Stern

Psychology ETDs

Background: Current neurocognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) implicate dysfunction in top-down inhibitory control mechanisms. Research supports alteration in the functional activity of cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loops in OCD, as well as the inferior parietal region, posterior medial cortex, thalamus and cerebellum. The cerebellum, once only known as a region of motor coordination, is now accepted as being highly involved in cognitive regulation as well. Emerging evidence of connectivity between the posterior cerebellum and areas of the brain related to inhibitory functioning, including the basal ganglia, prefrontal, and inferior parietal regions, suggests a potential cerebellar role in OCD-symptomology. In fact, in …

King Of The Hill? How Biotic Interactions Affect Biogeographical Pattern And Species Responses To Climate Change, Joshua Scott Lynn, Jennifer A. Rudgers, Tom E. X. Miller, Stephanie N. Kivlin, Melanie R. Kazenel

Biology ETDs

As climate has warmed, many species have moved up mountains as physiological limits to their distributions have ameliorated. These distribution shifts are creating novel communities, begging the question: What happens to species at the tops of mountains as potential antagonists encroach upwards? Theory predicts that upward migrations will cause range contractions for high-elevation species because of novel interactions with encroaching antagonists. My dissertation work is one of the most comprehensive tests of this question to date, using a combination of ecological niche modeling (ENM), experiments, and demographic and trait-based modeling approaches. I created novel ENMs that suggest context-dependency of biotic …

Waters Of The State, Joseph Regalia, Noah D. Hall

Natural Resources Journal

The Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency that provides Las Vegas with water, is in the process of building a massive pipeline from the eastern central part of Nevada to Las Vegas. If the state of Nevada authorizes this project, it would help solve a pressing water supply problem for its largest population center: Las Vegas. But it will do so at the expense of less water for existing rural users. This includes Native American tribes who have fought mightily for decades to protect many of Nevada’s rural water sources—including water that plays important cultural roles for the tribes.You might …

Legal And Institutional Barriers To Establishing Non-Use Rights To Natural Resources, Bryan Leonard, Shawn Regan

Natural Resources Journal

For many natural resources, property rights are established and maintained by using the resource, but this creates obstacles to the emergence of non-use rights for environmental or conservation purposes. If rights can only be established once a resource is used, then the institutions that govern natural resources will be unable to resolve conflicting use and non-use demands. This article describes the ways in which various natural resource governance institutions are based on use rights and the obstacles that creates for accommodating environmental demands based on non-use. It provides several case studies that illustrate the challenges of establishing non-use rights to …

The Silent Problem: The Implicit Personhood Determination In State V. Montoya, Erin Phillips

New Mexico Law Review

Can a dead person still be considered a person under a criminal statute? This unspoken question is at the center of State v. Montoya, illustrating how a facially simple and uncontroversial case can actually be very misleading. On appeal in Montoya, the defendant argued that the conviction of robbery was unfounded, since the victim was already deceased at the time of theft. The Court of Appeals gave little attention to the argument about the victim’s personhood, instead analyzing the case through the lens of a rational link standard, essentially measuring the connection between a homicide and a subsequent robbery in …

Whatsapp: A Real-Time Tool To Reduce The Knowledge Gap And Share The Best Clinical Practices In Psoriasis, Luis D Mazzuoccolo, Maria Noel Esposito, Paula C Luna, Sharon Seiref, Mirtha Dominguez, Cristina M Echeverria

Project ECHO Bibliography

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects around 100 million people worldwide. The burden of disease is high, but more recent therapies show promising results. Clinicians need, however, more training in the use of such therapies.

INTRODUCTION: Project ECHO

MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred thirty-two dermatologists in Argentina were invited to participate in the WhatsApp discussion group. After 1 year of participation, a follow-up questionnaire was used to assess the effectiveness of the project.

RESULTS: Eighty dermatologists participated. All questions placed in the discussion were answered by a psoriasis specialist, 79% of which were answered within the first …

Computer Science 2019 Apr Self-Study & Documents, University Of New Mexico

UNM Academic Program Review

UNM Computer Science APR self-study report and review team report for Spring 2019, fulfilling requirements of the Higher Learning Commission.

Health Information Technology 2019 Gallup Self-Study & Documents, University Of New Mexico - Gallup Campus

UNM Academic Program Review

UNM Gallup Health Information Technology self-study report and curricula committee report for Spring 2019.

Comparison Of Nylon-Flocked Swab And Dacron Swab Cytology For Anal Hsil Detection In Transgender Women And Gay, Bisexual, And Other Men Who Have Sex With Men, Dorothy J. Wiley, Hilary K. Hsu, Martha A. Ganser, Jenny Brook, David A. Elashoff, Stephen A. Young, Nancy E. Joste, Ronald Mitsuyasu, Teresa M. Darragh, David H. Morris, Otoniel M. Martínez-Maza, Roger Detels, Jian Yu Rao, Robert K. Bolan, Eric T. Shigeno, Ernesto Rodriguez, Matthrew G. Moran

Pathology Research and Scholarship

BACKGROUND: An anal histological high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (hHSIL) is an anal cancer precursor. Experts recommend Dacron swab anal cytology as a primary screen for anal hHSILs, especially among human immunodeficiency virus-infected and -uninfected men who have sex with men (MSM). Studies have shown that Dacron cytology inaccurately predicts anal hHSILs and results in unnecessary diagnostic procedures. Nylon-flocked (NF) swabs have been shown to trap pathogens and cells well. Thus, this study compared test characteristics of anal cytology using NF and Dacron swab collection protocols to predict anal hHSILs.

METHODS: A single-visit, randomized clinical trial compared NF and Dacron swab …

What Can We Learn From Adult Esl Students’ Responses To Children’S Literature?, Monique C. Stone

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Some teachers face frequently changing populations of students, making it difficult to gain cultural knowledge that is important to support student learning. The aim of this study was to explore how adult language-learner students in intensive English programs (IEPs) respond to children’s picture books portraying their home countries or cultures. Reader response theory (Rosenblatt, 1995) and cultural scaffolding (Gay, 2002; i.e., the use of student culture to support student learning) are the initial frameworks upon which the study was developed. The study was qualitative in nature and driven by a desire for the researcher to gain more cultural knowledge about …

General Studies 2019 Gallup Self-Study & Documents, University Of New Mexico - Gallup Campus

UNM Academic Program Review

UNM Gallup General Studies self-study report and curricula committee report for Spring 2019.

Utilization Of Rectangular Collimation In Dental And Dental Hygiene Programs, Elizabeth Ann Wagner

Dental Hygiene ETDs

Rectangular collimation has proven to reduce the radiation dose to the patient as well as increase image quality. Studies have been conducted in the past to determine whether utilization of rectangular collimation results in a greater retake rate, however, there is a lack of data regarding the amount of rectangular collimation devices that are currently in use. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent, if any, rectangular collimators are being utilized in dental and dental hygiene programs. A survey was created and sent via email to the program directors of Accredited dental and dental hygiene programs. …

02-18-2019 La Charla Semanal Con El Centro, El Centro De La Raza

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

02-25-2019 La Charla Semanal Con El Centro, El Centro De La Raza

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Defects And Surface Modification On Biomolecular Assembly And Transport, Haneen Martinez

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Nanoscale transport using the kinesin-microtubule (MT) biomolecular system has been successfully used in a wide range of nanotechnological applications including self-assembly, nanofluidic transport, and biosensing. Most of these applications use the ‘gliding motility geometry’, in which surface-adhered kinesin motors attach and propel MT filaments across the surface, a process driven by ATP hydrolysis. It has been demonstrated that active assembly facilitated by these biomolecular motors results in complex, non-equilibrium nanostructures currently unattainable through conventional self-assembly methods. In particular, MTs functionalized with biotin assemble into rings and spools upon introduction of streptavidin and/or streptavidin-coated nanoparticles. Upon closer examination of these structures …

A Functional Perspective On Everyday Sadism, Marley Russell

Psychology ETDs

Everyday sadism is thus far a poorly operationalized personality trait. In its current conceptualization it offers predictive value for aggressive behavior over and above the effects of other antisocial personality traits. To improve the utility of this potentially critical predictor of socially undesirable behavior I conducted an exploratory study that more precisely examines its psychometric structure and informs its evolutionary significance. Due to the scarcity of research on everyday sadism (which is additionally limited by the trait’s poor operationalization) I suggest a functional hypothesis for its evolution based largely on theoretical reasoning. I propose this hypothesis for everyday sadism with …

Genomics Based Approaches To Fungal Evolution, Aaron J. Robinson, Donald O. Natvig

Biology ETDs

Advances in DNA sequencing and data analysis make it possible to address questions in population genetics and evolution at the genomic level. Fungi are excellent subjects for such studies, because they are found in diverse environments, have short generation times, can be maintained in culture and have relatively small genomes. My research employed genetic approaches using a variety of sequencing technologies and methods of analysis to explore questions in fungal evolution.

In one study, I explored the genetics behind differences in thermotolerance between isolates of Neurospora discreta from Alaska and New Mexico. Isolates from the two states exhibited differences in …