Digital Commons Network^™

Disability Injustice: A Latino’S Creative Autoethnographic Testimonio On The Organizational Culture Of Higher Education, Leonel A. Diaz Jr.

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

Using creative autoethnographic testimonio (CAT), a story is told about the injustices within the learning environment and work environment of higher education toward a person with disabilities: sleep apnea, learning disabilities, negative mental health. The author explores the health difficulties of addressing sleep deprivation while attending graduate school and working full-time as a professional. With sleep apnea impacting his health, his mental health declines. As his health declines, there is an increase in discrimination, hostility, oppression, bullying, and toxic masculinity. Initially, the medical system dismisses his declining health and refuses to look further into it. Once he receives medical care …

Main Concept, Sequencing, And Story Grammar (Mssg) Analyses Of The Cinderella Story In Latent Aphasia, Janet B. Adams

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Commonly used standardized tests, like the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (WAB-R), are not sensitive to higher level discourse deficits, leading to certain individuals not meeting diagnostic criteria for aphasia. Consequently, individuals with aphasia are excluded from receiving potentially beneficial services and/or from being included in research. In a large sample of persons with stroke-induced aphasia, this study analyzed discourse samples using Main Concept, Sequencing, and Story Grammar (MSSG) Analyses to examine macrostructural discourse characteristics of persons with latent aphasia (PWLAs) compared to persons with no underlying brain injury (PNBIs) and persons classified as having anomic aphasia (PWAAs) by the WAB-R. A …

The Role Of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor In The Link Between Physical Activity And Psychosocial Recovery From Alcohol Use Disorder, Adam D. Wilson

Psychology ETDs

Objective: Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a common, chronically relapsing condition with substantial health and economic costs. United States federal agencies have put out calls in the last decade to expand the scientific evidence base for broad biopsychosocial recovery from AUD and other substance use disorders (SUD). The present study examined the role of physical activity and exercise in early recovery from AUD, with specific attention to changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a marker of neuroplasticity and a potential mechanism for instantiation of recovery-aligned behaviors. Method: Individuals in the first year of recovery from AUD were …

The Trauma, Substance Use, And Crime Connection: Characteristics And Recidivism Outcomes Of Adult Offenders, Kathryn F. Fokas

Psychology ETDs

Despite exceptionally high rates of trauma and substance use among incarcerated offenders, treatments remain limited in scope and availability within the criminal justice system. Identifying shared underlying mechanisms and potential gender differences could facilitate the development of interventions to target the vicious cycle of trauma, substance use, and crime. This study aimed to test a novel conceptualization of trauma, substance use, and criminal history as a composite risk factor for recidivism, including posttraumatic world assumptions as a hypothesized mediator and gender as a potential moderator. Participants were adult offenders from a community corrections program. Due to many institutional barriers and …

From Stasis To Ecstasy: Tracing Bernard Of Clairvaux's "Queer" Influence On French Gothic Art, Jackson O. Larson

Art & Art History ETDs

I trace the progression of figural sculpture in the Latin West from the static statues of the late-tenth century to the ecstatic statues of the mid-thirteenth century. I explore the various reasons for the return of freestanding figural sculpture and suggest that the return is indicative of an eroticization of the Christian holy figures. I suggest that Bernard of Clairvaux’s erotic theology in the twelfth century resulted in a synthesis of eros and Christian devotion that allowed latent classicism to find purchase in Christian art. I submit that Bernard’s influence on European art is a form of “queering”—a process by …

The Role Of Toxoplasma Gondii Dense Granule Protein Gra24 In Signaling And Immunity During Infection, Heather L. Mercer

Biology ETDs

Toxoplasma gondii is a pathogen whose control partly depends upon Toll-like receptors (TLR) 11 and 12, that signal through MyD88. Yet, human TLR11 and TLR12 are nonfunctional, motivating us to investigate MyD88-independent immune pathways. Parasite dense granule protein GRA24 activates p38 MAPK independently of MyD88 in macrophages. Using wild-type and GRA24-deleted T. gondii strains, I demonstrate GRA24 activates p38 MAPK, resulting in IL-12 production, and protective immunity. Furthermore, GRA24 triggers p38 MAPK-dependent CX3CL1 production. GRA24 also induces CCL17 and Ppbp independently of p38 MAPK. Additionally, I demonstrate GRA24 downregulates CCL12. Furthermore, IL-15 is negatively regulated by GRA24 through activation …

Unique Genomic Architecture In The Descendants Of The Beringian Migrant Population: Founder Effects, Natural Selection, And Adaptation, Sara D. Niedbalski

Anthropology ETDs

The last great migration of our species saw humans traverse the Bering landmass from Siberia into the American continents in what has proven to be one of the most profound evolutionary events in modern human history. During the Last Glacial Maximum, a small band of Siberians entered the Beringian corridor, where they persisted, isolated from gene flow, for several thousand years before expansion into the Americas. The particular ecological features of the Beringian environment, coupled with an extended period of isolation at small population size, would have provided evolutionary opportunity for novel genetic variation to arise as both rare standing …

The Transformation Of Identity In Early Medieval England: Continuity, Disruption, And Creolization, Michael Sean Limmer

History ETDs

The period following Rome’s administrative withdrawal from Britain (c. 410 CE) has sparked intense debate for centuries, spawning a variety of theories concerning ethnic identity and the nature of cultural exchange on the island. Presently, the very nature of the term “Anglo-Saxon” itself is at the center of these discussions. This thesis examines historical, archaeological, and genetic evidence to cast a light on who constituted the people of Britain during this migration period through to the time of Alfred, and to what extent creolization might have played out. Ultimately, the evidence from this period suggests that ethnic identities cannot reasonably …

The Effect Of Interval And Continuous Work On Markers Of Acute Kidney Injury In A Hot Environment, Jonathan M. Houck, Fabiano Amorim, Christine Mermier, Michael Deyhle, Orlando Laitano, Zachary Mckenna, Zac Fennel, Jeremy Ducharme, Andrew Wells

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Purpose: To examine the effect of high intensity interval work (HIIW) and moderate intensity continuous work (MICW) patterns on markers of acute kidney injury (AKI) and kidney damage in a hot environment. Methods: Nine males completed two hours of physical work in a hot environment, performing either HIIW [2 minutes at 80% maximum oxygen consumption (VO₂max) and 3 minutes at 30% VO₂max] or MICW. Blood and urine samples were collected immediately before (Pre) and after (Post), one hour (1hr Post), and 24 hours after (24hr Post) the trials. Urine flow rate (UFR), osmolality (Uosm), and …

Factors Influencing Rural Women’S Physical Activity Behaviors: A Social Ecological Perspective, Karen Lynn Webb

Nursing ETDs

ABSTRACT

Chronic disease and poor mental health are disproportionally impacting adults living in rural America. Regular physical activity has been shown to promote overall well-being and prevent many chronic diseases. Yet, research shows that many rural adults do not engage in enough physical activity to meet the recommended levels put forth by the federal government. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to explore and describe the experiences of physical activity as perceived by rural women in their own words. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews of 20 women aged 25 to 34 living in McDowell County, West …

Spanish And English Phoneme Recognition By Training On Simulated Classroom Audio Recordings Of Collaborative Learning Environments, Mario J. Esparza Perez

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Audio recordings of collaborative learning environments contain a constant presence of cross-talk and background noise. Dynamic speech recognition between Spanish and English is required in these environments. To eliminate the standard requirement of large-scale ground truth, the thesis develops a simulated dataset by transforming audio transcriptions into phonemes and using 3D speaker geometry and data augmentation to generate an acoustic simulation of Spanish and English speech. The thesis develops a low-complexity neural network for recognizing Spanish and English phonemes (available at github.com/muelitas/keywordRec). When trained on 41 English phonemes, 0.099 PER is achieved on Speech Commands. When trained on 36 Spanish …

Optimal Transport Driven Bayesian Inversion With Application To Signal Processing, Elijah F. Perez

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

This paper will outline a Debiased Sinkhorn Divergence driven Bayesian inversion framework. Conventionally, a Gaussian Driven Bayesian framework is used when performing Bayesian inversion. A major issue with this Gaussian framework is that the Gaussian likelihood, driven by the L2 norm, is not affected by phase shift in a given signal. This issue has been addressed in [1] using a Wasserstein framework. However, the Wasserstein framework still has an issue because it assumes statistical independence when multidimensional signals are analyzed. This assumption of statistical independence cannot always be made when analyzing signals where multiple detectors are recording one event, say …

Comparative Genomics Methods And Applications, Emily N. Alden

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Virtually all fields of biology have benefited from the advancements in comparative genomics technologies, specifically in the study of evolution. In this dissertation I develop and use comparative genomic technologies to investigate the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus, assembly the first genome of the black lace domestic angelfish and identify germline genetic variants associated with altered breast cancer-specific survival. Our genome tiling array for the novel coronavirus presents a rapid and cost-effective method to sequence the entire viral genome and can be used to track the rapid evolution of viral variants in the population. The domestic angelfish is a member of the …

The Development Of An Instrument To Measure Transdermal Hydrogen Sulfide As A Way To Evaluate Microvascular Health In Humans, Benjamin Thomas Matheson

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a gasotransmitter critical in maintaining microcirculation homeostasis. Impaired microcirculation occurs in multiple disease states such as peripheral vascular disease, diabetes mellitus (DM), and hypertension. Early detection and identification of patients with DM who are at risk for heart attack, stroke and amputation due to microvascular disease is crucial. Human skin is an accessible vascular bed that provides an opportunity to non-invasively measure H₂S, which could be used as a biomarker to evaluate microvascular health.

In this work, a novel H₂S gas sensor, called the transdermal arterial gasotransmitter sensor (TAGS^{TM …}

A Threatening Heresy: Cathar And Protestant Identity Against Catholicism In France Between The Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229) And The French Wars Of Religion (1562-1598), Jonathan Wright

History ETDs

The Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229) and the French Wars of Religion (1562- 1598) were two of the most violent moments in French history. Both involved the persecution of a perceived minority by Catholic forces, and both left irreparable scars on the area of Occitania in the south of France. Battles along river fronts and the clandestine boat smuggling of heretics were actions undertaken by a heretical Cathar group that confronted orthodox religion. Water became a critical part of the creation of a persecuted minority in Occitania. Intensifying Cathar heresy led to increased violence in the Wars of Religion as Catholic aggression …

A Thin Line Of Social Justice: Challenges And Changes In Navigating Relations Of Power In Graduate Schools Of Education, Heather Catherine Sands

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

This dissertation brings together three qualitative research articles to interrogate a disjuncture between curriculum development in graduate schools of education and the relations of power it fosters in teacher education and counselor education. In applying biopower and intersectional analyses throughout each article, this dissertation contends that the recognition of power relations within these fields helps to highlight hegemonic patterns of teaching and counseling that occur in settings of classrooms and sessions. Three themes emerged within this dissertation: resistance, community, and subjectivity. Article One demonstrates a gap between teachers and school counselors with cyberbullying directed toward LGBTQ+ students. The Article leverages …

Disrupting The (Post) Neoliberal Order In Latin America Through The Representation Of Fictional Corporate Office Narratives In Argentina And Mexico (2007-2010), Juliana Todescan

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

Due to the expansion of the neoliberal and global order in Latin America in the 1990s, national states and citizens are subjected to the free market interests regulated and managed by for profit corporations and the financial industry. Considering this a critical change in the social organization of Latin America, I compare narratives from Argentina and Mexico that imagine cosmopolitan cities being colonized by the corporate logic of profit. My analysis focuses on the representation of low level office workers in Antonio Ortuño’s novel Recursos humanos (2007), Guillermo Saccomanno’s novel El oficinista (2010), and Aníbal Jarkowski’s El trabajo (2007), and …

An Adverse Path To Home: Challenges For Low-Income Workers In Access Housing In Some Mexican Cities, Aurora Melisa Munoz Casarrubias

Architecture and Planning ETDs

This thesis studies the homeownership discourses that encouraged low-income Mexican workers to commit to paying home loans and the process of providing mortgages as a strategy to address housing needs in Mexico with a case study of Homex developments. Homex was a large-scale housing construction project, which enabled me to study housing supply through loans and mortgages.

Currently, the purchase of new housing in Mexico is only accessible to those who receive more than five minimum wages (CONEVAL, 2018). To extend homeownership to low-income workers, financial institutions and the Mexican government promoted mortgage securitization and large-scale construction projects like Homex. …

Correlating Diffusional Dynamics And Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Function Using Single Quantum Dot Tracking, Irais Ortiz Caraveo

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signal transduction is initiated via ligand (EGF) binding, followed by dimerization, autophosphorylation of the C-terminal tails, and recruitment of proteins that form a larger signaling complex to propagate the signal. We explored the relationship between receptor mobility and signaling using single-particle tracking (SPT) by examining the diffusional dynamics of EGFR and two truncation mutants to understand whether mobility changes are correlated with signaling. Results revealed that phosphorylation of the C-terminal tail of EGFR is required for maximal reduction in mobility that occurs with EGF stimulation, indicating that receptor mobility is a read-out for receptor signaling. …

What Does The Future Look Like? Plant Community Change At The Recruitment Life Stage, Brooke E. Wainwright

Biology ETDs

Species ranges are shifting due to anthropogenic climate change. However, it is unclear how climate variability affects species recruitment, an essential step in range expansion. Recruitment is challenging in drylands, where soil moisture is highly unpredictable. In Southwestern North America, creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) has expanded into Chihuahuan Desert grassland (CDG) dominated by black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda), and black grama is expanding into Great Plains grassland (GPG) dominated by blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis). To evaluate how precipitation variability affects germination and survivorship, we added blue and black grama seeds into a climate variability experiment in GPG in 2019 and 2020 and …

Dynamic Hvac Energy Management Using Commercial Building Occupancy Metrics & Neural Networks, Krishna Chaitanya Jagadeesh Simma

Civil Engineering ETDs

With the rise of technology use in buildings, it is now possible to collect data that can be used to improve building energy consumption. One factor that has significant impact on building energy consumption is occupancy. Recent studies have shown promising results in obtaining occupancy information from existing infrastructure such as WiFi router networks. However, these existing frameworks require additional investments through software upgrades, added infrastructure, computational resources, and may raise occupant privacy concerns. Additionally, with occupant thermal comfort statistics being lower than ASHAREA specified standards, a novel approach for indoor climate control is needed. To address the limitations in …

Examination Of Intuitive Eating At The Momentary Level, Jamie M. Smith

Psychology ETDs

Background: Intuitive eating involves following internal cues of hunger and satiety to guide eating choices, as opposed to responding to external signals, strong emotions, or dietary rules. This style of eating consistently has been shown to be related to better physical and psychological health indicators. This construct would be better understood if studied at the individual momentary level instead of globally or cross-sectionally. Therefore, the proposed study sought to employ ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine the validity of intuitive eating at the momentary level. Additionally, the acceptance and expanded acceptance models of intuitive eating and the roles of weight …

Fundamental Aspects Of The Interaction Between Light And Nanostructures, Stephen Keith Sanders

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

Recent breakthroughs in nanophotonics have brought new opportunities to control and manipulate light at the nanoscale. The optical properties of metallic nanostructures have attracted particular interest because of their plasmon resonances, which couple strongly with visible light, and generate large near-field enhancements in their vicinity. In the first part of this thesis, we investigate the fundamental limits of the local density of photonic states near nanostructures by analyzing a sum rule relating its spectral integral to the field induced by a static dipole. Next, we analyze how the design of metallic nanoantennas can benefit from incorporating active materials that display …

20210709_Hslic Condemns Problematic Publishing Practices, Jonathan M. Pringle

HSLIC Blog Post

No abstract provided.

Closing The Loop And Opening The Possibilities: Augmenting Sleep-Dependent Consolidation To Improve Long Term Memory, Aaron Paul Jones

Psychology ETDs

Memory consolidation occurs during slow-wave sleep. This is a complex process that can be studied using electroencephalography (EEG) and modulated with brain stimulation. Previous studies have shown that transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can be used to entrain or disrupt endogenous oscillations in cortical networks and can be used for the manipulation of consolidation processes during sleep. In this series of experiments, sleep-dependent memory consolidation was modulated using closed-loop tACS (CL-tACS to improve memory performance for three tasks: a verbal paired associates task (PAT), an interference paired associates task (iPAT), and a visual category learning task. EEG was collected during …

20210706_July Workshops, Kelleen Maluski

HSLIC Blog Post

No abstract provided.

Airborne Counter-Uncrewed Systems With Runtime Assurance Control, Isaac J. Seslar

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

This thesis develops a response to the increase in the availability of the commercially available uncrewed aerial systems and is dedicated to the detection, classification, and tracking required to successfully neutralize when determined malicious. A requirement of actively avoiding obstacles using runtime assurance is addressed and designed to keep the hardware safe in potentially dangerous situations. This work will elaborate on the several components the test bed is comprised of, specifically the hardware and software portions that successfully solve the problem. The software encompasses the simulation, the multiple algorithms required for the tracking, and the machine learning required for detection …

Southwest Harvest For Health: An Adapted Mentored Vegetable Gardening Intervention For Cancer Survivors, Cindy K. Blair, Prajakta Adsul, Dolores D. Guest, Andrew L. Sussman, Linda S. Cook, Elizabeth M. Harding, Joseph Rodman, Dorothy Duff, Ellen Burgess, Karen Quezada, Ursa Brown-Glaberman, Towela V. King, Erika Baca, Zoneddy Dayao, Vernon Shane Pankratz, Sally M. Davis, Wendy Demark-Wahnefried

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

Harvest for Health is a home-based vegetable gardening intervention that pairs cancer survivors with Master Gardeners from the Cooperative Extension System. Initially developed and tested in Alabama, the program was adapted for the different climate, growing conditions, and population in New Mexico. This paper chronicles the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of "Southwest Harvest for Health". During the nine-month single-arm trial, 30 cancer survivor-Master Gardener dyads worked together to establish and maintain three seasonal gardens. Primary outcomes were accrual, retention, and satisfaction. Secondary outcomes were vegetable and fruit (V and F) intake, physical activity, and quality of life. Recruitment was …

Q’Iij Metaphysics: Vico’S Theologia Indorum And The Gods, Ancestors, And Idols Of The 16th Century K’Ichee’ Mayas, Phillip Salazar

Latin American Studies ETDs

Domingo de Vico completed the Theologia Indorum, a K’iche’ Christian manuscript, in Guatemala in 1554. In the manuscript, Vico distinguishes between the idols, ancestors, and gods of the K’iche’s. This paper shows that Vico believed the idols to be inanimate objects, ancestors to be the older generations that have passed away, and gods to be demons. This paper then develops a theory of animist ontology for the K’iche’s. Using that ontological theory, this paper argues that, for the K’iche’s, their idols and gods were indistinguishable and that their ancestors were still alive, present, and active among them.

Brief For American Indian Law Scholars As Amicus Curiae, Stephen C., Et Al V. Bureau Of Indian Education, Et Al.,, Barbara L. Creel, Tierra N. Marks, Randolph H. Barnhouse

Faculty Scholarship

Indian Civil Rights/Education Lawsuit

View this and other court documents at Turtle Talk.

Congress’s declared federal policy is “to fulfill the Federal Government’s unique and continuing trust relationship with and responsibility to the Indian people for the education of Indian children.” 25 U.S.C. § 2000. This federal policy is the touchstone of the federal government’s trust obligation to Indian families and their children. When the BIA (through the BIE) fails to protect the rights of Indian children to “educational opportunities that equal or exceed those for all other students in the United States,” courts have a vital role to …