Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of Gut Microbiome And Scfa Butyrate In The Development Of Obesity Associated Pre-Hfpef, Jomana Hatahet

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Toward An Eco-Cosmopolitanism: Wendell Berry And Ecowomanism In Conversation, Wade Casey

Dissertations

Agriculture, Alice Walker, bell hooks, Ecology, Theology, Wendell Berry

The Roles Of A Probiotic Exopolysaccharide In Breast Cancer, Mai Rachel Nguyen

Dissertations

breast cancer, exopolysaccharide, probiotic

Distinct Roles For Free Fatty Acid Receptor 3 (Ffar3) In Vagal And Spinal Afferents Regulating Energy Balance And Glucose Homeostasis, Tyler M. Cook

Dissertations

energy balance, glucose homeostasis, gut-brain axis, microbiome, nutrient sensing, satiety

Elucidating The Mechanisms Underlying How Vmp1 Regulates Inflammatory Responses, Stephanie Zack

Dissertations

autophagy, inflammation, mitochondria, NLRP3 inflammasome, SERCA, VMP1

Elucidating The Mechanisms Of Immune Regulation By Bacillus Subtilis, Jesus Zamora-Pineda

Dissertations

bacillus subtilis, exopolysaccharides, inflammation, probiotics, tlr4

Middle Eastern And North African Immigrant Parents Caring For Obese Children: A Phenomenlogical Inquiry, Sadeg Aldolaim

Dissertations

Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century in the United States and worldwide. Several studies show that children with migrant backgrounds are more likely to be at risk of becoming obese. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of physical diseases and cognitive academic deficits in children and adolescents. The Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) population is one of the fastest-growing immigrant population groups in the United States. However, there are no studies exploring parental involvement in childhood obesity prevention programs among the MENA immigrant population.

The purpose of this qualitative …

A Digital Leadership Lens For A Physical World: Digital Transformation Levers Of Control For Incumbent Companies, Michael J. Seals

Dissertations

A new wave of advanced technologies is disrupting companies of all types and transforming business models within every industry. Long-standing industrial firms that rose to prominence in a pre-digital economy are particularly vulnerable. Prevailing views suggest these companies (hereafter referred to as incumbents) must reimagine their value propositions and transform themselves by leveraging today’s advanced technologies. The opportunities provided by these advanced technologies will significantly affect incumbents whether they participate or not. The pursuit of these opportunities, commonly referred to as digital transformation (DX), is the focus of our research.

Traditional technology-enabled business endeavors creating incremental operational improvements fell within …

La Vraie Bouillabaisse: An Investigation Into The History And Current Practice Of The Provencal Dish Bouillabaisse, And Its Significance As A Traditional Dish, Mathieu Belledent

Dissertations

This thesis examines the history and the current practices (popularity, service styles, and recipes) of the Provencal dish bouillabaisse. It aims to establish the evolution and the traditional characteristics of the dish. It also explores the historical and contemporary popularity as well as the everyday role that bouillabaisse plays in the regional identity of Provencal cooking. Finally, the research questions if bouillabaisse would benefit from a European Union quality schemes protection or official recognition by UNESCO. This research uses an exploratory sequential mixed methods model combining qualitative and quantitative data collection which are analysed in a sequence of phases. …

Trauma And Effects Of Being Raised By A Parent With Bipolar I Disorder: A Theoretical Approach Utilizing Internal Family Systems, Daniella Vasquez

Dissertations

Bipolar I disorder (BD) is a somewhat rare mental health disorder that impacts not only the person diagnosed but also their family (Chang et al., 2001; Cook et al., 2005; Wearden et al., 2008). Children of parents with BD may experience complex trauma as inconsistencies in parenting, conflict within the household, and possible neglect or abuse may be present (Chang et al., 2001; Rusner et al., 2009; Wearden et al., 2008). Multiple developmental areas can be impacted for individuals who have endured complex trauma to include attachment, somatic distress, affect regulation, biology, behaviors, cognition, and identity (Cook et al., 2005; …

Characterization Of The Long Non-Coding Rna Proins In Human Pancreatic Β-Cell, Shareena Saeed Lootah

Dissertations

It is well established that the genome is pervasively transcribed. Only 2% of those transcripts are translated into proteins, and the remaining 98% are non-translated, generating the non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) species. A close observation of these transcripts directed the scientific community to their increasing potential functional roles in the cells. Indeed, the literature exponentially unveils this notion, with many ncRNAs showing substantial and variable biological functions. The field is in its infancy; however, efforts are accelerating to discover and define this ocean of new species.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are sub-species of ncRNAs with an arbitrary size of more than …

The Molecular Basis Of Diabetic Cardiomyopath, Ahmed Salaheldin Mustafa Ali Sultan

Dissertations

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major and worsening global health problem. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accounts for more than 90% of DM and the global epidemic of obesity largely explains the dramatic increase in the incidence and prevalence of T2DM over the past 20 years. Cardiovascular complications are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. The electrocardiogram (ECG) of diabetic and obese patients is frequently disturbed. The aim of this project was to characterize and clarify the molecular basis of electro-mechanical dysfunction in the hearts of type 2 diabetic and type 2 diabetic/obese rats. Experiments were …

Brainless But Smart: Investigating Cognitive-Like Behaviors In The Acellular Slime Mold Physarum Polycephalum, Subash Kusum Ray

Dissertations

Evolutionary pressures to improve fitness, have enabled living systems to make adaptive decisions when faced with heterogeneous and changing environmental and physiological conditions. This dissertation investigated the mechanisms of how environmental and physiological factors affect the behaviors of non-neuronal organisms. The acellular slime mold Physarum polycephalum was used as the model organism, which is a macroscopic, unicellular organism, that self-organizes into a network of intersecting tubules. Without using neurons, P. polycephalum can solve labyrinth mazes, build efficient tubule networks, and make adaptive decisions when faced with complicated trade-offs, such as between food quality and risk, speed and accuracy, and exploration …

Optimizing Incentives For Systems With Heterogeneous Agents, Chen Chen

Dissertations

This dissertation explores new models and applications based on the game theory of incentives. This exploration starts with controlling an invasive insect problem to address one of the most significant challenges facing our forests, the invasion of the Emerald ash borer (EAB), a non-native, wood-boring insect that threatens to kill most ash trees in North America, through designing two new cost-sharing programs between the landowners and local governments. Ash trees are one of North America’s most widely distributed tree genera and a vital part of the green infrastructure of cities, where they provide residents with numerous social, economic, and ecological …

Low-Reynolds-Number Locomotion Via Reinforcement Learning, Yuexin Liu

Dissertations

This dissertation summarizes computational results from applying reinforcement learning and deep neural network to the designs of artificial microswimmers in the inertialess regime, where the viscous dissipation in the surrounding fluid environment dominates and the swimmer’s inertia is completely negligible. In particular, works in this dissertation consist of four interrelated studies of the design of microswimmers for different tasks: (1) a one-dimensional microswimmer in free-space that moves towards the target via translation, (2) a one-dimensional microswimmer in a periodic domain that rotates to reach the target, (3) a two-dimensional microswimmer that switches gaits to navigate to the designated targets in …

Diagnostics Of Energy Release In Solar Flares With Radio Dynamic Imaging Spectroscopy, Yingjie Luo

Dissertations

Studies of the magnetic energy release and conversion process lie at the core of solar flare physics. Radio observations serve as a unique diagnostic method. In this dissertation, taking advantage of broadband radio dynamic imaging spectroscopy observations made by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), studies are carried out on the flare energy release processes using different types of radio emissions.

The VLA is a general-purpose radio observatory located in New Mexico, which provides high-quality radio dynamic imaging spectroscopic observations with an ultra-fast time cadence. In the first study, stochastic decimetric radio spike bursts are observed by the …

Flexibility Vs Consistency: Quantifying Differences In Neuromodulatory Elicited Patterns Of Activity, Elizabeth M. Cronin

Dissertations

Central pattern generating circuits underly fundamental behaviors such as respiration or locomotion and are under the influence of neuromodulators. The presence of neuromodulators is thought to confer flexibility to these circuits to generate distinct patterns of activity to meet distinct behavioral needs. Network output flexibility can be achieved by distinct classes of neuromodulators, those which have convergent cellular actions but divergent circuit actions or by those which have divergent cellular actions but convergent circuit actions.

Both classes of neuromodulator exist in the stomatogastric nervous system of the crab Cancer borealis and influence the activity of a central pattern generating circuit …

Sensorimotor Content Of Multi-Unit Activity In The Paramedian Lobule Of The Cerebellum, Esma Cetinkaya

Dissertations

Based on Center for Disease Control and Prevention report 2016, around 39.5 million people in the United States suffer from motor disabilities. These disabilities are due to traumatic conditions like traumatic brain injury (TBI), neurological diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or congenital conditions. One of the approaches for restoring the lost motor function is to extract the volitional information from the central nervous system (CNS) and control a mechanical device that can replace the function of a paralyzed limb through systems called Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI).

One of the major challenges being faced in BCIs and also in general …

The Effects Of Prescribed Fire On Ant-Mediated Seed Dispersal In Missouri, Eva M. Colberg

Dissertations

Many aspects of animal-mediated seed dispersal are vulnerable to disturbance, including partner identity and dispersal quantity and quality. This dissertation explores ant-mediated seed dispersal of the herb Sanguinaria canadensis in Missouri Ozark oak forests, where prescribed fire is a common land management tool. In Chapter 1, I test the definition of a keystone seed disperser using absolute and relative contributions of different ant species to the quantity and distance of seed dispersal, based on field observations of S. canadensis seed dispersal. I demonstrate that the ant Aphaenogaster rudis is better described as a numerically dominant rather than keystone seed disperser, …

Adults With Preexisting Diagnosis Of Heart Failure In The Environment Of Coronavirus Disease 2019, Ronald Phillips

Dissertations

Background: Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death among adults in the United States and other industrialized countries. Heart failure (HF) is a form of heart disease and has become an epidemic with complications and medical care costs increasing at an alarming rate. HF affects more than 5.7 million adults in the United States with an incidence between 550,000 to 670,000 annually, primarily affecting females, African Americans, and adults aged 55 years and older. HF is also associated with a high rate of mortality, estimated to increase, with a risk rate of 13%, 32%, and 64% among …

A Mixed Methods Investigation Of Third Grade Academic Achievement Data: Pre- And Post-Google Chromebook Usage In A Midwest Elementary School, Brittany Powell

Dissertations

Technology in the educational setting has evolved drastically over the last few decades and continues to currently evolve. As technology advances, best practices for teaching and learning, standardized testing, and curriculum also must evolve. The purpose of this study aimed to fill the gap of the lack of research regarding the possible differences in academic achievement data, pre- and post-Google Chromebooks usage. The researcher investigated educators’ and administrators’ perceptions of technology by conducting inperson interviews at the conclusion of the two-year study. The analysis of qualitative data, gathered from all interviews and researcher journal entries, fell into various thematic categories, …

Exploring Sex Differences In The Effect Of Cannabidiol On Physical Activity, Cognition, Psychological Wellbeing, And Inflammatory And Neural Health Biomarkers, Victoria Flores

Dissertations

Cannabidiol (CBD) is believed to improve physical and mental health in recreationally active men and women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the biological sex-related differences in physical activity, health-related fitness, mental and cognitive health, and biomarkers of inflammation and neural health before and after an 8-week CBD intervention. Participants (N =49; CBD Treatment Group (CG): n =24; Placebo Treatment Group (PG): n = 25; Females: n = 25; Males: n = 24; Males in CBD Group (CF-M): n = 12; Females in CBD Group (CG-F), n = 12; Males in Placebo Group (PG-M): n =12; Females in …

Examining The Effect Of Gratitude On Intolerance Of Uncertainty And Loneliness, Adam John Paul Mackenzie

Dissertations

Loneliness has been demonstrated to have significant negative effects on overall well-being in the general population. Previous literature has demonstrated a significant association between loneliness and various demographic variables such as gender, age, educational attainment, relationship status, living arrangements and income. Because of the unique impact that the disease caused by the coronavirus, COVID–19, has had on a global scale in relation to physical distancing and increasing physical and psychological distress, the purpose of this study was to examine the role that gratitude played in the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and loneliness among the general adult population of the …

Evidence-Based Equity In Chemical Education, Anna Margiotta

Dissertations

Using Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) and reflexive Thematic Analysis (TA) methods, the purpose of this case study was to construct theory about equity for students studying chemistry at public universities in Colorado. Interviews with students (N=12), chemistry instructors (N=9), and equity practitioners (N=9) as well as observations of chemistry classes (N=42) were collected. Along with these interview transcripts and in-class observations, surveys completed by participants were also included as data. Journal entries of a reflexive or memoing nature were written as part of the data analysis procedures. With these data, I explored potential methods of equitable change in chemistry instruction …

The Social Ecology Of Academic Achievement: Risk And Protection, Jannessa Lynn Kitchin

Dissertations

There is an academic achievement gap consistently observed in the literature between differential socioeconomic groups. Students who do well academically despite risk are academically resilient. Researchers investigating academic resilience have failed to incorporate contemporary resilience models into their research. The purpose of my study was to determine how dispositional, social, and school-based social protective factors interact and to evaluate their relationship with academic achievement as well as to examine cross-sectional differences in protective factors and academic achievement between students who were reared differential socioeconomic groups. Seven Structural Equation Models as well as Multivariate Analysis of Variance was used to investigate …

Getting Them To The Chopper: An Empirical Study Of Man Therapy, A Public Health Campaign Designed To Encourage Men To Utilize Psychological Services, David Gretz

Dissertations

This study examined the effects that the Man Therapy website may have on men’s attitudes and intentions toward seeking professional psychological services, factors that play a role in deciding if they will eventually engage in the behavior of seeking of professional psychological services according to the theory of planned behavior. A large number of men die by suicide every year, and many men struggle with mental health concerns. Various components of masculinities can serve as barriers that dissuade men from seeking treatment for these concerns. Man Therapy is a novel approach that attempts to better engage men with professional psychological …

Examining P3 And N2 Amplitudes Following Social Exclusion And Provocation In College Students With High And Low Narcissistic Traits, Kathleen Ramsey

Dissertations

Adults with narcissistic traits are prone to reacting aggressively following provocation due to elevations in emotional reactivity and perceived threat to their grandiose self-views. Prior studies have examined event-related potentials (ERPs) measures in college students with narcissistic traits in the context of risky decision making and facial emotion processing; however, no known studies have examined how those with narcissistic traits react to rejection and provocation at the neurophysiological level during an externally valid social rejection task (i.e., Cyberball). For the purposes of this study, it was predicted that participants with higher levels of narcissistic traits (both total narcissism and grandiose …

Cortisol Administration Normalizes Aberrant Functional Connectivity In Women With Depression, Adam C. Runyan

Dissertations

Previous resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) research has identified aberrant connectivity in several large brain networks in depression, including the default mode (DMN), frontoparietal (FPN), and salience networks (SN). Connectivity of these networks is also related to depressive symptom severity and is affected by cortisol levels. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the effects of acute cortisol administration on rsFC of DMN, FPN, and SN in individuals varying in depression history and severity. We collected resting-state fMRI scans for 74 women with and without a history of depressive disorder after administration of cortisol and placebo using a …

An Evaluation Of A Multidisciplinary Implementation Of Evidence Based Practice In Prediabetes, Emily Sisco

Dissertations

Abstract

Problem Over 70% of prediabetic patients progress to full diabetes. There are over 80 million American adults who are diabetic. Diabetes is the costliest chronic disease that often leads to many other health issues.

Methods This QI project utilized a descriptive observational design. Quantitative data was collected via retrospective chart review. Primary data collected was documentation of a patient visit to the registered dietician and the hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of patients who followed up in the office after the referral.

Results Eight patients followed up to the office for a second visit (n=8). Four patients did see the registered …

Bee Brains: Dissecting Pollinator Behavior And The Importance Of Plasticity In The Face Of Changing Environments, Rachel Brant

Dissertations

All organisms face environmental variability, and much of contemporary biological research aims to understand the mechanisms allowing organisms to adapt and survive in the face of change. Animals residing in urban habitats face particularly high levels of unpredictability and environmental fluctuation due to changes based upon human desire. Though urban areas are considered relatively novel habitats, numerous species have adapted to city life, mediated through behavioral and physiological plasticity. Native bee species show particularly high species richness and abundance in urban settings, but the mechanisms driving this pattern are poorly understood. In this dissertation, I explore how bees employ plasticity …