Digital Commons Network^™

In Planta Evaluation Of Gene Regulation By Soybean Auxin Response Factors, Pratiksha K C

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen (N) is an important plant nutrient but its abundance in the soil is not sufficient for profitable crop production. N input in the form of chemical fertilizers helps fill this need; however, an alternative for fertilizers is an immediate need due to the environmental pollution resulting from excessive use of fertilizers. Leguminous plants such as soybean (Glycine max) that form root nodules through symbiotic association with N-fixing rhizobia and therefore need little or no chemical N fertilizers. The plant hormone auxin plays a crucial role in determining the number of nodules and their rate of maturity in soybean. Auxin …

Investigation Of Influenza B Virus Replication Potential In Swine Primary Respiratory Epithelial Cells And Phylodynamic Analysis Of Equine Influenza A H3n8 Viruses, Sunayana Shyam Jandhyala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Influenza viruses are respiratory pathogens that cause significant mortality worldwide. The subtype of influenza A virus currently affecting worldwide equine populations is H3N8, leading to epidemics and transboundary pandemics. The individual gene segments of an isolate named A/equine/Montana/9564-1/2015 were phylogenetically characterized. BLASTn search revealed that the polymerase basic protein 1 (PB1), polymerase acidic (PA), hemagglutinin (HA), nucleoprotein (NP), and matrix (M) segments of this H3N8 isolate shared the highest percentage identity to A/equine/Tennessee/29A/2014 (H3N8) and the polymerase basic protein 2 (PB2), neuraminidase (NA), and non-structural protein (NS) segments to A/equine/Malaysia/M201/2015 (H3N8). Maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees constructed using H3N8 viral genomes …

Identification And Genomic Characterization Of Candidate Starch And Lactate Utilizing Bacteria From The Rumen Of Beef Cattle, Venkata Bandarupalli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rumen functions as an anaerobic fermentation chamber where microbial communities ferment feedstuffs into SCFAs. These SCFAs are critical to the ruminant host since they fulfill 70% of its energy requirements. In intensive management systems, ruminants are fed with grain-rich diets, which contain high levels of starch that help meet the energy demands of high producing animals. When grain-based diets are fed to ruminants, ruminal amylolytic and lactate metabolizing bacteria predominate. Grain overload can cause rapid production and accumulation of lactate, resulting in proliferation of amylolytic bacteria and death of lactate metabolizing bacteria. Consequently, high lactate levels result in a …

Giving Voice To Adults Living With Cystic Fibrosis: A Phenomenological Study, Brandon M. Varilek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cystic fibrosis is one of the most difficult chronic diseases to manage long-term because of the numerous challenges faced on a day-to-day basis. Historically, these challenges have primarily been studied using quantitative methods given the desire to prolong life. However, simply increasing the quantity of life does not mean that quality of life will improve. It is entirely possible that new treatments may worsen perceived quality of life. What is missing from the current research is the person’s voice regarding the experience of living with cystic fibrosis, especially as they continue to age. The primary purpose of this study was …

Multiple Myeloma – Treatments, Economic Burden, And End Of Life Care, Kaustuv Bhattacharya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aimed at filling the gaps in the body of multiple myeloma (MM) literature by comparing overall survival and safety of first line maintenance or continuous treatment, and assessing disease lifetime costs, phase-specific costs and its drivers among elderly newly diagnosed (NDMM) patients. Moreover, it aimed to assess trends in EOL care and the impact of PCC on EOL care outcomes among elderly MM patients. First, this study assessed the comparative safety and effectiveness among those who received first line LEN-based treatment versus those who received first line BORT-based treatment. The results from the study demonstrates an overall survival …

Single Parent Success In Mississippi's Community Colleges, Craig Ellis Sasser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On an average year, over 90,000 students enroll in a Mississippi community college. Until now, no data were available to identify the number of students enrolled in the Mississippi community college system who were single parents. No data were available to determine if there was a relationship between being a single parent and fall-to-fall retention. Each of the fifteen Mississippi community colleges were asked to provide data on the 2016 cohort of students. Data collected were race/ethnicity, academic program (transfer or career/technical), three questions from the FAFSA to determine a student’s single parent status, if each student was retained from …

Chemical And Biological Evaluations Of Asimina Triloba And Rollinia Mucosa., Taghreed Ali Majrashi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studies have shown the potential risks of neurodegeneration associated with chronic consumption of plants of the Annonaceae family, which emphasize the need for further studies to identify the neurotoxic compounds in the edible annonaceous plants and compare their risk to their benefits in defeating cancer. Our study is focused on the alkaloidal constituents of two plants from the Annonaceae family, Asimina triloba and Rollinia mocusa. This study was carried out to explore the anticancer and neurotoxic constituents of the plants with the intention that separating neurotoxic constituents would help in reducing the undesirable effects of the plants if it is …

Fabrication Of Taste Masked Tablets Via Fused Deposition Modeling 3d Printing Paired With Hot-Melt Extrusion Techniques, Honghe Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this work was to develop taste-masked donut-shaped tablet formulations utilizing fused deposition modeling three-dimensional (3D) printing paired with hot-melt extrusion (HME) techniques. Caffeine citrate (CC) was used as the model drug for its bitter taste, and a three-point bend test was performed to assess the printability of filaments. The stiffness constant was calculated to represent the printability by fitting the breaking distances and stress data into Hooke's law. Formulation F6 and F7 filaments exhibited the desired hardness with a “k” value of 48.30 ± 3.52 g/mm3 and 45.47 ± 3.51 g/mm3, respectively, and were successfully printed. The …

The Summer Melt Of Rural First-Year Students, Deidre F. Ruffin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For many rural students, the future seems limited, and immediate dreams of college attendance appear to be just out of reach. Rural college-bound students are often faced with parental figures with lower educational attainment than the national average, geographic isolation, declining community infrastructure, and negative social dynamics tied to race, class, and income inequality. In this qualitative case study, I will examine the perceived barriers which contribute to summer melt of rural students. Summer melt is a term applied to students that apply to college, are accepted to college, but melt away from the enrollment cycle in the summer months …

Effects Of Nutrition, Hydration, Exertion, And Sleep On Injury And Illness In Female Collegiate Soccer Players, Ronald Corbit Franks Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT Injury and illness rates in collegiate athletics continue to rise. Women’s soccer tends to have high numbers of injuries because it is a contact sport. Research has shown that there are several contributing factors to injury and illness rate in collegiate athletics. This study will provide an in depth look at female athletes, more specifically female collegiate soccer players and several factors – including dietary intake, hydration status, exertion and sleep that may attribute to injury and illness in this population. Researchers utilized weekly 3-day diet records, daily urine specific gravity, training load and self-reported sleep quantity to establish …

The Impact Of Dietary Intake On Concussion Recovery In Division I Ncaa Athletes, Matthew Richard Frakes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to observe the relationship between total calorie and macronutrient intake on return to baseline measurement times in concussions collegiate athletes. Forty division I collegiate athletes (19.83 + 1.01 years) were randomly assigned to a control group (n = 22) or intervention group (n = 18) once diagnosed with a concussion. Macronutrient intake and daily caloric intake were analyzed using the Nutrition Data System for Research. Concussion related symptoms were assessed using the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool. Statistically significant differences were found on the number of days until symptoms reached baseline based on overall average …

Implementing Read 180 To Increase Reading Achievement And Improve Organizational Learning, Debra Ashe Ware

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT This applied research study seeks to increase reading achievement and improve organizational learning. The need to increase reading achievement among the lowest performing students became apparent after reviewing the data and discovering the high number of students scoring minimal and basic in reading achievement. Also, the need to improve organizational learning became evident with the school being given a “failing” accountability rating. Using professional learning communities, professional development training, and teacher observations, the program sought to improve teacher’s organizational learning and strategies in the classroom. Surveys, student interviews, student’s reading data, observations, and discipline data were used in the …

Developing Co-Teaching Capacity Between General And Special Education Teachers Through Applied Research, Kellie Logan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT This is a work of applied action research to examine the collaborative teaching efforts between general education teachers and special education teachers at Centurion Elementary School. This research includes the involvement of stakeholders and the researcher as a collaborative group with the intent to increase collaborative teaching in the general education classroom, where students with special needs and their peers without disabilities are educated. The methods used are professional development in the area of cooperative teaching, classroom observations, the development of an observation checklist, and teacher-group discussions. A program evaluation is included.

Trauma, Emotion Dysregulation, And Posttraumatic Symptoms In An Inpatient Adolescent Population: Testing Multiple Mediators, Elise Marie Elligett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies suggest that difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) or emotion dysregulation (ED) mediate the association between trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in adults and adolescents. However, elucidating how the specific facets of emotion dysregulation may differentially mediate the development of PTSS following trauma in adolescents could benefit the formation of more targeted interventions for PTSS in traumatized youth. The current study examined whether facets of ED mediated the relationship between exposure to traumatic events and PTSS in an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents residing in an inpatient psychiatric facility in Mississippi. Due to prior scholarship finding gender …

Biological Evaluation Of Maasia Glauca (Hassk.) Mols, Kessler & Rogstad, Thanh-Thanh Claire Tran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Natural products-based drug discovery has gained a renewal of interest due to the decline of newly approved drugs based on the screening of synthetic compound libraries. Within natural sources, plants have provided 47% of new molecular entities, and only a small percentage of plant species (6%) have been pharmacologically studied. Plant species belonging to the diverse Annonaceae family have been used traditionally for a variety of ailments, including but not limited to dysentery, fever, and cancers. Among all the cancers, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide. The lack of effectiveness of chemotherapeutic drugs due to …

Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms In Sexual And Non-Sexual Trauma: Comparisons On Symptom Severity, Disgust, And Contamination Concerns., Jaime Murtagh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A number of emotions have been identified as contributing to the experience of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), including fear and disgust. Given the high rates of comorbidity between PTSD and OCD, research has suggested that disgust may be a likely link between these disorders. The current study examined the relation between contamination disgust, trauma symptom severity, and contamination related-OCD (C-OCD) symptoms in a sample of sexual and non-sexual trauma survivors (N = 206). Specifically, it was proposed that sexual trauma survivors would endorse more severe PTSD symptoms, higher levels of disgust, and more C-OCD symptoms. …

Underachieving Profoundly Gifted Adolescents, Marisa Soto Harrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Underachieving Profoundly Gifted Adolescents is a phenomenological study that explores the lived experiences of five underachieving profoundly gifted adolescents. Profoundly gifted individuals are those whose IQ scores are at the 99.9th percentile. This study was a means to explore factors that contribute to underachievement among this subpopulation of gifted students. In-depth interviews with young adults provided insight into the personal experiences of underachievement in profoundly gifted adolescents. Parents also took part in interviews to provide an additional perspective on the underachievement experience. Findings indicated five themes that contribute to underachievement among this population. Expectations were a major contributor to underachievement. …

Rural Npo Leadership In Time Of Volatility: A Study Of Nonprofit Organizations In South Dakota, Mellissa Heermann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study determined the legitimacy of the leadership gap in Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) in South Dakota by collecting quantitative and qualitative data and then comparing the results with national studies. It aimed to understand if NPOs were more vulnerable to leadership transitions and the costs associated with them. It also provided additional insight for future research opportunities. While there were studies on larger NPOs, such as the United Way, or NPOs in more highly populated regions, there was a gap in research for rural NPOs that potentially would not be financially able to research these trends on their own. …

The Role Of Endophytes In Conferring Salinity Tolerance In Prairie Cordgrass And The Winter Wheat Mint Variety, Jeffery Bartel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prairie Cordgrass (PCG) Spartina pectinata is a native grass to North America that survives saline conditions, can be harvested multiple times in a year, and can be used as biofuel. Endophytes are bacteria that reside in plant tissues and often have growthpromoting capabilities. They can assist plants by obtaining nutrients by improving the tolerance of plants against a broad range of stresses, such as plant pathogens, viruses, flooding, drought, acids, or bases. PCG can survive ocean levels of salinity. Endophytes that naturally bond with PCG may not only be able to not only help PCG but be transferred to other …

Parenting Styles, Parenting Practices, And Dietary Intakes Of Preschoolers And Their Parents, Biyi Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emerging research efforts have focused on the role of parents in the development of dietary behaviors of their children. Parental influences play a particularly important role in determining the children’s weight and shaping children’s dietary behaviors, especially during early childhood. Parent-related determinants can be classified as two types—general parenting (parenting style) and specific parenting practices (e.g, food parenting practices). Examining the interactions between parental influences and preschoolers’ and their parental dietary behaviors and may reveal important insights into how parents influence children’s dietary behaviors. Therefore, the goal of this research is to examine the associations between parenting styles, food parenting …

Development And Validation Of Advanced Analytical Methods For Pesticides, Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, And Opioids In Soil And Drinking Water, Christopher Skaggs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Environmental pollution from contaminants is a serious concern in a world where more and more pesticides and pharmaceuticals are being used, sometimes improperly and in excess. Since pesticides are used on practically every crop on Earth, it’s no surprise that these compounds are detected in soil, water, and processed agricultural commodities meant for human consumption. Additionally, because of the ubiquity of pharmaceuticals, specifically opioids, and their inherent addictive properties, these compounds are being over-consumed. Because current waste-water treatments can be insufficient to remove them from water sources, this consumption has led to the detection of these compounds in drinking water. …

Burning With Potential: Understanding The Relationship Between Biochar And Agriculture Of The Northern Glaciated Plains Ecoregion, Kaitlyn Abrahamson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Achieving global sustainable agriculture is one of the most incredible challenges of this century, yet many continue to try to solve this problem through the development of precision technologies. Biotechnologies, such as biochar, can perform like a precision technology while protecting agricultural land from soil erosion and fertility loss. The Northern Glaciated Plains ecoregion of the United States is little researched in the benefits from the use of biochar through improved soil nutrient capture and water retention, crop health improvements, and yield increases. The study plot has four sections of corn stover biochar and eight sections of control sections. This …

The Effect Of Neonicotinoid Clothianidin On Ring-Necked Pheasant Survival And Reproduction, Michael Sundall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) are economically important to the state of South Dakota bringing in over one hundred million dollars in revenue each season. The population is known to fluctuate temporally for many reasons, often weather related. Unfortunately, no research has been conducted involving ring-necked pheasants that evaluated the impact or interaction of neonicotinoids on the species. The objective of our study was to gain an understanding of how the neonicotinoid, Clothianidin, affects survival and breeding in pheasants. Our first experiment was to determine if there was a selection bias for seeds treated with neonicotinoids. In this experiment, eight ring-necked …

Biophysical And Socioeconomic Impacts Of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration In Burkina Faso, Basnewende Brice Fulgence Zoungrana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human actions such as overgrazing, the development of cities at the expense of forests, high intensity and poor agricultural management, and so forth, reduce the resources available for future generations. Because Earth has limited resources, it is important to judiciously use and manage natural resources. Human actions towards nature are the focus of my research in Africa. Increased demands for grazing, agriculture, and ecosystem services led some farmers in developing countries to use unsustainable practices, which may lead to low incomes and poor food nutrition for households. Farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR) may be a solution to these issues. FMNR …

Impact Of Grid-Following And Grid-Forming Ders On Resilient Operation Of Holonic Grid, Ali M. Alsenan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how different distributed energy resources (DERs) impact the resilience operation of a holonic grid. The holonic grid consists of two or more connected microgrids and /or provisional microgrids (PMGs). The type of the DER, i.e., grid-forming or grid-following, affects the operations of the holonic grid, particularly during the islanded mode. To study this emerging and timely topic, a resilience-oriented holonic grid optimal operation model is proposed. This model carefully formulates the operations of both grid-forming and grid-following DERs. A variable value of lost load (VoLL) is further employed in the proposed model to help quantify and monetize …

Developing Machine Learning Algorithms For Behavior Recognition From Deep Brain Signals, Hosein Golshan Mojdehi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition and movement disorder that appears with symptoms such as tremor, rigidity of muscles and slowness of movements. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an FDA-approved surgical therapy for essential tremor and PD. Despite the fact that DBS substantially alleviates the motor signs of PD, it can cause cognitive side effects and speech malfunction mainly due to the lack of adaptivity and optimality of the stimulation signal to the patients’ current state. A behavior-adapted closed-loop DBS system may reduce the side effects and power consumption by adjusting the stimulation parameters to patients’ need.

Behavior recognition …

Satellite Constellation Deployment And Management, Joseph Ryan Kopacz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper will review results and discuss a new method to address the deployment and management of a satellite constellation. The first two chapters will explorer the use of small satellites, and some of the advances in technology that have enabled small spacecraft to maintain modern performance requirements in incredibly small packages.

The third chapter will address the multiple-objective optimization problem for a global persistent coverage constellation of communications spacecraft in Low Earth Orbit. A genetic algorithm was implemented in MATLAB to explore the design space – 288 trillion possibilities – utilizing the Satellite Tool Kit (STK) software developers kit. …

Drawing Identities: An Ethnography Of Indigenous Comic Book Creators, Melissa Ann Kocelko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the experiences of Indigenous comic creators when making comic books, and I aim to investigate the individual and communal motivations for creating comics. Representations of Indigenous characters and storylines have primarily been told through a white lens in mainstream comics. Within the past five years, this trend has shifted with increased academic and public attention on Indigenous comic books and the rise of comic conventions like Indigenous Pop X. I argue that these comics are acts of decolonization and self-determination where creators use comics as educational tools and as a form of cultural preservation by documenting Indigenous …

Person-Centered Care Education For Caregivers Of Patients With Dementia In Long-Term Care Settings, Dawn Buckmire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Person-centered care (PCC) guidelines are being used as a care model to improve health outcomes for residents with impaired cognition. The researcher utilized PCC guidelines to educate caregivers in residential homes to provide care based on the residents’ individualized needs and choices to reduce worsening health conditions and potentially avoidable hospitalizations. The researcher created an educational tool to improve prompt management of health conditions for residents with cognitive impairment and set up a control group (n = 4) and an intervention group (n = 4) to conduct this project. The intervention group received the PCC education guidelines, whereas …

Reducing Gaps In Knowledge About Electroconvulsive Therapy Among Mental Health Nurses, Janice L. Edmonson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This DNP study was conducted to identify knowledge gaps about electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) among mental health nurses and to determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention on the knowledge and attitude of mental health nurses about the use of ECT at a psychiatric hospital. In this study, the researcher sought to build upon an existing knowledge base using principles of adult learning theory to enhance the therapeutic relationship of the nursing staff when caring for ECT patients. A sample of three-quarters (N = 119) of the mental health nursing staff employed by the psychiatric hospital consented to participate in …