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Dynamic Motions Of The Alpha Subunit Of Heterotrimeric G Proteins In The Nucleotide- And Ric-8a-Bound States, Labe Adam Black

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The conformational changes and segmental dynamics involved in the G alpha-subunit of heterotrimeric G proteins have been investigated for 3 separate binding states by using binning-time-dependent single-molecule F÷rster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) of freely diffusing proteins and time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy. The bound states include Ric-8A (Resistance to Inhibitors of Cholinesterase-8A (Miller, Emerson et al. 2000; Miller and Rand 2000; Tall, Krumins et al. 2003)), a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF), and nucleotides GDP and GTP. To analyze the smFRET data, energy transfer efficiency histograms were constructed at binning times varied from 1000 to 2,500 ╡s. Then the conformational equilibria and …

Classroom Modifications With Improved Acoustics Modeled For Cehic, A School For The Deaf, In Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, Polwatte Krishantha Silva

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to model a typical classroom in a school for the Deaf inKelaniya,Sri Lanka. Intense effort by teachers provides intervention for students with significant hearing impairment. The school is an oral school, and the philosophy is to utilize the residual hearing of each student through the use of high-powered hearing aids. Like many schools inSri Lanka, the Centre for Education of Hearing-Impaired Children (CEHIC) has many classrooms that have both high ambient noise with long reverberation times. Both noise and reverberation interfere with the sound signal, the teacher’s voice, and provide a poor learning environment …

Institutional Effectiveness In An Open System: A Case Study Of Graduation Rates In The Montana University System, Anneliese A. Ripley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This is a mixed-methods, non-experimental, cross-case study designed to examine the environmental conditions that influence institutional effectiveness within one state-governed university system. The purpose of the study was to examine nationally defined graduation rates as a performance indicator of institutional effectiveness. Eleven delimited campuses in the Montana University System constituted the sample population. The quantitative analysis compared federally mandated graduation rates with graduation rates resulting from a modified graduation rate methodology. The qualitative analysis evaluated environmental conditions at each of the institutions. The cross-case analysis synthesized the quantitative and qualitative data using an open-systems framework to identify emergent patterns. Three …

Wilderness And Epistemic Wildness, John T. Stanfield

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The traditional concept of wilderness was a product of the time out of which it came. Times have changed. The social context of conservation, how humans affect nature, and scientific understanding of how ecosystems function have all shifted in ways that make the wilderness idea problematic. The values that people found in wilderness are still relevant, however. It is the way that they are tied together in the concept of wilderness that has become a problem.

I propose a revised concept of wilderness that meets the concerns of critics of wilderness, and accounts for the tension between the wild and …

A Model For Determining Drivers Of Phenology In Western United States Rangelands, Joseph R. St. Peter

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Plant phenology has long been used as an indicator of climate. Recent changes in plant phenology are evidence of the influence of climate change. Modeling plant phenology has become an effective tool to understand the impacts of climate change. Using machine learning techniques I developed a modeling process for accurately predicting phenology across a diverse landscape. This model uses individual site data to set site specific climate thresholds for plant phenology. This model also identifies the limiting factors to vegetation phenology for rangelands in the western United States. NDVI remotely sensed data was used to quantify land surface phenology and …

Impact Of A Flame Resistant Synthetic Material Base Layer On Heat Stress Factors, Matthew C. Dorton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Protective clothing worn by wildland firefighters (WLFF) may increase physiological strain and heat stress factors due to increased insulation and decreased ventilation. PURPOSE: To examine the effects of a flame resistant synthetic material base layer on heat stress factors. METHODS: Ten recreationally active males (25 ± 6.1 yrs, 80.9 ± 8.4 kg, 11.1 ± 5.3% fat, 4.4 ± 0.6 L·min-1 VO2 max) completed two trials of intermittent (50 min walking, 10 min sitting) treadmill walking (4km/hr, 4% grade) over 3 hours in a hot, dry environment (35⁰C, 30% rh). Participants wore standard WLFF Nomex green pants, Nomex yellow shirt with …

Resisting Nsa Surveillance: Glenn Greenwald And The Public Sphere Debate About Privacy, Rebecca Rice

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In May of 2013, National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden flew to Hong Kong with thousands of classified NSA documents. He contacted Glenn Greenwald, blogger, activist, and journalist for The Guardian. Greenwald and several other reporters flew to Hong Kong, where they spent a week interviewing Snowden. Greenwald began reporting on the documents in The Guardian, publishing many articles that demonstrated that the US government was spying on US citizens without court warrants. The leak was considered the biggest in NSA history. One year later, Greenwald published No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, The NSA, and The U.S. Surveillance State. …

The Regulation Of Mucosal Immunity By Inflammatory Mediators, Bryan Joseph Simons

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite massive efforts to develop effective therapeutic options for the treatment of asthma, disease prevalence continues to increase. Approximately 300 million people worldwide have been estimated to be affected by asthma, and it remains a leading cause of childhood hospitalization. While environmental as well as genetic causative agents have been identified, the heterogeneous nature of the disease has proven difficult to effectively treat. Asthma is characterized as chronic inflammation of the airway characterized by increased airway hyperreactivity, increased goblet cell hyperplasia, and airway remodeling. While these effects are traditionally regarded to be mediated through the actions of CD4+ Th2 cells, …

Does Migration Matter? Causes And Consequences Of Migratory Behavior In Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep, Derek Benjamin Spitz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite their potential conservation importance, the demographic implications of migratory behavior remain poorly understood. Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis sierrae; hereafter “Sierra bighorn”) are federally-endangered and partially migratory. In summer, Sierra bighorn share high-elevation summer ranges, but in winter some individuals migrate to lower elevation for winter while others remain resident at high-elevation. Lower elevations have better forage in winter, but these areas also carry an increased risk of predation from Sierra bighorn's primary predator, the cougar (Puma concolor). We should therefore expect differences in winter conditions to result in demographic differences between migrants and residents.

First, I developed …

A Needs Assessment: Barriers To Wildland Firefighter Fitness Training, Aria E. Mangan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Abstract:

Mangan, Aria, M.S, Spring 2015 Health and Human Performance

A Needs Assessment: Barriers to Wildland Firefighters Fitness Training

Chairperson: Dr. Annie Sondag

Introduction: Working on a wildland fire can be physically and mentally taxing. Given the physical demands of the job, fitness is a key component in keeping wildland firefighters (WLFFs) healthy and safe from injury. Unfortunately little is known about physical training (PT) programs of WLFFs.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine motivators and barriers to PT in WLFFs. Personal, interpersonal, organizational and environmental factors that influence PT were identified. Strategies for overcoming barriers were …

Economic Efficiency Of Fuel Reduction Treatments In The Home Ignition Zone To Mitigate Wildfire Risk In Montana, Usa, Howard L. Williams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildland-urban interface growth and factors increasing the probability of wildfire suggest that annual spending on wildfire risk mitigation and suppression will continue to increase. With limited information about the benefits and costs of risk mitigation, land managers and homeowners may under- or over-invest in risk mitigation, where costs are disproportionate to the expected benefits of the strategy. This study accounted for expected increases in wildfire risk (due to growth of the WUI, climate change and vegetation growth) over time in Flathead County, Montana, and estimated the expected avoided loss in structure values associated with three treatment levels that would require …

Rhetoric, Participation, And Democracy: The Positioning Of Public Hearings Under The National Environmental Policy Act, Kevin C. Stone

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There are two predominant models for thinking about proper communicative conduct on the part of citizens participating in federal environmental decision making. The consultative model is typically the basis for traditional forms of public participation. The consensus model has been developed as an alternative to the perceived failings of traditional forms of public participation, and underpin increasingly common collaborative approaches to public participation). In this paper, I will take a humanities based approach to advocating for the consideration of a third approach, that of ‘reasonable hostility.’ I argue that neither of the currently dominant models of participatory conduct successfully accounts …

Cultural And Ecological Relationship Between The Nisqually Indian Tribe And Plants Of Mount Rainier National Park, David Alan Hooper

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Throughout the history of the National Park Service, the question of whether Native AmericanÆs still have rights to traditionally used natural resources found within park lands has been debated. This debate is largely held in political, legal, and philosophical arenas, but there are ethnographic and ecological questions that need to be addressed in order for policy makers to make informed decisions. Addressing these questions also provides insight into how cultures develop sustainable harvesting practices. One of the parks that has been addressing traditional plant harvesting is Mount Rainier National Park, which has been working with the Nisqually Indian Tribe to …

The Use Of Three-Dimensional Gps Observations For Tectonics And Hydrology In Northeast Africa, Yelebe Birhanu Amere

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

1. 27 campaign and 17 continuous GPS sites spanning the Ethiopian Highlands, Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), and Somali Platform in Ethiopia and Eritrea were measured for varying durations between 1995 and 2014. Velocities at these sites show that present day finite strain rates in NE Africa can be approximated at the continent scale by opening on a simple tectonic boundary within the Ethiopian Rift. Observations from the Somali Platform require relative velocities within the Somali plate to be less than 1 mm/yr. Observations from the Ethiopian Highlands allow relative velocities no greater than 1-2 mm/yr within the Nubia plate; statistically …

Identification Of Mastigocladus Laminosus Genes Associated With Enhanced Nitrogen Fixation Performance, Patrick R. Hutchins

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding population variation for fitness-related traits is important for our comprehension of evolutionary adaptation and of how populations respond to environmental change. Here, I investigate variation in nitrogen fixation performance for an ecologically-variable population of the cyanobacterium Mastigocladus laminosus from White Creek, a nitrogen-limited, geothermally-influenced stream in Yellowstone NP. I next take a population genomics approach to identify candidate loci associated with superior performance. Variation among strains and temperature dependence of the nitrogen fixation process were the most important factors in a linear mixed effects model. Absolute and relative measures of genetic differentiation between strains from the upper quartile of …

Missoula Historic Underground Project: Urban Archaeology, Landscape, And Identity, Nikki Manning

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The American West’s urban undergrounds are laced with mystique and lore. Well-known historic undergrounds exist throughout the American West in cities such as Portland, Pendleton, Seattle, Boise, and Butte. Tales exist of secret underground passages to houses of prostitution, Chinese opium dens, and Prohibition-era alcohol smuggling operations. While in some cases these stories can be based in fact, it appears that many underground spaces were less nefarious than imagination might suggest. In Missoula, Montana, a local, urban archaeological survey was conducted to see what evidence remained of the puzzling historic underground landscape. This study of Missoula’s subterranean archaeological features included …

Introduction To Parallel Computation, Clinton Mckay

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Introduction to Parallel Computing is a course designed to educate students on how to use the parallel libraries and tools provided by modern operating systems and massively parallel computer graphics hardware.

Using a series of lectures and hands-on exercises. Students will learn about parallel algorithms and concepts that will aid them in analyzing a problem and constructing a parallel solution, if possible, using the tools available to their disposal.

The course consists of lectures, projects, quizzes, and homework. The combination of these components will deliver the necessary domain knowledge to students, test them, and in the process train them to …

Effects Of Road-Stream Crossings On Populations Of The Idaho Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon Aterrimus), Richard K. Honeycutt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Habitat disturbances affect wildlife populations through numerous mechanisms, and determining specific components of habitat disturbances affecting those populations is challenging. For example, a single disturbance can both change local habitat conditions and impose limitations on dispersal of animals. Both of these components can negatively affect biological responses, such as body condition, local movement patterns, or survival. Culverts are a habitat disturbance having both of these components. Culverts affect local habitat conditions by increasing sediment levels in downstream reaches, negatively affecting animals downstream of culverts. Culverts also impose limits on dispersal by blocking passage of stream organisms to upstream reaches, negatively …

The Effects Of Intimate Relationship Education On University Students' Attachment Security, Meredith Hood

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

For several decades, a variety of interventions have been utilized in an effort to improve the likelihood that individuals will attain a stable and satisfying marriage. Historically, these interventions have taken place when individuals are already partnered and challenging relationship dynamics are already established. More recently, however, many relationship experts have established a more proactive approach to prevent marital decline. Adults with secure attachment feel comfortable with closeness and interdependence in relationships. Similarly, they believe they are worthy of love and see others as trustworthy and dependable. In contrast, adults with insecure attachment tend to struggle more in close relationships. …

The Impacts Of Removing Wildfire On Pinus Ponderosa Resistance Against Dendroctonus Ponderosae, Sharon Metzger Hood

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Disturbance and disturbance interactions drive multiple ecosystem processes over multiple spatial and temporal scales. I studied the role of frequent, low-severity fire in Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine) forests in altering the success of the irruptive insect Dendroctonus ponderosae (mountain pine beetle (MPB)). I had three overarching research questions: (1) What are the best predictors of ponderosa pine resin flow, a trait related to MPB attack success, and how do these predictors relate to tree growth?; (2) Are predictors of resin flow also predictors of MPB attack success and are they affected by changes to wildfire disturbance regimes?; (3) How do …

Spatial Patterns And Physical Factors Of Smokejumper Utilization Since 2004, Tyson A. Atkinson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research examines patterns of aerial smokejumper usage in the United States. I assess landscape and environmental factors of their deployment using a detailed nine-year record of smokejumper activity in combination with terrain, fuels, and transportation network data. Specifically, the research seeks to identify commonalities in location (proximity), terrain, fuels, fire occurrence, and accessibility of smokejumper actions that inform current usage and identify opportunities for improved utilization. Terrain parameters (steep, rugged, inaccessible) of the western U.S. were classified and a baseline travel time grid was created (30 meter resolution). Fires in which smokejumpers responded were compared with all fires that …

Ice-Water Dynamics Over A Land-Terminating Sector Of Western Greenland, Toby Meierbachtol

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this dissertation I investigate the dynamics of a land-terminating reach of the west Greenland ice sheet through three projects utilizing unique field data and modeling experiments. In Chapter 1 I use in-situ water pressure data and numerical modeling to elucidate the conceptual model of subglacial hydrologic drainage beneath Greenland. Measurements in boreholes drilled to the ice sheet bed along a transect in the ablation zone reveal water pressures that question the stability of water-draining conduits. I apply numerical techniques to model transient evolution of subglacial conduits and show that seasonal growth of such features is unsupported in the ice …

Effect Of An Intensive Intervention On The Early Literacy Skills Of Kindergarten Students Identified As Most At Risk For Future Reading Difficulties, Craig S. Buscher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is limited research investigating the individualized effects of early literacy interventions on kindergarten students who are most at risk for reading failure at school entry. In this study, a multiple baseline design was used to measure the effect of an early literacy intervention on the alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness of kindergarten students identified as most at risk. First, a two-stage screening process consisting of measures of alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and rapid automatic naming was employed to identify those students with the lowest overall skill level from the entire at-risk kindergarten population from one school building. The nine …

The Validity Of Self- Versus Other Reports Of Adhd Symptoms In College Students: Cognitive And Academic Achievement Outcomes, Eric Aune

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite the abundance of studies investigating Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children and adults, little research has focused on ADHD and comorbid learning disabilities (LD) in college students. The dearth of research in this population is becoming increasingly important given that ADHD and LD are the two most commonly reported and diagnosed disabilities in higher academic institutions (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). As a result, clinicians' are continually faced with the difficult task of determining sensitive and valid assessment measures to use with this population. While some overlap exists between college students and younger and older counterparts, research has shown …

The Synthesis And Study Of Heterocyclic, Dimeric And Chiral Ligands For The Multidrug-Resistance Transporter, Scott Steiger

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The development of multidrug resistance in tumor cells has been recognized as a major obstacle to successful cancer treatment. Tumor cells in vitro and in vivo can develop multidrug resistance (MDR) to the lethal effects of the cytotoxic drugs used to treat them, with about 40% of cancers going on to develop MDR. There are multiple factors that lead to MDR but the factor that we will be exploring in this dissertation is the expression of multiple drug resistance gene 1 and the over expression of multi drug resistance protein 1(MDR1, also known as P-glycoprotein or P-gp). MDR1 has also …

Glutamate Transporter Modulation Of Ambient And Synaptic Glutamate Levels, Weinan Sun

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. An accurate spatial and temporal glutamate concentration profile during signaling is crucial for reliable neural computation. In these studies, we investigated the roles of glutamate transporters in controlling both ambient glutamate levels and dynamic glutamate concentrations profiles during synaptic transmission. Using the Xenopus oocyte expression system, we demonstrated that glutamate transporters act as an effective sink and are capable of maintaining >200 fold glutamate concentration gradient between the bath and cell surface when expressed at levels corresponding to physiological transporter densities in the CNS. We also characterized the …

Microscopic Examination Of Rib Heads: A Useful Adjunct In The Investigation Of Infant Deaths, Walter Loren Kemp

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to examine infant rib heads microscopically, document clefts in the anterior portion of the metaphysis and other findings including metaphyseal lesions, and statistically analyze these clefts and various features about the child, including circumstances of death (e.g., SIDS, bed sharing, or suspicious for abuse), whether or not CPR was performed, birth method, age in months at death, estimated gestational age at birth, and various socioeconomic factors (e.g., married or unmarried mother, biological father or boyfriend involved with care of child). The glass slides with microscopic sections of rib head, neck and variable amounts of …

The Relationship Between Intergenerational Educational Experiences, School Culture/Climate, And Racial Identity Among American Indian High School Students, Sandra Lee Boham

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research focused on the whether or not there was a relationship between (a) school culture and climate, (b) racial identity, and (c) inter-generational educational experiences of American Indian students in urban/off-reservation AA high schools in Montana as perceived by American Indian students, American Indian parents, administrators, teachers, and staff. Data were collected at four schools located in two school districts in different geographical locations in Montana. The data were collected using the (a) School as a Caring Community Profile (SCCP-II) survey, (b) People of Color Racial Identity Attitude Scale (PRIAS) survey, (c) demographic survey data, (d) academic achievement data, …

An Anxious State: The Search For Identity And The Struggle For Peace In Irish And Palestinian Literature, Benjamin Patrick Sweeney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis works to connect the literature of two geographically and historically disparate people – the Irish and the Palestinians. One can observe patterns of disjuncture, identity crisis, and identity formation in the history of one people; one can then apply the principles learned to analogous historical situations. I argue that the Irish and the Palestinians share a kind of communal psychological trauma brought about by the experience of imperial/colonial domination, violence, and especially diaspora. Because of this shared trauma, Ireland’s historical experience can offer insight into that of Palestine. The situations are unique, but at certain human levels they …

Visual And Geometric Analysis Of Maxillary Sinus Region Variability For Identification Of Unknown Decedents, Kelsey Michelle Collins

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Positive identification of unknown individuals is highly important in the medicolegal field. Comparison of antemortem and postmortem radiographs is a popular and successful method of making a positive identification, but these methods are often extremely limited due to a lack of antemortem records. A positive identification method utilizing a type of radiograph that is more common in the antemortem record would be very useful for forensic anthropologists and other medicolegal professionals and could increase the likelihood of the individual in question being identified. Panoramic dental radiographs are commonly included in the standard dental exam and provide a clear view of …