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4-Isoxazolyl-1,4-Dihydropyrirines Bind 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 a variety of cytotoxic drugs used to treat cancerous tumor cells. The over expression of multiple drug resistance gene 1 has been correlated with the expression of multi drug resistance protein 1(MDR1, also known as P-glycoprotein or P-gp). MDR1's role in altering uptake, distribution and bioavailability is considered a significant factor when examining drugs for clinical administration, and represents a viable drug target for …

Ancestral And Sex Estimation Using E.A. Marino’S Analysis Of The First Cervical Vertebra Applied To Three Modern Groups, Victoria Marie Swenson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Developing a biological profile in forensic anthropology is vital for the medico-legal field. Forensic anthropologists have long sought to develop ancestry and sex determination methods using complete and fragmented skeletal elements. Ancestry is most commonly assessed using cranial traits. Sex is assessed using the os coxa and cranial traits. Post-cranial methods for identifying individuals are needed in the field because cranial and pelvic elements are often broken and incomplete. Examining other elements can increase the likelihood of identification of the individual in question. Eugene Marino (1993; 1995; 1997) developed a method for estimating ancestry and sex from eight measurements of …

Chronic Trauma Effects On Personality Trait Trajectory In Police Officers, Jennifer Leigh Wills

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The impact of chronic trauma exposure on personality trajectories over time was examined in a sample of urban police officers. Scores from a personality measure taken in pre-hire psychological evaluations were compared with follow up scores administered for this study five to ten years later. An urban police agency of approximately 1000 commissioned police officers agreed to allow its officers to be recruited as participants. The consulting psychologist who performed the agency’s pre-hire psychological evaluations during the applicable period supplied historical data with participant consent and agency approval. Personality change between the two times was analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis, …

Costs And Benefits Of An Extended Phenotype: Chambers Made By Manduca Sexta Larvae, Jonathan Cooley Sprague

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Extended phenotypes can serve interesting physiological functions and their externality provides ready opportunity to manipulate and examine their functions and costs. One such set of extended phenotypes are below-ground pupation chambers made by a wide range of insects and whose function is unknown and costs unquantified. We use a series of lab and field experiments to examine the cost and benefit of chambers made by the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta (Sphingidae), whose larvae lose up to 60% of their body mass during chamber construction. Our study shows that these chambers provide critically important free space in which individuals transition from larvae …

Estimation And Modeling Of Forest Attributes Across Large Spatial Scales Using Biomebgc, High-Resolution Imagery, Lidar Data, And Inventory Data, Jordan Seth Golinkoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The accurate estimation of forest attributes at many different spatial scales is a critical problem. Forest landowners may be interested in estimating timber volume, forest biomass, and forest structure to determine their forest's condition and value. Counties and states may be interested to learn about their forests to develop sustainable management plans and policies related to forests, wildlife, and climate change. Countries and consortiums of countries need information about their forests to set global and national targets to deal with issues of climate change and deforestation as well as to set national targets and understand the state of their forest …

Examining The Impact Of Hepatitis C In Montana: A Descriptive Case Study, Blair Rice Snyder

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to gather information about how Hepatitis C (HCV) affects Montanans. Montana specific information was collected about HCV transmission; factors influencing transmission; physical, social and psychological effects of having HCV and undergoing treatment; barriers to prevention and treatment; current available resources to those infected with HCV and ways to improve prevention and treatment. Secondary data consisted of a comprehensive literature review to describe the above factors and epidemiological information. Primary data was collected through key informant interviews and summary reports completed by people living with HCV. The findings suggest that HCV is primarily transmitted through …

Land-Cover Change Within The Peatlands Along The Rocky Mountain Front, Montana: 1937-2009, Joseph Tyler Milbrath

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Aerial photographs of nine peatlands along the Rocky Mountain Front, Montana, were analyzed in a GIS. The boundary of wetland extent was hand-digitized and the area within was classified into land-cover types including: total area, open fen, open water, woody vegetation, and non-wetland/agriculture. Changes in wetland extent and land-cover categories were evaluated from the earliest available imagery in 1937 to the last available imagery in 2009. Images prior to 1995 were orthorectified to correct inherent distortions. Results indicate little change in overall peatland area between 1937 and 2009 despite increasing air temperatures in the region. Open water area and the …

Locomotor Ontogeny And The Evolution Of Avian Flight, Ashley Margaret Heers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding the origins of organismal diversity is one of biology's most enduring quests. Many authors have posited that modularity, or the developmental decoupling of body parts into discrete functional units, facilitates adaptive radiation by allowing body parts to become independently and functionally specialized without compromising one another. This may be particularly true in birds, which have compartmentalized the single locomotor unit of their ancestors into discrete wing and leg locomotor modules, and exploited terrestrial and aerial environments. Specializing one set of limbs for terrestrial locomotion and one set for flight presumably facilitates navigation of aerial environments without compromising terrestrial locomotion, …

Motivation And Education: Performance, Commitment, And Satisfaction Among Pharmacy Students, Michael Dustin King

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examines the relationship between academic motivation and three different educational outcomes: academic performance, commitment, and satisfaction. This research explores these relationships by focusing on pharmacy students at The University of Montana. Pharmacy students tend to be driven by relatively high levels of external motivations (e.g., motivated by money or prestige), especially when compared to other health profession students. In contrast to previous work that simply describes the motivations of students, I uncover the links between motivation and various educational outcomes. This investigation contributes to a better understanding of motivations and their impact on education, especially among the specific …

Developmental Stress In Birds: Phenotypic And Fitness, Ondi L. Crino

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The environment animals experience during development can have important effects on phenotype, performance, and fitness across multiple life-history stages. Environmental cues experienced during development can provide information to animals about the environment they will soon inhabit and promote phenotypic changes which affect fitness. Increasing evidence suggests that physiological stress may be one such cue that conveys environmental information to developing animals. Here, I explore the short- and long-term consequences of developmental stress in captive and free-living birds. In chapter one, I explore the effects of developmental stress on body size and physiological stress responses across life-history stages in zebra finches …

Ensemble Modeling Of Swe Distribution In The Bitterroot Mountains, Montana, Usa, Frederick Kellner

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The spatial distribution of snow remains poorly understood at the landscape scale, particularly at high elevation where snow can be under-represented by our current system of monitoring. The transferability of the processes and physiography that drive the spatial distribution of snow require further study. We apply an ensemble of three semi-independent snow models to the down-sloping side of the Bitterroot Mountains of Western Montana, which features an array of drainages of remarkably similar size and aspect. We modeled the snow water equivalent equal to the maximum snow accumulation plus any positive contributions to the snowpack during the melt season, for …

Age-Associated Changes In The Neuroinflammatory Response To Toll-Like Receptor 4 And 9 Stimulation, Leah Beth Christensen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

During the perinatal time period, the mammalian brain is developing rapidly and is particularly sensitive to inflammation. Inflammation during this time period may be linked to later neurological illness in humans. Disease-associated alterations in learning and behavior can be modeled in rodents using perinatal immune stimulation with either infectious agents or Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists. Although the gestational period is a particularly sensitive time for neurodevelopment, it is not known for how long after birth this sensitivity persists. In mice, susceptibility to neurological infection declines dramatically during the first weeks of life. Therefore, we sought to compare the neuroinflammatory responses …

Understanding The Dynamics Of Species Distributions Under Climate Change: Linking Empirical Evidence, Ecological Theory, And Statistical Models, Shawn M. Crimmins

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate change is threatening biota all over the world through dictating changes in species distributions. The ability to predict the effects of climate on species distributions requires an understanding of how climatic and disturbance factors relate to species distributions. I examined the relationship between climate, disturbance, and geographic distributions of vascular plants in the western United States.

Within the mountain ranges of California, woody plants have largely shifted their distributions downhill during the 20th century. These shifts were strongly related to observed changes in climatic water balance, consistent with theoretical predictions. Downhill shifts were most prominent for species occurring at …

Lithic Technology And Risk: Winter Houses At Bridge River Villages, Kelly French

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The 2012 excavation of a single housepit (Housepit 54) at the Bridge River Village site (EeR14) offers the unique opportunity to look at lithic organization and techinological strategies during the Fur Trade era in the Middle Fraser Canyon. The main goal of this research is to understand how the winter occupation of Housepit 54 may have affected the lithic technological strategies carried out at Bride River Village. As a winter pithouse, lithic raw material sources would be inaccessible during the three months of occupation. The hypothesis of this thesis is structured with a theory of risk framework in order to …

Exotic Invasive Plants Drive Different Ecosystem Processes Than Natives In Montana Grasslands, Morgan Marie Luce

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Invasion is associated with unexpected increases in aboveground net primary productivity and altered ecosystem function, including increased nitrogen availability and cycling. These shifts are well documented, however many previous studies have been observational, focused on a single plant species, or have not examined belowground microbial communities. I combined field and experimental techniques to examine changes in productivity and ecosystem function, and the abundance of ammonia- oxidizing bacteria (AOB) for the exotic invaders Bromus tectorum, Centaurea stoebe, Euphorbia esula, and Potentilla recta. To quantify effects of these invasive species on N cycling and AOB abundance we compared soil from invaded and …

The Value Of Knowing: Public Lands Monitoring By Non-Agency Groups, Aaron Richard Olsen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

It is generally recognized that in order to make informed federal land management decisions, such decisions need to be based on information gathered from monitoring of those lands. While some monitoring is being conducted by federal land management agencies, it is happening too infrequently and is often inadequate for properly informing land management decisions. In an attempt to fill this gap non-agency groups have begun monitoring federal public lands themselves. It appears that through recent congressional authorizations, policy reforms, and agency initiatives monitoring by non-agency groups is being supported at every government level. While theoretically this transfer of responsibility from …

Household Organization In The Fur Trade Era: Socioeconomic And Spatial Organizations Of Housepit 54, Alexandra Christine Williams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Households are fundamental units of society that possess powerful explanatory potential; however, few studies have approached household organization during the critical contact period within the Mid-Fraser Canyon. The 2012 excavation of Bridge River’s Housepit 54 (HP 54) offers a rare opportunity to investigate such socioeconomic relationships and their spatial manifestations. Hypotheses structured with a household archaeology theoretical framework emphasize household socioeconomic strategies. The first hypothesis outlines a network strategy characterized by greater centralization of power, hierarchical complexity, and material-wealth that is reflected in residential units with individual features and disparate accumulations of prestige goods and high utility resources. Such floor …

Imagining Boundaries: (Post) Humanist Understandings And Ecological Ethics In The Fiction Of Margaret Atwood, Megan Kathleen Telligman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Atwood’s concern for the environment has spanned nearly the entirety of her career, informing her fears about the future and providing the grounding for her speculative fiction. In Atwood’s understanding, ecological ruin stems from human estrangement from the natural environment, an estrangement fortified by capitalism and consumerism in contemporary societies. Instead, she strives to situate the creative, imaginative human species within a larger natural order that inspires ethical treatment of the more-than-human world. Atwood attempts to provide us with a model of interconnection and respect for nature that we must imagine if we desire to avoid the apocalyptic future she …

Camouflage Mismatch In Seasonal Coat Color Due To Decreased Snow Duration: Will Snowshoe Hares Keep Up With Climate Change?, Marketa Zimova

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As wild species face anthropogenic stressors, they will either adapt, shift their geographic range, or decline, perhaps towards extinction. The relative scope of these responses has not been well studied, especially for climate change where geographic range shifts and population declines have been widely discussed but the potential for adaptation mostly ignored. Adaptation to anthropogenic stressors can occur through phenotypic plasticity and/or evolution. My thesis first establishes, based on field studies of wild snowshoe hares, a novel and high-profile stressor directly linked to climate change. The stressor arises from a decrease in snow duration due to climate change, which causes …

Shifts In Caribou Calving Habitat And Space-Use, Daniella Johanna Dekelaita

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) population in Newfoundland has been declining since the mid-1990s, and will likely continue to decline into the foreseeable future. This decrease in numbers has been accompanied by a large drop in recruitment. Predation is the primary cause of caribou calf mortality in Newfoundland, and since 2003, >80% of radio-collared calves died within the first 6 months of life. Two Newfoundland herds also have shifted their calving grounds over the past 15 to 20 years. Our objective was to investigate why these shifts have occurred. We analyzed female telemetry locations spanning 29 years, to delineate …

Identifying Environmental Factors Influencing Golden Eagle Presence And Reproductive Success, Ross H. Crandall

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Declining populations of plant and animal species is a major concern threatening global biodiversity. If we want to conserve threatened species, we must understand the requirements of the species. Recent data suggests Golden Eagle populations in the Western United States are declining. Future threats from expanded energy development, habitat loss and climate change are also a concern. Apparent declines and perceived threats have caused management agencies to classify the Golden Eagle as a species of concern requiring the creation of conservation plans. Yet, an effective conservation plan is dependent on information that is currently lacking. To address this lack of …

Differentiation-Induced Changes In Antioxidant Capacity And Antioxidant Response In Sh-Sy5y Cells: Role Of Nrf2, Akua Afriyie Karikari

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Organisms are exposed to reactive oxygen species from internal metabolism and environmental toxicant exposure, which have been linked to the initiation and progression of many neuronal diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Exposure to reactive oxygen species are counterbalanced by antioxidant defense systems such as the Nrf2-ARE pathway, the primary regulator of endogenous antioxidant response. Whereas neuronal cells are post-mitotic and are particularly susceptible to oxidative stress because of high oxygen consumption, astrocytes are mitotic and rely more on glycolytic metabolism. In this study, the difference in antioxidant response and capacity in mitotic and post-mitotic cells were investigated using …

Whole-Nature: Integrating Science And Eco-Phenomenology, Bartholomew Patrick Walsh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A review of the literature in environmental philosophy reveals a certain tension between what we might call science-based and experience-based approaches to environmental ethics. The main trend of thought here follows seminal figures like Aldo Leopold and Holmes Rolston III by generally looking to the sciences for disclosing value in nature, particularly ecology and evolutionary biology. However others, such as David Abram and Jack Turner, worry that scientifically disclosed nature is in itself too distancing, objectifying, and abstract to engender any real care for nature and instead emphasize direct, embodied experience with actual wild places, hence the label “eco-phenomenology.” The …

Synthesis Of Dna-Base Selective Labels For Efficient Labeling Of Dna For Tem Imaging, Rakesh Kumar

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The goal of this project was to explore the possibility of high throughput DNA sequencing using high-resolution electron microscopy. This approach was recently made feasible by development of a DNA threading technique that allows the imaging of straight, single stranded DNA; and by the development of atom-by-atom analysis with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). In an attempt to better understand the types of interactions that can occur between water-soluble versions of complex and DNA we have synthesized the series of single metal and tetrametallic compounds. In order to demonstrate proof of concept for the technique of visualizing metal complex bound on …

Effects Of Disturbance On Tree Community Dynamics In Whitebark Pine Ecosystems, Jeremy Travis Amberson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a keystone species of high-elevation ecosystems of western North America, is warranted for listing under the Endangered Species Act due to the combined threats of fire exclusion, white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), and increased pressure from insects due to climate warming. Despite widespread knowledge of the potential causes of the tree’s decline, there is limited understanding of its ecology, including successional dynamics in forests disturbed by white pine blister rust and mountain pine beetle. Specifically, there is a need for more information on successional replacement by subalpine fir and whitebark seedling regeneration dynamics. I assessed …

Relationships Between Childhood Trauma And Eating Pathology, Lindsay Katherine Crosby

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Past research has demonstrated that a correlation exists between trauma exposure and eating disorder pathology. Specifically, sexual abuse has been implicated in the development of eating disorders, with particular attention focused on bulimia nervosa. However, the relationship between other types of trauma exposure and eating pathology has yet to be delineated, particularly how different types of trauma exposure may be related to disordered eating behaviors. The current study explored this relationship. Results showed while some experiences of trauma history predicted a proportion of the variance associated with disordered eating behaviors, others showed a positive but not significant correlation. Clinical implications, …

Alliance And Outcomes In Counseling Canadian Aboriginal Peoples, Sidney Shaw

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study evaluated predictors of outcome in counseling with Canadian Aboriginal peoples. Participants in the study included 373 Canadian Aboriginal clients receiving outpatient counseling at Calgary Counselling Centre in Alberta, Canada between October 2004 and November 2011. Outcome in this study was measured using the Outcome Questionnaire 45 (OQ-45) and predictor variables consisted of client demographics, counselor training level, and client ratings of the therapeutic alliance. The alliance was measured using the Session Rating Scale (SRS). Outcome variables, as measured by the OQ-45, were most often analyzed categorically and consisted of four different possible categories of change as measured from …

Improved Synthesis Of 3-Aryl-Isoxazoles As Intermediates For Novel G-Quadruplex Binding Anti-Tumor Agents, Matthew Jacob Weaver

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As a promising new target for chemotherapy G-quadruplexes (G4) have drawn great interest from the scientific community. Current chemotherapeutic agents exhibit broad toxicity to patients; G4 has the potential to be selectively targeted by novel chemotherapeutic agents that exhibit toxicity specific towards cancer cells. Anthracenyl isoxazolyl amides (AIMs) have shown potent anti-tumor activity and have evidence to support them as G4 binding molecules. Studies of the AIMs’ unique mechanism of action require an efficient synthesis of target molecules. For our system, methods traditionally used to synthesize isoxazoles were inefficient and gave poor yields. A critical comparison of methods to prepare …

Comparison Of Wild-Domestic Sheep Interaction Policies In Bighorn Disease Outbreak Locations In The Continental U.S., 1990-2010, Tristan Howard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

For over 100 years, disease has significantly limited bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) in the western U.S. Interaction with domestic sheep (Ovis aries) has been a primary cause of fatal bighorn disease (typically pneumonia), which has severely reduced or eliminated entire populations. Various wild-domestic sheep interaction policies exist to address the disease problem. In this analysis, six case study locations are compared and analyzed in an effort to evaluate policy efficacy. Locations examined and their bighorn die-off dates include: the Tobin Range, NV (1991); Aldrich Mountain, OR (1991); the Highland/Pioneer Mountains, MT (1994-1995); the Tarryall/Kenosha Mountains, CO (1997-2000); the Hays Canyon …

The Constitution Of Queer Identity In The 1972 Apa Panel, "Psychiatry: Friend Or Foe To Homosexuals? A Dialogue", Dustin Vern Edward Schneider

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis offers a rhetorical criticism of two speeches delivered from a 1972 panel at the American Psychiatric Association (APA): Franklin Kameny’s “Gay, Proud and Healthy” and John Fryer’s “I am a Homosexual.” Both speeches seek to challenge heteronormative constructions of homosexuality through the construction of a positive homosexual identity. Kameny’s speech uses an extensive set of metaphors to deconstruct the sickness theory of homosexual, challenge the role psychiatrists should play in society, re-conceptualize sexuality, and empower homosexual identity. Fryer’s speech enacts a constitutive rhetoric through the use of consciousness raising strategies and a collective coming out narrative which creates …