Digital Commons Network^™

Securing Food And Livelihoods: Opportunities And Constraints To Sustainably Enhancing Household Food Production In Santa Familia Village, Belize, Siobhan B. Lozada

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Rural households play an active role in reorganizing their livelihood strategies to respond to external stresses and shocks. What is unclear is the extent to which rural households can remain resilient in the face of continued external stresses and how policy actions at larger scales can more effectively encourage rural food and livelihood sustainability. Economic and ecological stresses and shocks have negatively impacted livelihood security and wider economic stability in Belize. This has increased the number of people below the poverty line to 41.3 percent, who remain disproportionately located in rural areas. With a high degree of import dependency, global …

Neuroplasticity, Dosage, And Repetition Priming Effects In Individuals With Stroke-Induced Aphasia, Jenna Ray Griffin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Intensity significantly impacts aphasia treatment efficacy, yet research protocols have not answered questions about optimal intensity and/or dosage. A single-subject ABA design investigated the influence of repetition priming on naming performance for four individuals with stroke-induced aphasia. The participants completed an intensive training protocol with repeated attempts to name pictures. Independent variables included training status and stimulus dosage. The dependent variable was response accuracy. Response accuracy increased for all participants during the training phase, and training effects persisted through the maintenance phase for all participants. Stimulus dosage did not consistently influence response accuracy for the participants.

An Assessment Of The Health Needs Of The Transgender Community In Montana, Anna Grace Von Gohren

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The transgender community has been identified as a group at high risk for HIV transmission and increased possibility for poor quality of life. This paper represents the results of a qualitative research study using interviews and Photovoice as methodologies to explore the contextual factors that define and shape the lives of people in Montana who identify as transgender, and specifically to explore factors that influence their risk of infection with HIV/AIDS. Ten major themes emerged from the interviews as well as the discussions surrounding the photographs. Sense of self was identified as a core category related to the overall health …

Just Leftovers, Sarah Elizabeth Tancred

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Just Leftovers is intended to offer an understanding of the woman’s role within the domestic realm and its evolution over time in American society. My ultimate goal is to create an awareness of women’s inequality historically, but also to expose the inequality, biases, and double standards that continue to exist in our contemporary society. I choose to create this awareness through visual art with the manipulation of recognizable objects that the general public, stereotypically speaking, would associate with femininity and domesticity. I am fascinated by how these “feminine” objects and their historical content [e.g. bread pan] have been socially constructed …

Use And Effectiveness Of Wildlife Crossing Structures With Short Sections Of Wildlife Fencing, Elizabeth Rose Fairbank

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Our growing transportation infrastructure in the United States has many direct and indirect impacts to wildlife populations. Humans are also impacted by the interaction of roads and wildlife in terms of wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC’s); which annually result in: hundreds of human fatalities, tens of thousands of human injuries, and billions of dollars in property damage. In response to concerns for wildlife and human safety, road mitigation measures are becoming an increasingly important tool for transportation agencies to minimize the risks of WVC’s. The construction of multiple wildlife crossing structures in combination with wildlife fencing have been shown to reduce WVC’s …

Assessing Ecological Condition Of Large Landscapes With Limited Human Impacts, William James Kleindl

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Our ability to measure global climate change has generated dire predictions in global ecosystem conditions. These predictions have inspired efforts to develop assessment metrics that examine alterations in ecological condition resulting from climate dynamics. As climate change drives future watershed- or regional-scale assessment model development, many questions will need to be addressed concerning potential tool constraints. Chief among these will be: to what degree is ecosystem condition affected by anthropogenic disturbance, climate-driven disturbance or natural variability, both individually and in combination? As a first step toward assessing impacts on ecological condition resulting from climate driven spatial or temporal disturbance gradients, …

The Effect Of Fluoxetine On Self-Control In Betta Splendens, Kathryn Gwen Lamp

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The present study examined the effect of fluoxetine on self-control in Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens). The subjects included 17 male Betta splendens that were exposed to varying levels of fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor that increases levels of serotonin, and instrumental choice trials were run. A subject began each trial in the start box and, when a guillotine divider door was lifted, entered one side of a divided goal box. The checkerboard side of the choice door represented either the smaller-sooner choice (SS) or the larger-later choice (LL). When the subject had entered one side of the goal …

Sea Blue Sea: The Creation And Performance Of Educational Children's Music, Kevin Cashman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The making of Sea Blue Sea began in August, 2013 with the creation of the album’s first song ‘Blue Whale’ and was completed in March, 2014. The project’s scope was broad, including a ten-track album about endangered marine wildlife. I researched endangered marine wildlife, including eleven endangered marine species were chosen as subjects for songs, I began the writing process. I wrote six songs with minimal outside assistance and collaborated with The Whizpops for the remainder of the ten tracks included on the album. We fundraised through a Kickstarter campaign. In order to do so, we created a short film …

A Different Kind Of Vision: The Critique Of Consumerism In Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood, Nicholas L. Eilts

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the tradition of Jon Lance Bacon and Steve Pinkerton, this work endeavors to show how Flannery O’Connor, along with her secular humanist contemporaries, voices a critique of modern American culture that depicts the conflicting elements of consumerism as detrimental to an individual’s personal and social well-being. This study will focus on Wise Blood, in particular, as it represents a consumerist way of life as antithetical to a religious way of life. By illustrating the emptiness of materialism and the nihilism of consumerism, O’Connor hopes to persuade her readers that Christianity is a preferable alternative. The body of this study …

Teachers As Writers: Opening The Door To Dialogism, Eric Mark Lynn

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In an attempt to put better writing instruction into practice by learning from past mistakes, the author explores the potential benefits and perils that teachers who regularly write bring to their instruction and the promise and enactment of dialogical writing.

The Effect Of Health And Human Performance Department (Hhp) Activity Classes At The University Of Montana On Students’ Levels Of Mindfulness, Perceived Stress, Self-Compassion, And Attention, Anna Russell Zielaski

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examined the effect of University of Montana, Health and Human Performance (HHP) Department sponsored activity classes on college students’ levels of mindfulness, perceived stress, self-compassion, and attention. Participants: 96 college students enrolled in a spring 2013 activity class started the study, however only 41 completed the post-test survey. Methods: At the beginning and end of the semester, participants completed an online survey through SurveyMonkey, which assessed students’ levels of mindfulness, perceived stress, self-compassion and attention. Results: Students who participated in the mindfulness based activity class, Yoga and Meditation experienced the greatest increases in overall mindfulness levels over the …

Addressing The Challenges Of Monitoring A Rare And Elusive Seabird, Anne Louise Schaefer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Kittlitz’s murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) is a small alcid endemic to Alaska and eastern Russia. Due to its pelagic lifestyle, researchers lack information regarding environmental conditions experienced by Kittlitz’s murrelets throughout the year and how these conditions impact their physiology and vital rates. Further, unlike most seabirds, the Kittlitz’s murrelet is a dispersed nester; therefore, data are limited for this species even within the breeding season. The goal of this research was to evaluate and improve the monitoring methods for the Kittlitz’s murrelet throughout the year. I approached this goal from 2 different perspectives. First, I worked to clarify abundance …

Use Of Climatic Water Balance Metrics As Site Productivity Predictors, Matthew Dilsworth Perry

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Estimates of long-term forest site productivity are required to inform multiple forest management objectives including growth and yield assessments, silvicultural planning, and biomass/carbon projections. Estimates traditionally have been quantified in the form of site index by measuring the average height-age relationships of dominant and codominant trees or using regional site index equations. Site index implementation requires that trees are free from suppression and that height growth results from the integration of the biological determinants of growth. While useful in even-aged stands, early age height growth suppression is common in uneven-aged forest structures making existing site indices difficult to assess. Additionally, …

Women And Horses: Three Centuries Of Patriarchal Control In British And American Literature, Kaitlynn Hanna Hirst

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Both literary representations of horsewomen and critical responses to such characterizations have largely failed to expose the full complexity of the cultural constraints brought to bear on women’s interactions with horses. In this thesis therefore I will argue that in response to feminist activity to dispel stereotypes of any group of women, the long development of strong, capable representations of women on horseback spanning the nineteenth through the early twenty-first century prove to be little more than repetitive archetypal images which serve to reaffirm patriarchal controls in western culture. If only threaded together by the ways the literary figure of …

Juvenile Age Estimation Using Cranial Ratios, Rachel Lucille Fife

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Age estimation of juvenile crania can be accomplished with accuracy from dentition. In the absence of dentition there is not a sufficient substitute for reliably establishing age. I offer an alternative means of age estimation using cranial ratios, which are informative because of the differential growth rates of the orbits, facial bones, and cranial vault. I took 40 measurements from 76 crania and statistically analyzed ratio relationships among them to produce equations for age estimation. Accuracy of age estimation using cranial ratios increases with the number of measurements used. Ratios reduce the effect of size differences due to sex, but …

The Effects Of Estrogen In Atrazine-Mediated Foxp3 Induction And Inhibition Of Cd4+ T Effector Cells, Tiffany Emmons

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Atrazine (ATR) is a chlorotriazine herbicide that is heavily used in agricultural areas. Atrazine was banned in Europe in 2006 but it is still used in the United States. It is also the most common drinking water contaminant in the United States. Atrazine has been linked to adverse health effects and displays immunotoxicity. It is a potent phosphodiesterase inhibitor and has been shown to induce aromatase activity leading to elevated estrogen levels. Previous studies demonstrated that in vitro atrazine exposure inhibits CD4+ T cell activation and proliferation and increases the frequency of Foxp3+ CD4+ T cells with more severe phenotypes …

Interindividual Variability In The Cytochrome P450 3a4 Drug Metabolizing Enzyme: Effect Of The Cyp3a4*1g Genetic Variant, Kasse Jean Skagen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Researchers and clinicians are interested in how a patient’s individual genetic makeup could predict the appropriate medication and dose for that patient. One way to predict drug response, or efficacy, is by looking at enzymes within the liver that metabolize drugs. Many of these enzymes belong to a class called the Cytochrome P450s (CYPs). Specifically, two closely related enzymes, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5, are involved in metabolizing 50% of drugs currently on the market (eg: statins, antiepileptics, anticancer agents, and antidepressants). There can be differences in the genetic code of these enzymes that can causes changes in drug metabolism. We completed …

Restoration As Caring Practice: A Relational Perspective On Ecological Recovery, Daniel Avery Congdon

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ecological restoration is defined by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) as “the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed” (9). In practice, restoration typically involves the removal of pollution, human-made structures (like dams or roads), invasive species, and other impediments to ecological health. Removing the sources of ecological impairment is coupled with the reintroduction of flora, fauna, and the physical structures that are necessary for healthy ecosystem function. The potential for restoration to dominate nature is a concern of environmental ethicists. In theory, domination might stem from the technology used in …

Modeling Northern Goshawk (Accipiter Gentilis) Nesting Habitat On The Lewis And Clark National Forest Using Eigenvector Filters To Account For Spatial Autocorrelation, Morganne Marie Lehr

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Habitat suitability modeling has become a valuable tool for wildlife managers to identify areas of suitable habitats for management and conservation needs. The Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) has been the focus of many modeling efforts, however, the current models guiding goshawk management on the Lewis and Clark National Forest may not fully capture the unique habitat characteristics that the goshawk is actually selecting for nesting habitat. Therefore, the first objective of this study was to explore the use of Maxent for modeling suitable goshawk nesting habitat on the Lewis and Clark National Forest in central Montana. However, goshawk territoriality and …

An Adaptive Hybrid Method For Link Prediction In Multi-Modal Directed Complex Networks Using The Graph Traversal Pattern, William Lyon

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The paper examines the link prediction problem for directed multi-modal complex networks. Specically, a hybrid method combining collaborative filtering and Triadic Closeness methods is developed. The methods are applied to a sample of the GitHub network. Implementation details are discussed, with a focus on design of a scalable system for handilng large data sets. Finally, results of this new method are discussed with no significant improvement over current methods.

Developing Strategies To Initialize Landscape-Scale Vegetation Maps From Fia Data To Enhance Resolution Of Individual Species-Size Cohort Representation In The Landscape Disturbance Model, Simpplle, Jacob Muller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The ability of forest resource managers to understand and anticipate landscape-scale change in composition and structure relies upon an adequate characterization of the current forest composition and structure of various patches (or stands), along with the capacity of forest landscape models (FLMs) to predict patterns of growth, succession, and disturbance at multiple scales over time. Comprehensive vegetation maps, which classify patch polygons or raster cells into forest cover types, can be developed from available inventory data (e.g., FIA Grid) in combination with remotely sensed data, but a simple categorical forest type, even one incorporating average size, may not provide adequate …

Understanding Traditions And Practices Of Medicinal Plant Use In Carhuamayo, Junin, Peru, Anastasia Orkwiszewski

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding and preserving Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Practices (TEKP) are essential for the continued resilience and cultural diversity of humanity. TEKP faces a multitude of threats from habitat loss, growth of the market economy, globalization, and acculturation. Medicinal plant use in the high Andean town of Carhuamayo, Junín, was studied to assess the vibrancy of that particular branch of TEKP in that area, in what parts of the population it was held, and what factors influence its loss or growth. Gender, age, migrant status, and acculturation levels were not found to be statistically significant in predicting medicinal plant knowledge. Analysis …

The Comet Mine: An Engendered Study Of Victorian Consumption Practices And Material Culture On A Small Mining Landscape, Ryan E. Wendel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Comet mine is an early 20th-century, largely undocumented mining

community that existed along the periphery of the Coloma Mining District in the Garnet Range of western Montana. During the summer of 2010, archaeological excavations occurred at multiple features at the site. Through an analysis of cultural material found in deposits at the Comet, this study interprets the way in which patterns of refuse can reveal information about consumption behavior and evolving gender roles in mining communities in Montana, during late Victorian era.

Regulation Of Silica-Induced Pulmonary Inflammation, Rupa Biswas

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Inhalation of crystalline silica for an extended period of time results in inflammation in the lungs, which plays a pivotal role in the development of silicosis, a progressive, inflammatory and fibrotic pulmonary disease. Inhaled silica particles are encountered by alveolar macrophages (AM) in the lungs. Previous studies have indicated the role of scavenger receptors in binding of environmental particles and also demonstrated that AM recognize and bind silica particles through class A scavenger receptors (SRA) expressed on their surface. MARCO (Macrophage Receptor with Collagenous Structure) is a SRA family receptor and the predominant receptor for recognition and binding of silica …

Virtual Screening And Discovery Of Lead Compounds As Potential Dna Methyltransferase 1 Inhibitors And Anticancer Agents, Ogar Ofuka Ichire

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Epigenetic changes consist of DNA methylation, histone modification, micro RNA and genome imprinting. DNA methylation of the CpG islands is one of the main methods of epigenetic inactivation of genes and aberrant methylations at promoter regions of tumor suppressor genes can alter gene expression and play an important role in cancer development. DNA methyltransferase I (Dnmt1) is the enzyme responsible for maintaining methylation patterns during cell division and it is overexpressed in many cancers. Thus, Dnmt1 is a promising therapeutic target for development of novel anticancer agents and epigenetic modulators. We have developed two promising class of lead candidates, compounds …

A Study Of Hydroclimatic Dynamics In Mountain Landscapes, Nicholas Loren Silverman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The hydroclimatic regime of mountain landscapes in the Pacific Northwest, USA plays a large role in collecting, storing, and distributing water throughout the greater United States. The complexities of the landscape, vegetation, and anthropogenic impacts within this region form a dynamic web of interactions that create unique challenges when quantifying hydrologic variables. This dissertation focuses on these challenges and introduces a new way of deciphering the driving mechanism of streamflow trends. The first project examines the differences between modeling techniques in mountain terrain. In this project, we use a physically-based regional climate model to dynamically downscale global climate estimates for …

Characterization Of Nipah Virus Pathogenicity In Vitro And In Vivo And Protection From Disease Using A Single Dose Recombinant Vaccine, Blair Lynn Debuysscher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Nipah virus is a zoonotic pathogen that infects a wide species range including humans. It was first discovered in Malaysia in 1998 during a large outbreak, but since has spread to Bangladesh and India causing almost yearly outbreaks in the region since 2001. The distinct geographic locations have led to two genetically varied strains. Infection of humans by Nipah virus leads to respiratory distress and acute encephalitis. Pathology caused by the virus is characterized by vasculitis, necrosis, and edema of small vessels of the lung and brain primarily. This work investigates differences of pathology and clinical signs in the hamster …

P115-Snare Interactions Reveal A New Model Of Function For The Tethering Factor P115, Ting Wang

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The endomembrane system consists of several connected yet distinct compartments, constantly exchanging material via the flow of membrane-enclosed vesicles. Protein transport between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the Golgi is one of the most fundamental trafficking pathways in eukaryotic cells, as well as the first step in the secretory pathway. The fusion between vesicles and target membranes requires the orchestration of tethers, Rabs, SM proteins and SNAREs. Tethering factors regulate the targeting of membrane-enclosed vesicles and enhance the efficiency as well as specificity of membrane fusion. P115, a Golgin family tether, has been shown to participate in multiple stages of …

The Effects Of Parturition On Pelvic Age Indicators, Rosanne Bongiovanni

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Estimating age from skeletal remains provides a critical component of the biological profile of an individual. To date, there are different methods used on select parts of the skeleton to assess the age of the individual, and currently, the pelvis is relied upon heavily to obtain accurate and reliable age ranges (Berg 2008; Brooks and Suchey 1990; Buckberry and Chamberlain 2002). Many have stated that age related changes follow different trends in males and females, with parity presented as one of the possible causes for such differences (Berg 2008; Meindl and Lovejoy 1989; Resnick and Niwayama 1998; Suchey and Katz …

Effects Of Individual-Oriented Relationship Education On University Students' Knowledge, Beliefs, And Attitudes, Sara Polanchek

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This quasi-experimental, exploratory study adds important empirical research to the relatively new field of individual-oriented relationship education. It describes the extent to which specific relationship beliefs and attitudes are held, and evaluates the impact of an undergraduate, semester-long Intimate and Family Relationships course on these beliefs. Utilizing data collected over two semesters at the University of Montana, this study compared 356 student responses at the beginning and end of the semester on three separate scales designed to quantify select measures of specific constraint beliefs and attitudes: Attitudes About Romance and Mate Selection (AARMS), the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), and the …