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Examining The Appropriate Recovery Interval Following Maximal Exertion For Baseline Computerized Neurocognitive Testing (Cnt), Samantha Mohler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Computerized neurocognitive testing is part of the recommended multi-faceted approach to SRC assessment. Prior research has suggested that maximal exertion negatively effects CNT test scores. Purpose: To identify the appropriate timing of the administration of CNT following maximal exertion in healthy college-aged students. Study Design: Random cross-over, repeated measures design. Methods: Participants will be administered CNT on four different visits, with at least one week between administrations. A VO2 max treadmill test will be performed before CNT administration during three of the four trials. Following the VO2 max test, participants will rest for <2 minutes (immediate), 10-minutes, or 20-minutes before taking CNT. The fourth trial, without maximal exertion preceding CNT administration, will serve as the control. All trials will be randomly-counterbalanced to negate practice effects. RESULTS: There was a significant within-subjects effect for prescribed post-exertion recovery intervals on total symptom scores (Wilks λ = .62, F [3, 23] = 4.64, p = .01, η2= .38). Total symptom scores were significantly higher at the immediate (p < .002), 10-minutes (p = .018), and 20-minutes (p = .011) post-exertion recovery intervals compared to baseline. Additionally, a significantly positive within-subjects effect for prescribed post exertion recovery was observed for processing speed (p=.009, Wilks λ = .60, F [3, 27] = 5.9, η2 = .396). No significant effect was observed for visual memory (p = .07), verbal memory (p = .06), or reaction time (p = .40). CONCLUSION: Baseline symptom scores were negatively influenced processing speed was enhanced by maximal exertion. These changes continue to be elevated 20 minutes post-exertion. Moreover, cognitive performance was not significantly impaired following maximal exercise. To obtain more accurate baseline symptom scores, and allow processing speed composites to return to normal, sports medicine professionals should wait at least 20 minutes following maximal exertion before administering CNT.

Experimental And Model-Based Terahertz Imaging And Spectroscopy For Mice, Human, And Phantom Breast Cancer Tissues, Tyler Bowman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this work is to investigate terahertz technology for assessing the surgical margins of breast tumors through electromagnetic modeling and terahertz experiments. The measurements were conducted using a pulsed terahertz system that provides time and frequency domain signals. Three types of breast tissues were investigated in this work. The first was formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from human infiltrating ductal and lobular carcinomas. The second was human tumors excised within 24-hours of lumpectomy or mastectomy surgeries. The third was xenograft and transgenic mice breast cancer tumors grown in a controlled laboratory environment to achieve more data for statistical analysis.

Experimental …

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Spirituality And Coping Responses Among Women With A Visual Impairment, Sandra Marie Bullins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine coping responses, specifically by women, and the relationship between those coping responses and a woman’s self-reported spirituality. The sample was comprised of women (n = 175) from the United States and 10 foreign countries. The results of a correlational analysis showed a strong positive relationship (r= 0.46, p<0.0001) between scores on the Spirituality Assessment Scale (SAS) and the Brief Cope (BC). There were also statistically significant correlations among subscales of the SAS and BC subscales. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed to evaluate the impact that select demographic variables might have on spirituality and coping responses. The results of the MANOVA showed no effect and were not statistically significant at alpha 0.1.

Development Of Microdialysis Probes In Series Approach Toward Eliminating Microdialysis Sampling Calibration: Miniaturization Into A Pdms Microfluidic Device, Randy Espinal Cabrera

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A new microdialysis sampling method and microfluidic device were developed in vitro. The method consisted of using up to four microdialysis sampling probes connected in series to evaluate the relative recovery (RR) of different model solutes methyl orange, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran average mol. wt. 4,000 (FITC-4), FITC-10, FITC-20, and FITC-40. Different flow rates (0.8, 1.0, and 1.5 µL/min) were used to compare experimentally observed relative recoveries with theoretical estimations. With increasing the number of probes in series, the relative recovery increases and ~100% (99.7% ± 0.9%) relative recovery for methyl orange was obtained. For larger molecules such as fluorescein isothiocyanate …

In Vivo Structure-Function Analysis Of Drosophila Robo1, An Axon Guidance Receptor Critical For Midline Repulsive Signaling In The Embryonic Central Nervous System, Haley Brown

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The repellant ligand Slit and its Roundabout (Robo) family receptors regulate many aspects of axon guidance in bilaterians, including midline crossing of axons during development of the embryonic CNS. Slit proteins are produced by midline cells and signal through Robo receptors expressed on the surface of axonal growth cones to repel axons from the midline. Disruption of Slit-Robo signaling causes ectopic midline crossing phenotypes in the CNS of a broad range of animals, including insects and vertebrates.

Drosophila Robo1 has a conserved ectodomain structure of five immunoglobulin-like (Ig) domains plus three fibronectin (FN) repeats. By utilizing a genomic rescue construct …

Best Practice: Bringing The Elements Of Effective Practice To The College Writing Classroom, Jonathan Montgomery Green

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies of college writing students suggest that many students associate writing ability with innate talent rather than sustained, deliberate practice. As a result, these students may lack the motivation to improve their writing abilities, leading to a vicious cycle in which they come to increasingly resent writing as a curricular and extracurricular activity. This dissertation argues that the elements of effective practice as outlined by cognitive psychology are equally applicable to writing as they are to skills such as music and that convincing students of the “practice-ability” of writing may improve their motivation to improve their writing abilities.

The dissertation …

We're All Girls Here, Suzanne Danielle Monroe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is a collection of short stories.

Low Latency Intrusion Detection In Smart Grids, Israel Zairi Akingeneye

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The transformation of traditional power grids into smart grids has seen more new technologies such as communication networks and smart meters (sensors) being integrated into the physical infrastructure of the power grids. However, these technologies pose new vulnerabilities to the cybersecurity of power grids as malicious attacks can be launched by adversaries to attack the smart meters and modify the measurement data collected by these meters. If not timely detected and removed, these attacks may lead to inaccurate system state estimation, which is critical to the system operators for control decisions such as economic dispatch and other related functions.

This …

The Effects Of Crystal Bridges In Downtown Revitalization Of Bentonville, Arkansas In The Last Decade, Korab Vranovci

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bentonville started the process of downtown revitalization in 2007 after they passed a bond measure. However, research on the impacts of the revitalization and the factors associated with it is limited or focused for the private sector. This study identified Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art as a catalyst for the process of downtown revitalization and aimed to fill the gap in urban development and economic opportunities that arose due to the museum.

Using the “Monitoring annual urban changes in a rapidly growing portion of Northwest Arkansas with a 20-year Landsat records” (Reynolds, Liang, Li, & Dennis, 2017) it is …

Applications Of Reservoir Limnology Theory And Steady-State Modeling To Eutrophication Management In Beaver Lake, Arkansas, Matthew Rich

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reservoir limnology theory predicts that phytoplankton biomass (PB) is greatest in riverine-transition zones and least in lacustrine zones leading to an inverse pattern in water clarity. These theoretical patterns were utilized to create a statistical model of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), an indicator of PB, and Secchi transparency (ST), an indicator of Chl-a, in Beaver Lake, Arkansas, a 12,800-ha reservoir, in order to hindcast historical conditions. Sampling for Chl-a, ST, and photic depth occurred semimonthly at 12 locations along a 78-km transect from the river inflow to the dam during the 2015 growing season. The ratio of Chl-a and ST measured at …

Survey Of Hydration Knowledge And Behavior In Youth Mountain Bike Teams, Natasha Brand

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many youth sports organizations recognize the importance of educating on hydration practices and awareness, although according to recent research current hydration education is not correlating to effective practices. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess and describe the hydration knowledge and behavior of student-athletes participating in competitive junior high and high school mountain bike teams, in order to substantiate further research. METHODS: A total of 133 male and female participants, ranging from 11-18 years were surveyed on their hydration knowledge and behavior. All participants were apparently healthy and were active members of a National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) …

A Streetcar Named Kanye West, Frisco Edwards

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This abstract is brought to you by Pogodyne Incorporated, whom you may remember from other narrative disasters such as: Finding Pynchon and that one about Marcella Hamilton with that guy. In this one, Kanye West and his partner Dog the Bounty Hunter find themselves involved in another zany mystery, filled with slapsticks and low-wits. In this powerhouse action adventure, buddy-cop-bonanza, there is no respite from hilarity and political intrigue. With cameos aplenty, a trolley chase, and one very live-wire prop comedian, this thing has got it all, friends. You didn’t ask for it is, but here it is, in all …

Asynchronous Circuit Stacking For Simplified Power Management, Andrew Lloyd Suchanek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As digital integrated circuits (ICs) continue to increase in complexity, new challenges arise for designers. Complex ICs are often designed by incorporating multiple power domains therefore requiring multiple voltage converters to produce the corresponding supply voltages. These converters not only take substantial on-chip layout area and/or off-chip space, but also aggregate the power loss during the voltage conversions that must occur fast enough to maintain the necessary power supplies. This dissertation work presents an asynchronous Multi-Threshold NULL Convention Logic (MTNCL) “stacked” circuit architecture that alleviates this problem by reducing the number of voltage converters needed to supply the voltage the …

Self-Assembled Barium Titanate Nanoscale Films By Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Timothy Allen Morgan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One challenge of investigating ferroelectrics at the nanoscale has been controlling the stoichiometry during growth. Historically, the growth of barium titanate (BaTiO3) by molecular beam epitaxy has relied on a growth technique called shuttered RHEED. Shuttered RHEED controls the stoichiometry of barium titanate through the precise deposition of alternating layers of BaO and TiO2. While this approach has achieved 1% control of stoichiometry, finding self-limiting mechanisms to lock-in stoichiometry has been the focus of the growth community. The Goldschmidt tolerance factor predicts an unstable perovskite when barium sits in the titanium lattice site. The BaO-TiO2 phase diagram predicts a low-solubility …

Geography Of The Middle East Through The Western Lens: A Survey Of Films Set In The Middle East And Filmed In The American Southwest, Jake Bryan Rowlett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Representation of cinematic geography is a struggle in the world of film: a power balance between the work of the filmmakers and the place itself. Often, the filmmakers tip the scales in their favor and the true nature of the place is lost in translation. Throughout the history of cinema, the geography of the Middle East has been manipulated into a vision designed for Western audiences that is strikingly disjointed from reality.

The foundation of modern Orientalist interpretations of the Middle East in film can be seen in the early decades of the film industry, through the “Biblical Epic,” and …

Defending Wild Dogs: Population Dynamics And Disease In Endangered African Wild Dogs, Elizabeth Claire Arredondo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are endangered carnivores whose population is decreasing from habitat loss and fragmentation, interspecific competition, and disease. Survival rates are especially low in Kruger National Park (KNP), though it is unclear why. I estimated the abundance in KNP and survival rates over different time spans, six years and nine months, using public photographic survey data. In 2015, there were 298 (SE=12.1) individuals. Using a mark-recapture analysis in program R, I found that the survival rate between 2009-2015 was only 3.2%, and within the 9-month survey period (September 2014 – June 2015), monthly survival rates for the …

Combining Translational And Functional Genomic Approaches To Augment Management Strategies Of Plant Parasitic Nematodes, Sandeep Sharma Khatiwada

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Plant-parasitic nematodes pose a major threat to crop yield worldwide. Discontinued use of harmful chemicals has prompted the search for alternative management strategies that are effective yet environmentally friendly. Harpin proteins, which are derived from bacteria, and nematophagous fungi, natural predators of nematodes, are ideal for biological control of plant-parasitic nematodes. However, research on the efficacy of harpin proteins on nematodes, and biology of nematophagous fungi is minimal. Previously, a taxonomically uncharacterized nematophagous fungus designated ARF18 effectively suppressed nematode populations in soil. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to utilize applied and functional genomic approaches to augment management of …

Involvement Of The Ino80 Complex In Chromosome Segregation, Jesus Moreno

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chromatin remodeling complexes are multi-protein complexes that regulate the dynamics of the nucleosomes in the genome. The INO80 chromatin remodeling complex participates in varied biological processes such as: transcription, DNA repair, DNA replication and chromosome integrity. It catalyzes the eviction of the H2A.Z variant histone as well as whole nucleosome eviction. This complex is comprised of 15 subunits and the contribution of each to chromosome segregations remains unknown. To evaluate the contribution of each subunit to chromosome segregation, we tested deletion mutants of the non-essential subunits for DNA content and benomyl sensitivity. Also, we assessed members of the SWR1 and …

Social Organization And Environmental Patterning At Tel Abu Shusha: An Integrated Spatial Approach To Survey Archaeology, Seth Price

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tel Abu Shusha, located in the Jezreel Valley of Palestine, is a large-scale archaeological site possibly identified as the cities of Biblical Gaba or Roman Gaba Hippaeon/Gaba Philippi. Surface archaeological survey of the surrounding area, conducted by the Jezreel Valley Regional Project during 2017, revealed extensive assemblages of visible settlement features dating primarily to middle and late Islamic periods. This research seeks to answer questions of settlement decision-making and societal organization, by integrating archaeological, textual, environmental, and geospatial data sources. In addition to visual interpretation, Kolmogorov-Smirnov nonparametric tests are used to gain insight on environmental settlement preferences; Ripley’s K analysis …

Predicting The Impact Of Resource Delays On A Construction Project’S Critical Path Using Monte Carlo Simulation, Colby Weishaar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The construction industry is a complex and evolving industry, making the project manager’s job of planning, organizing, and making decisions a difficult one. One of the most difficult decisions throughout a project is determining what resources are needed to complete a task by the deadline. Uncertainties cause risks within the schedule often creating delays for which the project manager must develop a mitigation plan once risks are identified. After conducting a review of the literature, no research was found examining the use of an analytical model to estimate the delays caused within the resource allocation process. If an analytical model …

Phylogeny And Evolutionary Genomics Of Non-Photosynthetic Diatoms, Anastasiia Onyshchenko

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diatoms are prolific photosynthesizers responsible for some 20% of global primary production. In real terms, the oxygen in one of every five breaths traces back to photosynthesis by marine diatoms. Among the tens of thousands of diatom species, a small handful of colorless diatom species in the genus Nitzschia have lost photosynthesis altogether and rely exclusively on extracellular organic carbon for growth. I used DNA sequence data to reconstruct the phylogeny of this group, and found that nonphotosynthetic diatoms are monophyletic, indicating that photosynthesis was lost just one time over the course of some 200 million years of diatom evolution. …

Sacral Morphology Of Prehensile-Tailed Primates In Relation To Biomechanical Loading, Hannah Grace Showalter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The few available comparative studies of prehensile tail anatomy in primates have established that several features of the caudal vertebrae are associated with adaptation to the increased loading of the tail during prehension. Given that the caudal vertebrae are anchored to the sacrum, it stands to reason that sacral morphology should also covary with tail prehensility. Convergent evolution of prehension in ateline and cebine primates and clear variation in the use of tails among taxa raises questions not only of how sacral morphology differs between prehensile and non-prehensile taxa, but whether different prehensile-tailed taxa evolved the same solutions to the …

Optimal Allocation Of Resources In Reliability Growth, Mohammadhossein Heydari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reliability growth testing seeks to identify and remove failure modes in order to improve system reliability. This dissertation centers around the resource allocation across the components of a multi-component system to maximize system reliability. We summarize this dissertation’s contributions to optimal resource allocation in reliability growth.

Chapter 2 seeks to deploy limited testing resources across the components of a series-parallel system in effort to maximize system reliability under the assumption that each component’s reliability exhibits growth according to an AMSAA model with known parameters. An optimization model for this problem is developed and then extended to consider the allocation of …

A Multi-Objective Affinity-Based Savings Algorithm For Improving Processes In Centralized Warehousing Operations, Mckenlee M. Coco

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditional approaches to improving material management processes in warehousing operations tend to focus on one of three major areas: facility design, order picking and sorting, and order batching. In an effort to improve total system savings, a new affinity function is developed and applied to batching logic to create a multi-objective problem. The proposed multi-objective function incorporates user input to increase adaptability to changing demand and flexibility to changing requirements. Computational experience shows the new function leads to solutions that deviate no more than 25% from the most efficient distance based picking route by the same batching logic, while creating …

A Comparison Of Craniofacial Asymmetry In Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla And Pan Troglodytes Troglodytes, Ashly Noel Romero

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) – random deviations from bilateral symmetry in an organism’s paired features – is a good candidate for investigating developmental stability. This easily accessible measurement can be used to understand the relationship between stress and development across organisms, and growth rate plays a vital role in developmental processes. Few studies have investigated craniofacial FA in non-human primates, and those that have suggest that levels of FA are higher in slower growing species. This study examines craniofacial FA in two primate species (Pan troglodytes troglodytes and Gorilla gorilla gorilla; n=81) to elucidate the effect of growth rate on FA …

Multiscale Investigation Of The Behavior Of Heart Valve Interstitial Cells In Response To Pathological Shape And Mechanical Stimulation, Ngoc Thien Lam

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our works aim to provide an insight into how aortic valve interstitial cells (VICs) respond to pathological shape and mechanical stimulation as well as the potential signaling pathway that mediates these responses, using a multiscale approach. A single cell model was developed to investigate the effect of altered shape on valve cell function as valve cells were reported to significantly deform during the cardiac cycle. Single VICs were controlled to take on features with different width-to-length aspect ratios that corresponded to the steady-state shapes adopted by VICs when stretched to 0%, 10% and 20%, respectively. It appeared that single VIC …

Rapid And Sensitive Detection Of Escherichia Coli O157:H7 Using A Qcm Sensor Based On Aptamers Selected By Whole-Bacterium Selex And A Multivalent Aptamer System, Xiaofan Yu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is one of the top five pathogens contributing to foodborne diseases, causing an estimated 2,138 cases of hospitalization in the US each year. The extremely low infectious dose demands for more rapid and sensitive methods to detect E. coli O157:H7. The objective of this study is to select aptamers specifically binding to E. coli O157:H7 using whole-bacterium SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment) and to create a multivalent aptamer system by rolling circle amplification (RCA) with the selected aptamer sequence for sensitive detection of E. coli O157:H7 using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor. Briefly, …

Perceived Maternal Invalidation And Drinking Behavior: The Role Of Action Control, Elise Ann Warner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use disorder is one of the most prevalent disorders worldwide. As such, researchers have examined factors contributing to alcohol use. Perception of emotional experiences in childhood as invalidating by parents is one factor that has been found to predict later alcohol use, though less is known about maternal invalidation specifically. Parental invalidation has also been found to predict difficulty regulating affective states (i.e., negative and positive affect), which is also a determinant of alcohol use. Further, researchers have studied temptation to drink and restraint from drinking as related to alcohol use to better understand drinking behavior. Though there appears …

Palestinian Labor In West Bank Settlements, Ethan Morton-Jerome

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the late 1970s, Palestinians have worked in West Bank settlements, with approximately 30,000 to 40,000 Palestinians currently employed in construction, factories in industrial zones, and plantations. My analysis of Palestinian labor on the settlements begins with the historical, political, legal, and economic context of Palestinian labor in three jurisdictions: in Israel, on the settlements in the West Bank, and in PA-controlled Area A. Fundamental to the analysis is to go beyond the restrictions of nationalist discourse to recognize both intranational tensions and that labor exploitation occurs in all jurisdictions. My fieldwork and analysis were conducted over three years (2013-2016) …

An Impact Evaluation Of The Government Grant Programs And Input Efficiency Use In The Production Of Greenhouse Tomatoes And Peppers In Kosovo, Blend Frangu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Determinants of greenhouse tomato and pepper production input efficiency affect a farmer’s decision to contribute to the vegetable sector in Kosovo. This research investigates the non-optimal use of inputs in the production of greenhouse tomatoes and peppers. Two studies were conducted to first measure input efficiency use and then to quantify the impact of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD) grant programs in the production of both crops. The first study applied data envelopment analysis (DEA), and linear and logistic regression to assess factors that influence efficiency in production. The second study used propensity score matching with …