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Assessing Methods For Determining Reference Conditions For Riparian Restoration In Santa Clara County, Claire Mallen

Master's Theses

Valley Water is the primary water wholesaler and flood control agency in Santa Clara County, providing services to 1.9 million residents. The operation and maintenance of infrastructure for water supply and flood control often require work within legally protected natural resources such as riparian ecosystems. Riparian ecosystems are dynamic and diverse ecosystems that provide our society with valuable services such as wildlife habitat, water quality, and recreation. However, the threat of human development on native ecosystems has led to the degradation and loss of 85-98% of riparian ecosystems nationwide. Today, federal, state, and regional laws mitigate further impacts to riparian …

Bobcats Within A Mosaic Of Housing Densities In Connecticut, Kristen Beattie

Master's Theses

Understanding a species’ ability to adapt and persist in a human-dominated landscape is important as urban development continues to spread, resulting in wildlife living in close proximity to people. Mesocarnivores are using urban landscapes, yet differences in habitat selection across a species’ range and among urban areas are beginning to emerge. Bobcats are a strict mesocarnivore species that is considered sensitive to fragmentation and intolerant of human activity yet is now living within densely populated areas in some regions. An important first step in understanding bobcat habitat use throughout a range of housing densities is understanding how the effectiveness of …

Nf-Κb Subunits P50 And Rela Contribute To Oncogenesis In A Mouse Model Of St-Epn, Ericka J. Randazzo

Master's Theses

The NF- κB pathway has been demonstrated to be upregulated in supratentorial ependymoma (ST-EPN). Whether the different NF- κB transcription factors contribute to ST-EPN tumorigenesis however, has not been investigated. We assessed the degree to which NF- κB subunits p50 and RelA interact with the ST-EPN fusion mutation C11orf95-RELA in regulating gene expression via colocalization analysis in Hek293T cell nuclei. We analyzed the functional outcomes of overexpression of p50 or RelA, or CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockdown of p50, in combination with the C11orf95-RELA fusion in vivo by examination of tumor area in P14 – 21 CD1 mice. We further analyzed the …

Mirroring Antagonistic And Mutualistic Interactions Give Rise To Shifts In Network Architecture Among Hummingbirds, Phoretic Mites, And Tropical Flowers, Laura Bizzarri

Master's Theses

Interaction networks among plants and animals are important determinants of the stability of ecological communities. Historically, researchers have considered interaction networks in isolation, and characterized the structures of the interactions within such networks, and how these structures can affect community stability. Such studies have identified unique structures attributable to different interactions, such as mutualisms (e.g. pollination) and antagonisms (e.g. herbivory). My thesis explores a tropical system in which all interacting guilds are directly connected. Mutualistic hummingbird-plant pollination networks are connected to antagonistic nectar robbing mite-plant networks, via phoresy. Because phoretic mites must hitchhike on hummingbirds to colonize flowers, we aim …

The Harms Of Willful Ignorance: Maternal Healthcare Providers’ Insight On Racial Disparities, Cara Marisa Cancelmo

Master's Theses

Black women in the United States die in pregnancy and childbirth at alarmingly high rates. According to The Center for Disease Control, black women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. The black-white racial disparity is even greater in New York City, and The NYC Department of Health has found that black mothers in NYC still face higher rates of harm even when accounting for risk factors like educational attainment, obesity, and neighborhood poverty level. Drawing on 18 interviews with NYC-based Obstetricians, Labor and Delivery Nurses, and Midwives, this study examines how …

Genome-Wide Rnai Screen Of Kinase Pathways Regulating Rrt-1 Constitutive Cytoprotective Gene Expression, Jacob Bowie

Master's Theses

Environmental stress disrupts cellular homeostasis leading to proteostasis disruptions which must be correct by rapid reprogramming of transcription and translation mediated by the translation machinery of which tRNA and aminoacyl tRNA synthetases are particularly important. Our aim in this study was to conduct a genome-wide RNAi kinase screen of a long-lived and stress-resistant rrt-1(gc47) (MC240) C. elegans mutant that constitutively, under naïve conditions, expresses a GFP reporter for gpdh-1, which is required for survival during hypertonic stress, but not expressed under naïve, non-stress conditions. Our approach was to administer RNAi by feeding, and we used 382 RNAi clones, including genome-wide …

Altered Gene Expression In Circulating Immune Cells Following A 24-Hour Passive Dehydration, Aidan Fiol

Master's Theses

Dehydration has many deleterious effects ranging from impaired cognitive function to decreased aerobic performance. This study evaluated the effects of a mild, passive dehydration on the transcriptional responses of circulating immune cells. We pursued research questions about how whole-body dehydration and small changes in plasma osmolality may affect the greater concept of immune resiliency or susceptibility to infection through acute gene expression changes that may persist during chronic stress. Our approach was to precisely quantify hypertonicity experienced by circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells and neutrophils and quantify transcriptomic changes in cell lysates using RNAseq. RNAseq revealed 373 total genes changing …

Household Food Security Status, Dietary Patterns And Diabetes Risk (Hemoglobin A1c) Among Cambodian Refugees With Depression, Shanjida Jui

Master's Theses

Background

Cambodian refugees who experienced famine and trauma from the Khmer Rouge genocide are disproportionately at high risk of type 2 diabetes. This risk is exacerbated when this vulnerable population experiences a high prevalence of food insecurity upon resettlement in the U.S. As a result, refugee dietary intake and nutrition uniquely contribute to the rise of often long-term health consequences and pose an unexpected burden on the U.S. healthcare system.

Objectives

(1) To describe household food security status of Cambodians refugees (2) To examine the association between food security status and socioeconomic status (SES) of Cambodian refugees; (3) To describe …

Piggybac Transposon-Based Lineage Tracing To Reveal Ependymogenesis, Tasnuva Nuhat Shafin

Master's Theses

The lateral walls of the lateral ventricle of the brain are home to one of the two main neurogenic niches of the postnatal and adult mammalian brain, the ventricular-subventricular zone (V-SVZ). During late embryonic development (E14 to E16 in mouse brain), a subpopulation of radial glial cells from the neuroepithelial lining of lateral ventricle wall starts ependymogenesis to establish an ependymal cell lining of the ventricular system. Ependymal cell maturation and ciliogenesis continues after birth and the remaining radial glia, designated neural stem cells after birth, are established within the ependymal lining by retention of a thin apical process. The …

Convergence And Historical Contingency In The Evolution Of Lingual Prey Capture Systems In Lizards, Amanda E. Hewes

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Mir-433-3p Negatively Regulates Bone Formation And Targets Critical For Osteoblast Function, John Garcia

Master's Theses

Osteoblastic differentiation is tightly controlled by multiple signaling pathways associated with key transcription factors, as well as a number of microRNAs (miRNAs). miRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that function in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. While clinical strategies to combat the reduction in bone density have often centered on impeding further bone resorption, this strategy neglects to promote bone formation, a component which is particularly problematic in the aging population. miRNAs could serve to bridge that gap, as potential therapeutic candidates. Several studies have established that miRNAs can direct osteoprogenitors towards an osteoblastic lineage through modulation of Wnt, MAPK, …

Pre-Surgery Leptin Level And Weight Loss In Female Bariatric Surgery Patients, Miriam Katz

Master's Theses

Background: Improving weight loss after bariatric surgery remains a clinical concern. An unstudied factor is the role of leptin, the appetite control hormone, as a pre-surgical predictor of weight loss. High serum levels, often seen in obesity, are an indicator of leptin resistance as the brain no longer responds to satiety signaling.

Methods: Leptin levels were ascertained in female bariatric patients (n=28) prior to surgery at a large tertiary care hospital. We calculated Pearson Correlation Coefficients (r) and unstandardized β coefficients using multivariate linear regression. Primary outcome: Percent Excess Weight Loss (%EWL) evaluated at 6- and 12-months post-surgery. …

Exposure To Disability-Related Content And Attitudes Toward Persons With Disabilities Within The Uconn Mph Program: An Exploratory Study, Holly Labrecque

Master's Theses

Background: The purposes of this study include gathering a baseline assessment of 1) the extent to which UConn MPH students describe their exposure to disability content within the curriculum, and 2) how students describe their experiences encountering persons with disabilities (PWD).

Methods: A survey was completed by 36 current UConn MPH students and alumni.

Results: When asked how often disability was integrated into curriculum and class discussion, a majority of participants (n= 28) answered sometimes, rarely, or never, (77.8%), (88.9%). All students who reported having classes with students from other disciplines reported that it was valuable. Eighty-six percent indicated …

The Effects Of Agricultural Management On Wetland Birds, Theresa Wisneskie

Master's Theses

With the rapid growth of the human population, there is a need to balance biodiversity conservation with achieving food security. Increasing agricultural inputs has greatly augmented food production on smaller areas of land, but generally has negative effects on biodiversity. As natural wetlands decline worldwide, birds are increasingly using flooded agricultural land. The objectives of this thesis are (1) to determine what affects the use of flooded agriculture by waterbirds and (2) to determine what has been studied about the effects of agricultural intensification on wetland birds.

I examined the factors affecting the use of flooded agriculture by waterbirds by …

Clinical Assessment Of Repetitive And Restricted Behaviors In Toddlers On The Autism Spectrum, Katelynn Porto

Master's Theses

Repetitive and restricted behaviors (RRBs) are core symptoms of ASD and often emerge in the first year of life. It is important to understand how best to integrate diagnostically relevant information from multiple methods of assessment in clinical settings. The study aims to characterize the association between parent report and clinical observation of RRBs, compare the utility of each method for eliciting information on RRBs, and characterize the presentation of RRBs in toddlers at the time of initial diagnosis. Participants were 65 children ages 18-39 months diagnosed with ASD. Associations between a parent report rating scale, clinician-driven parent interview, and …

A Serial Multiplexed Approach To Immunolabeling Brain Tissue For Electron Microscopy, Peter Tiley

Master's Theses

To fully understand how biological systems give rise to complex phenomena, both structural and functional knowledge of the components in the system must be acquired. In this manuscript, I explain why new methods must be developed to achieve this level of understanding with brain tissue and introduce serial multiplexing as a potential solution. I discuss how this method can lead to highly annotated volume reconstructions of brain tissue using electron and light microscopy, along with the steps required to do so. I present what our lab has found throughout the process of adapting, refining, and combining more traditional methods together …

The Denial Of Black Victimhood: Examining Attitudes Of Sexual Assault And Victim-Blaming On A College Campus, A Continued Analysis, Odia Kane

Master's Theses

This study examines the attribution of guilt and victimhood in the context of rape on predominately white college campuses. The study is comprised of two samples; Sample 1 (n=362) and Sample 2 (n=1,144) of students from a New England university. Each participant read a vignette regarding two classmates: a female victim, Taneesha or Madeline, and a male perpetrator, Jamal or Connor, completing a group project. The findings of this study are critical because they analyze the surrounding attitudes of the treatment of victims of sexual assault and assess the social and political climate of rape culture on college campuses.

Sources And Fluxes Of Reactive N In A Southern New England River, Veronica Rollinson

Master's Theses

Little Narraganset Bay has seen an increase in filamentous algae, colloquially known as cladophora, over the past twenty years. The Pawcatuck River is the dominant input of freshwater to Little Narraganset bay, delineating the Connecticut and Rhode Island border. There are three point sources of nitrogen on the river system: two waste water treatment facilities (WWTF) in the estuary and one fabric processing plant within the upper-watershed in Kenyon, RI. Non-point sources include a myriad of farms specializing in turf and animal husbandry, as well as septic systems for the majority of the watershed that are not serviced by the …

Comparative Genomics Of Six Juglans Species Reveals Disease-Associated Gene Family Contractions, Alexander Trouern-Trend

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Triplet-Triplet Annihilation-Based Photon Upconversion In Protein Biomaterials, Alexander M. Oddo

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Innovation Dynamics Of Cultural Production: Evidence In Rap Lyrics, James M. Zumel Dumlao, Junjie Lei, Emeka Nwosu, Li Yu Oon, Tsai Ling Jeffrey Wong, James Rising, Jesse Anttila-Hughes

Master's Theses

Culture is a driving force in organizing the structure of societies, and is conjoined with economic development. However, quantifying the impact of culture is difficult. Culture manifests itself in cultural production, through art, performance, music, etc. Innovation and influence in cultural production industries partially determines product quality. Using techniques from the “digitized humanities”, we agnostically identify informational distance to describe the spatiotemporal dynamics of innovation and influence in Rap music lyrics. Rap emphasizes lyricism and hometown pride more than other genres of popular music, and is interesting as a globally impactful manifestation of the racially segregated labor market in the …

Development Of An Attenuated Zika Virus By Editing The 5’ Untranslated Region, E. Ashley Thompson

Master's Theses

Zika Virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that usually causes no symptoms to mild febrile in humans, and it has been regarded as an insignificant pathogen to public health. However, recent outbreaks of ZIKV infection have revealed that ZIKV can cause severe neurological effects in adults, such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), and in infants whose mothers acquired the virus during pregnancy, causing Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS). Currently, no approved vaccine is available and there is a critical need to develop an effective and safe vaccine. While most vaccine developmental strategies target the viral prM-E protein of ZIKV, we aimed to …

Local Oxidation Nanolithography Of Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite, Zachary Swart

Master's Theses

In this thesis, the physical and electrical alterations caused by local oxidation nanolithography (LON) on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) are characterized. The LON is an atomic force microscopy (AFM) based technique that applies a positive bias to the sample relative to the AFM tip, leading to an electrochemical oxidation of the sample surface. If these physical and electrical alterations due to LON are well understood, this could yield a higher degree of control over tailoring the surface to become conductive, semiconductive or insulative in nature. The advantages of LON include room temperature operation in a non-vacuum environment, less steps …

Stuttering And The Early Childhood Educator, Haley Jo Wesson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research study was to gain information on early childhood educator’s knowledge of the myths and facts of stuttering. The researcher’s main question at hand is what are the effects of educator knowledge regarding fluency on young children? It was hypothesized that participants with a higher level of education will correctly identify more statements regarding stuttering than participants with a lower level of education. The researcher created a survey that was distributed to early childhood educators. The findings of the survey may be helpful in educating early childhood educators and bringing awareness to the misconceptions of stuttering.

The Effect Of Attentional Focus Instructions On Single Leg Balance Performance 2020., Cory Monahan

Master's Theses

Balance and postural control exercises are often a part of exercise programs. During exercise programs, movement practitioners can provide instructions to facilitate performance and learning. Instructions can be used to direct attentional focus, which has been found to affect the performance and learning of motor skills, including balance and postural control tasks. However, no known studies to date have investigated the effect of both internal and external attentional focus instructions on static single leg balance performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of attentional focus instructions on static single leg balance performance as reflected by the …

Vegetative Community And Health Assessment Of A Constructed Juncus-Dominated Salt Marsh In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Nickolas R. Murphy

Master's Theses

Deer Island is a coastal habitat which provides a buffer from storm and flood damage as well as shore-line stabilization to the mainland of Biloxi, Mississippi. A third of the land has been lost since 1850, largely driven by tropical storm and hurricane impacts as well as sea level rise. The United States Army Corps of Engineers and Mississippi Department of Marine Resources have targeted the shores of the island as sites for restoration using beneficial use dredged material, and two sites of differing age have since been planted with Spartina alterniflora, Juncus roemerianus, Uniola paniculata, S. patens, and Panicum …

Optimization Of A Gfp Biosensor For The Discovery Of Novel Antibiotics, Drake Heinz

Master's Theses

In today’s world, there is an urgent need to discover novel antibiotics due to the rise of antibiotic resistance and the lack of new ones being approved. Building off of Hanson et al. and their reduction-oxidation sensitive green fluorescent protein (roGFP)(1), that we yeast codon optimized (2); I wanted to determine if I could create a real-time biosensor that has the ability to respond to ROS produced in the stress response triggered by antibiotics as a platform to identify novel antibiotics. To achieve this, I need to know if it will oligomerize in bacterial cytoplasm due to its two cysteines …

Small Universe: Exploring Microorganisms In Water From An Artistic Perspective, Jingying Zhen

Master's Theses

The scope of this thesis was based on an artistic desire to explore and display microorganisms in water and present the viewers with an opportunity to discover an invisible world. This included research on three artists who have taken interest in unusual life forms. It also included my observation of real microorganisms under a microscope in biology lab. I found the beauty within the details of this miniature world; it was a different perspective. The purpose of this study was to combine biology and art, traveling in the real and imaginary world, researching, exploring, and then showing microorganisms using multiple …

Does Population Density Affect The Singing Behavior Of Female Canyon Wrens (Catherpes Mexicanus)?, Lorraine Dargis

Master's Theses

Bird song has historically been considered from the perspective of temperate males despite females in many bird species being prolific singers. In this study, I investigated one species with female song, the canyon wren (Catherpes mexicanus). Canyon wrens do not duet like many other species with female song or other wrens. Instead, males and females sing sex-specific songs. The resource defense function of male canyon wren song is well-described, and males sing often during the breeding season. Females have only been observed to sing sporadically during the breeding season but sing reliably and often when exposed to playback of other …

Nursing Students' Awareness About Effective Teamwork And Related Factors, Vi Thi Thuong Nguyen

Master's Theses

This study surveyed the awareness level of nursing students about the effectiveness of teamwork and related factors. At Hong Bang International University (HIU), teamwork training for nursing students at HIU has been applied but it has been difficult for all students to achieve high results and confidence in practicing teamwork skills. The effectiveness of self-study and group activities depends on many factors. The effectiveness of teaching approaches has not been measured and has needed to be addressed to result in the best learning experience for students. The results of this study provided recommendations to improve the quality of training as …