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Regulation Of Gonad Morphogenesis In Drosophila Melanogaster By Broad Complex, Tramtrack And Bric À Brac Transcription Factors, Diane Silva

Master's Theses

During embryogenesis, primordial germ cells (PGCs) and somatic gonadal precursor cells (SGPs) migrate and coalesce to form the early gonad. A failure of SGPs and PGCs to form a gonad with the proper architecture not only affects germ cell development, but also can result in infertility. We have characterized the phenotypes of two genes, longitudinals lacking (lola) and ribbon (rib), required for the coalescence and compaction of the embryonic gonad in Drosophila melanogaster. Both rib and lola are expressed in the SGPs and to a lesser extent in the PGCs of the developing gonad, and genetic interaction analysis suggests these …

Interfering In A Non-Interference Policy: Defining Star Trek's Prime Directive, Andrew Steele

Master's Theses

The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive definition of the Prime Directive, a concept that was developed in Star Trek: The Original Series, as well as provide a non-fictionalized version of the edict.

The Prime Directive is an edict that governs Starfleet not to interfere with a society’s development.

The first main section will discuss in further detail why The Original Series account of the Prime Directive was selected. Furthermore, it will discuss how members of academia interpret the Prime Directive.

The second main section will be an episode-by-episode analysis of each Prime Directive centered episode to …

Group-Level Differences Of Moral Foundations, Jeremy Winget

Master's Theses

Previous research has started to map the moral domain for individual actors. In particular, Haidt and colleagues (Haidt, 2007, 2008; Haidt & Graham, 2007; Haidt & Joseph, 2004) have extended the moral domain beyond the traditional notions of justice and rights concerns. From this line of research, moral foundations theory emerged, which holds moral intuitions derive from innate psychological mechanisms that co-evolved with cultural institutions and practices. However, to date, there has not been a systematic demonstration of how these moral foundations operate within intergroup settings. Janoff-Bulman and Carnes (2013) have proposed a comprehensive model of the moral landscape that …

Music And Aggression: Effects Of Lyrics And Background Music On Aggressive Behavior, Andrew Triplett

Master's Theses

Given the ever-growing popularity of music in daily life, it is of the utmost

importance to understand how it influences affect, cognition, and behavior, especially given the violence of certain genres of music. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between music and behavior, specifically to examine how the lyrics and background music interact to influence affective hostility and aggressive behavior. Data were collected from a sample of 168 students (61% Female; MAge = 19.24, SD = 2.470) at a large, private, Midwestern university to investigate this relationship. The music was manipulated by randomly assigning the participant to …

Psychological Predictors Of Community Violence Exposure In Ethnic Minority Male Adolescents, Amanda Burnside

Master's Theses

Urban, minority males are disproportionately impacted by community violence exposure (ECV). However, person-based analyses have demonstrated variability in rates of ECV, suggesting that demographic risk factors do not always result in increased ECV, and it may be important to examine the utility of psychological factors in this relationship. Research suggests that depressive symptoms may actually exacerbate the risk of ECV. The current study examines the effect of internalizing symptoms on future ECV. Data were derived from a larger longitudinal study of adolescents who had committed a criminal offense. This subset of 184 participants ranged in age from 14-18. Results indicated …

Parenting-Related Stress, Parental Distress, And Youth Health-Related Quality Of Life In Families Of Youth With Spina Bifida: Parenting Behaviors As Mediators, Colleen F. Bechtel

Master's Theses

Research has shown that youth with spina bifida (SB) have poorer psychosocial outcomes, including health-related quality of life (HRQOL), compared to typically developing youth. Demographic and illness-severity factors that may affect HRQOL have been identified, but modifiable factors affecting HRQOL have not yet been identified in this population. Potential modifiable factors include parent factors. In fact, in other pediatric populations, parent factors have been found to impact HRQOL above and beyond illness-severity. This impact may be especially salient for youth with SB, as these youth are more socially isolated and depend on parents for both medical and non-medical caregiving needs. …

In Plain Sight: How Social Images In Education Shape The Social Identity Of Black Students, Kandyce Cabacar

Master's Theses

This thesis will postulate social identity development in Black students is shaped by their school experience. Reviewing how racial grouping is a critical factor in how we engage with others socially, this study will curate the variables of society that assembles the Black image. Social construction influenced by media messages and the neighborhoods that determine our respective schools will also be analyzed. By borrowing from the research of social psychology and contributions of sociologists on race relations, this thesis will demonstrate how expectations influenced by racial stereotypes of Black students create a correlation to social identity. These findings are discussed …

Haitian Representation In The Media: A Comparative Analysis Between An African American Owned Newspaper And A Mainstream Newspaper, Stephanie Jean-Baptiste

Master's Theses

Are the portrayals of Haitian immigrants in an African-American owned newspaper, different from their portrayal in a white owned newspaper? In this paper I examine newspaper articles covering Haitian immigrants and refugees. The articles selected were published in 2004 and sampled from the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Defender. Although the journals have distinctive goals and market reach, there were similarities in their portrayal of Haitian immigrants. Both journals referred to Haitian immigrants as victims of Haiti’s failed democracy. However, each journal advertised the reception of this migrant group differently. The African American owned newspaper advertised inclusion, while the white-owned …

Aquatic Insect Community Structure And Secondary Production In Southcentral Alaska Streams With Contrasting Thermal And Hydrologic Regimes, Samantha D. Hertel

Master's Theses

Streams along the Copper River Delta, southcentral Alaska, exhibit contrasting thermal and hydrologic variability associated with being primarily groundwater-fed (GWF) or surface water-fed (SWF). Groundwater-fed streams are predictable both thermally and hydrologically year round, whereas SWF streams are unpredictable and exhibit more variable thermal and hydrologic regimes. These differences may strongly influence aquatic insect community structure and secondary production. Four streams, two GWF and two SWF, were sampled twice monthly from late April 2013 through August 2013 and once seasonally in fall (September) and early winter (November). Aquatic insect community structure differed markedly in both hydrologic types. Taxa richness was …

Down And Out: College Students Experiencing Depressive Symptoms, Jenna Eileen Ofenloch

Master's Theses

Survey research that asks respondents to report on depression often ask

respondents whether they have been diagnosed with depression by a medical

professional. But such questions underestimate depression by leaving out respondents

who are unable or unwilling to seek professional help. Thus, other studies seek to ask

respondents to report symptoms of various dimensions of depression. This is especially

important because, according to the CDC, “persons with mild depressive symptoms, as

well as those with moderate or severe depressive symptoms, reported difficulties with

work, home, and social activities related to their symptoms”. But some groups are more

prone to depression. …

Building And Optimizing A Spectroelectrochemical System For The Study Of Shewanella Putrefaciens, Jonathan Muscolino

Master's Theses

Shewanellaceae are among the most widely studied electroactive microorganisms. This study reports on Shewanella putrefaciens under anaerobic conditions during applied potential while monitored by spectroscopy. The attachment of the microbe Shewanella putrefaciens onto an indium tin oxide electrode was found to occur after 2 hr of +0.2 V applied potential. Microbial detachment occurred with a 5 mV/s scan rate cyclic voltammogram from +0.2 V to -0.5 V to +0.2 V. This was confirmed through use of a spectroelectrochemical apparatus utilizing a standard 3 electrode setup with evanescent wave spectroscopy.

Summertime Sleep And Bmi In Urban Minority Girls: Relations To Physical Activity And Executive Functions, Carolyn Rose Bates

Master's Theses

Urban minority youth, particularly females, are at high risk for increased weight gain during the summertime months, and may also experience insufficient sleep at this time. Few studies have objectively measured summertime sleep in this population or related sleep to weight gain during this season. The current study draws on a sample of 66 urban minority girls aged 10-to-14 who participated in a community-based summer day camp program promoting physical activity (PA). The study objectively characterizes sleep in this sample, both in unstructured and structured contexts. Additionally, the study examines potential pathways underlying summertime relations between sleep and weight, including …

Tracking German Education: An Examination Of Three Postwar Periods, Jennifer Hart

Master's Theses

This study examines tracking policies in the German education system in three pivotal postwar time periods in order to learn more about the system of tracking in German schools and how it has evolved and changed over time. I specifically seek to answer this research question: How were tracking policies in the German education system reshaped or addressed in education reforms after the end of World War I, World War II, and post-reunification? This is a historical study; thus, the data I collected came from a variety of primary and secondary sources relevant to the subject with the aim of …

Feminist And Gay Male Politics: New Issues For Political Collaboration And Activism, Adam Hii

Master's Theses

This project looks at political collaboration between people who self-identify as gay men

and those who self-identify as feminists. These two groups have been political aligned on numerous issues since the 1970s. The goal of this project is to see on which issues that political collaboration will continue moving forward. This research draws extensively on oral interviews conducted with gay men and feminists, as well as the current work of national advocacy organizations to see where political interest is high, and where networks already exist to foster future advocacy efforts. By focusing on these areas, this project predicts which issues …

Early Round Goby (Neogobius Melanostomus) Invasion Into Lake Michigan Tributaries And Competitive Interactions With Two Native Benthic Fishes., Margaret Ann Malone

Master's Theses

The round goby is a prolific invasive species and is currently spreading into Great Lake tributary streams. There is a high potential for negative impacts on native benthic fishes in these stream habitats and the aim of this study is to assess the impacts of the round goby on two native darter species in particular (johnny darter and blackside darter). I review the history of round goby invasion in the Great Lakes and summarize hypotheses of the invasive characters of the round goby. Using game theory, I provide a G-function approach to understanding the outcomes of the round goby invasion …

Phosphodiesterase Inhibition As A Mechanism Of Ion Channel Modulation By Celecoxib, Christina Jean Robakowski

Master's Theses

The overall objective of this thesis work is to determine the mechanism by which celecoxib modulates Kv7 potassium channels in vascular smooth muscle cells. The central hypothesis of the project is that celecoxib modulates Kv7 potassium channels in vascular smooth muscle cells through inhibition of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4, which catalyzes the breakdown of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)), thereby activating a cAMP/protein kinase A (PKA) signaling pathway. The aims of this thesis targeted different points in the cAMP/PKA pathway with pharmacological interventions using whole cell perforated patch clamp electrophysiology and biochemical methods.

The data suggest multiple mechanisms by which celecoxib could …

Investigating The Regulatory Mechanisms By Which Arabinose And Sypa Control Biofilm Formation In Vibrio Fischeri, Sheila Paris

Master's Theses

Biofilms are surface-associated microbial communities surrounded by an extracellular matrix. Through biofilm formation, many pathogens and symbionts are able to colonize, survive, and persist in their host. A model system used to study biofilm formation is the symbiotic bacterium Vibrio fischeri, which colonizes its host, the squid Euprymna scolopes. Complex signaling between the squid and the bacteria is essential for the proper regulation of biofilm formation as well as for persistent colonization.

The signal(s) that promote host-relevant biofilm formation are as-yet unknown, but recently it was discovered that the sugar, L-arabinose, serves as a unique signal to promote biofilm formation …

Examining The Effects Of Coping Strategies Specific To Community Violence Exposure Among African American Adolescents, Suzanna So

Master's Theses

Variability in exposure to community violence (ECV) and aggressive behaviors in African American youth from urban communities can be attributed to general coping, but these studies have been inconclusive. Recent qualitative research identified four types of coping that are specific to ECV; however, quantitative research is needed to understand the adaptiveness of these strategies. The current study examined the factor structure of a measure for ECV-specific coping strategies. The current study also assessed how ECV-specific coping was associated with ECV and externalizing behaviors. Data from the current study were derived from an archival dataset comprised of 594 African American adolescents. …

Risk And Resilience Factors Among Low-Income Latino Adolescents: The Impact On Daily Ratings Of Mood, Stephanie Andrea Torres

Master's Theses

Given that Latino adolescents endorse more negative mood when compared to their counterparts of other backgrounds (CDC, 2012), it is especially advantageous to evaluate the impact of risk and resilience factors on mood among this population. The current study uses daily diary methodology to examine the impact that daily economic stress, daily family stress, familism, and ethnic identity commitment and exploration have on daily ratings of mood among 58 (M =13.31, 47% female) low-income Latino adolescents. Results show that daily family stress was strongly linked to daily mood while familism emerged as a salient resilience factor. Contrary to predictions, ethnic …

A Bioluminescence Sensor Of Nlrp3 Inflammasome Activation, Michael Alexander Winek

Master's Theses

The innate immune system is many organisms first line of defense against pathogenic insult or tissue damage. This defense strategy is intent on restoring homeostasis upon perturbation. Upon activation of the innate immune system in humans, an oligomeric protein complex termed the “Inflammasome” forms in myeloid cells. The canonical output of activation of any subset of inflammasome is Caspase-1-mediated secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL1β and IL18. Chronic or uncontrolled inflammasome activation is at the core of myriad economically burdening diseases. In many of these diseases, endogenous factors chronically engage the innate immune system. To study these diseases in in vivo, …

The Moderating Role Of Emotion Regulation On Longitudinal Associations Between Stress And Mental Health In College Students, Evan Zahniser

Master's Theses

Emotion regulation is consistently linked to subsequent wellbeing, but little research has examined the moderating role of emotion regulation in associations between mental health and other relevant factors. Patterns of gender differences in emotion regulation also remain somewhat unclear. The present study targets these gaps by examining two specific emotion regulation strategies in interaction with stress and gender in predicting internalizing symptoms among college students, a population for whom emotion regulation may be particularly important given the high-stress nature of the college transition. A large sample of students (N = 1,130) provided self-report data at three time points over their …

Preliminary Investigation Of Commercially Available Pluronics As Uv Curable 3d Printing Inks For Tissue Engineering Applications, A'Lester Cordell Allen

Master's Theses

Three-dimensional printing (3DP) emerged from simple beginnings in the field of additive manufacturing (AM) over 31 years ago as an economical technique for rapid prototyping. Now 3DP has become the premier method for fabricating materials from unique consumer products to lifesaving customized human organs. Current challenges in bioprinting center around balancing material properties such as stiffness, yield strength, and surface chemistry with non-Newtonian fluid flow to construct interconnected, porous scaffolding geometries that simulate the complex vasculature found in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the human body needed to promote cell growth and regeneration. In this study, several copolymers of poly(ethlyene …

Synthesis And Studies Of Polymers Crosslinked With Electrochemically Degradable Crosslinking Reagents, Raymond Phillip Meury

Master's Theses

Crosslinked polymers have a covalent bridge that connects two polymer strands at multiple points, creating a network or matrix that is very robust. These types of polymers may either be stable indefinitely, or degrade over time; those that degrade over time typically do so at a constant rate. What is not available currently is a polymer that is stable indefinitely, but then can be degraded on command. Being able to create an adhesive that could undergo de-bonding on command would be very useful. We have designed an electrochemically degradable crosslinking reagent (EDCR) composed of a bi-functional polymer crosslinking moiety and …

Exploring Racial Diversity In Caldecott Medal-Winning And Honor Books, Angela Christine Moffett

Master's Theses

The Caldecott Medal, awarded annually by the American Library Association to the illustrator of the “most distinguished American picture book,” is the oldest and most prestigious award for children’s picture books in the United States. While the award winners have occasionally depicted racially diverse characters, it was not known to what extent the chosen winning titles have kept pace with changing racial demographics in the country. Diversity in children’s literature, and the lack thereof, has become a critical issue for our time. The social implications of failing to provide an exemplary collection of picture books and other literature representative of …

Assessing Glacial Modification Of Bedrock Valleys In The Sierra Nevada, California, Using A Novel Approach, Paul D. Zimmer

Master's Theses

This study employed a semi-automated approach to evaluate the degree of glacial modification of bedrock valleys in the Sierra Nevada, California, by quantifying morphological variability in cross-sectional form assessed from ~27,000 locations throughout the range. Measures of morphology including a shape ratio, a quadratic curve fit, and a power law curve fit were computed for each cross-section along with a novel metric, the V–index, and were compared to mapped glacial extent and bedrock lithology. Results indicate that Quaternary glaciations had a significant effect on bedrock valley morphology that is locally variable and largely independent of lithology at the range scale. …

Solitary By Any Other Name: Silence To Segregation In American Prisons, Chelsea Van Aken

Master's Theses

This thesis examined the United States’ ability to circumvent international and constitutional law in regards to solitary confinement in American prisons. Drawing on scholarship examining inmates’ rights and inmates’ resistance movements, international human rights doctrine, United States constitutional law, activist led movements, and inmate testimony, the thesis demonstrates that the United States is able to simultaneously claim that it is meeting its human rights violations while resisting reforms to both state and federal current policy of warehousing inmates in solitary confinement for decades at a time through two strategies. First, the United States utilizes framing strategies to deny the use …

Enhancing Scalability And Performance In Software-Defined Networks: An Opendaylight (Odl) Case Study, Priyanka Neelakrishnan

Master's Theses

One of the main attributes of software-defined networking (SDN) is the ability to make networks programmable and virtualizable. The SDN controller is the brain that sends instructions to the data plane and can be programmed via application APIs. The scalability and performance of the controller is of paramount importance to support large networks, such as the ones found in modern settings. This research work focused on exploring the ways in which the controller design could be scaled while maintaining sustainable performance using the OpenDaylight (ODL) SDN controller as a case study. This thesis shed light on a method of modifying …

Drawing Place Field Diagrams Of Neural Codes Using Toric Ideals, Nida K. Obatake

Master's Theses

A neural code is a collection of codewords (0-1 vectors) of a given length n; it captures the co-firing patterns of a set of neurons. A neural code is convexly realizable in dimension two if there exist n convex sets in the plane so that each codeword in the code corresponds to a unique intersection carved out by the convex sets. There are some methods to determine whether a neural code is convexly realizable; however, these methods do not describe how to draw a realization, that is, a place field diagram of the code. In this work, we construct toric …

Pretty Maps: Evaluating Gis Adoption Of Cartographic Design Standards And Best Practices In Professional Publications, David Medeiros

Master's Theses

The nature of GIS maps, as tools designed for visual communication, puts them in the realm of art that is in many ways unique among scientific tools. As a visual form of communication, maps are responsive to methods of visual design, affecting the map’s appeal and function. Through cartography, a well established body of standards and best-practices exists to help GIS users avoid common design errors and create effective and meaningful maps that support their work. This research examines the adoption rate of those standards amongst professionals using GIS software for creating maps for journal publications. A selection of 80 …

Evaluation Of A Silica Hydride Based Diol Stationary Phase For High Pressue Liquid Chromatogrphy, Kathleen Talbott

Master's Theses

The impact of chromatography across many scientific fields and applications is limitless. It is a vital everyday separation, characterization, and purification tool for many scientists worldwide. Innovations in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) stationary phases have led to more diverse separations essential to many fields including the pharmaceutical industry and research. Silica hydride based stationary phases have been shown to display both reverse phase (RP) and aqueous normal phase (ANP) chromatographic behavior. This is a result of both the silica hydride surface and the bonded phase. The goal of this work was to characterize silica hydride based diol stationary phases …