Digital Commons Network^™

Bacterial Community Ecology Of The Colon In Mus Musculus, Rachel Marie Nettles

Theses and Dissertations

The gut microbiome is a community of closely interacting microbes living in the gastrointestinal tract. Its structure has direct relevance to health. Disturbances to the microbiome, such as due to antibiotic use, have been implicated in various diseases. The goal of this study was to determine how the gut microbiome reacts to and recovers from disturbance caused by antibiotics. Because diet also influences the microbiome, this study included the interaction between diet and antibiotics. Half of the mice in each diet treatment were given antibiotics to disturb their microbiomes. After cessation of antibiotics, mice were paired in combinations within diets …

Modulation Of Synaptic Plasticity: Endocannabinoids And Novel G-Protein Coupled Receptors Expression And Translational Effects In Interneurons, Katrina M. Hurst

Theses and Dissertations

Learning and memory are important processes that occur in the brain. The brain is comprised of neurons that make connections with each other known as synapses. Synaptic plasticity is widely believed to be the physiologic mechanism by which learning and memory occur. Synapses can either be strengthened through a process known as long-term potentiation (LTP) or weakened through long-term depression (LTD). The area of the brain that is most studied for its role in learning and memory is the hippocampus, which has been shown to be involved in memory consolidation. The detection of endocannabinoids and their receptors has opened a …

Effect Of Tannic Acid Crosslinking On The Mechanical Properties Of Collagen Scaffolds And Melanoma Cell Proliferation, Christopher J. Bridgeman

Theses and Dissertations

Metastatic melanoma is responsible for nearly 10,000 deaths in the United States each year. While the prognosis for patients with localized early stage melanoma cancer is good, the chances of survival for patients with late stage metastatic melanoma are only 16%. Matrix stiffness has been shown to have a profound effect on tumor metastasis for breast cancer, but little is known about its role on melanoma metastasis and progression. Similarly, the therapeutic effect of tannic acid (TA) has been extensively characterized for soft breast and leukemia cancers, but not for melanoma. The goal of the current study was to investigate …

Consumers’ Willingness To Fly In Augmented Cognition Equipped Aircraft, Eric Schanafelt

Theses and Dissertations

Current advancements in the field of Augmented Cognition have garnered attention from the aviation industry. Equipping flight management systems with Augmented Cognition is a possibility in the near future as the result of recent computing breakthroughs. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent gender, country of origin and condition of Augmented Cognition affect consumers willingness to fly. To further understand the consumer's decision-making process the participant’s willingness to fly measured through affect (emotion), represented through the six universal facial expressions, (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sad, and surprise) (Ekman & Friesen, 1971). This study surveyed participants from …

The Roles Of Diffusion And Bulk Flow In Neural Function And Alzheimer's Disease, Wade N. Dauberman

Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting close to 5.1 million Americans and its incidence is expected to rise with the higher number of people in the aging population. A hallmark of the disease is the production of the amyloid-beta (Aß) peptides and eventual self-assembly of these peptides into fibrils and extracellular Aß plaques. Both plaques and oligomers are proposed to be the direct cause of AD, but it remains unclear how these structures affect neuronal function and pathogenesis. While a direct toxic effect is currently the favored hypothesis, biomolecule aggregation is also known to play a role in …

Central Precocious Puberty Alters The Mammary Gland Epithelial Landscape In Female Rats, Alina M. Hamilton

Theses and Dissertations

Precocious puberty (PP) is a serious endocrine disorder associated with an increased risk for development of breast cancer (BC) later in life. However, the lack of a strong in vivo model has made it difficult to study this relationship. Our group has established manganese (Mn) as a non-toxic activator of the pubertal process. Recently we demonstrated that Mn-induced precocious puberty (MnPP) accelerates E2-regulated mammary gland (MG) development in prepubertal female rats, resulting in persistent proliferation and adult hyperplasia. Using this model, I demonstrate that precocious puberty alters steroidal regulation of proliferation in both the prepubertal and adult virgin MG, altering …

Artist Teacher, Amy Elizabeth Wolfe

Theses and Dissertations

144 Pages

This arts-based research project uses qualitative and autoethnographic methods to explore the concept of artist-teacher. The author/artist journaled for three months about her artmaking process while undertaking five discussions about her work with peer advisors, both of whom were practicing artists. The author discovered that that key themes that ran through her artmaking process included the use of found objects (chance and organization), intuition, metaphor, politics and spirituality, other artists’ influence, reflective practice, engagement with nature, and the effort to understand and address her audience. For three months, the author made notes about her teaching practice. These notes …

Investigating Spirituality Through Elementary Art Lessons: A Case Study, Kimberly Ann Mchenry

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the inclusion of spirituality in a five-week art unit. Spirituality was defined as the interconnectedness with nature and all living things, with human beings and with a higher power. This study was conducted within two Central Illinois public schools, working specifically with third and fourth grade students. Eleven students participated in the study by completing the unit, sharing their sketches/artwork, and participating in an audio-recorded interview conducted by the teacher/researcher. Daily teacher observations/reflections were also used as data.

The spirituality unit consisted of students exploring the subject of light in the …

Leadership Rowan: Impact On Student Development Of Self-Authorship, Rebecca Kraft Spinks

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of Leadership Rowan on student participants in regards to development of self-authorship. The study examined students who have been involved with Leadership Rowan for at least one year to determine the impact of the program on the student's personal development of self-authorship. A survey was distributed on campus to students who were involved with Leadership Rowan for at least one year at the time of the study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, and content analysis was used to identify themes in the data. Results of the data revealed …

An Examination Of Collegiate Extracurricular Activities And Career Aspiration Levels, Chelsey Lynn Ingram

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to evaluate the career aspiration levels of college students who participated in college-related extracurricular activities compared to students who did not participate in extracurricular activities. Additionally, this study compared each domain of extracurricular activities (e.g., athletics, the arts, service clubs, etc.) to determine which domain has the highest levels of aspirations. Survey responses provided a representation of participants' intended future career achievements and perceptions of participation in collegiate extracurricular activities. Data was collected from a sample of undergraduate students through online survey responses via Rowan University's SONA system. Bivariate correlation tests in SPSS for Windows were utilized …

"But She's Snow White, She Would N'T Hurt Anybody": A Critical Analysis Of Gender And Power In Once Upon A Time, Mackenzie Mahler

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines gender performance and its relation to power in the television series Once Upon a Time (OUAT). On the surface, OUAT is a television show that constantly challenges the culturally-ingrained gender norms often found in fairy tales, as it creates new storylines for traditional fairy tales. This warrants a deeper examination of the series to understand if and how it is subverting these typical gender norms. To fully understand how gender operates in OUAT, I examined how gender affects and is affected by hegemony in the show and how this relates to our cultural understanding of gender and …

“They Ate Macaroni-And-Cheese Or Tv Dinners; My Mother Made Curry Instead ”: A Narrative Inquiry Of South Asian American Writers’ Identity Negotiation, Su Yin Khor

Theses and Dissertations

As the demographic and linguistic landscape in the United States is shifting—the Asian population has increased significantly in the last decade, particularly the South Asian population—these changes are reflected in the classrooms all over the country. As such, it becomes imperative to investigate who these multilinguals are, and as several scholars have pointed out, the Asian population has not been studied to the same extent as other minorities. In addition, the notion of a homogenous Asian identity persists and hides the internal differences that exist within the Asian population.

Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to challenge the notion …

Conservtion Status And Habitat Assessment Of The Mexican Fawnsfoot (Truncilla Cognata) In The Rio Grande: Laredo, Texas, Bianca E. Rojas

Theses and Dissertations

Overharvesting, environmental degradation, pollution, and the rapid spread of exotic mussel species have been instrumental in 15 native freshwater mussels being placed on the threatened/endangered species list by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Nine species of freshwater mussels currently listed at a state level are being petitioned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be placed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Truncilla cognata, commonly known as the Mexican Fawnsfoot, is considered to be endangered at both the federal and state level. Little is known regarding habitat preference, larval stage, fish host, and …

Synthesis And Identification Of An Investigational Essential Precursor Compound For The Purpose Of The Development Of A Vaccine Treatment Against The Peanut Allergy, Thomas F. Anguella

Theses and Dissertations

Presented in this master's thesis are several studies carried out to determine the viability of several allergoid candidates utilizing the major peanut allergen Ara h 2. The Ara h 2 allergen protein appears naturally as a doublet when observed by gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE. Optimization of allergen purification methods successfully led to Ara h 2 purity, and the ability to standardize procedures to yield consistently pure samples. The purified allergen was chemically crosslinked with diketone derivatives selected for their abilities to react with specific amino acids accessible on the Ara h 2 protein. Chemically modified allergen samples were also evaluated using …

The Effects Of Kahoot! On Vocabulary Acquisition And Retention Of Students With Learning Disabilities And Other Health Impairments, Kathryn Elizabeth Ciaramella

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Kahoot! on vocabulary acquisition, evaluate the effect of Kahoot! on vocabulary retention, and determine student satisfaction with using Kahoot! as an intervention. The seven sixth grade students participating in the study were classified with a learning disability or other health impairment and received instruction in a pull-out replacement language arts classroom. A single subject multiple baseline across participants design was utilized. During the baseline phase, data was collected to determine the percentage of vocabulary words each student acquired and retained. During the intervention phase, data was again collected and …

Exploring The Biogeography Of South American Rainforest Understory Birds Using Morphological Variation In The Wedge-Billed Woodcreeper ( Glyphorynchus Spirurus ), Gregory Tito

Theses and Dissertations

Tropical rainforests in the Amazon Basin show an extraordinarily high degree of biodiversity, the reasons for which are poorly understood. A number of biogeographical models have been proposed to account for the variation present within and among species, including birds. This study tests the predictive ability of six major historical vicariant biogeographical models (Andean uplift, marine incursion, Amazonian lake, river barrier, refuge, and river refuge) using a large data set of morphological characters in the Wedge-billed Woodcreeper (Glyphorynchus spirurus), a small understory songbird found mostly in terra firme tropical rain forest. It also characterizes variation in key morphological characters and …

Effect Of Speaker Age And Dialect On Listener Perceptions Of Personality, Brittni Elizabeth Bergstrom

Theses and Dissertations

The association between dialect and perceived personality traits has been studied for a number of years. The purpose of this study was to examine how the dialect, the gender of both the speaker and the listener, and the perceived age of the speaker affected the listeners' perception of the speaker's personality. The spontaneous speech samples were drawn from existing corpora. There were 48 speakers, 24 New Zealanders and 24 Utahns. Each dialect group was stratified into three age groups (young, middle, older), and within each age group there were an equal number of males and females. The listener group included …

The Effects Of Nucleosome Positioning And Chromatin Architecture On Transgene Expression, Colton E. Kempton

Theses and Dissertations

Eukaryotes use proteins to carefully package and compact their genomes to fit into the nuclei of their individual cells. Nucleosomes are the primary level of compaction. Nucleosomes are formed when DNA wraps around an octamer of histone proteins and a nucleosome's position can limit access to genetic regulatory elements. Therefore, nucleosomes represent a basic level of gene regulation. DNA and its associated proteins, called chromatin, is usually classified as euchromatin or heterochromatin. Euchromatin is transcriptionally active with loosely packed nucleosomes while heterochromatin is condensed with tightly packed nucleosomes and is transcriptionally silent. In order to become active, heterochromatin must first …

Anthrax, Matrix Biology, And Angiogenesis: Capillary Morphogenesis Gene 2 Mediates Activity And Uptake Of Type Iv Collagen-Derived Anti-Angiogenic Peptides, Jordan Grant Finnell

Theses and Dissertations

Capillary Morphogenesis Gene 2 (CMG2) is a type I transmembrane, integrin-like receptor. It was originally identified as one of several genes upregulated during capillary formation. It was subsequently identified as one of two physiological anthrax toxin receptors, where CMG2 serves as a cell-surface receptor for anthrax toxin and mediates entry of the toxin into cells via clathrin-dependent endocytosis. Additionally, loss-of-function mutations in CMG2 cause the genetic disorder hyaline fibromatosis syndrome (HFS), where the core symptom is dysregulation of extracellular matrix homeostasis (ECM), including excessive accumulation of proteinaceous hyaline material; HFS clearly indicates that CMG2 plays an essential function in ECM …

Comparison Of Cytokine Expression And Bacterial Growth During Periparturient And Mid Lactation Mastitis In A Mouse Model, Rhonda Nicole Chronis

Theses and Dissertations

Clinical cases of bovine mastitis are most severe in the early stages of lactation. The causes of this increased propensity for severe mastitis during early lactation, compared to mid and late lactation are unclear. In order to better understand the early lactation immune response to mastitis, a murine model of mastitis was employed. Intramammary inoculation of a mastitis causing Escherichia coli strain was performed in lactating mice at various stages of lactation to model the immune response seen in cows during lactation. In our experiments, mice in the early stages of lactation exhibited altered mRNA expression of cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, …

Characterization Of Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors And Their Positive Allosteric Modulators, Doris Clark Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are ligand-gated ion channels that are necessary in memory and cognition. They are pentameric and consist of α and β subunits. They are most commonly heteromeric but, can sometimes be homomeric. nAChRs are activated by many ligands including nicotine (exogenous) and acetylcholine (endogenous).nAChRs are located on hippocampal interneurons. The interneurons, although sparse, control the synchronous firing of the pyramidal cells. However, the hippocampal interneuron structure and function is quite diverse and not fully characterized. Therefore, we sought to quantify nAChR subunit mRNA levels using real-time PCR of CA1 hippocampal interneurons.Surprisingly we found that the α3 …

Integrative Analysis To Evaluate Similarity Between Brcaness Tumors And Brca Tumors, Weston Reed Bodily

Theses and Dissertations

The term "BRCAness" is used to describe breast-cancer patients who lack a germline mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2, yet who are believed to express characteristics similar to patients who do have a germline mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Although it is hypothesized that BRCAness is related to deficiency in the homologous recombination repair (HRR) pathways, relatively little is understood about what drives BRCAness or what criteria should be used to assign patients to this category. We hypothesized that patients whose tumor carries a genomic or epigenomic aberration in BRCA1 or BRCA2 should be classified under the BRCAness category and that …

Physiological Attunement And Influence In Couples Therapy: Examining The Roots Of Therapeutic Presence, Julia Campbell Bernards

Theses and Dissertations

Extensive interdisciplinary common factor research has identified the therapeutic relationship as a consistent factor influencing therapeutic outcomes. We use Polyvagal and Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) theories to guide an examination of the physiological mechanisms at work in the therapeutic relationship. Both Polyvagal and IPNB theories provide understandings about how humans are neurophysiologically wired for social connection. Each points to a sense of safety as being essential for meaningful connection to occur and clarifies that physiological attunement is an observable indicator of interpersonal connection. In this study, we use these theories to guide an examination of therapist physiological influence on clients in …

The Effectiveness Of The Mnemonic Keyword Strategy On Math Vocabulary Learning For Students With Learning Disabilities, Lily Siegel

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to investigate (a) the impact of the mnemonic keyword strategy on the acquisition of mathematical vocabulary of students with learning disabilities, (b) the impact of the mnemonic keyword strategy on the retention of mathematical vocabulary of students with learning disabilities, and (c) the level of satisfaction that students with learning disabilities have with the mnemonic keyword method. Seven sixth grade students with learning disabilities participated in this study, which utilized a multiple baseline across participants design. During the baseline and mnemonic keyword intervention phases, students completed weekly assessments to measure their acquisition of mathematical …

Prevalence Of Substance Use In High School Students From The United States, Kelsey E. Damato

Theses and Dissertations

Substance use and abuse have become a rising epidemic all around the United States. Using the data of the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), this study examined the prevalence of substance use in high school students in the United States. This study hoped to find answers to three questions: 1) Are there gender differences in substance use among high school students in the United States? 2) Are there grade level differences in the substance use? And 3) Are there race differences in substance use? Data for the study included responses from 13,583 students on the 2013 YRBS that were …

The Unexpected Symbol Of The New Woman: Ella Ferris Pell's Salome, Megan Ashley Snow

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that Ella Ferris Pell's 1890 painting, Salome, provides a unique interpretation of the ideals of the New Woman, specifically in terms of reclaiming female power through Salome's confidence in her sexuality. By examining the cultural context in which Pell exhibited her painting, as well as her background as an artist, I hope bring to the light the significant ways in which Pell's Salome participates in the construction of the New Woman in late nineteenth-century culture. Since Pell was an American woman who trained and exhibited in both the United States and France, this paper explores the …

Enzyme Encapsulation, Biosensing Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, And Bio-Therapeutic Expression Platforms Using Cell-Free Protein Synthesis, Seung Ook Yang

Theses and Dissertations

Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) is a powerful protein expression platform where protein synthesis machinery is borrowed from living organisms. Target proteins are synthesized in a reaction tube together with cell extract, amino acids, energy source, and DNA. This reaction is versatile, and dynamic optimizations of the reaction conditions can be performed. The "œopen" nature of CFPS makes it a compelling candidate for many technologies and applications. This dissertation reports new and innovative applications of CFPS including 1) enzyme encapsulation in a virus-like particle, 2) detection of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the presence of blood and urine, and 3) expression of …

Swarm Robotics: Cooperative Navigation In Unknown Environments, Abdallah Galal Khalil

Theses and Dissertations

Swarm Robotics is garnering attention in the robotics field due to its substantial benefits. It has been proven to outperform most other robotic approaches in many applications such as military, space exploration and disaster search and rescue missions. It is inspired by the behavior of swarms of social insects such as ants and bees. It consists of a number of robots with limited capabilities and restricted local sensing. When deployed, individual robots behave according to local sensing until the emergence of a global behavior where they, as a swarm, can accomplish missions individuals cannot. In this research, we propose a …

Visualization As A Guidance To Classification For Large Datasets, Heba Abdelfattah Atteya

Theses and Dissertations

Data visualization has gained a lot of attention after the stressing need to make sense of the huge amounts of data that we collect every day. Lower dimensional embedding techniques such as IsoMap, Locally Linear Embedding and t-SNE help us visualize high dimensional data by projecting it on a two or three-dimensional space. t-SNE, or t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding proved to be successful in providing lower dimensional data mappings that makes interpreting the underlying structure of data easier for our human brains. We wanted to test the hypothesis that this simple visualization that human beings can easily understand will also …

The Ogcleaner: Detecting False-Positive Sequence Homology, Masaki Stanley Fujimoto

Theses and Dissertations

Within bioinformatics, phylogenetics is the study of the evolutionary relationships between different species and organisms. The genetic revolution has caused an explosion in the amount of raw genomic information that is available to scientists for study. While there has been an explosion in available data, analysis methods have lagged behind. A key task in phylogenetics is identifying homology clusters. Current methods rely on using heuristics based on pairwise sequence comparison to identify homology clusters. We propose the Orthology Group Cleaner (the OGCleaner) as a method to evaluate cluster level verification of putative homology clusters in order to create higher quality …