Digital Commons Network^™

Extraction And Purification Of Gamma-Tocotrienol From Rice Bran Oil Deodorizer Distillate, Mary Kordsmeier

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The tocols (alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta- tocopherols (T); alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-tocotrienols (T3)) make up the vitamin E family of antioxidants. Tocols have many health benefits. Gamma-T3 has been shown to protect against harmful radiation effects in mice. During rice bran oil refining up to 90% of tocols in rice bran are lost to the deodorizer distillate. The objective of this study was to optimize parameters for analyzing and isolating tocols from rice bran oil deodorizer distillate (RBODD). NP-HPLC analysis of tocol standards was optimized by testing ten mobile phases. Tocol extraction was optimized by testing three concentration …

Local Food And Agriculture Awareness: The Literacy Of Local Produce And Agriculture In Northwest Arkansas, Kyle Colton Flynn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that adolescents and children, both male and female, are failing to meet the daily fruit and vegetable consumption requirements (Kim et al., 2011; Upton et al., 2012; Harris et al., 2012). Other studies have shown that with increased exposure and availability of produce, students (K-5) tend to consume more fruits and vegetables (Cullen et al., 2009; Evans et al., 2012). The purpose of this study is to identify whether Northwest Arkansas eleventh grade high school students possess experience and knowledge of local produce and agriculture. Out of 1054 students enrolled at …

Influence Of Horn Flies And Breed Type On Milk Production, Calf Production Traits, Pasture Behavior, And Temperament Measurements In Beef Cattle, Angela Rene Mays

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An experiment conducted in El Reno, Oklahoma during the fly season (May - September/October) evaluated the effects of horn flies on milk production, calf performance, and pasture behavior and temperament measurements of beef cow calf pairs. Cows (n = 53) sired by Bonsmara (BONS; n = 7), Brangus (BRAN; n = 13), Charolais (CHAR; n = 8), Gelbvieh (GELV; n = 5), Hereford (HERF; n = 12), and Romosinuano (ROMO; n = 8) from Brangus dams and their Angus sired calves (n = 51) were used in the study. Horn fly counts (HFC) and milk yield and quality estimates were …

Effects Of Using Canola Meal As A Protein Source In Broiler Diets, Charles Danny Bradley Jr

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Six experiments were conducted to evaluate the response of broilers fed canola meal. Experiment 1 assessed performance and carcass yields when broilers were fed various combinations of canola and soybean meal in nutritionally balanced diets based on digestible amino acid values. The results suggested that canola meal can be used in isocaloric diets as a partial replacement for Soybean meal.

Experiment 2 assessed broiler performance and carcass yields when using various levels of canola meal in broiler diets with a constant level of supplemental poultry oil. The resulting data suggested when diets are formulated with a constant level of supplemental …

Resources And Relationships: Food Insecurity And Social Capital Among Middle School Students, Don Edward Willis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between food insecurity and Social capital among 5th-7th graders attending an intermediate school in Northwest Arkansas where nearly 70 percent of students participate in the free or reduced lunch program. The central research questions are: Does Social capital have a direct impact on children's food insecurity? And, does Social capital mediate the influence of negative circumstances on children's food insecurity? This study finds that Social capital does have a significant association with food insecurity, even when controlling for multiple demographic and circumstantial factors. However, there appears to be no mediation of circumstance by Social capital. …

Relationship Of Lactate Dehydrogenase & Prolactin Genotypes To Immune Function, Growth, And Composition Of Replacement Heifers Grazing Tall Fescue, Christina Marie Turner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objectives of this research were to determine effects of LDH enzymatic activity and circulating PRL on immune response, growth, composition, and reproduction, and to determine the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms of LDH and PRL on immune function, growth and carcass traits, cyclicty, and fecundity of replacement heifers grazing endophyte infected tall fescue. Eighty-nine Angus based heifers had physical and ultrasound measurements along with blood samples collected at weaning, yearling, and prebreeding. Estrus detection was conducted for 10 d post each collection period, except prebreeding. Pregnancy status was verified after AI and again after bull removal. Heifers were maintained on …

Development Of A Predictive Modeling System For Validation Of The Cumulative Mirobial Inactivation Of The Salmonellae In Pepperoni Utilizing A Non-Pathogenic Surrogate Microorganism (Enterococcus Faecalis), Scott Donald Stillwell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Salmonellosis is the most frequently occurring bacterial foodborne illness in the United States and the human case rate has not improved for the past two decades. The federal agency responsible for oversight of meat and poultry processors has announced the intent to extend existing pathogen reduction performance standards for Salmonella spp. to cover all classes of products including fermented sausages that are currently produced under HACCP plans that are validated for control of Escherichia coli O157:H7. The proposed regulatory modifications will require processors to revalidate HACCP plan controls to achieve either a 6.5 or a 7.0 log10 inactivation of the …

The Impact Of Maturity And Parenting Style In Delinquent Behaviors, Nichole Lind

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Most of the previous research about juvenile delinquency has focused on why some adolescents become delinquent. Elliott and Voss (1974) theorized that delinquent behavior occurs due to the aspiration opportunity disjunction, or goals that are beyond one’s means. Moffitt (1993) shifted the focus of research as to why most adolescents quit their delinquent behavior and others persist towards a lifetime of criminal activities. Mounts (2002) found that parents who had higher levels of parenting management practices had adolescents with lower levels of drug use and drug using friends. Moffitt (1993) proposed that it is a perceptual shift or an exit …

Protein Interactions In Mrna Methylation Complexes, Yazan Ali Alqara

Senior Honors Theses

Experiments were performed to test sequence and structural specific interactions of proteins with a conserved RNA modification enzyme, which is known as Ime4 in yeast and Mettl3 in mammals. Ime4 methylates N6-adenosine bases on mRNA molecules. The goal of this project is to gain direct insights into how novel proteins interact with Ime4 to form the methyltranferase (MTase) complex and to identify proteins that are essential for Ime4 activity. It has been recognized that there are two proteins that interact within the Ime4 complex, which are known as Mum2 (a cytoplasmic protein essential for meiotic DNA replication within yeast) and …

Evaluating The Effects Of Capture And Handling Time On Plasma Corticosterone And Heterophil/Lymphocyte Ratios In The Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus Bicolor), Michael A. Carlo

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Birds have a protective physiological response to stress, which consists of three main components: the hormonal response, the immune response and the intracellular response. This study evaluates the effects of acute distress due to capture and handling on plasma corticosterone (CORT) and heterophil/lymphocyte ratios (H/L) , physiological indicators of the hormonal and immune components of the stress response in the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), as well as the relationship between the two biomarkers. These stress indicators are currently used in both basic and applied avian research. But their relationship with each other and their responses to specific stressors such as …

Cooking Up A Course: Food Education At Pomona College, Christina A. Cyr

Pomona Senior Theses

Cooking skills are important but declining, with significant health, social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental implications. Food and cooking education can begin to address some of the negative effects of the cooking skills decline. This thesis makes the case for cooking classes in the education system, especially in higher education. The paper begins with a history of cooking education and skills, outlines the implications of the decline in skills, and discusses the potential for cooking education in higher education. The second part consists of a course syllabus, designed for Pomona College. The third section includes a discussion of the implementation …

Volunteer Programming Impact On Long-Term Care Facilities, Paul P. Falkowski

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this present study was to examine the direct and indirect effects between the organizational structure of a long-term care facility, the amount of volunteers at the facility, the activities in which volunteers engage while at the facility and daily average number of hours care staff spend with nursing home residents. The time care staff spends with residents has been directly linked to the quality of care provided by the facility. This time is measured by calculating nursing hours per patient and it includes only nursing staff hours.The data for this study come from the National Nursing Home …

Effect Of Medical Nutrition Therapy On Outcomes Of Patients With Pre-Diabetes In A Rural Nebraska Primary Care Clinic: A Pilot Study, Charlene Dorcey

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Objective: Describe the impact of Medical Nutrition Therapy on health parameters of newly diagnosed patients with pre-diabetes in a rural Nebraska primary care clinic.

Background: Lifestyle interventions, including weight loss, exercise and diet, have a significant impact on diabetes prevention. Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) provided by a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) is an essential part of any intervention approach. Several visits with an RDN have shown effective results. However, multiple visits become prohibitive, especially in rural areas, due to inaccessibility and cost when not covered by insurance.

Methods: This 2010 retrospective study of electronic health records examined newly diagnosed pre-diabetes …

Environmentally Friendly Sizing Agent From Corn Distillers Dried Grains, Yue Zhang

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Distillers dried grains (DDGS), the coproducts of corn ethanol production, were used as a textile sizing agent on cotton, polyester and polyester/cotton blends in an effort to find inexpensive and biodegradable alternatives to sizing agents such as poly(vinyl alcohol) that are currently used. Although DDGS is an inexpensive, biodegradable and abundant co-product, it has limited industrial applications. DDGS is a mixture of carbohydrates, proteins and oil which are used as sizing agents or as size additives. The effects of DDGS extraction conditions on sizing evaluation parameters such as fiber adhesion, film properties, viscosity and fabric abrasion were studied in comparison …

Agricultural Development In The Northern Savannah Of Ghana, Tara N. Wood

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Since declaring independence in 1957, the Republic of Ghana has become a stable constitutional democracy. Ghana’s economy has grown substantially over the past decade, yet remains primarily agrarian, accounting for 50% of the total employment and 25% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Smallholder rain-fed farming using rudimentary technologies dominates the agricultural sector accounting for 80% of total agricultural production. Approximately 90% of smallholder farms are less than two hectares in size, and produce a diversity of crops. The major crops cultivated in Ghana include numerous cereal, root and tuber, leguminous, fruit, vegetable and industrial crops. Maize is the most …

The Little School Of The 400: A Mexican–American Fight For Equal Access And Its Impact On State Policy, Erasmo Vázquez Ríos

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Founded in 1957, the Little School of the 400 (LS400) was a Mexican-American led effort to acculturate and assimilate Mexican schoolchildren in Texas to the dominant Anglo-led society. By the mid-20^th Century, more than a hundred years of discrimination and racism had produced an environment where Mexicans were treated as second-class citizens. Early 20^th-Century activism had replaced armed and violent resistance such as the Cortina Wars of the 1850s but Anglo institutions ensured that any opposition from Mexicans and Tejanos toward the status-quo was met with indifference and perhaps worse.

My argument centers on the fact that …

Regulation Of Secondary Metabolism In Lysobacter Enzymogenes: Studies Of Intercellular And Intracellular Signaling, Stephen J. Wright

Department of Chemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The organisms of the genus Lysobacter have been recognized as prolific producers of bioactive secondary metabolites, making them potentially valuable as biocontrol agents and as sources of compounds for drug leads. This study was aimed at understanding the regulatory mechanisms that underlie the production of secondary metabolites in our study organism, Lysobacter enzymogenes. Since secondary metabolism is energetically costly, we sought not only to elucidate the biosynthetic chemistry by which the bioactive molecules were constructed, but also the regulation of the biosynthetic machinery. The molecular mechanisms by which L. enzymogenes responds to environmental conditions and transduces signals leading to …

Reliability And Validity Of A Culturally Appropriate Food Frequency Questionnaire To Measure The Omega-3 Fatty Acid Intakes Of Midwestern African American Women Of Childbearing Age, Narissa Scales

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Omega-3 fatty acid intakes may play an important role in maternal health outcomes and infant brain and neural development. Research has shown that pregnant African American women have intakes below recommended levels for optimal health. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of a culturally specific food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to measure total omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake of Midwestern African American women (n=49) of childbearing age and examine associations of maternal health issues from previous pregnancies. The omega-3 FFQ questionnaire was developed by 24 hour …

Gastric Volvulus In An Ehler-Danlos Patient: A Case Report, S Prichayudh, R Pak-Art, P Vejchapipat, S Sriussadaporn, P Samorn, K Chaivanijchaya, S Sriussadaporn, K. Kritayakirana

Chulalongkorn Medical Journal

The authors report a case of Ehler-Danlos syndrome with gastric volvulus undergoinga successful surgical treatment. The diagnosis was made with imaging studies. Preoperativeresuscitation and nutritional improvement were carried out. Surgical treatment for gastricvolvulus in this patient included gastrojejunostomy and anterior gastropexy. The authors alsodiscuss diagnostic modalities and surgical treatments utilized in this patient.

Effects Of Abortion On College Women's Mental Health, Estefany Bologna

HIM 1990-2015

Since the legalization of abortion, some research studies have argued that abortion has a neutral effect when considering other coexistent factors (e.g. Adler et al., 1990; Major et al., 2000; Steinberg & Russo, 2008). Other studies have concluded that abortion has a negative influence on women's psyche (e.g. Congleton & Calhoun, 1993; Cougle, Reardon, & Coleman, 2005; Hamana et al., 2010). College populations have been generally excluded from abortion research, even though, in 2007, 57% of women obtaining abortions were between the ages of 20 and 30 years (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). This study intended to measure the influence of …

The Association Between Maternal Resiliency, Perceptions Of Touch, And Reports Of Infant Touch, Lisa D'Agostino

HIM 1990-2015

No abstract provided.

Childhood Cat Bites And Disorganized Symptoms Of Schizotypy In Adulthood, Jenya Kolpakova

HIM 1990-2015

During recent years of schizophrenia research, many etiologies have been emphasized, some of them implicating infectious and autoimmune diseases. Many different infectious agents have been examined, but the root seems to stem from the secondary autoimmune deregulation, which can be caused by different infectious agents. Among the effects that autoimmune deregulation has on the body, one prominent effect is on the brain, resulting in either severe or mild encephalitis. The mild encephalitis that has been implicated as one of the causes of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders has been associated with different pathogens, many of which can be transmitted by the household cat. …

Human Capital Effect On Second Generation Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Ali Mazahaem Flores

HIM 1990-2015

Interest in entrepreneurship has increased in the past few years as more schools are beginning to incorporate subject and degrees specializing in the area as well as individuals mobilizing into an entrepreneurial lifestyle due to the lack of opportunities in the standard workplace environment. Historically, immigrants have made up a large majority of entrepreneurs and it has been their primary way of upward mobility in society. The boom in high tech start-ups and other small businesses in the last decade have primarily been driven by children of immigrants. As a result of these recent trends this study analyses the foreign …

Commuting In Portland, Oregon: The Advantages Of Living Within A Transit Oriented Development Community Compared To Traditional Suburban Development By Comparing Environmental, Economic And Health Factors, Kyle Simpson

HIM 1990-2015

Transportation is a function that affects nearly all life decisions, but is often not given much thought by the average individual throughout their daily routines. Most of this complacency streams from the mainstream development patterns in the United States that have changed little from the end of World War II. During the immediate post-war years a perfect mix for suburban living came together: the mass production of automobiles, guaranteed mortgages from the federal government through the G.I. Bill, and in 1956 the passage of the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act. These factors, along with the dominate social paradigm that …

The Use Of Wet-To-Dry Dressings For Mechanical Debridement, Katherine Villa

HIM 1990-2015

Clinical management of complex wounds is essential to promote wound healing. Prolonged healing time may lead to longer and more costly hospitalizations and poorer patient outcomes. The removal of nonviable, necrotic tissue via debridement is vital to the healing process. One of the most common debridement techniques, in the United States, is the use of wet-to-dry dressings. There are no defined guidelines or protocols for the timing of dressing changes and subsceequent debridement. The purpose of this study was to perform a review of literature to determine the rationale for the use of wet-to-dry dressings, explore alternative time sequences of …

Manipulating Aktivated Metabolism Via Mtorc1, Ivan Von Hack Prestinary

HIM 1990-2015

Although poorly understood, normal cells and cancerous cells of the same type exhibit different patterns of nutrient consumption, processing and utility of metabolic substrates. Differences in substrate uptake, preference, and alternately emphasized metabolic pathways offer opportunities for selective targeting of cancer versus stroma. This may be accomplished by using a sequential approach of nutrient deprivation and pharmaceutical perturbation of metabolic pathways to inhibit cellular proliferation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of restricting glucose and glutamine concentrations, in vitro, to levels that resemble a potential human fasting state. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a mediator …

Increasing Breastfeeding Rates In Rural Areas Of The United States: What Do We Know And What Can We Do?, Kristin M. Stabo

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Breastfeeding is the recommended form of infant nutrition. However, breastfeeding rates in the United States (US) are below recommended goals. Rates in rural areas are even lower than in urban areas

Purpose: The purpose of this manuscript was: I) to identify potential barriers to breastfeeding in rural areas, 2) to review what is currently known about breastfeeding interventions that promote successful breastfeeding in rural areas, and 3) to identify interventions that have the potential to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration in rural areas of the US

Conclusion: Numerous interventions to promote and support breastfeeding have been …

Effective Strategies To Improve Medication Adherence In Patients With Mood Disorders, Kathlyn J. Bergeron

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Educating Staff Nurses On The Early Recognition Of Clostridium Difficile In Cancer Patients, Jennie A. Meyer

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Cultural Considerations For Education Strategies Regarding Native American Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Alissa Hoban

Theses and Dissertations

The management of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Native American adults can pose challenges for both the provider and the patient. This issue is one that has been long-standing and requires extensive education and investigation into the best management techniques for appropriate care to enhance self-management. Many Native American adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus have difficulties related to self-management of their disease, and effective education and teachings for this population have yet to be solidified within clinical practice. This project entailed an extensive review of literature, which demonstrated a need for culturally congruent diabetes education to be used within …