Digital Commons Network^™

Suprachiasmatic Nucleus And Subparaventricular Zone Lesions Disrupt Circadian Rhythmicity But Not Light-Induced Masking Behavior In Nile Grass Rats, Andrew J. Gall, Dorela D. Shuboni, Lily Yan, Antonio A. Nunez, Laura Smale

Faculty Publications

The ventral subparaventricular zone (vSPVZ) receives direct retinal input and influences the daily patterning of activity in rodents, making it a likely candidate for the mediation of acute behavioral responses to light (i.e., masking). We performed chemical lesions aimed at the vSPVZ of diurnal grass rats (Arvicanthis niloticus) using N-methyl-D,L-aspartic acid (NMA), a glutamate agonist. Following NMA lesions, we placed grass rats in various lighting conditions (e.g., 12:12 light-dark, constant dark, constant light); presented a series of light pulses at circadian times (CT) 6, 14, 18, and 22; and placed them in a 7-h ultradian cycle to assess behavioral masking. …

The Future Of Aging In The Town Of Brewster: Brewster Council On Aging Needs Assessment Study, Jan E. Mutchler, Ceara Somerville, Maryam Khaniyan, Mai See Yang, Molly Evans

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes efforts undertaken by the Town of Brewster Council on Aging, in partnership with the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Brewster’s older population. The focus of this report is on two cohorts of Brewster’s residents — those aged 45 to 59, and the cohort of individuals who are currently aged 60 and over (“seniors”). The content of this report is intended to inform the Town of Brewster, the Brewster Council on Aging, and organizations that provide …

Purification And Preparation Of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins For Nmr Spectroscopy, Kyle Chamberlain

Open Access Theses

NMR spectroscopy has recently become a promising field for protein characterization and dynamic studies. As the technology and pulse sequences improve for tracking proteins, a greater demand for developing effective purification protocols to produce NMR grade protein samples have arisen. This thesis explores two proteins: histone H4 tail and Mucin 1; Two very different proteins that require different methods of expression and purification to achieve a high enough yield for NMR analysis. H4 is a water soluble protein that weighs ~2.7 kDa, and has no extinction coefficient. Since the protein is too small for many methods of expression and purification, …

Mhealth To Improve The Diet Among Low-Income Populations Enrolled In An Established U.S. Nutrition Program: Design And Rationale Of A Randomized Controlled Trial, Lukas T. Ingersoll

Open Access Theses

Aim: To describe the theoretical basis, and implementation of a randomized controlled trial to improve the diet and nutrition of low-income families in Indiana.

Background: Changing difficult behaviors requires more than education. Beyond education, people benefit from counseling that focuses on increasing motivation and confidence, assistance with overcoming barriers, identifying social support, and creating specific action plans. Widespread use of short-message services (SMS), commonly known as text messaging, provides one potential tool for researchers to help individuals change difficult behaviors.

Although promising, one of the limitations with current SMS interventions is that most have relied on providing reminder texts at …

Investigating U.S. Resident Perceptions Of Corporate Social Responsibility In Food And Agriculture, Carissa Jae Morgan

Open Access Theses

Corporations are prioritizing corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities by investing in and actively promoting their social practices. In the U.S. of the modern food supply chain creates a unique challenge for corporations to address concerns about social issues of consumers and non-consumers alike. This study is motivated by the need to better understand individuals’ perceptions of CSR as it pertains to the food supply chain. In April 2015 an online survey collected information from 1,201 U.S. residents with the objective of investigating individuals’ perceptions of relative importance of eight prominent CSR areas relevant to food and agriculture. Demographic, household consumption, …

Crop Modeling For Assessing And Mitigating The Impacts Of Extreme Climatic Events On The Us Agriculture System, Zhenong Jin

Open Access Dissertations

The US agriculture system is the world’s largest producer of maize and soybean, and typically supplies more than one-third of their global trading. Nearly 90% of the US maize and soybean production is rainfed, thus is susceptible to climate change stressors such as heat waves and droughts. Process-based crop and cropping system models are important tools for climate change impact assessments and risk management. As data- science is becoming a new frontier for agriculture growth, the incoming decade calls for operational platforms that use hyper-local growth monitoring, high-resolution real-time weather and satellite data assimilation and cropping system modeling to help …

Functional And Structural Analysis Of Fst1 In Fusarium Verticillioides, Chenxing Niu

Open Access Dissertations

Fusarium verticillioides causes an important seed disease on maize and produces fumonisin B1 (FB1), a mycotoxin that is detrimental to human and animal health. Previous studies discovered that expression of FST1 is required for FB1 production and wild-type level of virulence on maize seeds. FST1 encodes a putative protein with 12 transmembrane domains with sequence similarity to hexose transporters. However, those studies have failed to prove its ability to transport glucose, fructose or mannose. I identified another three phenotypes associated with the lack of a functional FST1, which includes reduced hydrophobicity of hyphae, reduced macroconidia production, and increased sensitivity to …

Vol. 41, No. 1: Spring 2016, School Of Medicine & Health Sciences

North Dakota Medicine Archive

No abstract provided.

Raising Our Standards: Rethinking The Supreme Court’S Abortion Jurisprudence, E. C. Duckworth

Missouri Law Review

Part II of this Note explores the Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence by discussing MKB Management Corp. v. Stenehjem, which declared a North Dakota statute barring abortions after a fetus has a detectable heartbeat to be unconstitutional. Next, Part III analyzes the relevant history surrounding abortion rights and the rationale behind the precedent relied on in Stenehjem. Part IV examines the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit’s decision to void the statute, along with the Eighth Circuit’s vehement plea for a new abortion standard. Finally, Part V of this Note reveals flaws in the Supreme Court’s current abortion jurisprudence …

Applying Aashe Stars To Examine Geography’S “Sense Of Place” In Sustainability Education, Makayla J. Bonney, Leslie A. Duram

Publications

Geography supports place-based inquiry for the learner, applying the old environmental adage of “think globally, act locally” to environmental problem solving. Many within and outside of the discipline of geography see it as a highly appropriate home for sustainability studies. Yet despite a history of human-environment education, place-based relevancy, and support from professional research or education organizations, studies show that geography does not always take a lead role in sustainability education. In the following, we revisit the contested histories of geography and sustainability education and show support for geography-led sustainability curriculum. The scope of this research is universities which have …

The Imposition Of Social Justice Morality In Legal Education, Julie D. Lawton

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Integration Of Heartsmart Kids Into Clinical Practice: A Quality Improvement Project, Sara Lang

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

In 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS), established “Meaningful Use” regulations through an incentive program, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Gance-Cleveland, Gilbert, Gilbert, Dandreaux, & Russell, 2014). Meaningful Use (MU) is tied to reimbursement and focuses on how the Electronic Health Record (EHR) is being used (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). The goal of MU is to transform the use of the EHR from a documentation tool, to a data reservoir which allows for meaningful reviews and interpretations of the quality of care (Gance-Cleveland et al, 2014).

"Paying For Success": Structuring Reimbursement Of Free Healthcare For Pre-Insured Patients Using The Social Equity Bond Model, Nikkole Turgeon

Senior Honors Projects

Millions of Americans without insurance under the Affordable Care Act expansion fall into two categories: the ‘coverage gap’ and the ‘citizenship gap’. These two groups are disproportionately affected by health disparities due to low-income or legal status. Health disparities affect individuals in many aspects of their lives, including their health, finances, and overall quality of life. To improve the lives of uninsured individuals in Providence, Rhode Island Clínica Esperanza/Hope Clinic (CEHC) proposes to set up a Social Investment Bond Pay for Success program. CEHC has teamed with the Rhode Island Office of Health and Human Services and other RI organizations …

Oncolog, Volume 61, Number 04, April 2016, Joe Munch, Bryan Tutt, K Werner

OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians (All issues) Archives

• Aggressive Multimodality Salvage Therapy for Locally Recurrent Rectal Cancer Offers Hope to Patients: For patients with locally recurrent rectal cancer, multimodality salvage therapy presents the only chance for a cure. Such therapy is offered at just a handful of specialized referral institutions, including The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
• Rapid Assessment, Clinical Trials Could Improve Outcomes for Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Patients: Anaplastic thyroid cancer is extremely aggressive-only 20% of patients survive 1 year after their diagnosis-so patients require immediate assessment and treatment. A program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center expedites the care of patients …

The Function Of Second-Order Male Alliances In St. Johns River Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Arien D. Widrick

UNF Undergraduate Capstone Projects and Honors Theses

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have a sexually segregated fission-fusion society, in which males and females form different types of social groups for different purposes. Social interactions among dolphins are frequent, and group composition changes just as often. Male-male association patterns reveal the formation of alliances, which range in complexity. Recently, second-order alliance formation was confirmed in the St. Johns River, but the function of these alliances is unknown. To investigate their function, this research analyzes the seasonality of first and second-order alliance formation, and whether female presence plays a role. It was hypothesized that higher level male alliances form in …

Ingestion Of A Nutritional Supplement Pre-Workout Will Increase Exercise Time-To-Fatigue, Allison D. Bloomer, Beena R. Chemmanchery, Rachel Liebowitz, Hannah M. Zalaker

Kinesiology 288

Everyone fatigues at the end of an intense exercise bout. However, previous research has indicated that ingestion of a mixed nutrient supplement one hour pre-exercise will increase exercise time-to-fatigue¹. For this experiment, four females between the ages 20-50 participated in a controlled pilot study. Exercise was performed using a row machine, where time- to-fatigue was measured from a baseline of 80% max HR (220 minus age). The nutrient supplement was ingested 1 hour pre-rowing and contained 30g of protein, 5g carbohydrate, and 3g of fat. Results showed that pre-exercise ingestion of a mixed protein supplement did increase row time-to-fatigue.

Droughtscape, Spring 2016, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

First quarter drought summary

First quarter drought impacts

Drought Risk Management Research Center

Kenyan official visits

DrIVER eyes forecasting

Drought scenario exercise

Student projects

Drought tournament

Response and recovery guide

Drought Portal

Network of drought observers

Caribbean “writeshops”

Communications staff grows

Section Abstracts: Botany

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Botany Section for the 94th Annual Virginia Academy of Science Meeting, May 18-20, 2016, at University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA.

Regeneration And Transformation Of Common Bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.), Iqbal Singh

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Common bean is the most important grain legume for direct human consumption and serves as main source of dietary protein for millions of people in developing world. Genetic transformation methods can serve as an important tool to complement traditional plant breeding methods for common bean improvement. Low transformation frequencies and unstable genetic integration associated with biolistic methods limits its use for routine transformation of common bean. In an attempt to develop Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation protocol for common bean, potential of primary leaves as an explant was analyzed following unsuccessful results with other tissues. Primary leaf explants were prepared from …

A Comparative Analysis Of Read 180 And Cultural Literacy On The Reading Achievement And Motivation Of African American Males In An Alternative High School, Clifton F. Nicholson

Theses and Dissertations

Nationwide, increased accountability measures require educational leaders to develop and implement instructional practices that expedite the narrowing of the achievement gap. Legislation in several states allows states to annex low-performing schools. With such pressure, school districts are looking to educational consultants to facilitate the transformation of reading instruction, thereby raising levels of academic achievement. A thorough vetting of these interventions, however, is necessary to determine if the potential benefits can be generalized to other populations.

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to compare the reading achievement and reading motivation of two groups of African American males in an …

Nursing’S Role In Physician Aid In Dying: Assisting Suicide Or Providing Death With Dignity, Elizabeth Miklos

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Neonatal Mortality In Ghana, Clorissa M. Diedrich

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

A Comprehensive Review Of (Current And Future) Food Labels, Jamie Murawski

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Factors Contributing To The "Dominican Paradox" Of Maternal Mortality, Cherissa Garcia

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Despite having one of the highest rates of institutionalized birth in the region, Dominican maternal mortality rates are higher than the regional average. This phenomenon is referred to as the “Dominican Paradox.” The purpose of this paper is to identify factors beyond the established healthcare system that may contribute to the “Dominican Paradox.” Literature about the “Dominican Paradox” often attempts to explain the paradox in terms of the current healthcare system alone. Over reliance on the healthcare system has likely contributed to the “Dominican Paradox.” Most of prevalent causes of maternal mortality in the Dominican Republic are strongly linked to …

Informed Alaskans Initiative: Public Health Data In Alaska, Barbara Armstrong

Vols 31-36 (2014-2019)

This article describes the national and state public health data made available online through the Alaska Division of Public Health's Informed Alaskans Initiative.

Domoic Acid Production In Pseudo-Nitzschia (Bacillariophyceae) As A General Response To Unbalanced Growth: The Role Of Photo-Oxidative Stress, April Woods

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Toxic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms, resulting from species-specific production of the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA), have caused human deaths and illnesses, numerous mass mortality events of marine birds and mammals, and economic loss brought on by fisheries and aquaculture closures. A spectrum of potentially growth limiting biotic and abiotic factors are implicated in production and release of DA in this diatom genus. Because the consequences of toxic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms may be environmentally and economically severe, scientists are investigating the how and why of DA metabolism and biosynthesis to gain understanding of; what ecological purpose DA serves, and whether biomarkers exist in Pseudo-nitzschia …

Use Of Culturally Tailored Media To Increase Hiv Screening Among African Americans, Leda Evans

Doctoral Projects

Over one million people in the United States have HIV with a substantial portion of these individuals being African American. Innovative approaches to improving the HIV disparity among African Americans have been encouraged by the federal government. Culturally tailored HIV risk reduction interventions have been noted as effective in several studies in reducing risk behavior. The purpose of the intervention was to determine if the use of culturally tailored HIV risk reduction media would result in an increase in HIV screening among African Americans. A one-time community based-intervention with no control group was utilized to determine impact of media. Screening …

The Effect Of Seasonal Fish Migration On Energy Budgets In Two Coastal Michigan Streams, Emily M. Dean

Masters Theses

Migratory fish are known to seasonally enter coastal stream systems but the magnitude of the effects these migrations have on stream energy budgets is not fully understood. The Laurentian Great Lakes have several introduced and native adfluvial fish, where only a few studies have investigated the impacts of their migration on energy budgets in Michigan coastal streams. We quantified the contribution of energy from Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) muscle and eggs, steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) eggs, and larval white suckers (Catostomus commersonii) to coastal stream energy budgets. Energy densities and energy delivered to streams were estimated using bomb calorimetry and annual …

Characterization Of Extraction Methods To Recover Phenolic-Rich Extracts From Pinto Beans (Baja) That Inhibit Alpha-Amylase And Alpha-Glucosidase Using Response Surface Approaches, Mohammed Alrugaibah

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Pinto beans contain high levels of diverse phenols, known mainly for their potent antioxidative properties. However, reports have shown that phenols can inhibit the carbohydrate–hydrolysis enzymes, alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase, thereby retarding glucose absorption. Still, a severe gap in knowledge exists on the ability of pinto beans to inhibit these enzymes. Therefore, the objective of this project was to determine the ability of phenolic rich extracts obtained from pinto beans (BaJa) to inhibit alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase. The hypothesis was that pinto beans would be able to inhibit these enzymes due to the presence of high levels of chemically diverse phenols. Response …

Studies Of Debaryomyces Hansenii Killer Toxin And Its Effect On Pathogenic Bloodstream Candida Isolates, Rhaisa A. Crespo Ramírez

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Candida species are normal commensal organisms found in the skin, mouth, and gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts of humans. Candida albicans is a normal component of the gut flora, and the oral and genital cavities. However, this organism is an opportunistic pathogen and it is one of the most frequently isolated species from patients with nosocomial fungal infections. Candida infections have grown in recent years due to antimycotics resistance and the extensive use of antibiotics. This has pushed scientists to look for alternative therapeutic agents to treat fungal infections.

Yeasts can produce toxic proteins called “mycocins” or “killer toxins” that can …