Digital Commons Network^™

Homestead, Susan Trestrail

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Link Between Genetics, Chronic Stress, And Depression, Michael Woller

Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCO) Grant Program

Depression is a very debilitating mental illness that affects about 7% of the American Population [1] and up to about 350 million people worldwide [2]. Since the cause for depression and the reason why some individuals are more vulnerable than others are currently unclear, studying paradigms that model depression in animals, such as the learned helplessness paradigm, is useful to explore possible mechanisms and devise new treatments. To explore a possible link between genetics, chronic stress and depression, we have exposed mice vulnerable to stress to an inescapable forced swim paradigm. During the forced swim test, the mice were monitored …

Cash Flow Analysis, Ron Blue Institute

Ron Blue Financial Literacy Resources

No abstract provided.

Plots Mentioned In The Bible, Harold Willmington

Selected Topics of the Bible

No abstract provided.

Gender Essentialism And Responses To Candidates’ Messages, Meredith Meyer

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

People often form negative attitudes against those who deviate from gender norms. Within the political realm, this has the potential to translate into effects on perceptions of candidate likability and traits. Female candidates who tend to focus on issues stereotypically thought of as feminine are generally more positively evaluated than those who focus on stereotypically masculine domains. The current studies investigate whether these effects vary depending on the extent to which people endorse gender essentialism, which is the tendency to attribute gender differences to relatively more intrinsic, innate, and immutable factors versus believing that gender differences are largely due to …

Learning-Based Analysis On The Exploitability Of Security Vulnerabilities, Adam Bliss

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a tool that uses machine learning techniques to make predictions about whether or not a given vulnerability will be exploited. Such a tool could help organizations such as electric utilities to prioritize their security patching operations. Three different models, based on a deep neural network, a random forest, and a support vector machine respectively, are designed and implemented. Training data for these models is compiled from a variety of sources, including the National Vulnerability Database published by NIST and the Exploit Database published by Offensive Security. Extensive experiments are conducted, including testing …

Wet Markets And Avian Influenza: Public Policy Decisions In Hong Kong, Shawn C. Smallman Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

After the emergence of H5N1 avian influenza in 1997 Hong Kong implemented a sophisticated system to regulate live poultry markets. While this system is well implemented and thorough, it also has limitations. The rise of H7N9 avian influenza (which is typically acquired through contact with poultry, including in live markets) makes this an appropriate time to revisit the ethical and practical issues related to this trade. Based on data from field observations of live markets in Hong Kong, and interviews with experts in the field, this paper recommends that the government of Hong Kong create a committee to examine the …

Functional Mobility For A Patient With Myelodysplastic Syndrome, Chronic Gvhd, And Corticosteroid Use: A Case Report, Alyssa Deardorff

Case Report Papers

Background: The use of corticosteroids to treat chronic graft-versus-host-disease (cGVHD) is common in oncological treatment. However, the long-term complications of cGVHD and prolonged use of corticosteroids have not been reported in terms of the benefits of physical therapy (PT) interventions. The purpose of this case report was to report the impact of PT interventions for an individual with a cancer diagnosis having received an allogenic-stem cell transplant (allo-SCT) with the long-term complications associated with cGVHD, long-term corticosteroid use, and cancer survivorship. Case Description: The patient was a 73-year-old male diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome and received an allo-SCT two years prior …

Assessment Of Drinking Water/Aquifer Vulnerability To Contamination By Natural Manganese And Anthropogenic Chemicals In The U.S., Ryan Kelly

Sustainability and Social Justice

Aquifers in the U.S. store groundwater used by many Americans every day for drinking eating, bathing and cleaning. These underground sources of water are vital to life and may be subject to contamination from both natural and anthropogenic pollution, including manganese (Mn) – especially shallow aquifers (<100 feet to bedrock). Natural sources of Mn are found in soils, surficial deposits, and bedrock, while anthropogenic contamination derives from landfills, waste facilities, or industries that use toxic materials. Pollutants like Mn raise concern because there is no policy in place to enforce regulation of Mn levels in water supplies based on limited information about health effects. Yet studies have shown elevated levels of Mn intake can lead to adverse human health effects. This study uses ArcMap to identify potential sources of Mn and/or toxics contamination in shallow U.S. aquifers based on geologic characteristics of a given aquifer source and proximity to waste sites. The results show approximately 2 million Americans may be at risk of consuming water with natural Mn contamination, and of those 2 million, close to 1.7 million are also vulnerable to additional toxics from anthropogenic waste. …

Graphene Oxide Membranes For Enhancing Water Purification In Terrestrial And Space-Born Applications: State Of The Art, Chris Beulke, Ali Alshami, James Casler, Jeremy Lewis, Maram Al-Sayaghi, Michael A. Hickner

Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

We present a compendious review of the literature and state-of-art of the research into graphene oxide (GO) membranes for both terrestrial and space-born water purification applications. The performance of GO membrane is compared to polyamide composite properties broadly used in today's desalination plants as well as to other membranes composed of various polymeric materials. An in-depth comparison is also conducted between GO membranes and the water reclamation system onboard the International Space Station (ISS). Based on empirical data from the literature, GO membranes have the potential to reduce the specific energy consumption in both RO facilities and the ISS by …

Drosophila Suzukii Fight Performance Reduced By Starvation But Not Affected By Humidity, Jessica S. Wong, Adam C. Cave, Danielle M. Lightle, Walter F. Mahaffee, Steve E. Naranjo, Nick G. Wilman, J. Megan Woltz, Jana C. Lee

Faculty Scholarship

Drosophila suzukii is widely studied because of its status as a global pest of berries and soft fruits. Environmental conditions and access to food resources impact the physiology and ftness of D. suzukii; these factors could also affect dispersal. Flight mills are a convenient tool for measuring and comparing the fight performance of insects. In this study, two experiments examined the efects of diet and humidity on D. suzukii fight performance using custom-built fight mills, and a third experiment compared the energy reserves of D. suzukii flown or not flown on fight mills. Over all fight assays, the median fight …

The Red Wilderness: Mark And Modern Western Storytelling, Nathan Kent Jowers

Honors College

Many adaptations of “the Gospel” have been made in recent years, but few of these are sustained engagements with one of the four gospels in particular. Modern biblical scholarship is increasingly realizing, however, the narrative integrity of each gospel taken on its own terms. Though four-gospel canonical adaptations are legitimate, this thesis hopes to lay some groundwork for the adaptation of one gospel in particular, the Gospel of Mark, showing that such a project is both feasible and desirable. It will do so by 1) briefly exploring adaptation theory to clarify the goals and challenges such an adaptation would face, …

Baggage, Monalisa Bissonnette

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Diffusion, Adoption, And Network Constraint: Can Understanding Personal Networks Of Afghan Women Improve The Adoption 0f Agricultural Innovations, Clair Wilcox

Dissertations

A plethora of case studies conducted in myriad locations find that factors influencing the adoption of agricultural innovation are different, emphasizing the need for locality specific understanding (Waddingon 2014). The diffusion of agricultural innovations may be influenced by the structure of the social system in which that diffusion is taking place. This study investigates the social structure of rural Afghan women, in an effort to determine how they interact and exchange information, and how the personal network structure, and the nature of the women’s interaction influences adoption of innovations. With the objective of framing rural development programs targeting women in …

Identifying Barriers To Teacher Implementation Of Evidence-Based Practices In Middle-School Reading, Brenda Fortson

Dissertations

This study explores factors that may be related to Mississippi’s 2015 eighth-grade reading scores, which rank the state in 50^th place (Nation’s Report Card, 2016). Whereas there are likely several factors that contribute to middle-school students’ poor performance on the high-stakes tests, this study examines teachers’ reported knowledge and use of evidence-based teaching practices, sense of self-efficacy in implementing the practices, and concerns regarding high-stakes testing and possible relationship with their implementation of the practices.

All public schools in Mississippi were invited to participate in an online survey of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade teachers. After data were screened, 187 …

“The Moral Of This Nazi Fairytale”: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Invisible Adult Education In World War Ii-Era Film, Lauren Carson

Dissertations

When the United States entered WWII, the government contracted with several film studios to produce propagandistic cartoons, newsreels, and short films. These contracts continued throughout the war, and government agencies not only censored these films, but also produced some of their own film media. The deliberately embedded messages planted to influence viewers worked well for several reasons. During the war years, the Nazi Party produced its own propaganda films, and while the United States decried that deliberate attempt to influence populations, the United States government was doing exactly what they condemned: producing film made to influence its own population. Since …

Hydrogen Bond Mediated Water Structuring, Diffusion, And Elastic Properties In Acrylamide Copolymer Glycohydrogels, April Levu Fogel

Dissertations

Glycohydrogels have recently gained considerable interest as biocompatible and high water content hydrogels that have similar physicochemical nature to the cell membrane, making them ideal materials for targeted biomedical and personal care applications (e.g., drug delivery systems, biosensors, and contact lenses). Regardless of the specific application, water-polymer and water-water hydrogen bonding interactions have been shown to dictate hydration stability and diffusional properties in traditional hydrogel architectures (e.g., crosslinked HEMA). However, due to the development of glycohydrogel materials within the past two decades, most literature focuses on synthetic techniques and general hydration characteristics. Furthermore, scant literature examines the effect of hydrophobically …

If Animals Are Like Our Children Let Us Treat Them Alike: Creating Tests Of An Animal’S Intelligence For Determinations Of Legal Personhood, Paul Mclaughlin

Law Library Faculty Scholarship

Children and animals are treated much the same under the law. Both are seen as having limited, if any, legal rights. For children there are legal processes that can be used to determine if a minor is mature enough to be considered a legal person for life affecting decision making considerations and emancipation proceedings. Animals, no matter what their intelligence levels, are not allowed an opportunity to be found as legal persons and are denied the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that legal personhood bestows. This article looks at the similarities between the historical treatment of children and animals and argues …

Food Is Medicine, Katherine Keane

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Huddleston, Vicki. Our Woman In Havana. New York: The Overlook Press, 2018, ỌLáyọKù Philip AdémóḷÁ Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Consumer Perceptions Of Labeling Claims On Poultry Products, Sarah Townley

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

An increasing number of consumers wants more knowledge of how the food they eat is produced, and specifically, how animals used in the production of their food are raised. One method consumers use to become more aware of production practices behind the food they purchase and consume is simply reading food labels. Labeling claims can be defined as textual, pictorial, graphic, or symbolic representation that either explicitly states or implies that a food product has a specific set of properties supported by a certification process. The purpose of this study is to gather data regarding consumer knowledge and understanding of …

Thyrotropin Receptor Blocking Antibodies, Tanja Diana, Paul D. Olivo, George J. Kahaly

2010-2019 OA Pubs

Autoantibodies (Ab) against the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) are frequently found in autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). Autoantibodies to the TSHR (anti-TSHR-Ab) may mimic or block the action of TSH or be functionally neutral. Measurement of anti-TSHR-Ab can be done either via competitive-binding immunoassays or with functional cell-based bioassays. Antibody-binding assays do not assess anti-TSHR-Ab functionality, but rather measure the concentration of total anti-TSHR binding activity. In contrast, functional cell-based bioassays indicate whether anti-TSHR-Ab have stimulatory or blocking activity. Historically bioassays for anti-TSHR-Ab were research tools and were used to study the pathophysiology of Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. In the …

Continuing The Dialogue: Curriculum, Didaktik And Theories Of Knowledge, Norm Friesen

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Joseph Schwab’s famous remark, that the field of curriculum is ‘moribund’—no longer able ‘to …contribute significantly to the advancement of education’—has long echoed in curriculumstudies. Although its specific meaning has certainly changed, it still rings in our ears today. It now applies as much to discussions in the US and UK as it does to those in Northern Europe—where the cognate field of General Didaktik has been described as ‘quiet’ (Terhart, 2003, p. 25), or more recently, ‘dead’ (Zierer & Seel 2012, p. 16). This ‘virtual issue’ of the Journal of Curriculum Studies brings together five articles of direct relevance …

The Genealogy Of The Textbook As An Educational Form: Orality And Literacy In Education, Norm Friesen

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, I provide a short but broad history of the textbook as a multimedia pedagogical and cultural form. In doing so, I pay particular attention to the interrelationship of oral and textual media and cultures, highlighting the ways that these two communicative modes are reconfigured over the history of this pedagogical form. I also situate the textbook in the context of changing instructional methods and practices, and demonstrate that instructional forms and practices have neither progressed along with new technologies nor gradually evolved from a primitive orality to sophisticated literacy. Instead, I show that these practices as well …

The Evolution Of Psychological Altruism, Gualtiero Piccinini, Armin Schulz

Philosophy Faculty Works

We argue that there are two different kinds of altruistic motivation: classical psychological altruism, which generates ultimate desires to help other organisms at least partly for those organisms’ sake, and nonclassical psychological altruism, which generates ultimate desires to help other organisms for the sake of the organism providing the help. We then argue that classical psychological altruism is adaptive if the desire to help others is intergenerationally reliable and, thus, need not be learned. Nonclassical psychological altruism is adaptive when the desire to help others is adaptively learnable. This theory opens new avenues for the interdisciplinary study of psychological altruism.

Voix Narratives Et Transfigurations De L'Écrivain Dans Le Roman Francophone, Cheikh M. Diop

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

In biblical language, transfiguration refers to the "change in bodily appearance" of the crucified Christ revealing his "divine nature". In the same way, it can be said that the writer is metamorphosed through the process of writing by the creation either of an alter ego or of an imaginary double, be it, animal or inanimate. The first case proposes original figures of the "social status" of the writer. In the second, the latter borrows the voice of a cat or makes a piece of furniture or an intimate object to speak. Therefore, we wonder if the transfiguration of the narrative …

Abstracts (N° 91)

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

No abstract provided.

100 Of The Most Important Or Well-Known Individuals In The Bible, Harold Willmington

100 Individuals in the Bible

No abstract provided.

Determinants Of Social Behavior In Captive North American River Otters (Lontra Canadensis), Olivia R. Beasley

Graduate Theses

Field Studies of North American River Otters (Lontra canadensis), documented social behavior atypical among its mustelid relatives. In the wild, river otters are most active during crepuscular hours and males have been shown to be more social than females, as they cooperatively forage within bachelor groups (Blundell et al. 2002). Most social behavior occurs at latrine sites, where feces act as a means of communication between conspecifics (Blundell et al. 2005). While scientists have conducted some behavioral research on wild river otters, detailed studies of interactions are difficult for a species that ranges widely. A full understanding of river otter …

Diurnally Active Rodents For Laboratory Research, Roberto Refinetti, G. J. Kenagy

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although inbred domesticated strains of rats and mice serve as traditional mammalian animal models in biomedical research, the nocturnal habits of these rodents make them inappropriate for research that requires a model with human-like diurnal activity rhythms. We conducted a literature review and recorded locomotor activity data from four rodent species that are generally considered to be diurnally active, the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus), the degu (Octodon degus), the African (Nile) grass rat (Arvicanthis niloticus), and the antelope ground squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus). Our data collected under 12L:12D light-dark cycles confirmed and expanded …