Digital Commons Network^™

A Sociofunctional Approach To Understanding Transphobia, Linas Mitchell

Master's Theses

Despite widespread evidence of anti-transgender prejudice and discrimination, research has yet to determine the nature of prejudice against transgender people. This study used the sociofunctional threat approach (Cottrell & Neuberg, 2005) to examine threat perceptions (contamination threats, obstacle threats, physical safety threats, and threats to reciprocity relations) and emotional reactions (disgust, anger, fear, pity) to transgender (transgender women, transgender men, and nonbinary people) and cisgender (cisgender women, cisgender men, and bisexual people) targets. Results from an online survey suggest that transgender targets evoke higher threat perceptions and negative emotions than cisgender targets; additionally, this tended to be the case for …

Queer People Navigating Experiences With Health Care Providers And Contraception, Dana Lavergne

Master's Theses

Contemporary views of contraception have intrinsically linked birth control to heterosexual sex and pregnancy prevention. As such, contraception is culturally understood to be exclusively for heterosexual women. Despite this, the little work that has been done on queer people1 and contraception use demonstrates they are also accessing birth control (Chrisler, Gorman, Manion, Murgo, Adams-Clark, Newton and McGrath 2015). This schism between the cultural understanding of contraception as a manifestation of heterosexual womanhood and the everyday use of contraception by both queer and heterosexual people takes root in the medical system. Based in heteronormative ideologies, the medical system fails to take …

Immunobiology Of Adenovirus-Vector Vaccines For Mrsa, Emily Orvis

Master's Theses

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive, extracellular bacterium that has emerged as an

important human pathogen. This bacterium is a leading cause of skin and soft tissue infections

(SSTIs) in humans, often leading to invasive and life-threatening infections. Treatment of S.

aureus infections is becoming more complicated due to the rise of methicillin-resistant S. aureus

(MRSA) strains, which are becoming increasingly resistant to a number of antibiotics. In the

United States, invasive MRSA infections result in more deaths annually than any other infectious

agent.

Despite a dire need, there is currently no vaccine against S. aureus infections. The failure

of past …

Union Busted: Understanding The Relationship Between Democrats, Republicans, And Teachers’ Unions, Roman Motley

Master's Theses

There is an almost symbiotic relationship between the Democratic Party and labor unions. Labor unions emerged as the largest donors and staunchest organizers for Democrats. This is all especially true for teachers’ unions. The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association represent the largest organizational donors to the Democratic Party. Democrats on the national stage compete fiercely for these two organization’s endorsement. So, if teachers’ unions represent such an important donor and organizing base for Democrats how can we explain Democratic politics on education? Race to the Top was highly unpopular with unions and supported by Democrats. Liberal …

Effects Of Affiliative Motivation And Confrontation Style On Anti-Black Attitudes And Social Consequences, Jamie Patrianakos

Master's Theses

Anti-Black racism occurs on a daily basis and comes with both physical and psychological costs to its targets. One effective way to reduce discrimination is through confrontation, which could come in the form of a hostile accusation of racism (hot confrontation) or a polite emphasis on egalitarian values (cold confrontation). However, confronting often has social costs that may include damaging the relationship between the confronter and the perpetrator. This research determined whether social relationships can reduce anti-Black bias while also serving as a buffer against the social consequences of confronting. Participants (n = 168) were randomly assigned to a 2(affiliative …

A Study Into The Feasibility Of Using Natural Language Processing And Machine Learning For The Identification Of Alcohol Misuse In Trauma Patients, Andrew Phillips

Master's Theses

Alcohol misuse is a leading cause of premature death in the United States, with nearly a third of trauma patients found to have elevated blood alcohol levels upon admission. However, timely intervention has been shown to reduce this. It is thus important to be able to quickly screen patients to identify alcohol misuse. Many medical centers use standardized questionnaires to identify alcohol misuse, but since these instruments are not usually a part of routine care, there are many cases where it is not done.

In this study, large quantities of notes were processed with natural language processing and machine learning …

Teaching And Telling Difficult Stories: An Analysis Of Colombian Narratives Of Violence, Paula Liliana Mantilla Blanco

Master's Theses

Making sense of chaos takes a narrative form. It is for that reason that efforts to find and comprehend narratives commonly follow violent events. After all, violence leaves societies in a state of turmoil that demands some sort of order. Such order can only be reached through the act of telling and hearing difficult stories. However, in societies affected by conflict, stories are as diverse and biased as people’s experiences. Privileging a single story can have the unintended effect of aggravating violence by failing to recognize the validity of people’s interpretations of war. Echoing an array of stories is therefore …

Toddler Activity Recognition Using Machine Learning, Pinky Sindhu

Master's Theses

Pinky Sindhu

Loyola University Chicago

TODDLER ACTIVITY RECOGNITION USING MACHINE LEARNING

Toddlers behave differently than adults, to say the least. It is valuable to accurately measure the specific types of physical activity (PA) in toddlers; such information can be analyzed to predict future health prospects in relation to conditions like obesity.

We attached ActiGraph accelerometers to the wrist and waist of toddlers and recorded PAs. Toddlers were videotaped, and their movements were annotated as 20 specific activities. These activities were classified into 3 summary activity intensities including sedentary, light intensity PA (LPA), and moderate to vigorous intensity PA (MVPA).

Automated …

The Use Of A Grammaticality Judgment Task To Assess The Role Of Receptive Vocabulary, Cognitive Inhibition, And Cognitive Flexibility On Syntactic Awareness, Lanette Mae Urbin

Master's Theses

Syntactic awareness, receptive vocabulary, and executive control (i.e., cognitive inhibition and cognitive flexibility) are robust predictors of language, literacy, and academic success (Bialystok, Craik, Klein, & Viswanathan, 2004; Davidson et al., 2010; Foursha-Stevenson & Nicoladis, 2011). In general, research demonstrates that receptive vocabulary is related to syntactic awareness (Davidson, Vanegas, Hilvert & Misiunaite, 2017; Galambos & Hakuta, 1988). There is also research to suggest that facets of executive control, such as cognitive inhibition and cognitive flexibility may also be related to syntactic awareness (Bialystok, 1986; Simard, Foucambert, & Labelle, 2013). However, receptive vocabulary, cognitive inhibition, and cognitive flexibility have only …

Participation In Medical Research: Reasons Provided In Cognitive Interviews Of A Diverse Sample, Silvia Valadez

Master's Theses

Racial and ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in medical and health-related survey research, with implications for the generalizability across diverse populations of evidence gleaned from these studies. However, there is little known about the respondents’ reasons for participating—or not—in medical research studies, and how these reasons might vary across race/ethnicity, age, gender and education. In this thesis, I extend previous research by looking at data collected from cognitive interviewing techniques to examine 1) participants’ reported likelihood of participating in five increasingly invasive types of data collection, including research studies that ask participants to answer questions about themselves or provide samples …

Surveying Host Innate Immune Responses To Interferon Antagonist-Deficient Murine Coronaviruses, Aaron Brian Volk

Master's Theses

Two coronaviruses (CoVs)—severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus—have emerged in the 21st century from animal reservoirs into the human population, each causing an epidemic associated with significant disease and mortality. CoV epidemics are currently only controllable by rigorous public health measures; no targeted therapeutics or vaccines exist to treat or prevent any human CoV infection. One method of generating attenuated CoV strains to be studied as vaccine candidates involves specifically disrupting CoV-encoded interferon (IFN) antagonists, thereby rendering the virus vulnerable to host innate antiviral immunity. Deubiquitinating (DUB) activity encoded within CoV nonstructural protein …

Chironomidae (Diptera) Community Structure In Lakes Of Contrasting Morphometry, Landscape Position, And Water Chemistry, Conrad Stanley Zack

Master's Theses

Chironomidae (Diptera) surface-floating pupal exuviae were collected monthly during the ice-free season in 2010-2011 from six lakes in the North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research site in northern Wisconsin. The goal of this study was to determine whether chironomid community structure reflected differences in lake morphometry (i.e., depth, area, shoreline development, etc.), water chemistry, and/or landscape position (i.e., elevation). Forty-six genera were identified from four subfamilies: Chironominae (57%), Orthocladiinae (28%), Tanypodinae (11%), and Diamesinae (4%). Tanytarsus, Ablabesmyia, and Psectrocladius were found in all six study lakes; whereas certain genera, such as Omisus, Protanypus, and Epoicocladius were each observed in only …

Documents From The April 11th, 2018 Meeting Of The University Of Montana Staff Senate, University Of Montana--Missoula. Staff Senate

University of Montana Staff Senate Meeting Minutes

Incomplete Meeting Record.

Document retrieval from cloud storage in January 2025. No record of minutes found. Agenda is all that remains of this meeting.

Characterizing Immune Response To Hiv-1 Infection In Bicd2-Knockout Cells, Omar Abdel-Rahim

Master's Theses

An important part of the HIV-1 infection cycle is the attachment of the intracellular viral core to the host microtubule network, facilitated by attachment of the viral capsid to cargo adaptor proteins. One such cargo adaptor is Bicaudal D Homolog Protein 2 (BICD2). BICD2 can attach to both the HIV-1 capsid and the dynein/dynactin complex and facilitate the trafficking of the viral core towards the host nucleus. Removal of BICD2 can disrupt this viral translocation, resulting in an elevated immune response that impairs productive HIV-1 infection. In my research, we investigated what viral particles are detected in the absence of …

Tejidos Urbanos: Representaciones Literarias Y Visuales De La Memoria En La Ciudad Imaginada, Marina Marisela Alvarez

Master's Theses

The urban imaginary is that which bases itself in a real physical and concrete space,

but is a construction created through the lense of a city's inhabitants. This thesis follows

narratives that have reconfigured the cities of México City, San Juan and Caracas from the

novels Hotel DF (2010), Simone (2011) and the film Pelo Malo (2013) respectively. These

contemporary Latin American & Caribbean narratives provide insight into sentiments

about one's country. Néstor García Canclini and Henri Lefebvre have argued the city is a

whole, and therefore it is analyzed as a microcosm and epicenter of its nation. With

emphasis …

Investigating Autophagy, Extracellular Vesicles, And Glycobiology, Benjamin Cook

Master's Theses

Autophagy is a cellular process of degradation which degrades cellular materials in acidic organelles called lysosomes. Impairment of lysosomal degradation can lead to lysosomal storage disorders such as Parkinson's Disease. In Parkinson's Disease neurotoxic α-synuclein can spread from cell-to-cell via extracellular vesicles. We investigated the changes in extra vesicular glycans upon perturbation of autophagy using a class of glycan binding molecules termed lectins.

We found that upon induction of autophagy causes EV glycans to increase while others remained consistent. Additionally, we found that specific glycans are increased more than others. Conversely, when lysosomal degradation was impaired, we observed a decrease …

Induction Of Zika Virus-Specific Cd8+ T Cells By Means Of Dna Vaccine, Frank Gambino Jr.

Master's Theses

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the virus family flaviviridae and is transmitted via Aedes aegypti mosquitos. Monoclonal antibodies against dengue virus have been found to cross-react with ZIKV but show no ability to neutralize it. Further studies have shown that Stat2-/- mice given plasma from dengue positive donors exhibit a heightened disease phenotype when challenged with ZIKV. Antibody dependent enhancement is theorized to cause such effect. The goal of this study was to design a plasmid which, when encoded, creates an antigen that will be used to stimulate exclusively CD8+ T cells. The gene sequence of NS3 was …

Assessing English Language Learners' Motivation To Participate In Classroom Discussion, Holly Griskell

Master's Theses

This study assesses sixth-grade Spanish-speaking English Language Learners' (ELLs'; m age = 12.15 years old) participation and motivation to participate in classroom discussion through developing a 20-item measure, the Motivation for Classroom Discussion Questionnaire (MCD-Q) (Study 1 n = 258). We examined the relation between ELLs' bi-literacy and MCD-Q scores as well as amount of talk during discussion, measured by audio-recordings of their English Language Arts class (Study 2 n = 149). Study 1 findings indicated that the MCD-Q items cohered into five motivational constructs (value, language-efficacy, extrinsic motivation, social motivation, and interest). Study 2 findings showed the MCD-Q's predictive …

Understanding The Dynamics Of Protein Lipoylation In Staphylococcus Aureus, Sarah C. Flury

Master's Theses

Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal bacterium that also acts as an opportunistic pathogen. The pathogenicity of S. aureus has often been attributed to the wide range of virulence factors that the bacterium produces. While virulence factors do contribute a great deal, there is a growing field of research that aims to investigate the role of metabolism in bacterial virulence.

My project focuses on the necessity of a metabolic cofactor, lipoic acid. To ensure sufficient amounts of lipoic acid are available for enzyme activity, S. aureus has evolved two pathways to obtain the important nutrient. The lipoic acid salvage pathway is …

Cell Intrinsic Characteristics Of Cord Blood Naive Cd4 T Cells, Taylor Keller

Master's Theses

The neonatal immune system is functionally distinct from the adult immune system. Neonatal immune responses are less reactive than their adult counterparts, and as such, have an increased susceptibility to infection, resulting in increased duration and severity of disease. There is evidence that T-cells are partially responsible for the observed immunological differences between neonates and adults. Murine studies on neonatal immunity suggest that Th2 like responses predominate the neonatal immune system, an observation not found in the adult immune system. However, studies on human cord blood revealed that human neonates do not exhibit elevated Th2 like cytokines (with the exception …

Inhibition Of Mutant Egfr In Nsclc Promotes Endothelin-1-Mediated Nsclc Disease Progression, Stephen Ollosi

Master's Theses

Angiogenesis in NSCLC has been identified as important therapeutic target in combination with EGFR TKIs. However, only small incremental advancements have been made for the use of angiogenesis inhibitors in NSCLC and it remains elusive why the inhibition of VEGF-mediated neovascularization is not therapeutically efficacious. I present experimental evidence that a subpopulation of NSCLC cells with EGFR TKI-induced EMT contributes toward the attenuation of the response to EGFR TKI therapy. One of the hallmarks of cancer is heterogeneity and I have previously demonstrated that tumor heterogeneity within NSCLC cells lines harboring EGFR kinase domain mutations gives rise to divergent resistance …

Mechanistic Investigations Of The Iron(Iii)-Catalyzed Carbonyl-Olefin Metathesis Reaction, Susan Phan

Master's Theses

Iron(III)-catalyzed carbonyl-olefin ring-closing metathesis represents a new approach toward the assembly of molecules traditionally generated by olefinˆ’olefin metathesis or olefination. Herein, we report detailed synthetic, spectroscopic, kinetic, and computational studies to determine the mechanistic features imparted by iron(III), substrate, and temperature to the catalytic cycle. These data are consistent with an iron(III)-mediated asynchronous, concerted [2+2]-cycloaddition to form an intermediate oxetane as the turnover-limiting step. Fragmentation of the oxetane via Lewis acid-activation results in the formation of five- and six-membered unsaturated carbocycles.

Culturally Relevant Choral Music Pedagogy And Student Feedback, Theoni Richardson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this teacher action research study was to assess choral education pedagogy through the perspective of high school choir students. The research question asked: How can I utilize student interpretation and critique in order to empirically self-reflect on my choral teaching practice and its cultural relevance? Interpretation and critique are defined as student opportunities to give feedback, both positive and negative, in the form of qualitative oral discussion and quantitative, linear ranking. While research has shown that culturally relevant pedagogy allows for more student engagement and success, I hypothesized that this study would show that students who perceive …

Cryptic Diversification Of Two Widespread Species In Madagascar, Lynika Sharlice Strozier

Master's Theses

Using phylogenetic and phylogeographic tools to uncover hidden diversity within the genus Newtonia in Madagascar

Madagascar is known for its rich biodiversity and high level of endemic species that are found nowhere else. Cryptic diversification, defined as genetically and evolutionarily distinct species that are hard to detect because they are morphologically indistinguishable from their closest relatives, has been hypothesized to occur in many groups on Madagascar. Currently it is unclear to what extent this phenomenon occurs in birds because only a few studies have been conducted. My study examined the phylogenetic and phylogeographic patterns within a songbird genus, Newtonia, that …

An Exploratory Study Of Factors Influencing The Success Of Refugee Youth In College And University, Lea Tienou-Gustafson

Master's Theses

The educational needs, challenges and outcomes of refugee youth in the United States have been studied a great deal, particularly in regard to primary and secondary education. There is a dearth of research, however, on the refugee experience in higher education in the United States.

This study seeks to add to the body of literature on refugee education by exploring shared features of the refugee experience in higher education. Through an in-depth study of refugee youth in Chicago, the study seeks to understand their experiences before, while entering and during college and university, particularly how these experiences are tied to …

The Power Of A Stereotype: American Depictions Of The Black Woman In Film Media, Brittany Terry

Master's Theses

How are black women depicted in popular films? The significance of this study is that it sheds new light on the ways in which black women are depicted in film, and exemplifies some means to deconstruct dehumanizing representations of ourselves. This work advances the goal of institutionalizing more accurate visual accounts of black femaleness thereby exposing the inaccuracies of the dominant gaze. This study also transparently marks my intersectional positionality as a black feminist spectator-- simultaneously privileged and marginalized. I identify as a heterosexual woman of color, raised in an upper-middle class American community. As such, I benefit from classism …

International Student Intersectionality In The Trump Era, Sarah Tolman

Master's Theses

This study examines the impact of the current U.S. presidential administration's policies and rhetoric on international student experiences and identities. The researcher approaches this question through the theoretical lens of intersectionality, with the goal of highlighting the complexity and diversity of international student identities in this unique historical moment. Through in-depth narratives collected from interviews with 8 diverse international students, it becomes clear that the 2016 presidential election and the administration's rhetoric and policies have influenced international student experiences and identities in significant ways. Students perceive the statements and actions of the current government to have shifted their perspectives and …

Desde La Caballería A La Cristiandad: La Transformación Espiritual De Don Quijote, Amanda Kathleen Verduin

Master's Theses

Este presente trabajo es un análisis literario, histórico y teológico del protagonista de la obra famosa de Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. Esta tesina presenta el argumento que Alonso Quijano experimenta una transformación espiritual significativa, desde el momento en que pierde el juicio y se reinventa en el caballero andante, don Quijote, hasta el momento en que muere en su lecho, alabando a Dios por su misericordia. Específicamente, asevero que esta transformación parece a la transformación que Jesucristo describió como el vínculo que se establece entre Dios y la persona que vuelve …

The Characterization Of Rna Content And Biogenesis Pathways Of Extracellular Vesicles That Have Been Implicated In The Pathogenesis Of Hiv-1 Associated Neurocognitive Disorders, Virginia Elizabeth Zwikelmaier

Master's Theses

Patients infected with HIV-1 adhering to Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) still suffer from a variety of neurocognitive, behavioral, and motor dysfunctions, collectively referred to has HIV-1 Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (HAND). Current research suggests the manifestations of HAND might in part be due to the dissemination of toxic HIV-1 components throughout the brain via extracellular vesicles (EVs). Our goal is to characterize these pathogenic EVs to begin to gain a better understanding of this EV-mediated pathology.

We took the first steps in developing a technique to assess the microRNA content of individual EVs but it needs to be heavily optimized to eliminate …

Lidocaine Attenuates An Induced Inflammatory Response, Stephanie Zack

Master's Theses

Inflammation is common to the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases. Therapeutics which can regulate and reduce damaging inflammation are therefore valuable in the treatment of inflammation and inflammatory diseases.

One commonly used analgesic, recently identified as limiting inflammation, is lidocaine. Additionally, alternative, less toxic therapeutics like the snake venom peptides, Zep 3 and Zep 4, are thought to have anti-inflammatory effects. Yet a well-defined mechanism or cellular target for lidocaine or Zep peptides' anti-inflammatory effects has not been proposed.

We aimed to determine whether lidocaine and Zep peptides reduce the release of the proinflammatory cytokine, IL-1β, from activated human …