Coupling Micro/Nanoscale Electoporation To Enhance Genetic Probe Delivery For Cell Therapy, Xuan Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Emerging as an effective option, immunotherapy is gradually being recognized by the cancer treatment community. However, due to its wide use of viral vectors for gene delivery, many limitations and safety concerns impede its adoption in clinical practice. This promotes the emergence of many non-viral gene delivery methods including the use of inorganic or organic nanoparticles to carry and deliver genetic probes as complexes through chemical mechanisms and the use of mechanical or electrical forces to physically breakdown delivery barriers of the cell membrane to allow quick probe internalization. Compared to the former (chemical methods), the latter (physical methods) shows …

So You Want To Be A Dietitian?, Morgan Cosillo

ESSAI

No abstract provided.

Transformation Leadership And Youth Development Soccer Coaches: Behaviors That Enhance Coaching Performance, Diego Barros Dos Santos

Leadership Education Capstones

This quantitative study investigated the potential relationship between youth development soccer coaching style and transformational leadership behaviors. An anonymous survey was the source of data for this study. Participants responses were categorized into the four factors of transformational leadership which include (1) intellectual stimulation, (2) inspirational motivation, (3) idealized influence, and (4) individualized considerations. Recommendations for future research encompass expanding the demographics, sample size and field observations. Additionally, further research could include a contrast and comparison between coaches perspective x athletes perspective about transformational leadership behaviors. Furthermore, transformational leadership workshop and post survey intervention might expose how coaches leadership style …

Faith, Law, And Love: Peg Brinig's Legacy, Stephanos Bibas

Notre Dame Law Review

The central question in Peg Brinig’s work is how the law can help intimate associations to raise healthy kids. She pursues this theme through a variety of inquiries, ranging from parochial schools in big-city neighborhoods to covenant-marriage laws in Louisiana. Her answers depend on context, varying with how close each social actor or institution is to the process of raising children. But nearly all her recommendations seek to foster permanent, loving, involved social environments.

Following Brinig’s lead, I’ll celebrate her work by highlighting some of the answers she offers in three different social contexts. In Part I, I’ll explore her …

A Social–Ecological Odyssey In Fisheries And Wildlife Management, Andrew K. Carlson, William W. Taylor, Melissa R. Cronin, Mitchell J. Eaton, Mark A. Kaemingk, Andrea J. Reid, Ashley Trudeau

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aldo Leopold, famous ecologist and “father” of North American wildlife management, once said, “These are two things that interest me: the relation of people to each other, and the relation of people to land” (Leopold 1947). Ever prescient, Leopold recognized that natural resource management is fundamentally about humans and their relationship with nature well before conservation became an established way of thinking, much less the bedrock of entire professions. Similarly, amid the Green Revolution to increase agricultural production, in part, through widespread use of pesticides, renowned environmentalist and journalist Rachel Carson noted that we are all “a part of nature, …

The Impact Of A Faith-Based Education Network For Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Chandila Tutt

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of mortality in the United States. Racial disparities related to cardiovascular disease also exist, especially in African Americans. It is imperative to explore solutions to close the gap among these individuals. This study measured the effectiveness of an educational intervention on cardiovascular disease prevention targeting African Americans in a faith-based community setting. This study aimed to target individuals in community and faith-based settings for health promotion and disease prevention through an education network, increase participant’s awareness and knowledge about cardiovascular disease, determine the impact of a cardiovascular disease program on perceived cardiovascular disease …

Utah State University Commencement, 2020 – Main Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

133rd Annual Commencement of Utah State University

Study Of Upregulation Of Drug Resistance In H460 Lung Cancer Cells Via Microchannel Device, Nowmi Haider

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Metastasis is the main reason of high mortality rates in cancer patients. Treating these patients becomes difficult once the cancer has metastasized, especially due to their drug resistance. Drug resistance is a common problem that occurs when treating cancer patients, as in most cancer types, the cells are capable of drug efflux. This makes treatments like chemotherapy ineffective. Therefore, it is important to find alternative methods of treatment that can effectively kill drug resistant cancer cells. Lung cancer is one type of cancer that is the second most diagnosed cancer in the U.S. In this study, microchannels were used to …

Population And Reproductive Dynamics Of Zebra Mussels (Dreissena Polymorpha) In Texas Reservoirs: Predicting The Sustainability Of Zebra Mussel Populations In Warmer Waters, Heather Mae Arterburn

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are highly invasive freshwater bivalve mollusks, introduced to the United Sates in the late 1980’s, and known for forming dense colonies that can encrust boat hulls and motors, damage docks and marinas, and occlude raw water lines and intake pipes. In 2009, zebra mussels were discovered in Lake Texoma, TX/OK and have since infested twenty other lakes in Texas. Never before have zebra mussels been found in waters as warm as those in Texas, leading scientists, resource managers, and regulatory agencies to question the pervasiveness and persistence of this species in warm southwestern water bodies. To …

Vitamin D Deficiency And Perceived Pain, Theodore Korty, Adam Grunbaum, Ken Baxa, Olu Oyesanmi

West Florida Division GME Research Day 2020

Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to contribute to the onset of musculoskeletal pain, headaches, and fatigue (1, 2). Deficient levels of calcium phosphate have been linked to musculoskeletal pain associated with vitamin D deficiency (3). Low levels of calcium phosphate may result in an inadequately mineralized bone matrix, and normalization of vitamin D levels should help to diminish symptoms of pain by correcting suboptimal mineralization of bone matrix (3). One prior study of patients who underwent orthopedic procedures (including treatment of vertebral compression fractures, Colle’s fractures, hip & knee arthroplasty, ligament repair, and meniscal repair), showed that 44% (n …

Health Care Access And Utilization By U.S. Farmworkers, Genesis Bojorquez

Dissertations

Background: Agriculture industry has the highest fatality rate among all United States industries. Farmworkers experience high rates of occupational injury, illness, and mortality, yet have limited access to health care. Implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 increased health care accessibility and broadened farmworker eligibility for health insurance, yet no study has measured the impact of the ACA upon U.S. farmworkers.

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to examine health care access and health care services utilization among U.S. farmworkers following the implementation of the ACA in 2010.

Specific Aims:

1. Apply the …

Reactions To Gulf War I And Gulf War Ii In American And Iraqi Cinema And Theatre: The Quest For A Global Utopia, Tajaddin Salahaddin Noori

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many American and Iraqi cultural reactions to Gulf War I and Gulf War II, including the texts selected for this story, expressed the dystopian consequences of these wars. However, this study focuses on exploring the utopian dimensions of the selected texts and investigates how these texts attempt to reconcile both sides of the conflict and produce visions toward a global utopia. Significantly, this study represents the visions toward a global utopia as a series of visions toward oneness. That is, oneness of human beings over otherness, oneness of different nation states under one global community, and oneness of cultural productions’ …

Determining Cluster Thinning And Storage Effects On Fruit Quality And Marketability Attributes Of Arkansas Table Grapes Grown Under High Tunnel Systems., Virginia Beasley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Table Grapes (Vitus vinifera) are highly valued horticulture crops world-wide. Often, table grape production in the southern United States is restricted due to climate and pest issues. Viticulture production could be expanded to this region by the use of controlled environment growing systems, such as high tunnels (HT). The objective of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of HT systems for grape cultivation and compare the effects of different cluster thinning treatments on vines. In this two-year study, the cultivars Faith, Gratitude, Hope, and Jupiter were grown in HT systems and assessed for postharvest qualities at harvest and during …

Nutritional Supplementation And Skeletal Muscle Health In Chronic Diseases, Hexirui Wu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prevalence of chronic diseases in the United States keeps increasing in recent years. There are approximately four in ten adults having chronic diseases in America. Chronic diseases include obesity, aging, heart diseases, cancer and many others. This thesis mainly focuses on obesity and aging. Skeletal muscle performance is impaired in obesity and aging conditions. One common reason causing this could be higher fat mass and lower muscle mass. However, there is no study showing what pathways are involved in the imbalance of body composition. Therefore, the first objective of the thesis is to determine gene expression of selected pathways in …

Empirical Empowerment - Mental Health In The Built Environment, Emily Mcclure

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

One in five adults in the US experienced a mental illness in 2018 and 19.1% Of the adult population suffers from the damages of poor mental health, affecting family, friends, as well as productivity in the workplace and physical health. The environment we occupy often goes unnoticed as the catalyst of neglecting mental health, while we spend more that 80% of our days on average indoors, there is a direct connection between environment and its impact on our mental health. Health and human services defines mental health as our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, affecting how we think, feel, and …

Influences Of Coach Leadership Related To Nutrition On Collegiate Student Athletes Dietary Choices, Maria Fruechte

Leadership Education Capstones

The purpose of this study is to better understand how coach leadership related to nutritional information influences collegiate student athletes’ acquisition and application of nutrition. This will be followed up to consider how the information and expectations of coaches influences athletes’ knowledge and dietary choices.

Leadership Strategies: Developing Millennial Entrepreneurs For Start-Up Micro-Gyms, Esdeina Gonzalez

Leadership Education Capstones

The purpose for this study is to explore the experiences of small business owner’s best practice strategies leading to successful business operations. Learning about these experiences will permit the millennial generation to understand what is needed for their business to start up their micro-gym. This study may be used as an introduction to millennial entrepreneurs for the survival of their own micro-gym setting a priority of importance in leadership development since research have explored the lack of development in the leadership area.

Hospital To Home: Fall Prevention Interventions For The Discharging Patient, Joy Bridewell

Nursing Masters Papers

Falls is a major public health problem globally, with an estimated 646,000 fatal falls per year. This makes falls the second leading cause of unintentional injury death. Falls are very costly with non-fatal fall injuries costing about $50 billion per year and fatal falls with an estimated $754 million. Many risk factors contribute to a person’s risk of falling. Risk factors include age, gender, muscle strength, underlying medical or disabling conditions, and unsafe environments. Patients who have been hospitalized are also among those at risk. Most hospitalized patients are assessed frequently to determine their risk of falling so that care …

Dreissena In The Great Lakes: Benthic Community Impacts And Facilitation, Sonya C. Bayba

Great Lakes Center Masters Theses

Non-native invasive Dreissena mussels have altered the flow of energy in numerous freshwater systems by diverting nutrients from pelagic to littoral benthic food-webs, thus reducing primary production available to deep offshore benthos. Though the effect of the nearshore-dwelling Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel) on benthos has been studied thoroughly, little is known about the deep, offshore impacts of Dreissena rostriformis bugensis (quagga mussel). In the last two decades, quagga mussels have displaced zebra mussels in shallow Great Lakes regions and colonized previously uninhabited offshore lake regions. It is likely that the spread of quagga mussels into deep profundal areas has resulted …

Comparative Analysis Of Metabolic Pathways Of Bacteria Used In Fermented Food, Keanu Hoang, Kiran Bastola

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This study presents a novel methodology for analyzing metabolic pathways. Utilizing KEGG REST API through a Biopython package and file parser, data about whether or not a bacteria has an enzyme or not was extracted. The results found that differences in metabolic pathway enrichment values follow along the lines of genera and pathway type. In particular, bacteria found in food spoilage and commercial nitrogen fixing products had high values of enrichment.

A Literature Review Of Early Childhood Intervention Programs, Kelsey L. Mcilwain

Honors Capstones

With the ever-increasing educational demands in the United States, large discrepancies across socioeconomic classes in regards to early childhood development and academic achievement have become evident (Ramey & Ramey, 2004). The purpose of this project is to provide an overview of early childhood intervention programs that have been developed in an attempt to address these discrepancies. This literature review discusses the framework and outcomes measures of three programs that were implemented on a national or state-wide level: Head Start, the ABC Project, and Project CARE. Given that there have been dozens of initiatives rolled out to address early development deficiencies …

How Social Service Organizations Respond To Barriers To Latino Immigrant Employment, Abigayle Brooks

2020 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Hispanics and Latinos form the largest group of immigrants but compared to other immigrant groups, they have some of the highest poverty rates. Despite these obstacles, full-time employment has been shown to be one of the greatest factors associated with lowering poverty. This study carried out a cross-sectional survey of representatives from social service organizations in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area to examine the prevalence of services that promote greater full-time employment among Latino immigrants. Most participants reported the provision of employment services at their organization, followed by welfare- and family-related services. Educational services were the least prevalent category of …

Effect Of Individual And Population Fitness Tradeoff On Predatory Behaviors, Beena Margabandu

2020 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Cannibalism, a behavior in which an organism preys on conspecific individuals, has contrasting fitness effects at the population level and the individual level. Cannibalism reduces the population fitness by directly eliminating individuals but may increase individual fitness by increasing nutrition and reducing competition for resources such as food and mates. While cannibalism provides both costs and benefits to fitness, predation of other species is predicted to be a better feeding strategy as it does not carry the population level fitness cost. Here, we seek to compare the cannibalism rate between Gnatocerus cornutus and Tribolium castaneum, two flour beetle species that …

Identifying Gaps In Nursing Students’ Knowledge Of Hypertension, Steven Parker

2020 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Senior nursing students’ knowledge of hypertension was analyzed in this work. Registered nurses with sufficient knowledge of hypertension have been shown to provide more effective discharge education to patients, promoting adherence and increasing blood pressure control. A ten-question, open-ended survey was sent to all 178 of the senior 2 nursing students enrolled in the on-campus BSN program at The University of Texas at Arlington. Responses to each question were tallied to determine significant gaps in nursing students’ knowledge. Gaps of knowledge will indicate areas that should receive more attention in the nursing school curriculum. The survey found that while almost …

Identification Of Glycation-Susceptible Proteins In Human Plasma Using Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, David Smith

2020 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The Maillard reaction has garnered attention in a wide variety of industries in chemistry, including food science, textiles, and pharmaceuticals. Most recently, the Maillard reaction has become medically relevant, mediating the irreversible addition of sugars to proteins. This non-enzymatic post-translational modification, called glycation, leads to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGE formation steadily increases with age and is known to mediate the pathogenesis of numerous agerelated diseases including cardiovascular, renal, ocular, and neurodegenerative diseases, especially in diabetic or uremic patients. The mechanisms of pathogenesis for these diseases, as well as the full extent of the impact of …

The Effects Of Storage Temperature On The Bovine Nasal Microbiome, Hunter Usdrowski

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is one of the largest economic burdens facing United States beef producer’s modern day. The complexity in the onset and development of this multifactorial disease necessitates further insights into its functions to alleviate the tremendous consequences it generates for producers. The respiratory microbiome and their metabolomics play an important role to maintain health and predict BRD. However, due to low biomass, new technology is needed to increase the microbial concentration for omics (e.g. metatranscriptomics) research. In this study, a novel self-enrichment storage technique on the bovine nasal microbiome was performed and compared to a traditional nasal …

Mechanistic Understanding Of Leaky Gut Syndrome In Heat Stressed Broiler Chickens, Jennifer Hoover

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

Broilers, meat-type chickens, are bred for high growth rate and meat yield. These chickens have specific challenges due to heat stress. The adverse effects that impact these chickens have lead us to study the mechanisms involved. The objective of this study is to evaluate the expression of genes involved in intestinal permeability of heat- stressed broiler chickens. All analyses are on previously collected tissues. A total of 600 one day old Cobb 500 male chicks were weighed and randomly assigned to 12 environmental chambers. Ambient temperature in the chambers was gradually decreased from 32˚C on d 1 to 24˚C …

Weight Bias And Mindset In Physical Educators, Abigail Caroline Heller

Psychology Theses - Archive

While physical education (PE) classes and sports teams create an opportunity to increase overweight and obese students’ interest in physical activity (Price, 1990), these are settings in which such students encounter stigma from PE teachers and coaches (Bauer et al., 2004). Weight bias predicts negative psychological (Eisenberg et al., 2003) and physical (Hunger & Yomiyama, 2014) outcomes in children and adolescents, which could be offset by positive behaviors related to growth mindset in teachers. The current study examined weight bias in elementary PE teachers as well as the influence of teacher sport-related mindset on weight bias. PE teachers (N = …

Targeted Lc-Ms Analysis For Metabolite Profiling From Pathogenic Bacteria, Jessica Gomez-Vargas

2020 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Groundwater is relied on for drinking by more than 50 percent of the United States. For this reason, the purity of groundwater is extremely important. There has been possible contamination of opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms in groundwater attributable to oil and gas extractions from drilling and hydraulic fracturing; two of which are Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus cereus. These pathogens can cause severe infections in humans. P. aeruginosa increases prevalence of chronic and nosocomial infections. B. cereus produces toxins that are one of the most common causes of food poisoning. B. cereus can also cause infections of the eye, respiratory tract, and …

The Yaqui And Porfirio Díaz: Explaining One Of The Largest Forgotten Genocides Of Modern Mexico, Alexandra Sanchez

2020 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Porfirio Díaz was President of Mexico from 1876 until his exile in 1911. Díaz and his científicos (“technocrats”) enacted economic, cultural, and agrarian reforms to modernize and bring “progress” to the nation. However, his authoritarian rule and reforms exacerbated rural poverty, especially among indigenous peoples. The Yaqui are a Native American people from Mexico’s northern state of Sonora who have a history of resistance and rebellion against the colonizing forces of Spain and Mexico. After decades of sporadic conflict, Díaz authorized the detention, deportation, and enslavement of thousands of Yaquis, resulting in the most widespread diaspora of a North American …