Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of Metal-Containing Nanoparticles For Chemical Analysis And Bioanalysis, Juan Han

Theses and Dissertations

Metal-containing nanoparticles (MCPs) have been applied in fields ranging from environmental monitoring to biomedicine. This breadth is due to the outstanding behavior of MCPs as catalysts and imaging agents, and the ease with which nanoparticle morphology, composition, and reactivity (such as agglomeration) can be controlled. The work described in this dissertation will have two fundamentally different foci that are both essential for further development of MCPs as tools for chemical and bioanalysis. The first focus is on particle-by-particle characterization MCPs and the second focus is on creation of new composite MCPs. A total of four projects are included in this …

Decentering From Distress In The Moment: A Brief Randomized Control Trial, Sheila Hanson

Theses and Dissertations

The utility of mindfulness techniques to regulate emotions and enhance distress tolerance is an area of expanding research interest. Decentering, a mindfulness mechanism believed to exert therapeutic influence, is the realization that thoughts, feelings, and reactions are transitory patterns of mental activity. Existing research indicates that decentering may occur through brief mindfulness interventions. Most studies concerning brief mindfulness induce a state of mindfulness prior to a task to examine its influence on dependent variables, such as cognitive or emotional outcomes after mindfulness. This study is novel and fills a gap in the literature regarding the utility of inducing state mindfulness …

Criterion-Referenced Cut-Points In Cardiorespiratory Fitness Associated With Metabolic Syndrome In Adult Americans, Nicholas Gabriel Kavadas

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: To identify criterion-referenced cut-points in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a nationally-representative sample of young- and middle-aged American adults. Methods: The analytic sample comprised 3302 Americans aged 20–49 years who participated in the 1999–2000, 2001–2002, and 2003–2004 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. CRF was assessed by a submaximal run/walk test on a treadmill. MetS was determined using American Heart Association criteria, measured as the presence of three or more risk factors (high waist circumference, high blood pressure, high fasting triglycerides, high fasting glucose, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol). Receiver operating characteristic …

Teacher Demoralization, Mental Health, And The Moderating Effect Of Shame Resilience, Chelsie Terez Hultz

Theses and Dissertations

The first purpose of this study was to extend the literature on teacher demoralization (Santoro, 2011) by providing the second attempt to measure the phenomenon done by Carlson-Jaquez (2016). Exploratory factor analysis was used to analyze construct validity of an original self-report instrument for the assessment of teacher demoralization analyzed as three sub-scale constructs: shame, lack of autonomy, and uncertainty. Data was collected from a population of K-12 educators in one mid-western public-school district. Participants completed a self-assessment survey shared via email and rated their level of agreement on twenty-one questions. Five demographic questions began the survey’s 26 questions. Data …

Eating Disorder Symptoms On Female Collegiate-Level Athletes And Non-Athletes, Kennedy Victoria Kidd

Theses and Dissertations

In previous research, it found that the risk of developing an eating disorder (ED) is much higher in females compared to males (Dunca, Ziobrowski & Nicol, 2017; Raevuori, Keski-Rahkonen, & Hoek, 2014; Lewinsohn, Seeley, Moerk, & Striegel-Moore, 2002). Similarly, research has shown that the prevalence of EDs is much higher in female athletes compared to male athletes (Johnson, Powers, & Dick, 1999). Despite the risk of developing an ED being higher in females, research has not provided a strong understanding of the prevalence of EDs comparing female student-athletes and female student non-athletes. There is research that shows that athletes may …

The Effect Of Child Sexual Exploitation Material Offender Age, Motivation For Use, And Treatment Interest On Public Perceptions Of Offense And Treatment, Beth Catherine Kliethermes

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to better understand factors that may influence public perceptions related to child sexual exploitation material offenders. Specifically, the current study aimed to examine the impact of offender age, motivation for use, and treatment seeking on public perceptions of the offense of child sexual exploitation material possession, as well as treatment implications. Furthermore, public perceptions regarding mandatory reporting of viewing and possessing child sexual exploitation material were explored. The study utilized a vignette in the style of a criminal case describing a situation in which a man is charged with possession of child sexual …

Ammonia/Water Thermodynamic Cycle For Lunar Power Applications, Jeremy David Harris

Theses and Dissertations

For long-term presence on the lunar surface, a reliable and efficient power source is required. A novel thermodynamic bottoming cycle which utilizes ammonia and water—the Kalina Cycle—is evaluated for use on the lunar surface. Terrestrial utilization of the Kalina Cycle shows higher efficiencies at lower temperatures and more compact packaging when compared to some other solar-powered systems. The research question is, "Can an ammonia-water thermodynamic cycle have benefits over other proposed power generation schemes on the lunar surface?" To analyze this question, an analysis of alternatives is performed which evaluates the Kalina Cycle against previously analyzed lunar power systems. Eight …

Numerical Investigation Of Aerodynamic Effects On Ash Impaction And Outside Ash Deposition Rates During Second Generation Atmospheric Pressure Oxy-Coal Combustion, Monika Kuznia

Theses and Dissertations

Oxy-combustion is one of the most competitive technologies for retrofitting existing pulverized coal-fired power plants to facilitate carbon capture and sequestration processes to reduce fossil fuel-derived carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. However, one of the obstacles hindering the widespread commercialization of this technology is the need to recirculate large volumes of flue gas to the boiler. Second generation atmospheric pressure oxy-combustion technologies have been developed to reduce the volume of recirculated flue gas by using high oxygen concentrations in the inlet oxidizer streams. However, recent experiments have shown that an increased ash deposition propensity is associated with these oxygen-enriched …

Hyperbolic Surface Wave Propagation In Mid-Infrared Metasurfaces With Extreme Anisotropy, Ahmed Mekawy, Andrea Alù

Advanced Science Research Center

Hyperbolic metasurfaces are characterized by an extreme anisotropy of their effective conductivity tensor, which may be induced at visible frequencies by sculpting metals at the subwavelength scale. In this work, we explore practical implementations of hyperbolic metasurfaces at mid-infrared wavelengths, exploiting devices composed of metals and high-index semiconductor materials, which can support the required field confinement and extreme anisotropy required to realize low loss hyperbolic surface waves. In particular, we discuss the role of broken symmetries in these hybrid metasurfaces to enable large and broadband hyperbolic responses spanning the entire mid-infrared wavelength range (3–30 μm). Our findings pave the way …

Proximal And Distal Effects Of Genetic Susceptibility To Multiple Sclerosis On The T Cell Epigenome, Tina Roostaei, Hans-Ulrich Klein, Yiyi Ma, Daniel Felsky, Pia Kivisäkk, Sarah M. Connor, Alexandra Kroshilina, Christina Yung, Belinda J. Kaskow, Xiaorong Shao, Brooke Rhead, José M. Ordovás, Devin M. Absher, Donna K. Arnett, Jia Liu, Nikolaos Patsopoulos, Lisa F. Barcellos, Howard L. Weiner, Philip L. De Jager

Advanced Science Research Center

Identifying the effects of genetic variation on the epigenome in disease-relevant cell types can help advance our understanding of the first molecular contributions of genetic susceptibility to disease onset. Here, we establish a genome-wide map of DNA methylation quantitative trait loci in CD4⁺ T-cells isolated from multiple sclerosis patients. Utilizing this map in a colocalization analysis, we identify 19 loci where the same haplotype drives both multiple sclerosis susceptibility and local DNA methylation. We also identify two distant methylation effects of multiple sclerosis susceptibility loci: a chromosome 16 locus affects PRDM8 methylation (a chromosome 4 region not previously associated …

The Atr-Chek1 Pathway Inhibits Axon Regeneration In Response To Piezo-Dependent Mechanosensation, Feng Li, Tsz Y. Lo, Leann Miles, Qin Wang, Harun N. Noristani, Dan Li, Jingwen Niu, Shannon Trombley, Jessica I. Goldshteyn, Chuxi Wang, Shuchao Wang, Jingyun Qiu, Katarzyna Pogoda, Kalpana Mandal, Megan Brewster, Panteleimon Rompolas, Ye He, Pau A. Janmey, Gareth M. Thomas, Shuxin Li, Yuanquan Song

Advanced Science Research Center

Atr is a serine/threonine kinase, known to sense single-stranded DNA breaks and activate the DNA damage checkpoint by phosphorylating Chek1, which inhibits Cdc25, causing cell cycle arrest. This pathway has not been implicated in neuroregeneration. We show that in Drosophila sensory neurons removing Atr or Chek1, or overexpressing Cdc25 promotes regeneration, whereas Atr or Chek1 overexpression, or Cdc25 knockdown impedes regeneration. Inhibiting the Atr-associated checkpoint complex in neurons promotes regeneration and improves synapse/behavioral recovery after CNS injury. Independent of DNA damage, Atr responds to the mechanical stimulus elicited during regeneration, via the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo and its downstream NO …

Brain-Specific Lipoprotein Receptors Interact With Astrocyte Derived Apolipoprotein And Mediate Neuron-Glia Lipid Shuttling, Jun Yin, Emma Spillman, Ethan S. Cheng, Jacob Short, Yang Chen, Jingce Lei, Mary Gibbs, Justin S. Rosenthal, Chengyu Sheng, Yuki X. Chen, Kelly Veerasammy, Tenzin Choetso, Rinat Abzalimov, Bei Wang, Chun Han, Ye He, Quan Yuan

Advanced Science Research Center

Lipid shuttling between neurons and glia contributes to the development, function, and stress responses of the nervous system. To understand how a neuron acquires its lipid supply from specific lipoproteins and their receptors, we perform combined genetic, transcriptome, and biochemical analyses in the developing Drosophila larval brain. Here we report, the astrocyte-derived secreted lipocalin Glial Lazarillo (GLaz), a homolog of human Apolipoprotein D (APOD), and its neuronal receptor, the brain-specific short isoforms of Drosophila lipophorin receptor 1 (LpR1-short), cooperatively mediate neuron-glia lipid shuttling and support dendrite morphogenesis. The isoform specificity of LpR1 defines its distribution, binding partners, and ability to …

Elevated Growth And Biomass Along Temperate Forest Edges, Luca L. Morreale, Jonathan R. Thompson, Xiaojing Tang, Andrew Reinmann, Lucy R. Hutyra

Advanced Science Research Center

Fragmentation transforms the environment along forest edges. The prevailing narrative, driven by research in tropical systems, suggests that edge environments increase tree mortality and structural degradation resulting in net decreases in ecosystem productivity. We show that, in contrast to tropical systems, temperate forest edges exhibit increased forest growth and biomass with no change in total mortality relative to the forest interior. We analyze >48,000 forest inventory plots across the north-eastern US using a quasi-experimental matching design. At forest edges adjacent to anthropogenic land covers, we report increases of 36.3% and 24.1% in forest growth and biomass, respectively. Inclusion of edge …

Systematic Review Shows No Strong Evidence Regarding The Use Of Elastic Taping For Pain Improvement In Patients With Primary Knee Osteoarthritis, Stephan Heddon, Nicole Saulnier, Jorge K. Mercado, Michelle Shalmiyev, Jean-Philippe Berteau

Advanced Science Research Center

Background: A recent trend in the field of primary knee osteoarthritis suggests that elastic tape (e.g., K-tape) relieves pressure on the joint by increasing tension on fascia. Elastic tape (ET) is expected to decrease pain and help patients to recover faster.

Objective: This systematic review aims to analyze the efficacy of this method on pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis by using The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score.

Data sources: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standard for reporting systematic reviews of qualitative and quantitative evidence, we used 3 electronic databases, …

Potential Ecological Impacts Of Climate Intervention By Reflecting Sunlight To Cool Earth, Phoebe L. Zarnetske, Jessica Gurevitch, Janet Franklin, Peter M. Groffman, Cheryl S. Harrison, Jessica J. Hellmann, Forrest M. Hoffman, Shan Kothari, Alan Robock, Simone Tilmes, Daniele Visioni, Jin Wu, Lili Xia, Cheng-En Yang

Advanced Science Research Center

As the effects of anthropogenic climate change become more severe, several approaches for deliberate climate intervention to reduce or stabilize Earth’s surface temperature have been proposed. Solar radiation modification (SRM) is one potential approach to partially counteract anthropogenic warming by reflecting a small proportion of the incoming solar radiation to increase Earth’s albedo. While climate science research has focused on the predicted climate effects of SRM, almost no studies have investigated the impacts that SRM would have on ecological systems. The impacts and risks posed by SRM would vary by implementation scenario, anthropogenic climate effects, geographic region, and by ecosystem, …

State Changes: Insights From The U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network, Julie C. Zinnert, Jesse B. Nippert, Jennifer A. Rudgers, Steven C. Pennings, Grizelle González, Merryl Alber, Sara G. Baer, John M. Blair, Adrian Burd, Scott L. Collins, Christopher Craft, Daniela Di Iorio, Walter K. Dodds, Peter M. Groffman, Ellen Herbert, Christine Hladik, Fan Li, Marcy E. Litvak, Seth Newsome, John O’Donnell, William T. Pockman, John Schalles, Donald R. Young

Advanced Science Research Center

Understanding the complex and unpredictable ways ecosystems are changing and predicting the state of ecosystems and the services they will provide in the future requires coordinated, long-term research. This paper is a product of a U.S. National Science Foundation funded Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network synthesis effort that addressed anticipated changes in future populations and communities. Each LTER site described what their site would look like in 50 or 100 yr based on long-term patterns and responses to global change drivers in each ecosystem. Common themes emerged and predictions were grouped into state change, connectivity, resilience, time lags, and …

Applying A Novel Systems Approach To Address Systemic Environmental Injustices: Constructing Soil For Limiting The Legacy Of Lead (Pb), Sara Perl Egendorf, Peter M. Groffman, Zhongqi Cheng, Michael Menser, Jan Mun, Howard Mielke

Advanced Science Research Center

The knowledge of unsustainable human and Earth system interactions is widespread, especially in light of systemic environmental injustices. Systems science has enabled complex and rigorous understandings of human and Earth system dynamics, particularly relating to pollution of Earth’s land, water, air, and organisms. Given that many of these systems are not functioning sustainably or optimally, how might this field enable both rigorous understanding of the issues and experiments aimed at alternative outcomes? Here, we put forth a novel, multiscale systems science approach with three steps: (1) understanding the systemic issues at hand, (2) identifying systemic interventions, and (3) applying experiments …

Why You’Re Not Worthy: The Superiority Theory Of Humor, Sophia A. Stone

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Alexithymia In Memory And Executive Functioning Across The Lifespan, Anthony N. Correro, Elizabeth Rose Paitel, Steven J. Byers, Kristy A. Nielson

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Alexithymia is a personality trait characterised by difficulties identifying feelings (DIF), describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT). Alexithymia has been associated with poorer memory, at least for emotive materials, and recently, with executive and neural dysfunction. Aging is also accompanied by poorer memory and executive functioning (EF), neural dysfunction, and increasing alexithymia. Thus, the hypothesis of a general cognitive impairment in alexithymia, particularly in elders, needs investigation. Three large, independent, cross-sectional experiments (n = 296, 139 and 121, respectively) investigated memory and EF in healthy adults, ranging from young to old adulthood, with age, sex, and the …

A Systematic Review Of Cognitive Event-Related Potentials In Mild Cognitive Impairment And Alzheimer’S Disease, Elizabeth Rose Paitel, Marielle R. Samii, Kristy A. Nielson

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

This systematic review examined whether event-related potentials (ERPs) during higher cognitive processing can detect subtle, early signs of neurodegenerative disease. Original, empirical studies retrieved from PsycINFO and PubMed were reviewed if they analyzed patterns in cognitive ERPs (≥150 ms post-stimulus) differentiating mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), or cognitively intact elders who carry AD risk through the Apolipoprotein-E ε4 allele (ε4+) from healthy older adult controls (HC). The 100 studies meeting inclusion criteria (MCI = 47; AD = 47; ε4+ = 6) analyzed N200, P300, N400, and occasionally, later components. While there was variability across studies, patterns of reduced …

Temporal Dynamics Of Event-Related Potentials During Inhibitory Control Characterize Age-Related Neural Compensation, Elizabeth Rose Paitel, Kristy A. Nielson

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Aging is accompanied by frontal lobe and non-dominant hemisphere recruitment that supports executive functioning, such as inhibitory control, which is crucial to all cognitive functions. However, the spatio-temporal sequence of processing underlying successful inhibition and how it changes with age is understudied. Thus, we capitalized on the temporal precision of event-related potentials (ERPs) to assess the functional lateralization of N200 (conflict monitoring) and P300 (inhibitory performance evaluation) in young and healthy older adults during comparably performed successful stop-signal inhibition. We additionally used temporal principal components analysis (PCA) to further interrogate the continuous spatio-temporal dynamics underlying N200 and P300 activation for …

Hippocampal Functional Connectivity And Memory Performance After Exercise Intervention In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment, Junyeon Won, Daniel D. Callow, Gabriel S. Pena, Leslie S. Jordan, Naomi A. Arnold-Nedimala, Kristy A. Nielson, J. Carson Smith

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Background:

Exercise training (ET) has neuroprotective effects in the hippocampus, a key brain region for memory that is vulnerable to age-related dysfunction.

Objective:

We investigated the effects of ET on functional connectivity (FC) of the hippocampus in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and a cognitively normal (CN) control group. We also assessed whether the ET-induced changes in hippocampal FC (Δhippocampal-FC) are associated with changes in memory task performance (Δmemory performance).

Methods:

32 older adults (77.0±7.6 years; 16 MCI and 16 CN) participated in the present study. Cardiorespiratory fitness tests, memory tasks (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and …

Synaptic Processes And Immune-Related Pathways Implicated In Tourette Syndrome, Douglas W. Woods

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder of complex genetic architecture involving multiple interacting genes. Here, we sought to elucidate the pathways that underlie the neurobiology of the disorder through genome-wide analysis. We analyzed genome-wide genotypic data of 3581 individuals with TS and 7682 ancestry-matched controls and investigated associations of TS with sets of genes that are expressed in particular cell types and operate in specific neuronal and glial functions. We employed a self-contained, set-based association method (SBA) as well as a competitive gene set method (MAGMA) using individual-level genotype data to perform a comprehensive investigation of the biological background …

Assessing The Psychometric Proprieties Of The Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale–Short Form (Atspph-Sf) Among Latino Adults, Lucas Torres, Brooke E. Magnus, Natasha Suhail Najar

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

The Latino population continues to underutilize mental health services at an alarming rate. The Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale–Short Form (ATSPPH-SF) is one of the most commonly used instruments to assess help-seeking attitudes. The current study sought to evaluate the factor structure and test for the presence of differential item functioning on the ATSPPH-SF with a sample of Latino adult individuals across nativity status (U.S.- vs. foreign-born), language format (English vs. Spanish), and gender. The analyses revealed two relatively independent factors named Openness to Seeking Treatment and Value and Need in Seeking Treatment. Measurement equivalence and practical implications …

Photographic Returns: Racial Justice And The Time Of Photography, Laura Elizabeth Shea

Art Inquiries

Book review of Photographic Returns: Racial Justice and the Time of Photography, by Shawn Michelle Smith.

Association Of Expanded Prenatal Care Coverage For Immigrant Women With Postpartum Contraception And Short Interpregnancy Interval Births, Maria I. Rodriguez, Menolly Kaufman, Stephan Lindner, Aaron B. Caughey, Ana Lopez-De Fede

Publications

Importance Access to prenatal and postpartum care is restricted among women with low income who are recent or undocumented immigrants enrolled in Emergency Medicaid. Objective To examine the association of extending prenatal care coverage to Emergency Medicaid enrollees with postpartum contraception and short interpregnancy interval births. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study used a difference-in-differences design to compare the staggered rollout of prenatal care in Oregon with South Carolina, a state that does not cover prenatal or postpartum care. Linked Medicaid claims and birth certificate data from 2010 to 2016 were examined for an association between prenatal care coverage …

Analysis Of Contraceptive Use Among Immigrant Women Following Expansion Of Medicaid Coverage For Postpartum Care, Maria I. Rodriguez, Megan Skye, Stephan Lindner, Aaron B. Caughey, Ana Lopez-Defede

Publications

Importance: Access to postpartum care is restricted for low-income women who are recent or undocumented immigrants enrolled in Emergency Medicaid. Objective: To examine the association of a policy extending postpartum coverage to Emergency Medicaid recipients with attendance at postpartum visits and use of postpartum contraception. Design, setting, and participants: This cohort study linked Medicaid claims and birth certificate data from 2010 to 2019 to examine changes in postpartum care coverage on postpartum care and contraception use. A difference-in-difference design was used to compare the rollout of postpartum coverage in Oregon with a comparison state, South Carolina, which did not cover …

Disparities In Postpartum Contraceptive Use Among Immigrant Women With Restricted Medicaid Benefits, Maria I. Rodriguez, K. John Mcconnell, Megan Skye, Menolly Kaufman, Aaron B. Caughey, Ana Lopez-De Fede

Publications

BACKGROUND: The Emergency Medicaid program offers restricted Medicaid benefits for people who meet the same financial eligibility criteria as Traditional Medicaid recipients but do not meet the citizenship requirements for enrollment in Traditional Medicaid. By federal law, Emergency Medicaid covers care for life-threatening emergencies or a hospital admission for childbirth. No prenatal or postpartum care is covered. Most of the women enrolled in Emergency Medicaid are Latina. OBJECTIVE: We assessed postpartum visits and receipt of postpartum contraception and compared the outcomes for Emergency (restricted benefit) Medicaid recipients with those of Traditional (full-benefit) Medicaid recipients in Oregon and South Carolina, 2 …

Front Pages

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Attribution Time: Cal Tinney’S 1937 Quip, “A Switch In Time’Ll Save Nine”, John Q. Barrett

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.