Digital Commons Network^™

No Beef, No Filler, Just Baloney: My Approach To Truth In Screenwriting, Bryant Alexander Loney

Theses and Dissertations

Essay: No Beef, No Filler, Just BALoney: My Approach to Truth in Screenwriting -- Script 1: Peach Beachy, Thanks for Asking! -- Script 2: Scooby-Doo: “The Wane of Whitney Woods” -- Script 3: Bob’s Burgers: “Bob’s Books, Beach Mice, and Body Scrubs” -- Script 4: LEGO Friends: “When Bricks Are for Boys” -- Script 5: Sea Breeze Academy.

Implications Of Gender Dysphoria On Gender Schema And Social Cognitive Theories Of Gender Development, Beau Bourgeois

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project considers the implications of gender dysphoria under two prominent theories of gender development, gender schema theory (GST) and social cognitive theory (SCT). Gender dysphoria is considered a significant motivator for transgender behavior and is presented in the DSM-5 as the experience of a strong desire, or as primarily affective in nature. GST and SCT differ in a number of ways, most notably in the role affect plays for gender development and behavior motivations. The former places primary emphasis on environmental influences, leaving the role of affect in question, while the latter posits gender behavior and motivation as an …

Late-Stage Diversification Of Select Natural Products €“ New Chemical Entities With Improved Biological Activities, Moneerah J. Alqahtani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Owing to their complexity, diverse structures and molecular targets, natural products have contributed, and will continue to contribute, to the development and discovery of new drugs. Although natural products provide numerous active compounds, their complex structures and poor pharmacokinetics make meeting the eligibility criteria for clinical trials unfeasible. In order to improve their drug-likeness, structural modification is an effective tool to generate countless natural product-based molecules with potential therapeutics. This proposal entails synthetic efforts towards late-stage diversification of natural products in two projects.

The first study highlights the multi-factorial nature of Alzheimer’s disease and brings attention to the importance of …

The Epistemic Obligations Of The Ideal Citizen: A Neo-Aristotelian Solution For Truth-Decay In Democratic Societies, Dakota Shane Layton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary democratic societies are currently encumbered by the problem of truth-decay. Truth-decay is defined as the following set of interrelated trends:

Blues Is My Business (And Business Is Good?), David N. Larson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work focuses on the social, political, and economic trends that govern the blues music scene in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Clarksdale is seen as a sort of “ground zero” in the blues world, it is often referred to as, “the land where blues began.” This claim is not without merit but it is not strictly historically accurate. Many of the town’s spokespeople use euphemisms that distort the troubled history of race relations in the town and its music spaces.

This investigation centers around the economic state of the town’s tourism industry, the individuals who act as the town’s promoters, and the …

Role Of Astrocytic Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 In The Regulation Of Behavior, Cognition, And Neuroinflammation, Brayden Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern medicine has consistently extended life expectancy over recent decades and centuries. Despite this, age-associated cognitive decline and risk of neurodegenerative disease grow in parallel with lifespan, meaning the capacity to live healthier has not mirrored that to live longer. Many studies in both human and rodents have shown the association between age-related cognitive impairment and reduction of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) signaling. Additional research has indicated that dysregulated IGF-1 signaling, either systemic or local to the central nervous system (CNS) in cells like neurons and glia, leads to impaired spatial learning and memory in mice. Glia, or glial cells, …

Enhancing The Oral Drug Delivery Through Hot Melt Extrusion Techniques, Neeraja Komanduri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hot melt extrusion has been developed as a fresh technique for taste masking, in recent years. This method provides many aids as compared to traditional methods like avoiding the use of solvents, continuous manufacturing, ease to scale up, and adaptability to meet the goals of FDA for quality products. This method is useful for various applications like solubility enhancement, abuse deterrence, taste masking, transdermal dosage forms like films, immediate release oral dosage forms. In this work, This technique is explored for its applications using a novel polymer, Kollicoat® Smartseal 100P and its ability to be coupled with FDM 3D printing …

Development Of Local Depot Formulation For Sustained Systemic Delivery Of Proteins, Pranav Ponkshe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Protein therapeutics due to their high potency, high specificity, and desirable profile have gained a lot of traction in the last decade. Though the route of administration is limited to parenteral routes. There are also short half-life and instability issues observed in protein therapeutics making it necessary to develop delivery systems.

In the first chapter interleukin 15 as a cytokine was introduced while the second chapter talks more in detail about the development of a local depot hydrogel formulation for the delivery of recombinant interleukin 15. In vitro stability, and release studies were performed to select the optimum formulation for …

Interval Delivery Of 5ht2a Agonists Using Multilayered Polymeric Films, Mehjabeen Hossain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is an urgent unmet medical need to develop therapeutic options for the ~50% of depression patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression, which is difficult to treat with existing psycho- and pharmaco-therapeutic options. Classical psychedelics, such as the 5HT2A agonists, have re-emerged as a treatment paradigm for depression. Recent clinical trials highlight the potential effectiveness of 5HT2A agonists to improve mood and psychotherapeutic growth in treatment-resistant depression patients, even in those who have failed a median of four previous medications in their lifetime. Moreover, microdosing could be a promising way to achieve long-term alleviation of depression symptoms without a hallucinogenic experience. …

Women's Rights And Customary Justice In Afghanistan: A Review Of Jirgas Under Cedaw's Access To Justice Components, Fernanda Canessa

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Afghanistan became the first Muslim country to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women ("CEDAW") with no reservations, understandings, or declarations ("RUDs") on March 5, 2003. This event is notable considering that the majority of Muslim countries that ratified the treaty included reservations holding Islamic Sharia law above the tenets of the Convention. The government abstained from making this type of reservation, demonstrating its intent to follow international norms as it entered a new phase of democratic statebuilding.

Prenatal Exposure To Methamphetamine Causes Vascular Dysfunction In Adult Male Offspring, Hasitha Chavva, Adam M. Belcher, Daniel A. Brazeau, Boyd Rorabaugh

Pharmaceutical Science and Research

Methamphetamine use during pregnancy can have negative consequences on the offspring. However, most studies investigating the impact of prenatal exposure to methamphetamine have focused on behavioral and neurological outcomes. Relatively little is known regarding the impact of prenatal methamphetamine on the adult cardiovascular system. This study investigated the impact of chronic fetal exposure to methamphetamine on vascular function in adult offspring. Pregnant female rats received daily saline or methamphetamine (5 mg/kg) injections starting on gestational day 1 and continuing until the pups were born. Vascular function was assessed in 5 month old offspring. Prenatal methamphetamine significantly decreased both the efficacy …

Beyond (And Before) The Transnational Turn: Recovering Civil Disobedience As Decolonizing Praxis, Erin Pineda

Government: Faculty Publications

Can civil disobedience be transnationalized? This question presumes civil disobedience to be a fundamentally domestic concept—one constitutively tied to both the nation-state and the normative underpinnings of liberal, constitutional democracies. This article shows how this assumption mistakes one version of civil disobedience’s twentieth-century intellectual history for the whole of it, and risks reproducing binaries (domestic vs. international, democracies vs. non-democracies) that trouble attempts to theorize the transnational. Turning to an alternative intellectual history—a network of civil rights and anticolonial activists—reveals a novel theory of civil disobedience as decolonizing praxis, as well the stakes of these binaries: the disavowal of white …

Beta - An Overview Of Instructional Technology, Susan Dumler

All Open Educational Resources

In today’s K-12 education, technology is integrated into the classroom. Pre-service teachers need to have a good foundational knowledge of technology for instruction. An Overview of Instructional Technology is designed to teach a vast array of digital tools available to make the classroom and life more interactive, efficient, and connected. Fifteen-chapters cover everything from a brief overview of computer basics to popular productivity systems, learning management systems, and web-based tools and applications for a variety of content areas. The top resources for educational technology are highlighted and a section on OER is included. An entire chapter is dedicated to Google. …

Walking On Thin Ice: Exploring Demands And Means Of Coping During An Extreme Expedition, Tracey J. Devonport, Carla Meijen, Juliette Lloyd

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

The present exploratory study was undertaken with two experienced explorers in order to examine daily events, perceived demands, coping strategies, and mood during a unique 636–675 km ‘‘double solo’’ crossing of Lake Baikal, a frozen lake in Siberia. A 59-year-old female explorer and a 49-year-old male explorer completed a daily survey and written diary during the expedition to collect situational data. Two semi-structured interviews were also completed, one within 24 hours and a second within four months of their return. These interviews sought to identify demands and coping efforts perceived as being most pertinent during their expedition. Guided by the …

Longevity Of An Immunocontraceptive Vaccine Effect On Fecundity In Rats, Rebecca Pinkham, Douglas C. Eckery, Richard E. Mauldin, M. Gomm, F. Hill, F. Vial, G. Massei

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Increases in human-wildlife conflicts alongside cultural shifts against lethal control methods are driving the need for alternative wildlife management tools such as fertility control. Contraceptive formulations suitable for oral delivery would permit broader remote application in wildlife species.

This study evaluated the contraceptive effect and immune response to two novel injectable immunocontraceptive formulations targeting the Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH): MAF-IMX294 and MAF-IMX294P conjugates, both identified as having potential as oral contraceptives. The study also explored whether in multiparous species immunocontraceptives may either totally prevent reproduction or also affect litter size.

Female rats, chosen as a model species, were given three …

Rapid Changes In Public Perception Toward A Conservation Initiative, Rebecca Niemiec, Richard E.W. Berl, Mireille Gonzalez, Tara L. Teel, Jonathan Salerno, Stewart Breck, Cassiopeia Camara, Matthew Collins, Courtney Scholtz, Dana Hoag, Kevin R. Crooks

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rapid, widespread changes in public perceptions and behaviors have the potential to influence conservation outcomes. However, few studies have documented whether and how such shifts occur throughout the span of a conservation initiative. We examined the 2020 ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves into Colorado, which passed with less support than prior surveys had estimated. We conducted a postelection survey of Colorado residents using the same methods as our preelection survey to compare responses between surveys and to official election results. Reported voting in favor of wolf reintroduction in the postelection survey decreased in comparison to voting intentions shared in the …

A Model For Leveraging Animal Movement To Understand Spatio-Temporal Disease Dynamics, Mark Q. Wilber, Anni Yang, Raoul Boughton, Kezia R. Manlove, Ryan S. Miller, Kim M. Pepin, George Wittemyer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The ongoing explosion of fine-resolution movement data in animal systems provides a unique opportunity to empirically quantify spatial, temporal and individual variation in transmission risk and improve our ability to forecast disease outbreaks. However, we lack a generalizable model that can leverage movement data to quantify transmission risk and how it affects pathogen invasion and persistence on heterogeneous landscapes. We developed a flexible model ‘Movement-driven modelling of spatio-temporal infection risk’ (MoveSTIR) that leverages diverse data on animal movement to derive metrics of direct and indirect contact by decomposing transmission into constituent processes of contact formation and duration and pathogen deposition …

Large- And Small-Scale Climate Influences Spring Migration Departure Probability Of American White Pelicans, D. Tommy King, Guiming Wang, Fred L. Cunningham

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Endogenous (e.g., age and sex) and exogenous (e.g., climate and resource availability) factors influence avian migration phenology. However, little is known regarding the migration ecology of birds at the non-breeding grounds, including the American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). We used Global Positioning System transmitters to track the movements and migration of 51 pelicans from 2002 to 2012. We used the Kaplan–Meier model to estimate pelican spring migration probabilities to quantify partial migration with 94 spring migration events and used the Cox proportional hazards model to evaluate the effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAOI), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), and …

Adaptive Risk-Based Targeted Surveillance For Foreign Animal Diseases At The Wildlife-Livestock Interface, Ryan S. Miller, Sarah N. Bevins, Gericke Cook, Ross Free, Kim M. Pepin, Thomas Gidlewski, Vienna Brown

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Animal disease surveillance is an important component of the national veterinary infrastructure to protect animal agriculture and facilitates identification of foreign animal disease (FAD) introduction. Once introduced, pathogens shared among domestic and wild animals are especially challenging to manage due to the complex ecology of spillover and spillback. Thus, early identification of FAD in wildlife is critical to minimize outbreak severity and potential impacts on animal agriculture as well as potential impacts on wildlife and biodiversity. As a result, national surveillance and monitoring programs that include wildlife are becoming increasingly common. Designing surveillance systems in wildlife or, more importantly, at …

Evidence For Irruptive Fluctuation In Axis Deer Of Hawai‘I, Steven C. Hess, Jonathan Sprague, Jacob Muise

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Axis deer on the Hawaiian Islands of Maui, Lāna‘i, and Moloka‘i simultaneously experienced one of the most dramatic population crashes on record in 2020-2021, which coincided with extended drought conditions and prompted an emergency declaration for these islands. This phenomenon has been anecdotally documented during previous drought events in 2011-2012, but never formally studied. Newspaper articles document abundant deer becoming a nuisance to agriculture and natural resources, and then experiencing high mortality during droughts. This phenomenon fits Caughley’s (1970) operational definition of eruptive (sic) fluctuation “…as an increase in numbers over at least two generations, followed by a marked decline.” …

Cultivation Of Industrial Hemp On And Near Airports: Implications For Wildlife Use And Risk To Aviation Safety, Bradley F. Blackwell, Page E. Klug, Lee A. Humberg, Zachary T. Brym, Bryan M. Kluever, Jenna Edwards

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.; hemp) is an emerging crop in the United States with little known about bird use or the potential for birds to become an agricultural pest. We identified birds associated with hemp fields, using repeated visits to oilseed plots in North Dakota, USA (n = 6) and cannabinoid (CBD) plots in Florida, USA (n = 4) from August to November 2020. We did not control for plot area or density; our observations were descriptive only. We observed 10 species in hemp, 12 species flying over hemp, and 11 species both foraging in and …

Industrial Hemp As A Resource For Birds In Agroecosystems: Human-Wildlife Conflict Or Conservation Opportunity?, Emily A. Kotten, Iona Hennessy, Bryan M. Kluever, Bradley F. Blackwell, Lee A. Humberg, Page E. Klug

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.; hemp) is an emerging crop in the United States with little known about bird use or the potential for birds to become an agricultural pest. We identified birds associated with hemp fields, using repeated visits to oilseed plots in North Dakota, USA (n = 6) and cannabinoid (CBD) plots in Florida, USA (n = 4) from August to November 2020. We did not control for plot area or density; our observations were descriptive only. We observed 10 species in hemp, 12 species flying over hemp, and 11 species both foraging in and …

Differentiating The Effects Of Two Non-Native Fish In The Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, Sarah Richardson

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

This study seeks to determine the individual effects of two non-native fish, the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans, and pumpkinseed, Lepomis gibbosus, on the aquatic invertebrates and food webs of Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR). Ten ponds were analyzed and compared with stable isotope analysis and invertebrate abundance data. Three ponds were chosen to represent each of the following categories: fishless, brook stickleback invaded (BS), and coinvaded, along with a single pumpkinseed (PS) pond. Overall, δ[superscript]13C and δ[superscript]15N values increased in invaded ponds, indicating shifts in the zooplankton community structure and the carbon source of predatory invertebrates. Mean δ[superscript]13C was the …

Investigating How Bat Ectoparasites Influence The Skin Microbiome Diversity And Composition In Washington State Bats, Dana E. Colley

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), caused by the psychrophilic pathogenic fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), has killed millions of bats in the eastern United States since its initial introduction in 2006 and recent expansion into the western U.S. Understanding factors that contribute to the spread of Pd and risk of infection is crucial for management of WNS. Bat ectoparasites, including bat mites and bat flies, are omnipresent in bat populations, yet the relationship between these ectoparasites and bat health is still unknown. We examined the relationship between bat ectoparasites and the skin microbiome in relation to WNS infection risk in Washington State bats. …

The Role Of The Skin Microbiome In Amphibian Pathogen Susceptibility In Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, Krista S. Dodd

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

The fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), has led to the decline and extinction of many amphibian populations, but some bacteria in the skin microbiome can inhibit its growth. In Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR) in eastern Washington, Bd is highly prevalent, but the role of the skin microbiome in Bd infection dynamics have not been examined in this region. We hypothesized that frogs with lower Bd infection intensities would have higher skin bacterial diversity and more abundant anti-Bd bacteria, indicative of a more protective function. Our study combined cultureindependent and culture-dependent methods to assess the relationship between Bd and the …

Effects Of Gaba On Inflammation And Intestinal Barrier Disruption, Tyrel W. Long

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Gut dysbiosis and intestinal barrier disruption have been linked to multiple sclerosis (MS). Our previous works show that experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) induction modifies the gut's microbiota composition, reducing frequencies of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-producing bacteria. GABA levels are reduced in the brains and circulation of MS patients. We engineered Lactococcus lactis with extra copies of gadB (glutamic acid decarboxylase) and gadC (glutamate/GABA antiporter) to increase GABA levels produced by the bacterium (GAD-L. lactis). EAE studies showed that the treatment with GAD-L. lactis and not with a L. lactis control expressing an empty plasmid (P-L. lactis) reduced the severity of the …

Credit Scoring Duality, Pamela Foohey, Sara Sternberg Greene

Articles

Credit scoring is central to people’s financial growth and prosperity or financial decline and stagnation. People with a good credit score and accompanying credit report can buy opportunities to advance economically. The benefits they reap from their attractiveness to lenders and employers helps feed their future success. In contrast, people with a fair or poor credit score become stuck in cycle of high interest rates and costly loan terms, large required down payments, and denied applications for rentals, cell phone plans, and employment. Employers, service providers, lenders, and alternative financial service providers have begun to use alternative credit scoring models, …

Common Genomic Aberrations In Mouse And Human Breast Cancers With Concurrent P53 Deficiency And Activated Pten-Pi3k-Akt Pathway, Jarrod D Martinez, Qianxing Mo, Yixiang Xu, Li Qin, Yi Li, Jianming Xu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Simultaneous P53 loss and activation of the PTEN-restricted PI3K-AKT pathway frequently occur in aggressive breast cancers. P53 loss causes genome instability, while PTEN loss and/or activating mutations of PIK3CA and AKT promote cancer cell proliferation that also increases incidences of genomic aberrations. However, the genomic alterations associated with P53 loss and activated PTEN-PI3K-AKT signaling in breast cancer have not been defined. Spatiotemporally controlled breast cancer models with inactivation of both P53 and Pten in adult mice have not been established for studying genomic alterations. Herein, we deleted both floxed Pten and Tp53 genes in the mammary gland epithelial cells in …

Genetic Selection For Improved Efficiency And Profitability In Beef Cattle, David Kelly

Theses

Despite the importance of feed intake and efficiency in beef production, there are still gaps in our knowledge on optimal production efficiency traits and breeding strategies for improved feed, production and economic efficiency. The objectives of this thesis were to redefine production efficiency in growing cattle by exploiting carcass information and to validate current beef breeding goals for improving efficiency, and to investigate the relationships of feeding behaviour with performance, feed efficiency, and carcass merit. Feed intake and liveweight data were available on up to 6,088 cattle, of which 3,146 had carcass data, 4,672 had ultrasound data and 1,548 had …

Development Of Phage Cocktails To Treat E Coli Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection And Associated Biofilms, Belkys C Sanchez, Emmaline R Heckmann, Sabrina I Green, Justin R Clark, Heidi B Kaplan, Robert F Ramig, Casey Hines-Munson, Felicia Skelton, Barbara W Trautner, Anthony W Maresso

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

High rates of antimicrobial resistance and formation of biofilms makes treatment of Escherichia coli catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) particularly challenging. CAUTI affect 1 million patients per year in the United States and are associated with morbidity and mortality, particularly as an etiology for sepsis. Phage have been proposed as a potential therapeutic option. Here, we report the development of phage cocktails that lyse contemporary E. coli strains isolated from the urine of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and display strong biofilm-forming properties. We characterized E. coli phage against biofilms in two in vitro CAUTI models. Biofilm viability was …