Localized Delivery Of Gm-Csf In The Regulation Of Breast Tumor Oxygen And Anti-Tumor Immunity Through Macrophages, Nicole E. Mihalik

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

GM-CSF has been employed as an adjuvant to cancer immunotherapies in solid tumors due to its ability to drive immune stimulatory macrophages and other myeloid cells that promote anti-tumor responses. However, GM-CSF does not always exert immune stimulatory effects on myeloid cells, and sometimes even drives immune suppressive phenotypes. GM-CSF effects on myeloid cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME) appear to vary across dosages and even cancer types. However, an optimal dosing regimen for GM-CSF has yet to be determined to-date, and this is further complicated by the fact that GM-CSF is often administered via oncolytic viruses or tumor vaccines …

Elucidating Mechanisms Of Proteasome Modulation By Small Molecules To Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases And Cancer, Janelle Joo Yee Chuah

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Maintaining protein homeostasis, or proteostasis, is crucial for cellular function, and protein degradation through the proteasome plays a pivotal role in this process. Dysregulation of the proteasome can lead to proteostasis collapse and has been linked to the development of neurodegenerative diseases and cancers. Neurodegenerative diseases often exhibit proteasome impairment, whereas proteasome upregulation is frequently observed in cancer. Although the use of proteasome inhibitors as a pharmaceutical approach has shown success in certain cancers, it has yet to demonstrate efficacy in neurodegenerative diseases due to the absence of drug-like small molecules capable of effectively reversing proteasome impairment and/or activating the …

Spatial Processing Of Conspecific Signals In Weakly Electric Fish: From Sensory Image To Neural Population Coding, Oak Everette Milam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this dissertation, I examine how an animal’s nervous system encodes spatially realistic conspecific signals in their environment and how the encoding mechanisms support behavioral sensitivity. I begin by modeling changes in the electrosensory signals exchanged by weakly electric fish in a social context. During this behavior, I estimate how the spatial structure of conspecific stimuli influences sensory responses at the electroreceptive periphery. I then quantify how space is represented in the hindbrain, specifically in the primary sensory area called the electrosensory lateral line lobe. I show that behavioral sensitivity is influenced by the heterogeneous properties of the pyramidal cell …

Expansion On The Use Of The Novel Compound, Elp-004, Using A Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Experimentation Model, Kendyl Marie Berry

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Osteoarticular tuberculosis (OAT) is a bone degenerative disease that results in bone erosion, joint effusion, joint swelling, and sometimes, nerve compression. OAT occurs from the hematogenous dissemination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacilli spreading from the primary site of infection to the bones and joints; the primary site of infection tends to be the lungs as pulmonary tuberculosis infections are the most common. OAT can occur as the result of an active or latent infection. Latent infections result in OAT when bacilli are able to escape granulomas. The incidence of OAT is not as high as pulmonary infections, making up about …

Pedagogical Piano Works By Four Contemporary Composers: Emma Lou Diemer, Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee, Karen Tanaka And Chee-Hwa Tan, Manuel Alejandro Molina Flores

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research document aims to help diversify the pedagogical piano repertoire by featuring four contemporary composers living in the United States: Emma Lou Diemer, Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee, Karen Tanaka, and Chee-Hwa Tan. Their commitment to the creation of pedagogical works at the elementary, intermediate, and early-advanced levels gives students the opportunity to develop their piano technique while learning beautifully crafted pieces. The present document covers the life, formal education, important influences, and the compositional style of each composer. Additionally, it includes selected pieces at the late-elementary and early-intermediate levels where a discussion about their pedagogical benefits is included. Lastly, a …

Computational Mechanisms Of Face Perception, Jinge Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The intertwined history of artificial intelligence and neuroscience has significantly impacted their development, with AI arising from and evolving alongside neuroscience. The remarkable performance of deep learning has inspired neuroscientists to investigate and utilize artificial neural networks as computational models to address biological issues. Studying the brain and its operational mechanisms can greatly enhance our understanding of neural networks, which has crucial implications for developing efficient AI algorithms. Many of the advanced perceptual and cognitive skills of biological systems are now possible to achieve through artificial intelligence systems, which is transforming our knowledge of brain function. Thus, the need for …

Influence Of Maternal Nano-Titanium Dioxide Inhalation Exposure On Cyclooxygenase Metabolites: Maternal Microvascular And Sexually Dimorphic Feto-Placental Outcomes., Julie Anne Griffith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Nano-titanium dioxide (nano-TiO₂) is an engineered nanomaterial (ENM), which is widely utilized in diverse products like surface coatings, cosmetics, medical devices, and filters. Inhaled nano-TiO₂ has been demonstrated to induce pulmonary inflammation, impair microvascular function, and hinder generational reproductive endpoints. These outcomes indicate why it is important to explore gestation, as it requires timely vascular adaptations to support maternal and fetal health and development. Therefore, the central hypothesis of my dissertation is: maternal nano-TiO₂ inhalation exposure will impact maternal microvascular function and fetoplacental hemodynamics and function in a sexually dimorphic manner.

The first purpose of …

Language Matters, Teya Brooks Pribac

Animal Sentience

The term sentience tends to be associated with affective valence along with affectively neutral sensory states. In the absence of evidence for affectively laden states in plants, the use of the term sentience in the exploration of plant sensory and behavioral complexity is misleading and ethically problematic for its potential to trivialize animal sentience.

Motion Planning In Artificial And Natural Vector Fields, Bernardo Martinez Rocamora Junior

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation advances the field of autonomous vehicle motion planning in various challenging environments, ranging from flows and planetary atmospheres to cluttered real-world scenarios. By addressing the challenge of navigating environmental flows, this work introduces the Flow-Aware Fast Marching Tree algorithm (FlowFMT*). This algorithm optimizes motion planning for unmanned vehicles, such as UAVs and AUVs, navigating in tridimensional static flows. By considering reachability constraints caused by vehicle and flow dynamics, flow-aware neighborhood sets are found and used to reduce the number of calls to the cost function. The method computes feasible and optimal trajectories from start to goal in challenging …

The Diversity And Synaptic Connectivity Of Somatostatin-Containing Inhibitory Interneurons In The Somatosensory (Barrel) Cortex, Rachel Elaine Hostetler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The neocortex is the most evolutionarily advanced part of the mammalian brain and is responsible for a multitude of important tasks, such as sensory processing, movement, memory and learning and, in humans, cognition, and language. Within the neocortex, there are intricate circuits of neurons that are responsible for these tasks. These circuits are comprised of a delicate balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Inhibitory interneurons have the crucial role of constraining and controlling the amount of excitation in the brain; disruptions in this balance can lead to a number of neuropsychiatric diseases and disorders. Our studies focused on the subpopulation …

Drones For Large-Scale Wildlife Surveys: Raw Data To Support Manuscript - Hodgson Et Al, Amanda Hodgson

Research Datasets

We conducted trial ScanEagle drone surveys of dugongs in Shark Bay, Western Australia, covering the full extent of the drone’s range (~ 100 km), concurrently with observer surveys, with drone flying above or just behind the piloted aircraft. We aimed to test the assumption that drone imagery could provide comparable detection rates of dugongs to human observers when influenced by same environmental conditions. Data in "All data for analysis - Shark Bay Hodgson et al" include a summary of the sightings from both platforms per transect segment, including associated environmental covariates. Also included are details of each dugong group sighted …

A Refreshing Change: Safeguarding Mothers And Children From Pfas Exposure, Emmanuela Nwaonumah, Alisha Riggins, Emmanuel Azu, Oluwatoyin Ayo-Farai, Joanne Chopak-Foss, Logan Cowan, Atin Adhikari

Eagles Talking About the Public’s Health

No abstract provided.

The Strong Families Program: Utility Of Telehealth Parenting Skills Psychoeducation, Grace C. Prosperi

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Externalizing behaviors in children are a common problem experienced by many parents. If untreated, externalizing behaviors are associated with more serious consequences (Hann, 2012). Parents of children with behavior issues also report higher levels of stress (Dumas et al., 2009). Parenting stress is related to lower life satisfaction for parents and increased negative outcomes for children living in the home. Parent training programs, incorporating attachment building and discipline strategies, combat childhood externalizing behaviors in clinical settings. While reducing childhood externalizing behaviors is the main aim of parent training, there are other benefits to gaining parenting skills such as increased familial …

Using Primates As A Flagship Species In Marketing Campaigns: Effects On Proenvironmental Attitudes And Behavioral Intentions, Taylor Barber

All Master's Theses

Shade coffee plantations grow coffee under a canopy of trees and provide alternative habitats for many bird and primate species, known as agroecosystems, particularly in Latin America. The aim of the current project was to better educate the public about shade plantations and the positive effects they can have on conservation for primates. In addition, marketing tactics such as the presence of a shade plantation certification label and howler monkey images were assessed for their effects on consumer purchasing intentions as well as participant support for biodiversity and sustainability. Participants were recruited through the Department of Psychology’s research system at …

Staff Perceptions Of Responsibility And Implementation Of Cognitive Enrichment For Non-Human Primates In Zoo Settings, Ember Nevada Toth

All Master's Theses

In zoos, caregivers have considered enrichment as vital for their animal collections’ physical health and development. Since primate species are endangered and continue to decline in numbers in their natural habitat, zoos are steadily becoming the only places we can view and learn about them. In today’s zoos, cognitive enrichment—which falls into overlapping categories of enrichment and does not yet have a universally accepted definition—is either absent or inconsistently offered. Providing challenges to stimulate cognitive well-being has been found to influence the overall welfare of captive primates. Cognitive enrichment is considered very important according to zookeeper surveys but is not …

Intestinal Parasite Infection In Tibetan Macaques (Macac Thebetana) In Eastern China, Miarisoa Ramilison

All Master's Theses

Grooming is one of the crucial social behaviors of primate species that functions to remove parasites and maintain social bonds. Although, much data exists to support the idea that grooming is essential in forming and sustaining social bonds among individuals, there is a lack of information about the extent to which it removes ectoparasites or contributes to the spread of internal parasites. To fill this gap in the literature, we investigated the relationship between social contact behavior including grooming and intestinal parasite infection in Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana). This species lives at Mt. Huangshan in China. We used …

Chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes) Skin Temperature During Resting Behavior At Different Ambient Temperatures, Benjamin Lake

All Master's Theses

Thermal imaging, as a tool in psychological research, has been used to distinguish mental states evoked by different environmental and social cues, with prior research across several species. Ambient temperature can affect the precision of the measures of body temperature, however, so we investigated a methodology for recording thermal imaging data in sanctuary-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) while they engaged in resting behavior across different ambient temperatures. Data were collected on 30 adult chimpanzees (16 females and 14 males) ranging in age from 21 to 53 years (Mage = 33.4 years, SD = 8.0). The chimpanzees lived in nine social groups …

Identifying Unexpected Inflammation Resulting From Drug-Drug Interactions, Keegan Jolly

All Master's Theses

Adverse drug events result in nearly 1.3 million emergency room visits per year in the United States of America. As much as 30% of these adverse events are a result of drug-drug interactions (DDI’s). There is a gap in knowledge concerning these DDI outcomes especially when it comes to inflammation. Inflammation is linked to a variety of chronic health conditions and non-infectious diseases such as cancer. Purpose: The goal of this study was to examine how many active drug ingredients from FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), when combined (in groups of two or more), elicit an inflammatory response …

Zooarchaeology Of The Grissom Site (45kt301), Kittitas Valley, Washington, Steven Spencer

All Master's Theses

The Grissom site of central Washington was excavated 1967-71 by students and faculty from Central Washington State College. The site may represent a portion of a large, springtime intertribal gathering near Kittitas known as Che-lo-han, which involved camas root gathering, tribal councils, and social activities. Extensive radiocarbon dating places occupation ~1810-130 BP, based on 20 of 21 radiocarbon dates, with some stratigraphic mixing. Site materials have been subject to several previous studies, including a 2018 undergraduate pilot study by the author. Other fauna have not been reported outside of a 2012 fish analysis by Lubinski and Partlow. In consultation with …

Effect Of Soil Transplantation On Fungal Communities During Restoration, Thomas Luehl

All Master's Theses

Ectomycorrhizal fungi are integral parts of natural ecological systems that provide access to nutrients that would otherwise be unavailable by forming symbiotic relationships with plants. Relationships with ectomycorrhizal fungi are known to improve plant growth rate, increase plant resistance to pathogens, and improve survival. Current revegetation practices often ignore this relationship between fungi and plants. During the revegetation of the Interstate 90 Keechelus Lake wildlife overcrossing (Easton, WA), soil from forest sites adjacent to the restoration area were collected and used to inoculate a set of experimental plots to determine whether ectomycorrhizal fungi would become established in the plots and …

Manipulating Social Mobility To Measure Group Stability In Crickets, Anne Tolo

All Master's Theses

Dominance hierarchies are typically formed so that members of the hierarchy can benefit from residing in a social structure where conflict is decreased, and each individual obtains a rank within the group. Members can either actively seek out a higher social rank to maximize fitness or remain in a lower position to benefit from the protection of living in a group. This study was designed to manipulate the social stability typically exhibited within hierarchies by experimentally increasing social perturbance in groups of tropical house crickets, Gryllodes sigillatus. Rank changes per unit time were used as a measure to understand …

Estimating Evapotranspiration And Analyzing Soil Moisture And Heat Flux Parameters At Taneum Creek, Central Washington, Edward Vlasenko

All Master's Theses

In the past two decades, stream restoration work, primarily in the form of wood emplacement, has been undertaken in the Taneum Creek watershed, resulting in increased channel-floodplain connectivity. One of the goals of stream restoration was to boost dry season groundwater storage in the shallow floodplain aquifer. However, any gains in groundwater due to increased connectivity may be nullified by increased evapotranspiration (ET) losses because of denser floodplain vegetation. Within the floodplain aquifer budget, ET is a major flow of water out of the system and is not well quantified.

In order to quantify ET, a monitoring site was established …

The Effect Of Sentence Presentation Order On Animacy Violations And The N400 Effect: A Mixed Methods Approach, Naomi Cady

All Master's Theses

Semantic memory refers to a portion of long-term memory that processes meaning, understanding, and conceptual facts about the world. Research shows that information processing benefits from a priming effect for access to semantic memory. For example, seeing a certain word or gesture, can form a prediction of what will follow. Encountering information that is incongruent with this priming effect elicits the N400 brainwave. The N400 can be used to identify incongruence in sentences, gestures, and even facial expressions. However, there is emerging evidence that context given to even incongruent information has the effect of lessening the strength of the N400. …

Infant-Maternal Behaviors During Non-Maternal Infant Handling Interactions In Captive Long- Tailed Macaques (Macaca Fascicularis), Kristy Abney

All Master's Theses

The main caregiver of an infant Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) is their mother. However, mothers often allow infant-handling interactions with other individuals in their group. While there are many hypotheses to explain the infant-handling phenomenon, there are few systematic investigations of how mothers respond to non-mother infant-handling interactions. At Alpha Genesis Inc., I conducted 33 focal follows for each mother-infant dyad (N = 10) over an eight-week period on captive macaques to determine if infant behaviors during infant-handling interactions resulted in mothers interrupting the interaction; if mothers were more likely to interrupt infant-handling interactions when infants showed signs …

Parents' Grief Literacy: How Loss Is Talked About With Children, Abigail Mccarthy

All Master's Theses

Grief can encompass many types of loss, such as losing a job, moving to a new state, or changing careers, and it can affect socioemotional, behavioral, and physical aspects of daily living (Brenn et al., 2020; Favazza & Munson, 2010). Previous research has shown that the process of grief is largely misunderstood in the United States, and misconceptions of the grief and loss process can lead to perpetuated incorrect beliefs, maladaptive coping, and incorrect medical treatment (McLean et al., 2022; Sawyer et al., 2021). The term grief literacy encompasses the knowledge and engagement with topics surrounding grief and loss (Breen …

Generational Leadership In The American Revolution And Early Republic, 1763-1800, Kevin Cassidy

All Master's Theses

This thesis examines the Loyal Twenty-Seven, a group of Massachusetts revolutionaries, and their importance in the American Revolution using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods combined with traditional historical research, to attempt to show that there was a generational shift in leadership between the revolutionaries who led early British protests, and those who led the Revolutionary War and the Early Republic. This thesis is based off an original work, the United States Colonial Dataset, made up of 416 individuals divided into three groups, the Framers, Prominents, and Loyalists, and 215 unique attributes for these individuals, such as their occupation, …

Transformation And Embodiment: Posthumanism In Marie Darrieussecq's Pig Tales And Larissa Lai's Salt Fish Girl, Samantha Ludlow

All Master's Theses

This thesis seeks to analyze Marie Darrieussecq’s Pig Tales and Larissa Lai’s Salt Fish Girl, with a particular emphasis on how one’s age, gender, and racial identity each affect the reception an individual has towards their animality and connections with nonhuman animals. By using posthumanism as a framework, I argue that though it is initially difficult for Darrieussecq’s narrator to accept her changing body during her adulthood (where she already has a strong sense of identity), her transformation and choice to life as a sow by the end of the novel illustrates a rejection of her society’s anthropocentrism. Further, …

Forest Patrol Guards And Caregivers' Perceptions Of Wild Chimpanzee Populations Near Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Sierra Leone, Virginia Sanchez

All Master's Theses

Relationships between humans and alloprimates, in particular between humans and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), have occurred for centuries. Chimpanzee discoveries by western philosophers date back to the 16^th and 17^th centuries, and their earliest accounts in West Africa suggest that chimpanzees interacted and lived in close contact with humans, thus shaping the way both species adapt to their environments. Humans occupy this same space along with chimpanzees, and we need them as much as they need us. The continued decline in wild populations of species such as chimpanzees can have negative impacts for biodiversity. Chimpanzees have a …

Effects Of Solar Arrays On Southwestern Desert Thermal Landscapes: Consequences For Terrestrial Ectotherms, Adrian Slade

All Master's Theses

Solar energy development in the Southwestern United States coincides with habitat for many sensitive and endemic species, including reptiles such as Mojave Fringe-toed Lizards and Mojave Desert Tortoises who are threatened by a warming and drying climate. While utility-scale solar energy reduces carbon emissions and should ultimately benefit climate-sensitive species, it locally destroys fragile desert habitat, displaces wildlife, and has been shown to incur local air and surface temperature changes. Mitigation-based translocation of wildlife species in the face of solar development yields mixed results, and the unprecedented pace of solar expansion in the desert highlights the need for alternative practices …

Hepatic Transcriptomic Assessment Of Sprague Dawley Rats In Response To Dietary Perfluorobutane Sulfonate (Pfbs) Ingestion, Isaac Appiah

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) is a short-chain PFAS that is considered to be a less toxic replacement for the rather more toxic long-chain perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). Its numerous industrial applications and widespread presence in the environment have raised environmental and health concerns because of growing evidence associating adverse health effects and certain liver diseases to PFBS exposure. The study goal was to investigate whether dietary ingestion of PFBS would induce liver injuries, damage, inflammations, and oxidative stress. To achieve these goals, Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned into three PFBS dietary treatment groups (0, 50, and 100 PPM) for 11 weeks. After this …